Wasprider's Random Reviews

[Wasprider]

Totally Spies: Season 5

TL;DR: The spies graduate and go to college. There they do lots of the typical college stuff, trying to live in a dorm, sign up for classes, try to attend classes, get their "first" jobs, and deal with their standard shenanigans. At this point, I regard the show as a slice of life interrupted once per episode by being WOOPHed, getting restrained some how, and then winning the day. I am still enjoying this show, but it's probably running out of slack.

I still like this. I'm impressed that they graduated them from high school after four seasons. Then they went to Mali. U., which seems to be a pastiche of UC Santa Barbara.

They have to deal with signing up for classes, and then getting into a dorm and trying to live there. Somehow Mandy and her blonde cousin managed to get admitted to the same university.

The stuff proceeds as expected, though this time a lot of the shenanigans happen or or just off campus.

They do show how dorm living could be annoying only to quickly circumvent it by giving the girls a penthouse suite for the three of them on top of the dorm.

Them having to get a job at the college coffee bar and put up with the various pressures was actually interesting. It puts them in a very different dynamic, answering to a boss who's right there and asking for good customer service (which isn't a strength).

There's also a surprisingly touching attempted clumsy date between Alex and the owner?/manager? at the bar. That wouldn't be kosher, but the actual disaster of a date, and the attempts to impress are pathetic but written with sympathy.

It's obvious that some of the show writers have been to college, and know enough to poke tongue in cheek fun at the foibles of going to college.

 

[Wasprider]

The Towers of the Sunset by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

TL;DR: This taught me a lot about what I can and cannot write. So this review may not be useful for you. That said, it's a prequel to the first book in the Saga of Recluce, and seems to define big parts of the setting for several of the following books. This is a story of forced closeness and falling in love, and fighting against all odds with lots of power to clear the way to survive. It's well done, in a style that is no longer current. It is also a story about love found in strange circumstances. If you've read older fantasy, this might be worth looking at the synopsis and reviews.

Summary:

The White wizards (Whites from here on in) of Fairhaven are plotting to take over and sideline the Black wizards (Blacks from here on in). The Whites are chaos wizards and Blacks are order wizards. And chaos excels at destruction and immediate effects. This is from the first story as well.

They manipulate a magical singer to sleep with the (female) leader of the West Wind Guards. These women (and exclusively women) run mercenaries over the whole continent and have maintained a balance of power by being somewhat inaccessible and able to go to the border of almost all the other countries. Think Swiss pikemen.

The resulting boy, Creslin, is sent down to an arranged marriage down in the plains. The first trip is weird, he winds up meeting the ruler of the place he's supposed to marry into and establishes that even though he's sheltered, he's got a sharp tongue and the ability to back it up with a blade. Someone steals his blood and does something with it.

Once he makes it back home he's told that the deal has been finalized. He disagrees and escapes his escort. He makes it down and wanders into Fairhaven with a caravan, where he finds out that singing is licensed because music is too much order for the Whites. He also establishes that he can control the wind.

The Whites actually find him, knock him out and put him on road construction duty, which is effectively a death sentence. While he's on road duty, a couple of healing Blacks get him recovered enough to break free.

He runs off and gets to the court of his betrothed, Megaera, killing a lot of White guards and a couple of White wizards on the way. He finds out Megaera is a gray mage who has been bound in iron and blood to him (remember the blood drawn before). She can read his thoughts and feel what he feels.

Somehow he manages to be appointed co-regent of a largely empty island controlled by the ruler of his betrothed. They make it there, and he establishes that he can control weather all the way up to storms. He uses the storms to sink White aligned ships chasing him.

They land and find a very poor area. They have some initial budget coming in from their sovereign, but the Whites keep attacking him and they make a move to remove his trade routes.

They then use the altered weather to blame him for causing droughts and fires (which it turns out the Whites are setting themselves) to attack him in propaganda. This winds up restricting his options further.

