Metro 2033 Book Review

Metro 2033 is a very difficult book for me to review, and this is because while it had several features that I loved, it also had several that I disliked. What this does is put me in a very difficult position of trying to weigh up whether the good things can outweigh the bad or vice versa, and that has been a very difficult decison. Either way, I would still say Metro 2033 is worth reading, but be warned it is not an easy read.

Metro 2033 follows the last surviving Russian people who have exiled into the underground train system - the Metro - after a nuclear catastrophe has ravaged and poisoned the land above them. In the metro they have to deal with not just the occasional mutant, but also extremist groups of humans, keeping themselves fed, and keeping out of trouble.
The biggest thing that this book has going for it is how interesting the world is. I found it very interesting how some of the most dangerous things that lead character Artyom encounters are not the mutants, but his fellow humans. It provokes some powerful thoughts on what we become in extreme situations. When the game of survival gets serious, there's no limit to the atrocities a person will commit to stay alive. Additionally, author Dmitry Glukhovsky has clearly put a huge amount of thought into what his future looks like. There is so much history, and so many cultures living in the tunnels - each one is thought out to the last detail, despite the fact that few are significantly spotlighted. This is a testament to how dedicated Glukhovsky is to this book and it's wonderful to see.

Additionally, Glukhovsky has also put a lot of thought into his characters. Despite the fact that Artyom is the only character that stays in the book from start to finish, he may well be one of the least interesting. This is due to Glukhovsky bringing in a new character almost every chapter, developing them and then abandoning them for a new one and so on. However because we only get a small amount of time with each character introduced, it makes them far more interesting leaving some unanswered questions and a desire for more. The stand-out character of the whole book for me was Khan, a man who believes he is the reincarnation of Genghis Khan and has some very intriguing dialogue throughout the book.

While Glukhovsky's world-building and character work is absolutely outstanding, as I said in the first paragraph I did have a few problems with the book as well, and these problems actually made the book quite hard for me to finish. First, while Glukhovsky's future was beautifully thought out, it was also a very sad and depressing future that by the end of the book was genuinely getting me down a little. This I have no doubt was intended as the book has very strong anti-nuclear, pro-environment messages throughout. The whole thing reads as a severe warning that if we send our nuclear warheads to action the outcome could be more disastrous than any previous war. While this is a message that I strongly agree with, and I love the fact that the book has a message and isn't meaningless, by the end of the book I couldn't help but feel a sense of hopelessness of our impending doom.

Also, the book did seem to drag on a little by the end. While it was interesting to see the cultures of Glukhovsky's creation, by the time I was around 3/4 of the way through the book, I really just wanted it to end. This may be due to the aforementioned depressing feeling that accompanies Glukhovsky's future, but it wasn't helped by the huge word count of the book. Metro 2033 is deceivingly long. While at first glance the book appears a fairly average length, when you open the book and see the size of the text and the very filled pages you will be able to understand that the book is not going to be a quick, nor an easy read.

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She-Hulk #1 (2014) Review

All-New Marvel Now has been a mixed bag thus far with books like Loki: Agent of Asgard hitting, and books like The Punisher not so much. It's because of this that I approached She Hulk #1 with some degree of caution, after all Charles Soule's ridiculously high level of output has got to crash at some point, hasn't it? Apparently not. She-Hulk #1 is a fun debut, reminiscent of Mark Waid's Daredevil and as a result has some suitably fun moments.

Straight from the offset, you can see that the man behind this new series is Charles Soule. The writer shares a day job with She-Hulk, as the pair of them are lawyers and as a result this series suits him down to the ground. You can tell from the well-written dialogue that the man has a level of expertise in his field, as the legal aspect of the character shines through more here than ever before. And if you're the type who isn't interested in legal drama than do not be discouraged, Soule mixes in a nice amount of humour to keep things interesting.
This is helped largely by Javier Pulido's artwork which I was pleasantly surprised with here. The man's simplistic, nostalgic style is truly charming. I still don't believe that this style works with all titles, but here - and combined with Muntsa Vicente's bright colours - it definitely adds something fun to the book. Not to mention Pulido has some interesting panel layouts in this book which really work to not just add to the story, but also absorb the reader into what She-Hulk is experiencing.

However, while this book was entertaining, it wasn't phenomenal all the same. The story was fun, but was in the end just a one-shot tale that sets up the status quo of the series, and gives us an idea of what we can expect going forward. It would have been nice to see some longer-term threads begin being sewn here - if only to squash any fears it will end up being one-shot after one-shot with no real direction as Nathan Edmonson's Black Widow seems to be - however I can understand why Soule would want to spend his debut issue introducing us to his She-Hulk.

