Mogworld
Greetings, Mogworld is a comedic novel from 2010 and was written by Ben ‘Yahtzee’ Croshaw. It is written in a first person narrative and is about an undead protagonist called Jim in the virtual world of Mogworld. Croshaw is a British-Australian video game journalist and author who is probably best known for his Zero Punctuation series on the gaming website, the Escapist. He has also been known to co-operate on other projects with ex-Escapist members such as fellow game reviewer Jim Sterling before the former’s departure from the site. Mogworld is Ben’s first novel and was published by Dark Horse Books. He published another novel in 2012 called Jam which is a loosely related book to his original. I have yet to read Jam but the premise sounds even more comical and absurd than that of Mogworld’s.
The story begins with a student, Jim, who is studying sorcery at a magical school in the fictitious land of Mogworld. The school is attacked by a neighbouring army and Jim is one of the first pupils to be killed during the invasion. The main story takes place some decades later when Jim became a decomposing corpse and is awakened during an earthquake. He and other undead, run to the surface as they flee their sinking crypts. When they reach the land, the zombie masses discover that a necromancer by the name of Deadgrave had been responsible for waking them and was the cause of the earthquake. After a quick conversation Deadgrave manages to convince his undead legions to become his employees and defend his castle from intruders and adventurers. While Jim had tried to escape his existence via suicide, he realises he is unable to die and keeps getting patched up by fellow undead employee Meryl after his failed suicide attempts. Meryl soon obsesses over Jim when she learns that he used to belong to her own nation before it had been annexed by their neighbours.
While Jim eventually accepts that he is immortal and is forced to live in his rotting body, he also embraces his job as a tormentor of adventures that break into Deadgrave’s liar. Jim gets a sense of Déjà vu during one raid in which he captures an incompetent adventure by the name of Slippery John. He soon realizes that he has killed the adventurer several times beforehand and learns that the whole world had become immortal due to an event known as the Infusion. While he talks to John, the entire fortress begins to fall under attack. Jim and Meryl, alongside an undead priest named Thaddeus, manage to escape in time to witness the compound as well as its ruler, Deadgrave, be deleted by mysterious angel-like creatures. The three manage to escape their extermination by the beings, nicknamed ‘Deleters’, while the zombie hordes are vanquished. During the moment of terror, Jim forgets that he actually wanted to be killed and so begins a quest with the other two protagonists to find the Deleters in order to finally get himself removed from existence.
I enjoyed this book overall although I did find it a bit difficult to get into at first. The humour works quite well on page, with most of it coming from Thaddeus in my opinion, but it doesn’t come across as effectively as his comedic style in Zero Punctuation. It proves to be a unique experience with a variety of colourful characters and an original plot set in a massively multiplayer online game. I also intend to read Yahtzee’s second novel at some point in the near future.
Plot=7/10
Characters=7/10
Wording=7/10
Overall=7/10
Quote of the Day
And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept...for there were no more worlds to conquer. Benefits of a classical education.
Hans Gruber
Die Hard
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Greetings, Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens is a 2015 film and is the first in the series to be released after Disney purchased Lucasfilm from George Lucas in 2012. The seventh movie leads the Star Wars resurgence, since the damaging reputation of the prequels, as several spin offs and the rest of the new trilogy will follow suit in the coming years. It reunites fans with some of their favourite characters like Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, C3-PO and R2-D2 after the fall of the Empire as well introducing several new characters. As such, many of the old cast including Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew and Antony Daniels reprise their old roles while new comers, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Adam Driver introduce original characters to the iconic series. John Williams also makes his return, delivering a score that is not as memorable as his original soundtrack but still proves to be a good addition to the film.
The story takes place thirty years after the destruction of the Death Star and a new sinister organization has risen after the death of Palatine and Darth Vader. The First Order, remnants of the Galactic Empire, attempts to hunt down and exterminate the last of the Jedi. Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi Knight, has disappeared without a trace and is also being sought by Leia and the resistance in order to aid them in their fight against the First Order. Poe Dameron, a skilled resistance pilot, meets a village elder on the planet of Jakku and receives a map that will lead to Skywalker but the First order also arrives at the same time. Dameron has enough time to hide the map in his droid called BB-8 before Kylo Ren, a leading figure in the First Order captures Poe and orders the villagers to be massacred. One soldier who doesn’t partake in the slaughter is FN-2187, a storm trooper who is visibly distressed at the sight and his defiance is noticed by Kylo and Captain Phasma. BB-8 eventually crosses paths with a scavenger by the name of Rey, one of the main characters in the film.
