Currently… Playing:
Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmares / Desperate Escape
Listening to:
The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing
Watching:
The I.T. Crowd
Reading:
Tales from the Thousand And One Nights translated by N.J. Dawood Hey look, a Paypal button.
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This review was written for Poopgang in 2005. The original screenshots were mostly lost, these new ones are from Neoseeker.
 Format: Playstation 2
Developer: CyberConnect2
Publisher: Atari
Release: 26th March 2004
.hack//infection, .hack//mutation, .hack//outbreak, .hack//quarantine. A series of four “online”, yet most definitely offline, role playing games where you play a character that plays an online game. Sound confusing? To start with, it is, but once you get your head around the concept and accept it, you find yourself drawn in. To start with I’ll explain the background of the story.
In the year 2007 a deadly virus named “Pluto’s Kiss” is released upon the planet. The Internet comes crashing to a halt and millions die as computer systems malfunction. Only one Operating System survives the virus, and is quickly taken on as the worldwide standard, that OS is Altmit. The best selling game from this company is “The World”, a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game boasting over twenty million players.
You control Kite, a naïve young man invited by his friend Yasuhiko to play The World with him. Yasuhiko, a legendary, veteran player known online as Orca, leads his friend through a low level area as a way of familiarizing you with the controls, the various aspects of the real time combat system and world navigation.
Not long into the tutorial, the game bleeds into “reality”. A system error occurs, summoning an anomaly in the form of an incredibly powerful enemy, known as “Skieth”, in an incredibly low level area. The creature attacks Orca with a strange beam, wiping his character out immediately. Kite, not knowing what to do, logs out from The World, only to find out that his friend Yasuhiko has fallen into a deep, unexplainable coma. Was it a freak accident, a coincidence? Or did the monster they encountered in the game have something to do with his friend’s illness? This quandary begins your quest to unravel the mystery of “The World” and save your friend.
 Assorted cast members assemble At its core, .hack is an Action RPG which takes place within the previously mentioned simulated MMORPG environment. It’s simulated; that means that no online connection is required. Players will do as much communicating via message boards and e-mail as they will levelling their party and exploring new areas and dungeons. Non-player characters may react a bit differently than they might in an actual MMORPG, but the message board and e-mail interaction certainly lend some credibility in that respect.
 The character designs are delicious Opening exploration areas is done via a series of keywords. Three different keywords can combine to open new areas to plunder. These keywords can be obtained via reading message boards, checking e-mails, and talking to NPC’s in the various hub towns. While it is possible to randomly combine keywords, it’s generally not advisable as some areas may have monsters that are far too strong for players to handle without being sufficiently powered up. Each keyword helps to set the stage for the new area’s look, weather, dungeon difficulty, and defining element (i.e. fire, water, wood, etc.).
 Playing a game within a game, very novel Visually, .hack both hits and misses. The character designs are fantastic—they’re colourful and detailed. Dungeon locales pretty interesting, too, with certain motifs like cathedrals or even the inside of a creature. The towns look pretty nice, too, as they’re bustling with character activity and loaded with shops. The inherent problem with .hack is the generic feel of some of the randomly generated lands. There’s considerable blurring of objects and textures on the horizon, and there’s a fair amount of repetitiveness. Again, since they’re not scripted, it’s not necessarily an overly negative criticism, but it’s a criticism nonetheless.
 A look at the keyword customisation In the sound department, .hack boasts some better than average voice-over work that is full of character and combines it with some generally decent and memorable music. It’s certainly good to see that voice-over quality is improving, as with .hack, so that players can better identify with the characters involved in the game. For anime purists, Bandai has opted to keep the Japanese voice-over track intact, which is certainly a nice, authentic bonus. The music is consistently good, with a few choral-sounding arrangements mixed in with other, more diverse, types of music. The .hack soundtrack won’t necessarily fly off of shop shelves, like for example the Final Fantasy soundtracks, but it holds its own.
Although the main storyline of the first chapter of .hack ends pretty quickly (20-25 hours), it is possible for players to continue exploring and levelling up characters before playing the next chapter of the .hack series. Player data, including several items that are unusable in this game, can be stored on a memory card so that when you see fit to start the next chapter, the story can resume with the stored information.
