Log 196 ~Hell’s For The Good Times~

Is there anything that entertains me? That doesn’t result in sin; well, there’s always my dæmon who I value over 99% of the populace and those people who do entertain me, well it’s rarely over a conversation. Hell’s For The Good Times I know so well.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Log 196 ~Hell’s For The Good Times~

Hundred And Nineteenth Rule

Madam Justice,
I AM a Billionaire right now, and depending upon who you ask, Heaven and Hell are still on the table. Both were looking me in the face today “Saturday” it was a pretty decent storm. You know how I tell myself stories to get to sleep. Now those have been from Far Cry 5 for the past few weeks. Anyway, while I was driving, I imagined I was flying for the Resistance in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. There was also that scene in Star Trek Deep Space Nine when they pressed on to Cardassia Prime. What about Starship Troopers, flying one of their ships, and carrying groceries?

Let’s say being a Sci-Fi aficionado is one of my lesser sins. Okay, what I want to do with most of the leading ladies in those series is a one-way ticket to Hell. Heaven has never once shown me anything I want, or as the song goes, “peace of mind.” Sure, I want peace, especially these days. I keep telling myself I’m going to leave these young women alone, but I’m going crazy. Dennis Hof built his Heaven in an industry that most think would earn him Hell. If that’s the case, most of my heroes will be there. I was telling Indiana Gone yesterday. America excels at two things, meaningless sex and mindless violence. Everyone gets on me for the one, but hey, I can shoot all the cultists I want, along with a plethora of other crimes, Justice.

My Olds may speak of something different, but the church was never a good time. No, I’m not getting down on myself, only the facts. I still recall I got kicked off the Daystar Facebook page for talking about one of their girls. Okay, that’s more a story for Inspector Echo. Here’s a fact for right now, well I can’t tell you because again I don’t want to put that out into the universe. One sin, though, leads to such “restorative” pain. The point is, I want more because what does Heaven have to offer? Idle hands are the Devil’s instruments, but my hands are working right now. I want to build a Heaven that’s full of sin? Why not a Hell full of angels? In a minute I’ll say let’s return to the garden.

In the Garden of Eden, honey, I can’t stand boredom, Hell’s For The Good Times.

I Will Have No Fear

Glad There’s Two Galahad Suns

The space race is it about the journey or the destination, if anything half the time I didn’t know where it was all going and that’s what kept me there, even if it took awhile, but that was more my fault than the author. Glad There’s Two Galahad Suns

There could be possibly more, but honestly, I barely got through the first one and by no means was it bad… pretty long but not the worst thing I’ve ever read but then again not the best either. The novel Galahad Suns meant to be a space odyssey, but it’s a bit odd to me, some of that being my fault because it took me so long to read it and I’ve read way longer but am I so busy?

Don’t expect delusions of grandeur like for Star Wars or Star Trek, it’s more like an episode of Cowboy Bebop or Firefly and shouldn’t that be considered high praise that Galahad Suns written by David Kimberley is comparable with such works of art? If you want to know one secret between judging a good book and a bad book, ask yourself, a straightforward question “what happens next” if you have to answer with the question of “do I care” well I answered that one with yes but I also have other reasons. Every person in the universe has a purpose, and for Davian Kurcher it’s simple, the man wants to collect a paycheck, a bounty.

The author honestly had to get this out, and when I was reading it was like I too was in space, plenty of black with a shining star here or there, and when you put it all together, you only have to ask yourself what’s it all for truthfully. Speaking of stars if you’re curious I’m giving it three, blame me for being a stickler on time, some books are too brief, some are pretty dang long, some are “just right,” and if the book hooks you I mean genuinely hooks you, it doesn’t matter. Which is another thing about this title, what catches you and what do you read and okay get me to the next planet or the next big moment so I can keep reading this epic?

Well probably not epic but I was highlighting like crazy trying to keep up, and I appreciate the author having a list of characters and alliances and such because I was taking off for days especially at the beginning but it does pick up. Again I think on incredible space adventures, a person can watch Star Wars and get the story, read the books get more, watch the cartoons more, study the folklore and maybe I just wasn’t ready for so much all at once.

Now while I’m making comparisons between other things I don’t think I have ever seen this story done, an original plot which is one of those stars this book is keeping, the concept has been done, but I can’t remember the plot anywhere else. Long story short Davian Kurcher and a band of misfits save the universe but they are going to take a long time getting there, and while I usually give myself an hour and a half daily, my phone is calling me.

