by Jason Joyner | Aug 19, 2009 | Blog, CSFF, reviews, Robin Parrish, speculative fiction
I am a fan of Robin Parrish.
I’ve followed him for a while through his now-defunct site Infuze, which melded coverage of Christianity with the latest in pop culture. I was introduced to a lot of things there. I disagreed with him on some shows. I read his first three books, the Dominion Trilogy, and was literally ready to pull out my hair after the cliffhanger for the second book, Fearless (thank goodness I was already bald). That book also inspired a post about heroes that has been my most read post (Why Do We Need Heroes?)
Today I’m reviewing his latest book, Offworld. I’ve already posted about it here.
Why the introduction?
Yesterday I gave the synopsis of the book. He starts the book off with an amazing sequence as the astronauts who are returning from the first manned-mission to Mars survive a crash landing on re-entry. The three men and one woman team set off from Kennedy Space Center to Houston, where a mysterious beacon of light is the only clue they have to the disappearance of the human race. They encounter no one, save an anomalous young woman named Mae with an empty personal history.
The opening, as mentioned, is dynamic. The pace of the book doesn’t rest much, as the team survives one harrowing event after another on their way to Houston, finally realizing someone must be out there opposing them. Slowly personal details of the characters slip out, as he continues to weave the tale. The action continues until the big climax in Houston. Robin knows how to keep pages turning.
Unfortunately, Offworld had a lot of letdown to me from his previous books. The characters didn’t have much backstory to make them really standout. There’s the brave commander with a secret, the loyal and longsuffering first officer, the steady yet mysterious specialist, and the hotshot, hot-tempered pilot. That sums up the main characters.
The set-up was so huge (the disappearance of the human race), it was hard to account for everything in the end. The cause of it all smacks too much of a MacGuffin device, too contrived to really hold up the story. I know Robin is a big fan of the TV show Lost, and I know nothing of the show, but I think he may be trying to write to that type of fan with this story.
Another aspect of the story that came across as weak was the setting. No area really stood out, and Robin did a good job of this in the Dominion Trilogy even though that series bounced around so much. The book is set in 2033, but there wasn’t a lot of new technology that punched up the story.
I enjoyed the story to a degree. Robin is a talented suspense writer not afraid of big ideas and challenges. Not every attempt works though. I started out discussing how much I have enjoyed Robin Parrish in the past because I fully intend on following his projects in the future. This book is a decent sci-fi/near future adventure with faults that keep it from really taking off. Unfortunately, I think I had high expectations from before. That might be the problem. I wanted this to be a 5 star book, but it hit me as more of a 3-3.5 star book. Still enjoyable, but not a home run.
If you want other opinions, see the other posters listed at Becky Miller’s blog. Keep an eye on Mr. Parrish, because I expect the unexpected from him in the future, and will continue to look out for his next projects.
—
by Jason Joyner | Aug 19, 2009 | Blog, CSFF, reviews, Robin Parrish, speculative fiction
I am a fan of Robin Parrish.
I’ve followed him for a while through his now-defunct site Infuze, which melded coverage of Christianity with the latest in pop culture. I was introduced to a lot of things there. I disagreed with him on some shows. I read his first three books, the Dominion Trilogy, and was literally ready to pull out my hair after the cliffhanger for the second book, Fearless (thank goodness I was already bald). That book also inspired a post about heroes that has been my most read post (Why Do We Need Heroes?)
Today I’m reviewing his latest book, Offworld. I’ve already posted about it here.
Why the introduction?
Yesterday I gave the synopsis of the book. He starts the book off with an amazing sequence as the astronauts who are returning from the first manned-mission to Mars survive a crash landing on re-entry. The three men and one woman team set off from Kennedy Space Center to Houston, where a mysterious beacon of light is the only clue they have to the disappearance of the human race. They encounter no one, save an anomalous young woman named Mae with an empty personal history.