 Battle Mode is on! On its own, .hack//infection may not score as highly as it could, but when teamed with the other three episodes of the series, it may be looked upon as a great starting point. .hack//mutation and .hack//outbreak seem like the fatty middle of the series, not delivering any conclusions or offering anything vastly advanced from the first volume, as well as the fact that taken individually you would feel like you’d walked into a cinema halfway through a film. .hack//quarantine also suffers from this, but would anyone really play the last of a four part series first?
Overall, taking the four games as one, I feel it has been slightly milked by Bandai, they could have easily fit the entire series on 2 discs as opposed to 4, and probably added a lot more to it. The total cost of the series is another hurdle to overcome, 4 PS2 games don’t come cheap! Scout around your local Pre-Owned bin, or check out the sales that many online retailers are currently running, you may pick up a bargain. But as it stands, .hack is an incredibly accomplished series, and is highly recommended to any RPG fan that yearns for something a bit different. [9]
Personally, I still think a proper online version of this game would be excellent.
Again, written for Poopgang. I found the “slices” (as I liked to call them) for this one. For some reason I didn’t mind the dithering caused by saving them as .gifs.
Format: Playstation 2
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release: February 2004
Final Fantasy. One of the oldest videogame franchises that still has that special something. The series began in the early ‘90’s with four nameless adventurers who came from nowhere in particular to bring the clichéd light and harmony back to a nondescript land that had fallen into generic shadow. My, how times have changed. In this, the first true Final Fantasy sequel, the lead characters have names and distinct personalities, like a manufactured pop group, you could say. Rikku, the fun loving mischievous teeny-bopper, Paine, the mean, moody and mysterious butt-kicker, and Yuna, the neutral balance between the two and the group’s natural field leader.
The beautifully realized world they are fighting to save, Spira, is given a new lease of life in that it is set in the calm, two years after the storm. Although a lot of the locales and towns are identical to that of Final Fantasy X, there is a distinctly different, almost relaxed atmosphere in the air as you travel from place to place, searching for the memory of Tidus. I say relaxed, as for most of Final Fantasy X, the sinister Seymour posed a very real and unnerving threat.
The advantages of it being a true sequel over a brand new stand-alone become clear when you visit Wakka, whose wife is expecting soon and he’s unsure of how to be a good father since he never knew his own parents, and isn’t sure he wants to find out, because his ideal image of them might be shattered if he were to learn the truth. This is some undeniably deep stuff, enriched by the fact you knew this guy from the first game, and you never got to really see this side of him. If only all sequels dealt with maturity and responsibility like this rather than just thrusting more and more over the top enemies or spells upon you.
My favourite aspect of Final Fantasy X-2 is undoubtedly the new Garment-Grid and Dress-Sphere system. It’s the obvious and ultimate culmination of playing “Dress-Up” games when you were a kid. Seventeen different Dress-Spheres, each one original and valid, with the ability to switch between spheres mid-battle meaning you have more options than ever before at your disposal. Need to inflict more damage? Slap on the Warrior outfit and raise some merry hell. Team-mates need healing? Switch to White Mage and neutralize that poison. Want to keep your distance? Use the Gunner Outfit’s button bashing abilities to keep foes at bay.
The art direction also blossoms because of the Dress-Sphere system; each sphere gives the girl a general appearance, which is offset by their own personal style, making for some truly unique fashions. Highlights include the usually timid Yuna as a raging Berserker, the rugged Paine dressed up in the very revealing Lady Luck outfit, the bouncy and light-hearted Rikku looking irresistibly dominant in the Dark Knight uniform, and not forgetting the honourable leader looking simply divine as a Moogle! Overall, it’s a system that is just too fun to hate it for its simplicity.
Sadly, the only thing that lets this title down is the less than grand musical score and the stoic voice acting. Final Fantasy is renowned for its sweeping, all-consuming orchestral melodies, yet they just don’t seem as prominent in this title. A little under whelming, a tad disappointing, and definitely a schizophrenic affair, the music wants to be quirky and original, but emulating cheesy J-Pop with strings and keys just doesn’t work and detracts immensely from the atmosphere. I got the impression that if Square Enix actually put their balls on the line and went with “Girl Power” J-Pop, it would have worked. The voice acting also slaps you around the face and forcibly removes any believability from the characters voices. Unexcited by their situations and environments, the girls half-heartedly ream off the words written in front of them.