So Kurcher is an enlister or executioner, even you sign up or you drop dead, he along with his copilot Justyne Frost are just doing what they do, hunting people down and then Kurcher has to do some enlisting with the worse scum of the galaxy. Kurcher is more of an anti-hero if you consider the fact that he instead shoots first and he happens to be a drug addict, but nobody’s perfect. Frost does get pretty close though, if I were going to fall in love with anybody in this book it would be her, not to mention I always need a bit of a love story a bit of sex in-between all the action, from the front page to last at different paces.

As for everyone else, maybe a hero here or there but for the most part everyone is a killer, almost like The Purge, sure some commit another crime here or there but yeah pretty much all criminals when it comes to a disregard of human life. Also, there is plenty of equal opportunities when it comes to all the outlaws and the military, the author must like strong women, and probably the worse two men out of the lot get what they richly deserve. Don’t worry I’m not giving anything away yet; I don’t know if it were too much or too little and didn’t I say that this was a long book and once you get started… writing, not reading, you get too comfortable; I did decide to sleep rather than continue one time.

The characters are alive as much as they need be because if you had to go over every single individual, I probably wouldn’t have finished it unless there was a side story between Frost and Tara Oakley who had a similar issue in mind. I can’t say there is one character I truly related to but other than my love for Frost, I did like Edlan Rane, he was the smartest guy in the room, but you’ll have to read to find out the reason.

So is three stars worth the read though, in this case, if you’re entirely into sci-fi which I’m not I’m afraid, at least not reading it, or this particular brand. Anyway sci-fi fans, people who like research but want to relax too, maybe you want a touch of some old familiar show perhaps. Now here comes the spoiler alert because it had its moments but if I knew this had a sequel, I would undoubtedly have to have nothing on my reading list, or it would have to be something shorter than this I think.

First and foremost and anyone who knows me saw this coming Justyne Frost and Sieren Broekow, those moments were few and far out, but if they had their own story, I would have read it for sure. Saul Winter working from the shadows was another plus for me, while I didn’t much care for his allegiances the single aspect of his life was something I could do in such a universe as the author paints. The final battle, how I enjoy an epic showdown, that was one of the moments I felt myself becoming part of the story, and even when I knew it was coming, I wanted more. How the ship itself being this incredible weapon, which was Titan A.E. meets Star Wars, which is again high praise indeed.

Now while the beginning of the novel was decent I felt like I was slogging through, maybe I was tired with work and all, as I said I was taking days off reading this because there weren’t any mesmerizing moments. I compare the whole process to building a rocket, research you’re learning so much and just when you’re about to have enough, you get an aha moment, and you keep going. Nothing horrible about the title at all and the ending is good but not even that interest me enough to go looking for the next one let’s say if I got it for another honest review I wouldn’t say no, I wholly believe that.

So I wish on three stars that my novels could come out to such, that this author will gain even more praise with another title and maybe we’ll get a story with one of the criminals “crims,” more Tara Oakley would be excellent. For now, though I’ll keep my feet planted firmly on the ground and dream of stars and women that fall from the Heavens as I find myself Glad There’s Two Galahad Suns.

Veiled Planet But Veiled Woman?

Chick’s got a veil, dude better bail but that’s not the case with Teagan Kearney’s work or with Kara for that brief period she had to wear a veil, this work and this girl are quite beautiful. “Veiled Planet But Veiled Woman?”

“Assumptions should be proven or disproven by facts” Veiled Planet

As for my assumptions, this book would be cliché, the indigenous people would be ‘hominids’ or like people, and that I would thoroughly enjoy this book, done, done, and done. Veiled Planet keeps you on the edge of your seat the same way the movie “Avatar” does, an adventure, a love story, intrigue, and mystery, but to a certain degree.

Even knowing what was going to happen, I still wanted to read about it, I can appreciate Teagan Kearney’s twist on the genre. It reminds me plenty of young adult heroines I’m so fond of, just set in an, even more, sci-fi universe although besides the wording don’t expect to see much of it since the story is set more in nature. Maybe I shouldn’t be comparing it to so many other titles and experiences but I mean them all as compliments; I know what I like and to be sure this was so amazing.