In the meantime he's getting on with his bound betrothed like a house on fire. She resents that she never had a choice to not know about him. That she's in a bad position because of him. He lusts for her and she throws that in his face as often as possible. He does his best to give her space and not think of her that way.

The Whites blow up the leader of the West Wind Guards and effectively start eliminating all opposition they can find. This causes an extra surge of refugees to Recluse.

Indeed that's the background plot. The Whites are attempting to push Recluse past what it can effectively support, pushing it into chaos and societal breakdown. And he's forced to work hard just to keep up, and with the trade embargo in place, he is forced to resort to things close to smuggling and extortion to gain enough supplies while building up infrastructure.

He modifies the weather permanently to leave Recluse with enough water. Which is really scary.

Eventually they have sex someplace between the middle of the second half and the end, but it's written obtusely enough that I suspected but wasn't sure till ten chapters later when Megaera mentions nausea and the Black healer confirms that she's pregnant. This is a story about love found despite the crushing pressures of an arranged marriage and really cut throat politics.

The Whites mount a massive attack coercing and convincing other people to join. Creslin uses his magic till he blinds himself (not clear if it was permanent or not). By this point he can sort of sense things through his wife.

Discussing Writing:

This feels almost like in media res on the scale of books instead of chapters.

This story is written with lots of tiny chapters in a shift in style from the previous book in the series. Most of the scenes are set further apart as vignettes in a long life. Deliberately written that way to allow him to cover what feels like 10 years.

Large sections are written in close style with longer chapters. Mostly early on to establish the character and setting.

The writing of the sex is a bit obtuse to be suitable for 11-12 year olds. It's actually done quite well, and not as graphic as Anne McCaffrey did. (From what I hear, Anne McCaffrey is tame compared to the current YA writers targeting females.)

The way the extended time skip sections are done make me jealous. There's just enough emotional description along with a description of the surroundings and actions to make it work. It's short with the description clothing or people, as most of this kind of fantasy and sci-fi does.

Given that this was my jam, and what I chose to read back when, I've got these problems but worse. I wish I could write this well.

It's also pretty obvious that he wrote a timeline and outline for this epic/shared world long before he started on the first novel. I'm just in awe.

 

[Wasprider]

Totally Spies: Season 6

TL;DR: The satire became more pointed and less general. That made it good, but limited its appeal. It's much more of its time, and makes fun of smart phones and social media. I'm glad they did it, and I'm glad they only did one season.

This is a sillier season (yes, they managed it somehow).

The colors are more saturated. The OP changed. There are more poses. The eyes are larger and more anime. SD characters were used much more frequently. WOOPHing is now even more physically improbable and they lean harder on the fourth wall.

There are a lot of punny names, and they are on point. Most of them aren't mean spirited, and don't make me laugh at the characters, but rather at the pun. Stand outs are Feline Dion (Celine Dion), Jason Wiebler (Justin Bieber), Rad Smitt (Brad Pitt), etc..

They almost approach having the girls graduate to being individual spies, but they back off from that by the end of the episode.

Really, this series suffered from a criminal lack of merchandising. Heart shaped backpacks and "com powders" would have been great for little girls (in my head, I'm not a mom making purchasing decisions for a daughter). Cat suits might have been a harder sell, but that's what teenage fans are for.

 

[Wasprider]

Totally Spies: Movie

TL;DR: Only necessary to establish Alex's pet in season 6. Only watch this if you want more Totally Spies.

I watched this in the wrong order. I should have watched this before season 6.

That said, nothing important really happens. It is the origin story of the spies, and is only useful for canon compliance when writing fanfic.


The spies run into problems trying to balance life and spying, but since this is a prequel, they don't do anything with it except to mention it. Mandy is meaner. And frankly that's all the substance there is to it.

It uses the more saturated colors of season 6, and the basis of the new character designs.

Cute, but unnecessary. Enjoy it for more spies.