I’d recommend this fully if you played and enjoyed Final Fantasy X, seeing the characters you met from X in a totally new light was surprising and entertaining, and dealt with not only very maturely by Square Enix, but also at times with it’s tongue wedged firmly in its cheek. Don’t be put off by its “girly” image, the sheer amount of style, substance and depth will keep you up for as many hours as you need to finish it.
Just make sure you catch the steamy communal bath scene side quest. I kid you not. [7]
And I’ve not played a Final Fantasy since then. True story.
Posting the old reviews is going well, and I almost shed a tear when I read the lovely comment Stellar left on the PSU: Final Hurrah post. All this old stuff is making me quite nostalgic, I’m going back in time, further and further.
Facebook can be quite the spying tool if used correctly. I’ve been checking out old friends, seeing how they’ve grown up. Most of them have kids now. I’ve been checking out old flames and past infatuations, seeing how much they’ve changed, seeing how they’ve lost that sparkle in their eyes that fuelled my desire for them. And they’ve mostly got fat. Hey, I’ve put on weight since then too, so I don’t mean that as an insult. Honest.
Continue reading Spying on people via Facebook
Blah, blah, review, blah, blah, Poopgang, blah, blah, 2005. You know the drill.
 Format – PS2
Developer – Taito/Red Entertainment
Publisher – 505 Gamestreet
Release – February 2005
 Real-life vs digital representation. Click to enlarge At first you would be forgiven for thinking this was a straight forward button basher, as a simple 12 hit combo can be strung together with repeated presses of the standard attack button. In addition to this basic combo attack, you can perform a spinning attack with the triangle button that will prove immensely helpful if/when you are surrounded by enemies. Furthermore, a tap of triangle at any point during your basic combo will interrupt its normal flow and allow you to branch off with multiple options. Once you’ve done the combo interrupt, hitting triangle again will cause you to integrate the spinning slash move into the combo; hitting square will uppercut your enemy high into the air allowing you to continue to juggle him and score additional hits; and hitting the jump button will add a rapid flying kick to the end of the combination.
Though the less skilled bread and butter enemies you encounter on your travels will accept your punishment without too much of a grumble, the powerful ones (especially bosses) take exception to your attempts to carve them up with two big swords. When you or an enemy block an attack, the game switches into a back and forth parrying mode in which the timing of your button presses determines who gains the upper hand, represented by colored flashes that are incorporated well into the frantic, frenetic flow of the action. If your timing is accurate enough, you’ll be able to beat back your opponent and eventually unleash the combo of your choice. But be careful, it is based on timing, not button bashing, and Lau can only afford so many misses before he is vulnerable to a lengthy combo attack himself. The way the camera angle switches back and forth during these one-on-one fights is extremely fast paced and pretty dramatic to watch.
I mentioned Lau’s agility earlier, and compared to other staples of the genre, he measures up favourably. Where Shinobi’s Hotsuma can only grip a wall, Lau can grip and climb. Where Raikou of Otogi fame can dash through the air, Lau can do the same; only control his direction with more conviction. Where the Prince of Persia can run across a wall, Lau can disregard gravity and momentum and propel himself upwards, downwards, whichever way he pleases. While Dante (Devil May Cry) is confined to three or four swipes with his sword, Lau can utilize his weaponry for upwards of 15 hits in a single, continuous combination attack. Whereas Kunoichi, known as Nightshade in the UK, stalled and spat out magic to a full stop, Lau works it into his extravagant combination attacks. His Gungrave-esque stylish posing mid-battle and moody silence during cut-scenes further strengthen his unique character. Lau’s character model is finely detailed and richly ornamented; his colourful costume bears a variety of intricate streamers and decorations that flap around convincingly while fighting.