Back on Ren’s star destroyer, FN decides to break Poe out of Ren’s clutches as he no longer wants to fight alongside the First Order. He manages to free Dameron and the two escape by stealing a TIE fighter while being shot at. Their brief conversation in which Poe gives FN the nickname of Finn is cut short when the damaged TIE fighter crashes into Jakku. Finn wakes up to find the TIE fighter is swallowed by sinking sand and cannot find Poe anywhere. After taking Dameron’s jacket to disguise himself, Finn then travels the desert until he finds Rey and BB-8 in a nearby village. BB-8 recognizes the jacket and alerts Rey about it. Finn doesn’t have enough time to explain how he got the jacket as the First Order begin attacking them. The three then escape by stealing the Millennium Falcon and they manage to evade capture but are soon abducted by a bigger vessel in space. At this moment, it is revealed that both Han Solo and Chewbacca had been piloting the ship and make their return to their old vessel.
While the film was heavily influenced by A New Hope and features many of the same storylines, I still really enjoyed it. I felt that the new characters paled in comparison to the older generation and that some like Captain Phasma or Poe served as more of a plot device than an actual character. Despite this, I believe that Episode 7 was a big improvement on the prequels and had genuinely comedic moments as well as more simplistic but powerful fight scenes than the previous instalments. Overall, I look forward to what the new films will bring and how they will expand upon many of the characters.
Plot=7/10
Characters=8/10
Special Effects=9/10
Overall=9/10
Quote of the Day
Ashes to ashes, funk to funky
We know Major Tom's a junkie
Strung out in heaven's high
Hitting an all-time low.
David Bowie
Ashes to Ashes
Happy New Year: 2015 Review
Greetings, this is the last blog update of 2015 and as usual I will be awarding my favourite titles from various mediums with my personal ‘game/book/television show/film of the year award’. Like previous years, the medium doesn’t have to be created or released in 2015 but I have to have played, read, watched or otherwise experienced them during this year.
Television show of the year: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Unlike previous years I didn’t review a single television series on my blog in 2015. As a result I had to select something that I haven’t previously referenced in relation to the blog and so I picked Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Brotherhood is an anime adaptation of the manga and unlike the original anime from 2003, Brotherhood is meant to be a more faithful account of the source material. It is set in the fictional nation of Amestris, in a world where alchemy is able to transform objects under the guidance of a knowledgeable alchemist. Two boys by the name of Edward and Alphonse Elric decide to use their alchemic skills to bring their dead mother back to life through human transmutation. The attempt is a failure, causing Ed to lose a leg and Al his body in the process. Edward manages to bond his brother’s soul to a suit of armour in exchange for his own right arm. After the event, the oldest brother receives a robotic arm and leg from his childhood friend as well as a skilled engineer, Winry. Edward then joins the State military as an alchemist under the direction of Colonel Roy Mustang. The two Elric brothers set out on a quest to return to their own original bodies that they had lost in the transmutation ordeal. The show is an entertaining watch, full of original, fun characters and has an incredible score as well which really adds to the overall atmosphere.
Game of the Year: The Walking Dead Season Two
The second season of the Walking Dead is following in the steps of the original series as it was also awarded the game of the year in 2014. I have grown fond of Telltale’s titles and the Walking Dead franchise is one of my favourites of their works. The player is reunited with an older but still lovable Clementine after the death of Lee and the various fates that befell the original cast. Shortly after Omid is killed off in the introduction, Clementine and Christa are attacked by a band of scavengers which leads to Clementine being separated. The isolated girl, now the controllable protagonist, wonders through the area on the lookout for Christa but is injured by a hungry and aggressive dog. A weary Clementine is found by two survivors named Pete and Luke. Clementine must convince them that she wasn’t bit by a zombie to receive the medical attention she requires and to join the community in the cabin.
Book of the year: Lonesome Dove
Lonesome Dove is a book written by Larry McMurtry and was published in 1985. While it is the first novel to be written chronologically, it is actually the third book in the series. I really enjoyed the first three and am hoping that the fourth story, the streets of Laredo, will keep up the high standard in the conclusive arc. Lonesome Dove follows the adventures of retired Texas Rangers Woodrow Call and Augustus McCrae. The story has several strains that keep intermingling as different characters continually cross each other’s paths but it mainly follows the journey of McCrae and Call as they, along with several other characters, drive cattle from Lonesome Dove in Texas to Montana.