The male protagonist “Rishi” was somewhat reminiscence of some of Gary Paulsen’s titles but it was awesome to see him play off of the heroine Kara, so there were respites of humor mixed in as well. Maybe I’m being bias considering this is a story that has been done before, so I know it well but I was still excited every day when I picked it up. That’s also a bit of bad news, you see the ending and it’s sort of like hitting a brick wall and you’re still smiling but yeah um ouch.

You shouldn’t let that stop you though, most good books leave you hurting and a somewhat sweet, predictable but abrupt ending didn’t stop my enjoyment. If you’ve read this far, just know that the title has my stamp of approval without a doubt but if you’re lazy you can always pick up Avatar and switch Jake Sully’s character with Neytiri.

“The family is sacred. Without the family, society fails”
― from Teagan Kearney, Veiled Planet

So would you prefer once upon a time or stop me if you’ve heard this one, a human comes to alien/hominids planet, falls in with the natives, falls in love with one and now it’s time to save the world or maybe love conquers all perhaps. Space people bad native people good, just a lot more diplomatic, which is another thing this book was filled with politics but not bogged down like any Star Wars.

I related to Kara in a certain way and nobody can blame Rishi or Miklo for that matter for being guys but again, the somewhat teenage aspect of things or boys will be boys. Of course, Kara is so smart and right about everything she is simply busy employing her moral sense into her new world but that doesn’t last too long. I would say the author has some weird ideas about men and women but I can’t stress this enough, with the world we live in who isn’t influenced?

Take some of the characters such as Ikeya and Yleni for example, some people would be insulted by this male-dominated society, Ikeya has his place and Yleni is just the woman behind the man you see the same in Kara’s relationships. You have the big flashy tribal leader who is more of a shower than a doer with his own hidden agendas for what he does. How about the colonists who behaved exactly as if Kara has gone crazy not that the “Maruts” weren’t sticklers about their own rules too.

You have to wonder if the author making a not so subtle estimation of humanity or was this purely coincidental because I can see the parallels in society. On the other hand, she’s a genius and this was fate or in the DNA, but that makes me sound like Rishi.

“Our coming across you the way we did wasn’t an accident. It was what you call Fate or Destiny.” ― from Teagan Kearney, Veiled Planet

If you want to discover this book for yourself, I suggest you turn away now but how great was this book… four stars and my Kindle kept erasing the copy I got for an honest review so I went and bought a copy because I was so caught up. No book is perfect, I’ll take that back, this book wasn’t perfect but the point is to hook the reader and sadly I already was, clichés.

Anything with a solid love story has my vote and while I believe that love could have been a bit more ‘descriptive’ I fell in love with Kara but I’m sort of easy like that. The nature aspect always gets to me, reading about them on the road and the traditions and customs but for the life of me, I couldn’t get the look of “satyrs” out of my head, the way we normally think about them. It was really inspiring though when Kara found out she had been made somewhat a Helen of Troy archetype with the Maruts coming to get her back, I cheered at that fact honestly.

As for my dislikes, a lot of books are scaring me these days, working on my own stories I know I have to buy Grammarly and a half-dozen editors because there were a few problems, typos and such. Kara didn’t appear to be flawed in any way but the people around her always seemed to be, especially the part with her and Rishi after the storm, boys will be boys but still, that wasn’t fair at all the laws. I said the ending was a wall but while the story overall was incredible, just cliché after cliché, you can’t call it uninspired, it’s a work of art but let’s just say I know the author has other people to thank.

Four stars without a doubt, would I read what comes next, definitely, any advice, as people tell me sometimes, more you and less them but yes this is awesome. Teagan Kearney will not put you to sleep but if you do sleep make sure you know all the rules because, in the end, it’s a Veiled Planet But Veiled Woman?

“Freedom is the most precious gift.”
Teagan Kearney, Veiled Planet

Valerian and Basic Male Psychology

Men have fought wars for many different reasons, they have saved lives, they have travelled the stars but behind every great achievement, behind every move than man has made, there has always been a woman. Valerian and Basic Male Psychology hmm?

Tell me something I don’t know, I like explosions, I like pretty girls, and I wouldn’t mind being brain-dead for a few hours. Okay so I wasn’t exactly expecting Shakespeare but I’m not exactly an idiot either; I have seen plenty of movies where people say you have to read the book to understand… I think this is one of those but the problem is I really don’t want to.