The opening, as mentioned, is dynamic. The pace of the book doesn’t rest much, as the team survives one harrowing event after another on their way to Houston, finally realizing someone must be out there opposing them. Slowly personal details of the characters slip out, as he continues to weave the tale. The action continues until the big climax in Houston. Robin knows how to keep pages turning.
Unfortunately, Offworld had a lot of letdown to me from his previous books. The characters didn’t have much backstory to make them really standout. There’s the brave commander with a secret, the loyal and longsuffering first officer, the steady yet mysterious specialist, and the hotshot, hot-tempered pilot. That sums up the main characters.
The set-up was so huge (the disappearance of the human race), it was hard to account for everything in the end. The cause of it all smacks too much of a MacGuffin device, too contrived to really hold up the story. I know Robin is a big fan of the TV show Lost, and I know nothing of the show, but I think he may be trying to write to that type of fan with this story.
Another aspect of the story that came across as weak was the setting. No area really stood out, and Robin did a good job of this in the Dominion Trilogy even though that series bounced around so much. The book is set in 2033, but there wasn’t a lot of new technology that punched up the story.
I enjoyed the story to a degree. Robin is a talented suspense writer not afraid of big ideas and challenges. Not every attempt works though. I started out discussing how much I have enjoyed Robin Parrish in the past because I fully intend on following his projects in the future. This book is a decent sci-fi/near future adventure with faults that keep it from really taking off. Unfortunately, I think I had high expectations from before. That might be the problem. I wanted this to be a 5 star book, but it hit me as more of a 3-3.5 star book. Still enjoyable, but not a home run.
If you want other opinions, see the other posters listed at Becky Miller’s blog. Keep an eye on Mr. Parrish, because I expect the unexpected from him in the future, and will continue to look out for his next projects.
—
by Jason Joyner | Aug 18, 2009 | Blog, CSFF, Robin Parrish, sci-fi, speculative fiction
Something is wrong with the world.
“In 2032, the first manned mission to Mars is returning to Earth after a 2 1/2 year journey. Commander Christopher Burke leads his 3 other crew members back from an eventful and successful landing on the Red Planet.
After a strange anomaly occurs and communication with Earth is lost, the crew survives a harrowing crash-landing at Kennedy Space Center. The dazed and bruised astronauts exit their spacecraft, wondering why the emergency response teams didn’t pull them out of the capsule. The answer?
Everyone on Earth has disappeared.
No one is left, and the occurance seems to have happened at the same time of the anomaly and communication cut-off. The only clue: a beacon of light eminating from Houston.
The crew embarks on a new journey, much more harrowing-to find out what happened to the human race.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Offworld, go HERE.
Robin Parrish is the author of Offworld, the latest novel for the Christian Sci-fi/Fantasy Blog Tour. Check back tomorrow for my review. In the meantime, check out these tour participants.
Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Keanan Brand
Gina Burgess
Canadianladybug
Melissa Carswell
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Ryan Heart
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Dawn King
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika
Eve Nielsen (posting later in the week)
Nissa
John W. Otte
Lyn Perry
Steve Rice
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Speculative Faith
Stephanie
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Dona Watson
Elizabeth Williams
by Jason Joyner | Aug 18, 2009 | Blog, CSFF, Robin Parrish, sci-fi, speculative fiction
Something is wrong with the world.
“In 2032, the first manned mission to Mars is returning to Earth after a 2 1/2 year journey. Commander Christopher Burke leads his 3 other crew members back from an eventful and successful landing on the Red Planet.
After a strange anomaly occurs and communication with Earth is lost, the crew survives a harrowing crash-landing at Kennedy Space Center. The dazed and bruised astronauts exit their spacecraft, wondering why the emergency response teams didn’t pull them out of the capsule. The answer?
Everyone on Earth has disappeared.
No one is left, and the occurance seems to have happened at the same time of the anomaly and communication cut-off. The only clue: a beacon of light eminating from Houston.