Film of the year: Jurassic World
Jurassic World was released in 2015 and serves as the fourth movie in the series. It is easily my second favourite out of the lot, just behind the original 1993 hit. It stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard alongside others including some who were reprising their characters from Jurassic Park. Jurassic World is set two decades after the events of the first movie in which a new park has successfully been opened on Isla Nublar. However, customers are growing bored of the sights which then prompts the Masrani Global Corporation to create a new genetically modified dinosaur. As usual, the security system of the park proves to be unable to prevent a dinosaur break out and it is up to Owen Grady as well as his four trained velociraptors to save the day. I look forward to the sequel which is planned to be released in 2018.
That is it for this year’s blog entries. I hope you have enjoyed 2015 as much as I have. I believe that 2016 will prove to be an even better year in which I will return in with my review of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Have a happy New Year!
Quote of the Day
Hey. Did I ever tell you about the time when I wooed the beautiful Princess of Saturn?
Cornelius Barrow
Frontier Planet: Winter Tales
Merry Christmas 2015!
Greetings, this is a quick update is to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year as per my tradition on this blog. I should point out that I had trouble finding the time to update to the blog this month as I was writing the Misadventures of Murdoch and McKenzie. Nonetheless, I have posted a review of the comedic mockumentary ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ a few days ago in order to write at least two blog updates per month.
In Write Wise related news, I am glad that you enjoyed my latest entry and I am hoping to release a few new stories in the upcoming year of 2016. I plan to continue the Scoundrel Squad with a sequel at some point in the next year as well as returning to the Guardian series. 2015 has been the only year for the series to be absent from Write Wises site since I wrote the first Guardian story in 2012. I am aware that because it is a long running series that it has several issues such as having to remind the audience what had happened previously and to keep the reader informed as to what motivates certain characters. It is for this reason that I always release Guardian entries in pairs of two. I’m hoping to write sequels or prequels to some of my previous standalone entries such as Cogworld or the Death and Life of Ellen Smith in the future as well. One genre I haven’t touched on yet is fantasy. I would like to write one when I am ready and available to do so.
The next update on this blog will be the final update of 2015. As with previous years it will be a roundup of entertainment from titles that I have reviewed and experienced this year but were not necessarily released in 2015. As I have not written a review for a television series this year, I will have to pick one that I have watched but haven’t gotten around to reviewing. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens will not be consider for the best film of the year as I have not reviewed it yet but aim to do so as the first update of 2016. I believe that 2015 was a good year overall, in which I had plenty of new experiences that I have enjoyed, met new people, left my life as a student at Queen’s University and entered the world of work. I hope you have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Quote of the Day
Merry Christmas chaps.
Winston Jepson
Cogworld
What We Do in the Shadows
Greetings, What we do in the Shadows is a comedic mockumentary film from New Zealand that was released in early 2014. It was directed by Jemaine Clement, best known for his role in Flight of the Conchords, and fellow New Zealander Taika Waitti. The cast is relatively unknown but consists of 5 main roles, the majority of which are vampires or other supernatural creatures such as werewolves and zombies. Waitti stars as Viago, Ben Fransham portrays Petyr, Jonathan Brugh is Deacon, Jemain Clement plays Vladislav, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer as Nick and Stu Rutherford as their human friend, Stu. The film has a very straightforward plot as it merely follows several vampires as they go about their daily life in the modern world and gives an insight to the undead nightlife in New Zealand.
The storyline begins with a simple introduction, stating that four vampires have allowed a camera crew into their shared flat in Wellington to document their lives. It intially focuses on the four central characters of Viago, Petyr, Decon and Vladislav before expanding into the lives of other individuals and side characters as the film progresses. It should be noted that the characters vary in age as Petyr is 8,000 years old and is therefore the oldest in the group while Deacon at 183 is the youngest vampire. Due to his advanced age Petyr rarely talks and only has a few scenes devoted to him. While he isn’t in the film for overly long, Petyr does move the plot forward by being a central figure in starting several strands of the storyline. The backgrounds of each character, such as Deacon’s past as a Nazi vampire or Viago’s romantic struggles, are explained briefly through the interview segments in which one individual speaks directly to the camera. The interviews help the audience understand the personality and traits of the character as well as their attitude to the outside world.