There’s an in-game combo counter that will keep track of the number of hits you’ve consecutively strung together; this reviewer reached a high 200, but has seen evidence of a count nearing four figures. Higher difficulty levels will decrease the games tolerance for sloppy timing; on the hardest difficulty, you may have a hell of a time keeping up in a duel with some of the more powerful, stubborn characters. As is de rigueur, you’ll also be ranked at the end of a level based on many factors including the style of your sword-play, level completion time, number of items picked up, and then assigned an overall score per stage. Like in many recent action games, the better you perform, the more you’ll be able to increase the essential aspects of your character, including the length of your health bar, magic bar, magic skill level and attack/defence strength.
 A SCREENSHOT OF ACTUAL GAMEPLAY This isn’t the longest of games. With only 8 levels, first consisting of 4 sub-sections, rising proportionally to 16 later on, it was easily be clocked in under 10 hours, and I did each mission twice to fully power up Lau’s abilities. Bujingai is very much focused on the core combat mechanics, or more specifically, the duels, and the players who latch onto and understand the process will be the ones who are really into honing their abilities and seeing their performance dramatically improve as they master a game. Ideal for anyone who is awaiting the next instalment of Devil May Cry, but for everyone else, it’ll be just another button basher. [7]
Those were all the original screenshots I used in the original review, too.
I think this was also for some kind of Gamesradar Games Guru competition.
The Street Fighter saga may have gone on and on, but in my mind, Street Fighter Alpha 2 was the zenith, the epitome, the finest one on one versus fighting game in history. Capcom stuck to its “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” strategy, and merely fine-tuned the existing Alpha engine to near perfection, as well as adding new characters and increased turbo options into the mix. Remember, the all-new Street Fighter 3 was already in development deep within the company’s creative annex at the time of SFA2’s release.
The most impressive aspect of SFA2 is the balancing of the different characters skills. Even when using the sloth-like but mighty Zangief, you feel you have a chance against the nimble Sakura (the comedy version of Ryu, if I’m being cruel). It must have been hard enough for Capcom to balance the original eight fighters in the ground-breaking Street Fighter 2, let alone balance the near twenty of this version.
As a Capcom fanboy, it was nice to see Rolento join the cast alongside fellow Final Fighters Guy and Sodom. While it was slightly disappointing not to see any truly new characters, the fact I knew the new cast members’ faces and I had an idea of what their general skill sets were made them fit in and not seem like random interlopers, a fate R-Mika could not avoid in the sequel, Street Fighter Alpha 3.
Capcom’s artists didn’t just draw new characters, they also fashioned a whole new set of backgrounds. In a rush to get the original Street Fighter Alpha to market, the backdrops were clearly hastily cobbled together, looked disgusting, and were instantly forgettable. Needless to say, SFA2 improved on them immeasurably, not only from an artistic viewpoint, but also from a technical angle. Some of the parallax effects were, for the time, mind-blowing. And they were anything but forgettable; Birdie’s manky public toilet anyone?
The attention to detail in the gameplay is as polished as ever; get together with another experienced player who can perform all the special and super moves, and knows exactly when to pull them out of the hat, and you can expect fast-paced, evenly matched and exciting games, often ending with fireworks… or exploding kaleidoscopic backgrounds at the very least. Sadly, the opposite is true when playing against the scourge of Versus Fighting Game aficionados, the ‘Button Basher’. As with any other game, the match quickly goes from a duel of wits, cunning and skill, to a frenzy of name-calling, silly-faces and distractions as they land a 5 hit combo totally by fluke.
In retrospect, I don’t think I ever truly appreciated Capcom’s work of genius at the time. It is only in recent years upon booting up a second hand PSone version that, after the disappointing mish-mash of SFA3 and the dull and forgettable characters of Street Fighter 3, I have come to appreciate that it was after all: the Fighters Destiny.
Ooh, Street Fighter III was a “disappointing mish-mash”! I didn’t really play it properly until it was released on the Xbox to be fair – but nevertheless, Street Fighter Alpha 2 still remains my favourite. And two mentions in two articles for those accursed casual gamers! I’m still hating on the button bashers to this day, have no fear – only this time I can beat them online with Dan in Street Fighter IV.
I’m not entirely sure why I wrote this, it was probably for one of DML’s bi-weekly Great Gamesradar Games Guru competitions. Still, I found it on my PC and it’s from that era, so here it is.
