Derelict Space Sheep

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Derelict Space Sheep

Speculative Fiction, Retrofitted Fact. Micropublishing tomorrow's salvage.

19/12/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

Musing upon what looks to be a house-party su***de, prominent amateur detective Roger Sheringham, present from the outset, indulges one fancy too many and accidentally implicates himself as prime suspect in a murder! A droll study in dramatic irony and narrative doctoring.

Review of “Jumping Jenny” by Anthony Berkeley (Hodder & Stoughton, 1933); audiobook read by Seán Barrett (Soundings, 2022)

15/12/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Tiffany Aching again proves a winning protagonist, her precocious powers stemming from nothing more innate than a clear, logical, inquisitive mind. While the threat feels real, Pratchett has fun with the Nac Mac Feegle. Granny Weatherwax’s character benefits from an outside perspective.

Review of “A Hat Full of Sky” by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 2004); audiobook ready by Stephen Briggs (2004)

11/12/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

Professional hitman Martin Blank suffers an existential crisis when work takes him back to his hometown on the weekend of his ten-year high-school reunion. While the low-key, oddball script provides an obvious vehicle for John Cusack, it’s Minnie Driver behind the wheel.

Review of “Grosse Pointe Blank” dir. George Armitage (1997)

10/12/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

Recorded speeches and BBC radio reports, often recorded live at the scene of military operations, linked and contextualised to present an unfolding narrative of the Second World War. Notable for its sense of immediacy and earnest commitment to including the listening public.

Review of “BBC War Reports, World War Two: On Air” narrated by Richard Baker (AudioGO, 2010)

09/12/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

A conceptually appealing reboot, soon rendered tiresome by an overload of slick, cluttered, gory action panels and the writers’ insistence on vomiting up Daphne and Velma’s argument every few pages. Ultimately, subjecting the Scooby Gang to zombified mature content merely diminishes them.

Review of “Scooby Apocalypse, Vol. 1” by Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis; ill. Howard Porter (DC Comics, 2017)

08/12/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

A relatively simple murder mystery obfuscated through excessive characterisation of players who are dropped without a second thought. Short and accessible but holds back its detective (the energetic, straight-shooting Inspector Kendall) until the race is more than half run. Perfunctory twist ending.

Review of “Thirteen Guests” by J. Jefferson Farjeon (Collins, 1936); audiobook read by David Thorpe (Soundings, 2020)

06/12/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Given the freewheeling escapism at play in Seasons 1-2, upping the stakes was perhaps ill-advised. The team become cavalier action superheroes. Personal issues intrude, hanging Lucas Till out to dry beyond the range of clean-cut sincerity. Levy Tran is a welcome addition.

Review of “MacGyver, Season 3” (CBS, 2018-2019)

05/12/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Iconic in the truest sense. Electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk stood at their synthesisers for two hours, affectedly impersonal afront/amidst a choreographed pulsation of light and sound: pre-programmed loops layered and manipulated on the fly. Highlights included ‘Radioactivity’, ‘Trans-Europe Express’ and ‘The Robots’.

Review of “Kraftwerk Live @ The Brisbane Convention Centre” (Australia & New Zealand Tour, 4 December 2023)

03/12/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

For much of the book, Moriarty treads a fine, facetious line between quirky characterisation and utterly banal, cod-observational wisdom. This, it turns out, is artfully used both to obscure and to foreshadow plot shifts. Kudos for incorporating a single mother/young child relationship.

Review of “Gravity is the Thing” by Jaclyn Moriarty (Harper, 2019); audiobook read by Aimee Horne (W. F. Howes, 2019)

01/12/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

The painstaking history of a publishing enterprise whose workings will be of limited interest to most readers. Howe includes lengthy biographical notes on everyone concerned. Diligently researched but for the most part textual deadweight cluttering and detracting from the coffee-table art component.

