Another thing I bought in England: I've joined the club and read
naominovik's novel Temeraire now. Which is charming. Though I fell in like, not love, I'll definitely read the sequels. One of the many things I appreciated: though this is a novel set during the Napoleonic wars, the French don't get bashed. Such a relief. Seriously, it's something that alternatively annoys and amuses me about a lot of fiction set in this particular period. I also am reminded of a book about historical movies in which the author states that he finds it disconcerting to realise that the same noble English one is rooting for in adaptions of Henry V. are the same crowd, twenty years later, one is rooting against in any adaption of the Jeanne d'Arc story. (Clearly, he hasn't seen read or seen Shakespeare's Henry VI trilogy in which Jeanne is an evil, evil witch, for how else could she defeat ENGLISH forces?) Anyway, Temeraire. The human hero, Laurence, reminds me of Captain Wentworth in Jane Austen's Persuasion, and the dragon whose name is the book's title of every Star Trek (all incarnations) alien whose job it is to present an outsider point of view on human society and comment on it while bonding with one (or more) of the humans. I felt nostalgic in the best way.
From sea ships to space ships:
labingi has an intriguing post about Crusade and Firefly, both shows gutted in their first season after 13 episodes by dastardly networks, and why, while Firefly is better written, she prefers Crusade. I like Crusade, redheaded stepchild of the B5 franchise which it is, though not quite as much as Firefly. Which is probably not because FF is better written (which it is) but because one of the characters who worked so well for
labingi does nothing or not much for me. To wit, Galen. Galen, like Marcus on Babylon 5, is just - well, there is a reason why I never got around to reading the Technomage Trilogy. I'd say "Galen is too emo for me", except that well, I'm the person who's crazy about people like Anakin Skywalker and Connor, so that obviously can't be it. Anyway, to me, the appeal of Crusade definitely were the rest of the gang, especially the sarcastic Max Eilerson whose face graces this icon. And I shall always be frustrated that the already written (and circulating in fandom ever since) script for the episode guest starring a post-Telepath Wars Al Bester didn't get filmed. Not to mention that the DVD set has the episodes in a terrible order, but then again, one can rectify that by watching them in another (points to
andrastewhite's episode guide). Where was I? Ah, yes. Watch Crusade. Watch Firefly. Curse at networks both. And read the post.
From sea ships to space ships:
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Date: 2006-07-04 05:12 pm (UTC)I've never seen Crusade. Seen all of B5, none of Crusade. Is it worth buying the DVD box set?
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Date: 2006-07-04 05:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-04 05:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-04 05:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-04 05:18 pm (UTC)I haven't seen any of Crusade, but I do own the videos. I've owned them for about 2/3 years (maybe longer) and I haven't managed to bring myself to watch them yet. :(
I'm currently watching Jermiah, which is another JMS show. And I love it to bits. It was also cancelled, though it got a bit of a longer run (one and a half seasons.)
This is a mostly pointless post. Lalalala.
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Date: 2006-07-04 05:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-04 05:30 pm (UTC)Jeremiah is worth catching, if you find it (or at least the first 14 or so episodes are.) I think my housemate downloaded them from somewhere?
I'm really enjoying it, and can see it being something I can get fannish about. Sadly, I don't think there's much of a fandom for it.
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Date: 2006-07-04 05:37 pm (UTC)There is some fun Temeraire fic over here at The Covert http://community.livejournal.com/the_covert/profile