A Review of Versus Fighting Game Evolution ~ Something Different
Traditionally at home in the arcades, Beat ‘em Ups have always been a niche affair. From Yie Ar Kung-Fu, through the heady days of Street Fighter II: Black Belt Edition right up to Soul Calibur 3, finding a friend or relative to play against on one of these games who don’t rely on the button bashing technique is an altogether rare occurrence. Challenging someone in an arcade was an acceptable practise, but unless you enjoyed taking your life in your hands, it was best to wait your turn; some of the boys down the arcade looked very rough.
This increase in sheer console power has arguably resulted in more emotive, recognisable and expressive characters, as hand-drawn sprites were replaced with versatile 3 dimensional models; but has this detracted from the core mechanics of the fighting system? In most 3 dimensional one on one fighting videogames the two planes of movement from 2D fighters – moving forward/back and jumping – has simply been replaced with moving forward/back and circling around your opponent.
If you took a walk through the Versus Fighting Games time-honoured home nowadays, you’d be forgiven for thinking the genre had one foot in the grave, with a solitary Virtua Fighter 4 machine gathering dust in a darkened corner. But, like most things, the VFG has moved on and is enjoying a new lease of life over the internet. It has never been easier to find that special someone who appreciates the difference between Ken and Ryu and will not bash those attack buttons riotously, not to mention that you are in no actual physical danger.
I love the VFG.
For the first and second quarters of 2005, I quite possibly overstretched myself and made the charts too unwieldy to continue. As well as PS2, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance, PC and Xbox games, I also included several retro consoles such as the Sega Saturn and the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Here are the bloated results.
Continue reading Essential Charts Q1/Q2 2005
For the third and fourth quarters of 2004, the charts were expanded to contain the top 20 “Essential” games for each format. Listening to what the users of Gamesradar wanted, I also covered PC games and the top 10 online console games this time around. Here are the results.
Continue reading Essential Charts Q3/Q4 2004
Back in 2004/5, I ran this thing called The Essential Charts on Gamesradar. The jist is this: Everyone picks their five favourite games and can either rank them from 1 to 5 (the game placed first gets five points, the game placed second gets four points and so on), or just have 5 games in no particular order, each scoring 3 points. I would then compile the scores and we’d have the top 15 “Essential” games for that format.
Continue reading Essential Charts Q1/Q2 2004
So, I was delving into the memory banks of the computer, and dragged these bad boys out. I think they were taken with a phone camera – at least I hope they were, because they are such bad quality!
Continue reading Random old pictures of my games collection
Wow yeah, I totally forgot I wrote these.
Jem ~ Finally Woken
 If you lived in America, you’d have heard of Cardiff-born Jemma Griffiths, aka Jem. In a Dido-esque reversal of convention, the 29 year old British singer is already a huge star in the United States, yet a relative unknown in her native land. You may have heard the advert on TV, the one where Jo Whiley sings Jems praises, exclaiming that she’s the hottest new star around. Believe her.
Reminiscent of Frou Frou, Dido, Beth Orton, Rachael Yamagata and Butterfly Boucher, Jem’s sullen and beautiful voice cuts a swathe through any preconceptions you have upon hearing the first track on the album. The eclectic mix of dramatic strings, acoustic guitars and electronic beats is most notable in the track “24″, where the lonely strumming meanders into heavy theatrical instrumentation, then all of a sudden jumps right into sharp electric strings.
There isn’t really a bad song on the album, each is suitably different, yet has that trademark experimental Jem sound. Not bad considering she does the tunes and the words. Melancholic yet angelic, “Finally Woken” is a relaxed journey through a chilled-out forest, perfect for listening to while preparing for a romantic evening indoors. Not quite a masterpiece, but she’s getting there.
You can tell she grew up with Adam (Rez) Freeland.
Nine out of Ten
Girls Aloud ~ What Will The Neighbours Say?
 These five young girls will certainly never be credible artistes. They shot to fame on what is little more than a glorified Talent Show/Popularity Contest, with their chart positions falling as quickly as the memory of Popstars: The Rivals. They only co-wrote 5 of the 14 tracks on offer, and mime at live events regularly. Yet, this album demands a place in history as a decidedly relevant sign of the “Corporate Marketing” times.