Review of “The Who Adventures: The Art and History of Virgin Publishing’s Doctor Who Fiction” by David J Howe (Telos, 2021)

30/11/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Entwined memoirs with a cumulative focus on family, mortality, embracing life and coping with death. McInnes reaches his conclusions through rambling associative leaps, Watt by more direct reflection. Fechner’s audiobook reading captures the sometimes humorous, always heartfelt tone (but not female voices).

Review of “Worse Things Happen at Sea: Tales of Life, Love, Family and the Everyday Beauty in Between” by William McInnes & Sarah Watt (Hachette, 2011); audiobook read by Clem Fechner (QNS Audio, 2014)

29/11/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

A large and inevitable stepdown from Season One, more consciously offbeat in its performances and plot-twists yet still well capable of throwing laugh-out-loud punches. Alcock and Minchin jump headfirst back into their characters. The emotional arc is drawn freehand, wonky on painkillers.

Review of “Upright, Season Two” dir. Mirrah Foulkes (Fox Showcase, 2022)

27/11/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

The second novella in Chinbeard’s Target-styled Goodies range, featuring nostalgic cover art and the first slightly unfortunate example of what no doubt will become intentional font-ambiguity jokes. The humour within is off-the-cuff and heavily pun-based, aimed squarely at those in the know.

Review of “The Goodies: Pods and Monsters” by Kenton Hall (Chinbeard Books, 2023)

26/11/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

650+ pages of Parker novelettes and novellas. The tone of these stories, particularly when taken cumulatively, tends ever so slightly more towards the grim than in Academic Exercises or The Father of Lies. The humour is more cynical. Nonetheless another outstanding collection.

Review of “Under My Skin” by K J Parker (Subterranean, 2023)

20/11/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Several interlocked stories set between Episodes V and VI but rendered somewhat disjointed through tying in with other volumes also titled ‘War of the Bounty Hunters’. Lots of involvement from the core protagonists (decent likenesses). Dark, busy artwork. Passable as a standalone.

Review of “Star Wars Vol. 3: War of the Bounty Hunters” by Charles Soule; ill. Ramon Rosanas (Marvel, 2021)

19/11/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

Self-indulgent. Asimov trades on his name more than his ideas, with middling prose and revelatory twists that survive only through clumsy concealment beneath a glut of character-voiced speculation as to how future society might function. Hope’s Seldon accent is a brave choice.

Review of “Prelude to Foundation” by Isaac Asimov (Doubleday, 1988); audiobook read by William Hope (HarperVoyager, 2023)

14/11/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

A simply told, engaging mystery featuring an amateur detective (a vicar) and a police inspector working in loose collaboration. While Bude rather gropes towards an understanding of the genre, his protagonists do likewise with the crime. The audiobook reading is decidedly Cornish.

Review of “The Cornish Coast Murder” by John Bude (Skeffington & Son, 1935); audiobook read by Ben Allen (Soundings, 2016)

13/11/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Like Stalker (1979) but more purposeful. Annihilation’s earthbound SF premise is both creepy and visually arresting, though of course the plot paints itself into a corner (and why not take the coastal route initially?). The all-female main cast easily carries the action/drama.

Review of “Annihilation” dir. Alex Garland (2018)

12/11/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

Frobisher is introduced, joining a more proactive, less bombastic Sixth Doctor in an adventure trippy enough to have rounded out The Trial of a Time Lord. A preponderance of dark hues serves to foreground the SF (and make Baker’s coat blend in!).

Review of “Doctor Who: Voyager” by Steve Parkhouse; ill. John Ridgway; colours Gina Hart (Marvel, 1985)

11/11/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

A concert film showcasing Talking Heads at the height of their powers as an extended ensemble. Rhythm and energy abound. David Byrne is quirky, neurotic and perhaps a tad too experimental in bringing a visual component to the music. Some songs expurgated.