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Necronomicon: Review in Progress

HP Lovecraft has long been regarded as a master of literary horror, with his many notable works which include the Call of Cthulu and At The Mountains of Madness, still very relevant and influential to modern horror stories. The man inspired the likes of Stephen King, and Neil Gaiman and recently I picked up his 1,000 page bibliography of short stories: The Necronomicon.

Initially I was going to wait until I had read the entire book and then review the whole thing, however with so many pages and stories I knew I would forget some of the key points by the time I had gotten round to finishing the book. And so instead you have this, a review in progress. I will update this post after I read each short story, and will give each story a score out of ten. This will culminate in a few months time in an overall score for the book, once I have read all the stories.

Now, without further ado let's start talking about the stories.

Story No. 1: Dagon

The first story in this anthology is titled "Dagon" and is the last accounts of a man driven mad by his encounters in the middle of a hellish, dried-up ocean. Ship-wrecked and on his own, he saw a creature that he insists was horrific beyond imagination, however I have to say this story doesn't quite have a grasp on the horror its main character was subjected to. While the story is entertaining and an interesting insight into how a man can be driven mad by unexplainable phenomena, it was not what I would call scary and this caused some of the descriptions to seem more tedious than terrifying.

Story No. 2: The Statement of Randolph Carter

The Statement of Randolph Carter was a much stronger story than the first in the book. It is in this story that a traumatised Randolph Carter gives us his account of the events that occured between him and Harley Warren at the ominously described Big Cypress Swamp. Lovecraft's story-telling skills are put to much better use here, as he describes through Carter the feeling of fear and isolation felt as Warren met his fate that night. This story has no description of any hellish creatures, but this works in the story's favour as rather than long-winded and slightly ineffective descriptions as seen in "Dagon," the description of the beings found in the hole of the pair's creation is left only to the vague and terrified cries of Warren himself.

As a story-telling device this works much better than a standard description, as Lovecraft instead leaves the reader's mind to wonder what horrors could be causing this terrified reaction. Add a chilling ending and you have a story that is the strongest Lovecraftian tale yet and, despite being only four pages long, leaves a lasting impact on the reader for nights to come.

Story No. 3: The Doom That Came to Sarnath

The third story in the Necronomicon, The Doom That Came to Sarnath was a little disappointing, and quite frankly bizarre. Lovecraft spends a long time describing Sarnath - the once magnificent city that was completely destroyed years after the men of the city slaughtered the strange beings of Ib - but never really builds any sense of tension. The beings are slaughtered, the town is described, the town is destroyed. There are some moments of creepy imagery thrown in, but these moments are rare. Overall, this story does not seem representative of Lovecraft's best work, and appears to be a simple morality tale of "What goes around, comes around."

Story No. 4: The Cats of Ulthar

 

The Cats of Ulthar is another morality tale, this time explaining why it's against the law to kill a cat in the land of Ulthar. This story, while still not one of Lovecraft's best, is more entertaining than The Doom That Came to Sarnath for many reasons. First, Lovecraft has omitted the unnecessarily detailed descriptions that bogged down the Sarnath story, and as a result the entire tale is shorter but still manages to leave more of an impact than the previous story. Lovecraft explores human evils in this story, while keeping in touch with his mysterious side particularly at the end. While this story isn't outstanding, it was certainly more entertaining than the previous story in the book and overall an interesting read.

Story No. 5: The Nameless City

The fifth story in the Necronomicon is another leap in quality, even if we're yet to reach the very impressive, "Statement of Randolph Carter" standard. The Nameless City sees a lone explorer wandering through the remains of a long abandoned city of mysterious origin. Who - or what - once lived here? What is it that they did? Why did they leave? These questions are answered to varying extents within the story, however the lack of answers is made up for in the nice build-up of tension and eerie descriptions throughout. This is the first story since "Randolph Carter" that I found genuinely creepy, which was great to see.

Unfortunately, the story does have a slightly anti-climatic ending which tainted the tale just slightly for me. Additionally, the ending wasn't even particularly well explained so I left the story more puzzled than frightened. However, overall this was an enjoyable read and a promising sign that things are looking up for this so far disappointing compilation.