The track list has clearly been manipulated by the “Guys in the Boardroom”, all the singles have been shunted to the front in chronological order. By no means a bad thing, you’ll find yourself singing along to the catchy, electronic-’50′s vibe of “The Show”, jigging along to the unstoppable juggernaut that is “Love Machine”, and rocking out to “Wake Me Up”, performing the air guitar motions in front of the mirror.
But then you get to the stuff you’ve never heard before, and you find yourself drifting off. It quickly descends into bland, nondescript, whiny ballads and cheese tracks. If only they had mixed up the track listing a bit, jumbled the old and new, popped “Love Machine” between the similar sounding mess of “Real Life” and “Here We Go” to keep the excitement up. There is no way on Earth I could recommend the second half of this album to anyone.
What Will The Neighbours Say? They’ll be too busy dancing to the first half to care, but once Track 6 hits, they’ll be screaming “Turn that average sized slice of generic rubbish down”.
Four out of Ten
Modest Mouse ~ Good News For People Who Like Bad News
 Energy, vitality, exuberance, anything but modesty. Shaking off the bleak, tortured robes of old, Modest Mouse confidently stroll through the halls of commercial viability with this relative departure from their normal sound. Rightly or wrongly, they seem to be fishing with a more mainstream hook, without losing any of their artistic integrity. From the blaring, raucous horns of “Intro”, to the so very nearly danceable beats of “The View”, this change from the depths of indie to the dizzy heights of modern rock is so very beneficial to Modest Mouse.
“Bukowski” sticks out as an immediate favourite, with it’s unique carnival-esque echoes rushing through you. Much can also be said about the lead singers rise in confidence towards his own voice, being able to go from ambling, light and melodic, to explosive, passionate, almost threatening, but always reflecting the meaning of the words in his tone. With style and humour, Modest Mouse pull off this experimental new sound admirably.
A synthesiser and a banjo? My, how very eclectic.
Eight out of Ten
Tori Amos ~ The Beekeeper
 It’d be easy to dismiss this as yet another concept album from Tori Amos, but it’s not so. The tracks on offer are strong in technical merit, and the story-lines interwoven throughout the album are written and sang with immense passion. The themes that Tori covers with intelligence and maturity include personal and romantic relationships, morality, myths and legends, the role of femininity in todays society, even the Christian Patriarchy. She has clearly grown up and learnt a lot, this album is more polished and accomplished than any of her previous efforts.
Highlights include a stunning duet with Damien Rice on the track “The Power of Orange Knickers”, their voices surprisingly complimenting each other, and the title track, The “Beekeeper” is heart wrenching as Amos confronts the fear of her Mothers mortality. “Parasol” is a musical triumph, it is so laced with anger and regret, and is balanced on a typical personal conflict regarding whether it’s good to let the bad feelings out, or keep them bottled up.
It is a glimpse into her soul, but that can be a double-edged sword. For those of us who know the history, we will be in on the in-jokes. For those that don’t, they’ll probably see it as yet another middle-aged female pop artist wailing about personal tragedies. The genre is hard to pin down, also, as the mix of styles and pace feel as though both pop and folk are and pulling in opposite directions.
One strictly for the fans, but it is yet another Tori Amos album that encapsulates her heart and soul with a beautiful depth and meaning.
Seven out of Ten
I don’t write reviews anymore. Especially not music ones. You can see why.
It’s time for me to reveal my favourite book of all time!
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
My Dad used to read this to me at bed-times when I was, I guess, about 8, that was the first time I heard the story. The first time I read it myself, I was about 16, but I didn’t finish it. I got up to the bit where Bilbo and Gollum challenge each other with riddles, he did such an awesome Gollum voice. No offence to Andy Serkis, but my Father’s version of Gollum’s voice was far superior. The reason for me only reading up to that point is because by that time my Dad had left to go off with another woman, and it brought back memories of him doting on me that really hurt. Why did he have to leave? Why couldn’t things go on like that forever?