It makes me think about those adult coloring books for children, this movie has plenty of colors and you’ll wake up in a bit wondering where all the time went. “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” reminiscence of any Michael Bay movie just toned downed by yeah a thousand and still, it is visually stunning. Speaking of stunning I’m more a fan of Cara Delevingne/Laureline but it’s Rihanna/Bubble that actually stands out for me in the film though the X-Men’s Mystique might have something to say about it.

If you’ve got time to kill and a bit of cash and you’re too grown up for coloring books, I’ll say it’s worth a watch but not spectacular at all. Now that I have appeased the gods of Fandango let’s get a bit more in depth, which isn’t much of a dig concerning the source material. As I said, I’m all for explosions and random acts of violence but the catalyst of this film is humanity is shooting at somebody and I suppose I have to read the comics to figure out reasons of than people just being people really.

“People wrote books and movies, movies that had stories so you cared whose ass it was and why it was farting, and I believe that time can come again!” Idiocracy

When I wasn’t saying, look at the pretty colors… I should have seen this in 3D, I wasn’t looking at all the mindless cannon fodder and sure, most movies have the peons and the hero escaping death but seriously I was just wondering how. Maybe a quick lesson, bright colors and a futuristic setting in the future, is not a reason to skimp on story.

The movie did start out with the best of attentions, I was actually sort of inspired, honestly today idiots are worshiped and people downplay any actual achievement. How do you keep men’s interest because I do think this movie is focused more on men, so throw in the beautiful women, as I said this was male psychology not that women won’t find this film enjoyable.

This movie can be compared to a lot of other better movies, from “The Fifth Element” design to “Avatar” white man saves blue people, to any number of government corruption movies that are out and about today. Once you get past the futuristic aspect, is there such a thing as too much sci-fi, Valerian is seriously flirting with it and speaking of flirting I think this is one of those reasons women might not like this. Maybe I’m reading too much into it; two hours for a light show but this movie did have a redeeming quality here or there.

Laureline, of course, was a tough young woman and it is a nice change of pace when the woman isn’t just I’m as tough as any man or independent, guys are expected to chase girls but a woman saving the guy. I can’t say enough about Bubble, Rihanna, I wish she had a bigger part, beautiful, sexy, hardcore when the need arose, a bit naïve and is this movie really trying to set itself up for a squeal. If anything Valerian was made more of a background character between the two of them, almost a bad guy considering Laureline did most of the universe saving, Valerian did the girl saving.

Which was another sad point that Valerian and Laureline had almost zero chemistry, sexual attraction but as Laureline summed up, she didn’t just want to be another name for the playlist. When they put Bubble and Laureline together in one scene to “seduce” Valerian that’s where you actually saw any real emotion as in love.

Speaking of love, I think that story was a bit rushed, I mean it was nearly nonexistent and as I was telling a friend, men will do anything if they think they can get at some girl parts, that’s practically how Laureline saved the city of a thousand planets. Three stars easy, but I was expecting so much more, a friend thought it looked like Star Wars, I wouldn’t do Star Wars such a disservice to compare the two really.

Guys will like it for the fighting, a few technical aspects, plenty of cannon fodder, close enough to sex without actual sex and that as soon as you see Clive Owen you know the movie. Women will like it for the feminist aspects, women are geniuses at everything, the girl saves the boy, the girl saves the universe but gets no credit, how about that she’s every woman idea and that men can’t be trusted with anything, even the guy had a girl inside him… long story. I wouldn’t necessarily see it again but I will have it on my Amazon watch list at some point which will be a lot sooner than later possibly.

The first star, of course, is for the attempt and for the noble intentions of humanity, if you liked The Fifth Element then this is quite tolerable. The second star for women in general, the actresses were excellent and I was sort of zoning out before Bubble. Lastly, a star for not giving up, most movies like this rely too heavily on visuals that they expect everyone to forget about the actual plot, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets had one as confusing and yet simplistic as it was and the ending was good just far too rushed.

If I ever see it for half off I might be enticed to go and see it again but this story was more a one night stand but the cast of it was committed, and if I were Valerian… he made the right choice, even if it took a woman to show him; men as a species are doomed. No worries though, as long as there is some woman that a man wants, I believe science will continue to advance and so will date nights to movies like this one.