Story No. 6: Herbert West - Reanimator

 

By far the longest story in this compilation so far, Herbert West - Reanimator is also by far the strongest. Lovecraft tells the chilling tale of Herbert West from the perspective of his research partner. West is a man whose research involves bringing people back from the dead through the use of a medical serum, but soon this research becomes a grotesque obsession and West slowly descends into madness.

My previous experiences with longer Lovecraft tales has been very negative, and so honestly I was dreading having to read through his longer stories. However, Herbert West has squashed that dread and replaced it with optimism as Herbert West was actually very easy to read - a trait I wouldn't give to many of Lovecraft's other stories. Not only was it easy to read but it was also quite unsettling, with many creepy and tense moments.

While I did feel it started to lag slightly towards the end, for the most part Herbert West - Reanimator is a beautifully written, well-paced and scary ride through a world of weird science and the dangers of playing God.

Story No. 7: The Music of Erich Zann

 

Story number seven in Lovecraft's anthology I am delighted to say is another hit! The Music of Erich Zann is a story from the perspective of a man disturbed by the sound of Erich Zann's peculiar music, and the experiences that have accompanied it. In this story Lovecraft creates a very eerie tone which escalates into a truly chaotic and heart-stopping climax. Additionally, Lovecraft describes the abnormal street of Rue d'Auseil expertly, and in a way that is very easy for the reader to understand even 100 years after it was written.

The Music of Erich Zann is one of my favourite Lovecraft tales yet for how tense and enthralled it made me feel. I just hope that the impact of these shorter stories are not lost as Lovecraft makes the transition to far longer stories later in the anthology.

Story No. 8: The Lurking Fear

After taking a break from Lovecraft's stories these past couple of months, I wasn't sure what to expect as jumped back in to the Necronomicon with story number eight, The Lurking Fear. Surprisingly though, I found my transition from modern books back into Lovecraft's stories very easy, thanks to The Lurking Fear being one of the most compelling stories yet in this compilation.

The Lurking Fear follows the story of a man attempting to uncover the mystery behind the being that has been terrorising villages surrounding Tempest Mountain, leaving gruesome murders in its wake. He also aims to find the link the being has to the ill-fated Martense family that once lived in a mansion house atop the mountain. The story was gripping, once I had begun I struggled to put the book down as each chapter in the tale ended on a more haunting note than the previous one. While Lovecraft's descriptions of the geographical aspects of the Mountain and its proximity with local villages was at times confusing, his firm grasp on his main character and the ominous descriptions of the body's left by the Lurking Fear more than made up for this.

Ultimately where The Lurking Fear falters is the ending. This is something I have noticed with a few of Lovecraft's tales now, that often the endings leave me feeling unsatisfied. Here it was again a case of some confusing descriptions, and a feeling that nothing was explained to the extent that I would have liked. However, perhaps I am missing the point of Lovecraft's stories as he aims to bring to life horrors that simply cannot be explained. Even with the disappointing conclusion and some confusing descriptions this was still a very entertaining read and another great story in this anthology.

 

Story No. 9: The Hound

 

I'm unsure of exactly how long it has been since my last venture into Lovecraftian territory, but I would hazard a guess of around a year and a half. Maybe longer. Either way my extended break from this iconic writer had made me forget just how intense a good Lovecraft story can be. The Hound ranks as one of my favourite entries in the Necronomicon to date. Telling the story of two men who, dissatisfied by what life had offered them, were driven to the unspeakable act of grave-robbing this is a brief story which packs a real punch.

 

The brevity of the tale allows Lovecraft to adopt a fast pace, as the unnamed narrator reveals just why he is mere moments away from killing himself. The reveal of what exactly he and his companion (known only as St John) uncovered in that fateful grave in Holland, is as thrilling as it is terrifying with Lovecraft's vivid descriptions painting the most horrid of pictures in the reader's brain.

 

So far, it has been the Necronomicon's shorter offerings that have truly left a mark on my mind, and so I'm intrigued to reach the longer tales of terror that await me and see if they affect me in the way they have so many readers before me. It's been a long time Mr. Lovecraft, but if the quality stays this high then I'm glad to be back.

 

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The Punisher #1 (2014) Review

I was a huge fan of Greg Rucka's Punisher run. It took a character that was on the brink of falling into a pit of audience fatigue, and completely revived him making him a character that people once again were excited about. After the tragic cancellation and subsequent neglect that the series was handed, I wasn't sure if I was ready for a new Punisher series, especially one from an unfamiliar creative team. Unfortunately, after the first issue I'm still not sure if this series will be good for the character. As a debut it's solid, however I question Nathan Edmonson's understanding of the character who is represented so wildly different here than in the last run that I felt like I was reading a different character.