 

[Wasprider]

Kindle Unlimited

TL;DR: This is a trap as you grow older and get more selective. It's fine for comfort reading, but can ruin your overall reading experience.

Kindle Unlimited is an interesting idea. It drops the marginal price of trying a book to nothing and just charges you the subscription. However, like all successful subscription services, it should make bank on most people consuming a lot less than they actually pay for.

This means that unless you are a voracious reader of the Kindle Unlimited catalog, you are overpaying.

That brings us to the second problem, quality versus quantity. The quality of KU books is execrable. There are some truly excellent authors who are KU only (often in niche genres). There are lots of good authors, again in niche genres. But there is an incredible amount of utter crap, even if they do have more erotica for males. (There's a bunch for females as well, but written erotica for males has been a niche market, mostly served by various web forums and news groups of dubious provenance.)

In my reading life, I'm trying to optimize a combination of enjoyment and thought provocation over time spent. Money is a concern, but not necessarily the primary concern. My time is more valuable to me now. Being buried under recommendations for comfort reading is actually annoying. It's a buffet where the all the dessert is up front, but the really satisfying food is scattered on a back table.

I used to love the amazon feature for people who bought this also bought this, and that was a good way to browse for recommendations, especially when people actually paid for it. Kindle Unlimited has ruined those recommendations by recommending cheap stuff in many circumstances, when I'd prefer something better.

Is there a solution? Not really. Find a few reviewers who have reviewed a book you like, see if they can explain what they liked and why. If those reasons match up with yours, look at their other reviews and see if you can find something that is similar to that book and read that as well. Otherwise, you're looking at a slush pile (AIUI, an industry term for unreviewed works submitted for publication).

 

[Wasprider]

Jura Journey

This is an easy drinking lightly peated single malt scotch.

Not as fragrant as 7 Wood. Pretty much as described, with a long subtle tail. Vanilla sticks out, and there's a bunch of other flavors. You can see the label and try to pick them out, but for me there are very slightly floral and fruity notes along with some spices. But the spice notes are mostly informed by the smokiness of the peat combined with the floral notes.

Not too challenging, but not as flavorful as some other scotches.

 

[Wasprider]

Charles Krug Pinot Noir 2013 Carneros Napa Valley

This is a California Pinot Noir as opposed to an Oregon Pinot Noir or a French Pinot Noir. Which means it's far less robust than an Oregon Pinot Noir but more robust than a French Pinot Noir.

2013 was supposed to be a decent year for California (most of the West Coast of the US). I haven't tracked the vertical, so I can't compare it. That said, it's a good solid California Pinot Noir.

It's got the tannins and acidity of a Pinot Noir. I would say a good fruity nose for a pinot, with hints of berry. And stone fruit at the head fading to tannins in the tail. The tannins come off the tongue easily without leaving your tongue itching or dry (as the case often is with Oregon Pinot Noirs).

I enjoyed it.

But my palate for wine has been fading over the last few years, just for a lack of practice.

If you are going to develop a taste for alcohol, keep in mind that wine is the most expensive habit to develop. Whiskey, bourbon, beer, and even cognac (single bottles of which can cost over $3000) are cheaper. However, there are lots of decent mid and low cost wines which you can enjoy perfectly well, this is one of them.

 

[Wasprider]

Suntory Toki Whiskey

TL;DR: Straight down the middle whiskey with a mild sour note.

This is a basic and cheap whiskey by Suntory. Cheap in this case does not mean bad. Not many complicated notes, but easy drinking and not distracting.

Probably aimed at making a good whiskey sour, which seemed to be a popular drink in Japan. Not my favorite cocktail.

 

[Wasprider]

Basil Hayden's Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

TL;DR: Damn fine bourbon. Nothing too complex, it's a bourbon not a single malt. But it's a very good bourbon.

Plenty of rasp and spice on the tongue at the first taste, but it's not overwhelming. Fades into caramel and vanilla, and tails off with a bit of oak.