Review of “Stop Making Sense” by Talking Heads; dir. Jonathan Demme (1984) [2023 re-release]

10/11/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Ending Matt Smith’s tenure with a Christmas special was a brave choice, but one that pays off. The story is chaotic and full of holes, yet Smith himself is quite brilliant as the ancient but ever-young-at-heart friend of children. A fitting farewell.

Review of “Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor” by Steven Moffat; dir. Jamie Payne (BBC, 2013)

09/11/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

A short Christmas ghost story about a romance novelist and her spirit lover, whom she cannot touch because she was born after he died. The tragic tones give way to ick with the arrival of a rapist/stalker. Somewhat muddled in the denouement.

Review of “Inspiration” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Fantasy & Science Fiction, November 1990)

08/11/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

The Arabic setting makes for a diverting sea change and offers plenty of scope for culturally specific plot points and humour. Unfortunately, the Black and White Guardians are played for laughs, lending an already lighthearted production too much of an Iznogoud vibe.

Review of “Doctor Who: The Destroyer of Delights” [The Key 2 Time, Part 2] by Jonathan Clements (Big Finish, 2009)

07/11/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Visually engaging but narratively lacklustre. While Achdé has captured Morris’s drawing style (down to Luke’s enormous, cyborg-gunslinger hands), Gerra’s story is a plodding tour of American heartland stereotypes circa 1876. Without any sparkle to the script, Luke’s inherent blandness makes itself felt.

Review of “Lucky Luke: The Man From Washington” by Achdé & Gerra; trans. Erica Jeffrey (Cinebook, 2013)

06/11/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

An undemanding read in that the prose is straightforward and brooks no abridgement in relating every last action and brainstormed exchange of the investigation. The Queens are well drawn but the mystery conjures indifference, its solution buried beneath piles of mundane detail.

Review of “The Roman Hat Mystery” by Ellery Queen (Frederick A. Stokes, 1929); audiobook read by Robert Fass (Blackstone, 2013)

05/11/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

A four-episode Icelandic crime drama that plays out more or less to formula but doesn’t outstay its welcome. The investigation is unhurried, the entertainment value resting in a cast of grimly put-upon characters and the remote locale, equal parts desolate and beautiful.

Review of “The Cliff, Series 1” (2009) {aka ‘Hamarinn’} [subtitles]

04/11/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

John Williamson played a raft of songs from his 53-year career, throwing in the odd novelty hit but sticking mainly to lyrically driven ballads with a deep, sentimental connection to outback Australia. Highlights included ‘Dear Little Quambatook’, ‘Cydi’, and ‘Prairie Hotel Parachilna’.

Review of “John Williamson live @ the QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane” (3 November 2023)

03/11/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

Perhaps this novel suffers in translation. The English version features an ingenuous prose style full of grade-school descriptors and third-person narrative action shoehorned quite blithely into dialogue. The mystery, laboriously solved in recap, works far better conceptually than as a dramatic work.

Review of “The Decagon House Murders” by Yukito Ayatsuji (1987); trans. Ho-Ling Wong (Locked Room, 2015); audiobook read by P J Ochlan (Tantor, 2022)

02/11/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Stadium acoustics notwithstanding, Paul McCartney gave value for money with a show lasting nearly three hours—39 songs!—and skewed towards Beatles nostalgia (while not neglecting his solo material). Great band. Highlights included ‘Letting Go’, ‘Come on to Me’, and ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’.

Review of “Paul McCartney, live @ Suncorp Stadium” (Got Back Tour, 1 November 2023)

27/10/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

A decent ending to a long-running programme. While much of the emotional impact stems from Matthew Slater’s score, Roger Allam (Thursday) and Anton Lesser (Superintendent Bright) have sublime moments conveying, respectively, the jaded and melancholic feelings of characters being overtaken by time.

Review of “Endeavour, Series 9” by Russell Lewis (ITV, 2023)

26/10/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

Something of a one-note story. Nurse Matilda teaches an unruly horde of children to behave... by magicking them into gross over-indulgences of their original, naughty conduct. The book ends in a wearisome fever-dream recap of preceding events. The children are reformed. Bing.