The crew embarks on a new journey, much more harrowing-to find out what happened to the human race.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Offworld, go HERE.
Robin Parrish is the author of Offworld, the latest novel for the Christian Sci-fi/Fantasy Blog Tour. Check back tomorrow for my review. In the meantime, check out these tour participants.
Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Keanan Brand
Gina Burgess
Canadianladybug
Melissa Carswell
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Ryan Heart
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Dawn King
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika
Eve Nielsen (posting later in the week)
Nissa
John W. Otte
Lyn Perry
Steve Rice
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Speculative Faith
Stephanie
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Dona Watson
Elizabeth Williams
by Jason Joyner | Aug 12, 2009 | Blog, G.I. Joe, movies, reviews
Knowing (that this isn’t high art)
is half the battle.
Easier said than done.
I don’t know if I can add any more insight that hasn’t already been posted in other places before, but perhaps some people would like my thoughts (how funny!). G.I. Joe is a toy from the 60s, a 12 inch action figure that was remade into a 3 3/4 inch figure in 1982 and launched with a comic book and later a cartoon. The latter was the meat of my childhood. I devoured all the cartoons, tried to catch the comics at the local grocer, and had a fairly impressive collection of figures. They provided endless fodder for my imagination (and made for a good football team as well).
The 80s were kitschy, and that really couldn’t translate into early 21 century sensibilities. So the original got largely reworked in translation for The Rise of Cobra.
The movie starts with an eye-opening sequence, and continues to build off of that for the next 2 hours. Sure, it occasionally pauses for a little exposition or flashback to show character connections – just enough to continue to the next adrenaline rush of explosions, butt-kicking, and gadgetry.
Arms dealer James McCullen XXIV has developed a new technology with nanomites, microscopic robotic creatures that can destroy a target and be turned off with a kill switch. A NATO force under the command of American soldiers Duke and Ripcord are tasked with carrying the new weapons to the drop-off point, but they are ambushed by a mysterious force with futuristic weapons and led by a leather-clad femme fatale, The Baroness.
The G.I. Joe team intervenes and saves the warheads, Duke, and Ripcord and introduces them to the secretive team. This anti-terrorist group has a special base under the sands of Egypt, and they are charged with guarding the nanomites. From there battles ensue as both parties engage in battle several times to control the warheads and protect major cities from catastrophic damage. From the streets of Paris to an explosive confrontation under the polar ice caps, the action doesn’t stop until the inevitable setting up of the (possible) sequel in the last few minutes.
I mentioned in my earlier post I would be watching for what type of worldview the movie portrays. I think it shows the bigger explosion, the better. Actually, there are good moments of self-sacrifice, honor, and teamwork through the movie. Still, the movie doesn’t leave a lot of mental food for thought. It plays like the hyped-up modern cartoon update it is. The plot is enough to keep people moving, and the characterization is usually quick and forced, although I thought there was some attempts at delving into things.
The movie thankfully never devolves into the apparent smut-fest of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but there are some scattered curse words throughout. The action is violent, and plenty of people die, some by impaling, but there is very minimal blood loss. I guess these near-future weapons can kill without spilling blood? There are a few scenes of nanomites being injected in people that I had my kids turning their heads, but otherwise my 9 and 7 year old thought it was a blast.
The diehard G.I. Joe fan from the 80s has definite potential to be disappointed. Some of the central characters have had their origins reworked, to a hit-and-miss effect. I liked some of the back story of Duke and the head evil scientist “The Doctor,” but other ones felt hollow. I reconciled myself to the idea that it can’t stay the same, and I enjoyed it overall, but I know other fanboys have…issues with some changes. Still, they nailed important characters like Snake Eyes, and that was a must. There are also nice homages thrown in to those in the “know.”
My verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars. It isn’t great, but it was fun and I enjoyed watching it twice. It could have been a lot worse and a lot better. I think a lot of the new twists worked overall, and I would like to see a sequel done. Young kids should probably avoid it, but the 9-12 crowd would probably eat it up if the occasional language and frequent violence isn’t beyond sensibilities. If one expects “Saving Private Ryan,” prepare to be disappointed. But it’s a decent popcorn action flick, and as an old Joe fan, I am glad I saw it.
—
by Jason Joyner | Aug 12, 2009 | Blog, G.I. Joe, movies, reviews
Knowing (that this isn’t high art)
is half the battle.
Easier said than done.
I don’t know if I can add any more insight that hasn’t already been posted in other places before, but perhaps some people would like my thoughts (how funny!). G.I. Joe is a toy from the 60s, a 12 inch action figure that was remade into a 3 3/4 inch figure in 1982 and launched with a comic book and later a cartoon. The latter was the meat of my childhood. I devoured all the cartoons, tried to catch the comics at the local grocer, and had a fairly impressive collection of figures. They provided endless fodder for my imagination (and made for a good football team as well).
The 80s were kitschy, and that really couldn’t translate into early 21 century sensibilities. So the original got largely reworked in translation for The Rise of Cobra.
The movie starts with an eye-opening sequence, and continues to build off of that for the next 2 hours. Sure, it occasionally pauses for a little exposition or flashback to show character connections – just enough to continue to the next adrenaline rush of explosions, butt-kicking, and gadgetry.
Arms dealer James McCullen XXIV has developed a new technology with nanomites, microscopic robotic creatures that can destroy a target and be turned off with a kill switch. A NATO force under the command of American soldiers Duke and Ripcord are tasked with carrying the new weapons to the drop-off point, but they are ambushed by a mysterious force with futuristic weapons and led by a leather-clad femme fatale, The Baroness.
The G.I. Joe team intervenes and saves the warheads, Duke, and Ripcord and introduces them to the secretive team. This anti-terrorist group has a special base under the sands of Egypt, and they are charged with guarding the nanomites. From there battles ensue as both parties engage in battle several times to control the warheads and protect major cities from catastrophic damage. From the streets of Paris to an explosive confrontation under the polar ice caps, the action doesn’t stop until the inevitable setting up of the (possible) sequel in the last few minutes.
I mentioned in my earlier post I would be watching for what type of worldview the movie portrays. I think it shows the bigger explosion, the better. Actually, there are good moments of self-sacrifice, honor, and teamwork through the movie. Still, the movie doesn’t leave a lot of mental food for thought. It plays like the hyped-up modern cartoon update it is. The plot is enough to keep people moving, and the characterization is usually quick and forced, although I thought there was some attempts at delving into things.
The movie thankfully never devolves into the apparent smut-fest of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but there are some scattered curse words throughout. The action is violent, and plenty of people die, some by impaling, but there is very minimal blood loss. I guess these near-future weapons can kill without spilling blood? There are a few scenes of nanomites being injected in people that I had my kids turning their heads, but otherwise my 9 and 7 year old thought it was a blast.
The diehard G.I. Joe fan from the 80s has definite potential to be disappointed. Some of the central characters have had their origins reworked, to a hit-and-miss effect. I liked some of the back story of Duke and the head evil scientist “The Doctor,” but other ones felt hollow. I reconciled myself to the idea that it can’t stay the same, and I enjoyed it overall, but I know other fanboys have…issues with some changes. Still, they nailed important characters like Snake Eyes, and that was a must. There are also nice homages thrown in to those in the “know.”
My verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars. It isn’t great, but it was fun and I enjoyed watching it twice. It could have been a lot worse and a lot better. I think a lot of the new twists worked overall, and I would like to see a sequel done. Young kids should probably avoid it, but the 9-12 crowd would probably eat it up if the occasional language and frequent violence isn’t beyond sensibilities. If one expects “Saving Private Ryan,” prepare to be disappointed. But it’s a decent popcorn action flick, and as an old Joe fan, I am glad I saw it.
—