I read it again just before Jane and I got together, about ten years ago, and that time I manned up and just read it – there was so much I had forgotten, and so much that my Father’s reading betrayed! It’s all about Bilbo, a quiet, ordinary Hobbit, who likes nothing more than not going on adventures – and his adventurous, emotional journey of self-discovery. It’s marvellous how different he seems at the end of the book compared to the beginning. When he kills the spider all by himself, without the dwarves, without the wizard, without any help from anyone, is a real turning point. And this made me realise… My Dad left because people change, circumstances change, nothing ever remains the same.
The way Tolkien tells the story (he originally wrote it for his children), it made a good bed-time story – but reading it yourself, well, you pick up a lot more inflections, you see the brackets, you love the reassuring, matter-of-fact voice of Tolkien coming through occasionally. When Gollum realises that he has lost his “Birthday present”, then slowly begins to realise the answer to Bilbo’s final “riddle”, the emotions and feelings pour out of the pages, it’s absolutely superb stuff.
I’m currently re-reading it again at the moment – it still seems as fresh and exciting as it ever did.
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With reference to the title, later this week it’s actually my 5th year anniversary of blogging. I know I missed a fair old chunk in the middle there, but still, five years ago I had the idea for the Bloggers section on Poopgang and started putting my thoughts onto the internet. To celebrate this I thought I’d trawl back through my archives and post stuff like reviews and pictures that originated form that period to let you guys get a feel for what the vibe was back then.
Check this out:
Kinda rubbish, but hey, that’s totally how I roll. All the stuff I post will have that image at the top, and it’ll be using the tag “5 years”.
Having two “events” (I use that term very loosely) so close together may be a bit of a silly thing to do, but hey, I’m a victim of timing, it’s not intentional.
More trouble in The Big House? You bet.
Continue reading Going back in time
Northern Lights
Dæmons. The manifestation of a soul outside of a persons body. It’s such an imaginative, un-normal idea, and I love how in the parallel universe this is set, it is totally unimaginative and thoroughly normal. Lyra has to be my favourite heroine of all time. Feisty, aggressive, brave and very much a free-spirit, her unwitting betrayal of her friend Roger also shows she has a softer side as she vows to rescue him. A race of Armoured Bears! Who would’ve thought it? Opposable thumbs and all, such wonder. Much is left unexplained in this first book (Lord Asriel’s motives, Mrs Coulter’s motives, what is Dust?), which rather than leave you cold, it only makes the desire to read the second book grow inside you.
The Subtle Knife
This book introduces Will, who is probably my second favourite hero of all time (just behind Mr. Baggins). It also introduces the Subtle Knife – it’s blade is so keen it can cut through the layers between dimensions – yet another of the concepts that makes this trilogy so unique and compelling. To help us keep track of which universe we are in, there are small images in the corners of the pages – I thought this was a touch of genius. This book, like the first, was full of mystery, piling up the doubt over who the good guys and bad guys actually were – Lord Asriel wants to kill God, but isn’t “God” a good guy? Then is Mrs Coulter, working for the Church, on the side of God, and goodness? I love how our hero’s fates were so intertwined and the similarities they shared. I couldn’t help but feel I was peering in through a private window into their blossoming relationship as they travelled together, falling slowly into love with one another without realising it.
The Amber Spyglass
Although separated for the most part of this book from the “main story”, I loved Mary Malone and her journey through the strange world of the animals who drove on wheels. Her journey in discovering and understanding Dust was just as enthralling as the discovery of Lyra’s “death” and their journey through the underworld. All the while, Mary was being chased by an agent of the Church who met a totally unspectacular end without her ever realising he was there – that was another highlight. The trilogy culminates in a massive war between good and evil, which was portrayed with all the chaos and confusion of how I would imagine a real war being. I must admit, I was expecting a massive twist. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting this twist to be, but that it never came did not matter. The ending of this trilogy was entirely satisfying, but incredibly sad. That Lyra and Will have to spend the rest of their lives apart is heart-wrenching, but very brave – they sacrifice their relationship so that everyone in every other dimension are spared the Spectres.
This series has it all. Good versus Evil, action, adventure, mystery and magic. It tackles huge themes, asks big questions, challenges what you believe in and there’s a prophecy about the main character – a must in any self-respecting epic. Check them out.
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