Review of “Nurse Matilda” by Christianna Brand (E.P. Dutton, 1964); audiobook read by Phyllida Law (BBC Audio, 2009)

25/10/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Neat premise, alluring secondary characters, but gory and rather scattershot, while to actuate the ‘starting over’ referenced in the title, Subaru spends the first 18(!) of 25 episodes establishing himself as one of the most grating and wince-inducing protagonists in anime history.

Review of “Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World, Season 1” (TV Tokyo, 2016)

24/10/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

While the civil war strand introduces an uncomfortable fraughtness into the Bobiverse, Bob’s exploration of Heaven’s River entails a level of thought experiment more geekishly indulgent even than in previous books. The juxtaposition is odd, the delivery redemptively charming. Audiobook a must.

Review of “Heaven’s River” by Dennis E. Taylor; audiobook read by Ray Porter (Audible Studios, 2020)

23/10/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

A teen-girl enemies-to-friends(-to-lovers?) story distinguished by explorations of prejudice in a near-future setting featuring both privileged, human-presenting AI and a robot-styled underclass. While the brief narrative info-dumps are ungainly, Doyle’s artwork (darkly absorbed, bleeding with potential) channels the awkwardness and inner turmoil.

Review of “Pixels of You” by Ananth Hirsh & Yuko Ota; ill. J. R. Doyle (Amulet, 2021)

22/10/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

The format is a little cramped (three dailies per page, Sunday strips in black-and-white). Watterson remains as creative as ever—the macabre snowmen!—yet the collection as a whole edges a bit too close to melancholy. What place imagination in this world?

Review of “Scientific Progress Goes ‘Boink’” by Bill Watterson (Andrews McMeel, 1991) [reprinted Sphere, 2007]

21/10/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Good vibes and funk-disco energy, interspersing original CHIC material with mega-mixes of Rodgers-produced covers. The band’s rapport was palpable (note Rodgers’ slapping guitar duels/duets with bassist Jerry Barnes during the breakdowns). Highlights included Le Freak, I Want Your Love, and Get Lucky.

Review of “Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Live @ Fortitude Music Hall” (Australia & New Zealand Tour, 20th October 2023)

19/10/2023

42 WORD RETROSPECTIVE:

The first Blandings Castle novel evinces much of Wodehouse’s penchant for twisty intertwinings of plot, and even more of his fondness (particularly in the early days) for facetious observation and scathing characterisation. Compared to later works, however, it’s all a bit artificial.

Review of “Something Fresh” by P G Wodehouse (Methuen, 1915); audiobook read by Frederick Davidson (Blackstone, 1995)

18/10/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Economical with words, content to play on the inherent absurdity. The anthropomorphic sheep are Larson-esque and hopeless, spending most of their time trying to retrieve their ball from a tree. The illustrations juxtapose packed sheep clusters and generous amounts of grey space.

Review of “71 Sheep Try Soccer” by Pablo Albo; ill. Raul Guridi (Canica, 2016); trans. Michael Sedunary (Berbay, 2017)

15/10/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Cinematic-level production. The story is straightforward yet bolstered by the trademark Star Wars attention to background detail. The support cast is compelling and likewise the titular Mandalorian—remarkably so, as he remains masked throughout while protecting an alien baby who doesn’t speak!

Review of “The Madalorian, Season 1” (Disney+, 2019)

12/10/2023

42 WORD REVIEW:

Colin Baker’s regeneration story. The Sixth Doctor is given the send-off he was denied in the 1980s. Indeed, he is compensated somewhat by being scripted a dual death—once knowing the underlying reasons, once not. Unsurprisingly, Baker puts in a character-defining performance.

Review of “Doctor Who: The Last Adventure, Part 4: The Brink of Death” by Nicholas Briggs (Big Finish, 2015)

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