The plot really picks up once Nick enters the scene. Jackie, a human who works for Deacon as she is under the impression that Deacon will bite her and make her immortal, is responsible for introducing Nick. It is important to mention that Nick is Jackie’s ex-boyfriend and he is brought to the flat under false impressions. The real intention is to let the vampires drink his blood. Once Nick is aware of the trap, he tries to flee the area but is eventually caught by Petyr. It is later revealed that Nick had been transformed into a vampire and the camera crew include him in the documentary as he tries to control his new found powers during the early stages of the movie. It is through Nick that a human character called Stu, a likable introvert with IT skills, is introduced to the group. Stu easily befriends the vampires and helps them enter the digital age of which they had been blissfully ignorant of beforehand.
I really enjoyed this movie for its outlandish premise and colourful characters. The interactions between the fictional figures, particularly their quirky friendship with Stu and their rivalry with werewolves, is one of the strong points of the film. The whimsical humour was also another highlight in my opinion and the comedic scenes are very prominent throughout ‘What we do in the shadows.’ I would encourage you to watch it if you are in the mood for a comedy film or are a fan of the Flight of the Conchords in general.
Plot=7/10
Characters=7/10
Special Effects=8/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the Day
I always knew death would wear a familiar face... but not yours.
Mr White
Spectre
Spectre
Greetings, Spectre is the 24th film in the James Bond series which was directed by Sam Mendes and serves as the latest instalment since 2012’s Skyfall. It sees the return of Daniel Craig as 007 for his fourth portrayal as the character, while Naomi Harris is back as Moneypenny and Ralph Fiennes reprises his character as the new M following the events of the previous movie. Other actors and actresses include Lea Seydoux as the female lead named Dr Madeline Swann, Ben Wishaw as Q, Andrew Scott as C, Dave Bautista as henchman Mr Hinx and Christopher waltz as the primary antagonist. The song ‘Writing’s on the wall’ was performed by Sam Smith as the introductory theme to the movie but it is rather unremarkable song and pales in comparison Adele’s ‘Skyfall’ in my opinion. The soundtrack was composed by Thomas Newman who had previously worked on Skyfall, as well as other projects such as the Shawshank Redemption and Wall-E.
The plot begins in Mexico City during the Day of the Dead with Bond hunting down an assassin by the name of Marco Sciarra as a last request by his former and deceased boss, M. 007 retrieves the assassin’s ring after he manages to kill Sciarra, causing havoc in Mexico City while he does so. James notices that the ring is carved with the image of an octopus, the symbol of the secret organization to which the hitman belonged. When he returns to London, the current M is furious with Bond and suspends him from any other missions as he was acting without M’s approval. Mallory, otherwise known as M, is under pressure due to the possibility of the 00 section begin shutdown by C for being an outdated system. C wishes to join the British intelligence service to other national intelligence agencies to create a global surveillance movement known as Nine Eyes. To ensure 007 doesn’t make any further movements and damage his chances of saving his department, M orders Q to inject Bond with a substance that allows MI6 to track his every move.
Bond disobeys the orders and attends the funeral of Sciarra in Rome to further the investigation. During his time there, he manages to seduce the assassin’s widow, called Lucia, and foils an attempt to murder the widow. She is played by the Italian actress Monica Bellucia, who at 50 years of age is the oldest Bond girl to appear in any of the films to date. Lucia informs 007 of the shadowy organization called Spectre to which her late husband worked for. The British agent then infiltrates a secret meeting of the organization where he identifies the leader as Franz Oberhauser, who was thought to already be dead, but he is also identified in return. Once his identity is blown, Bond makes his escape from the area but is pursued by Spectre henchman Mr Hinx.
I believe that this film suffered from a few issues, namely having a weak plot that was rather complicated at times and neglecting to explain aspects that were never really clarified. The movie also lacked any scenes that were particularly memorable or of any noteworthy mention. Many of the characters such as Lucia were simply throw a way characters that didn’t enrich the story and I found that the villains, as well as their deaths, to be somewhat dull. For instance, Mr Hinx does not have any personality traits such as those of Jaws or Odd Job that would make him stand out as a classic Bond antagonist. I felt that the surprise twist surrounding the identity of the villain was rather lazy and the connection could be made from the trailers. I also felt that the idea of the 00 programme being outdated was simply too repetitive of Skyfall’s themes but despite its down comings Spectre has some good points such as its strong intro scene and that it was visually pleasing to watch. Overall, I believe that Spectre was a step back from Skyfall but was still better than Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale.
Plot=6/10
Characters=7/10
Special Effects=8/10
Overall=7/10
Quote of the Day
History prefers legends to men. It prefers nobility to brutality, soaring speeches to quiet deeds. History remembers the battle, but forgets the blood. However history remembers me (if it remembers me, at all) it shall only remember a fraction of the truth.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