Now I'm not saying that new interpretations of characters is a bad thing - take Mark Waid's Daredevil for example - Waid took a previously dark and unhappy character and turned him into one of the most fun characters on the market. However, that series was a result of a status quo change in the Daredevil universe. Additionally Waid has gone on to explore the darker sides of Daredevil's life which are still present, if less prominent.

Here though, The Punisher has gone from a dark and brooding loner, to a social character whose conversation is so interesting he manages to get the potentially romantic attention of one woman after a short 2-minute conversation over breakfast. That's without mentioning that Frank Castle would never get romantically involved with another lady after his wife and children were viciously murdered - despite what Daniel Way's bland Thunderbolts run would suggest. Edmonson's inner monologues are more reminiscent of the Frank I know, but are used sparingly and not to great effect.

This lack of understanding is worrying but thankfully the story shows some promise, with the foundations of a supporting cast, and foe for Frank to face off with already settling. Meanwhile Mitch Gerads artwork is a mixed bag with some panels looking very nice indeed, and others looking messy.

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Geek Girl #0 Review

Geek Girl #0 is one of creator Sam Johnson's latest offerings in the indie comic world. With this new book he brings us a whole new character in the form of Ruby Kaye and her adventures as the titular Geek Girl. This issue covers a lot of ground laying some solid foundations for the character, telling us her origin, and leaving us with a teaser of bigger things to come.

I've reviewed a fair amount of indie comics both here and on other sites, and Geek Girl is one of the most impressive for sure. What sets Geek Girl apart from its competitors is the nice visual style created by artist Sally S-Thompson, and the lettering team of Jaymes Reed and Kris Johnson. The art has a charming style to it, and the lettering looks professional giving the whole comic a quality feel.

However, a comic is nothing but a feast for the eyes if the story is no good. Thankfully, Sam Johnson has crafted a fun origin story for this new hero, even if it isn't quite perfect. This jumping-on issue sees not only the gift of these powers being given to Ruby, but also the immediate fall out involving her disloyal friends - creating some great commentary on the somewhat self-obsessed generation we have created. There are some genuinely fun one-liners in Johnson's script which made me chuckle more than once, and by the end you start to feel a definite connection to the character he has created here.

But, as I said above, this story isn't perfect. While the script had some great moments, I felt strange about the general lack of surprise coming from the central characters about Ruby's incredible new powers. If it were me who had just gained powers, or even one of my close friends, I would be freaking out! Here though, most of the characters seemed highly unimpressed with the whole situation, and those who were excited were more excited about the costume than the powers themselves. This didn't ruin the comic by any stretch of the imagination, but did seem a little bizarre.

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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Review

Last year, I was one of the many who enjoyed the first Hunger Games movie. As a fan of the book I accepted it had some shortcomings, however I gladly accepted them merely relieved that we didn't end up with another Twilight, or Alex Rider. With the sequel, I was cautious as I found the second book much harder to read and with a new director on board there was a lot of room for error. Thankfully, not only is The Hunger Games: Catching Fire better than the first movie, but it is also one of my favourite movies of the year so far.

Catching Fire picks up directly where the last film left us. Katniss and Peeta are now huge celebrities who have been forced into the public eye where they must live out there loveless relationship for the cameras. Meanwhile, President Snow is hot on their case after their actions in the finale of the first movie have sparked rebellions in the districts threatening the rule of the Capitol.
The great thing is - while I'm not fully decided - this may have been my favourite part of the movie. The first Hunger Games book had a lot of dark satire in it that was unfortunately lost in the translation to the big screen. This left some of the non-arena scenes feeling a little drab. In the sequel however, the scenes building up to the pair's entrance into the arena are some of the strongest parts of the movie. The satire of this dystopian future is delivered with much more impact, with some great character and world development. The film does a great job in making you as passionate as the suffering people of the districts in wanting to see the downfall of the Capitol, and I personally had strong sympathy for these characters - most of which don't even have names - throughout the movie.

However, that's not to take away from the arena scenes, which are also much better than those in the original. In Catching Fire, we are treated to a whole new arena which has a jungle theme, and a whole new cast of fellow contestants. In the first movie the only contestant we had a chance to feel attached to was Rue, however almost all of the contestants in the 75th Hunger Games are brilliant, each with a distinct personality of their own. Of course it may have helped that the age ranges were much more diverse this time round, with the contestants of this year's games being reaped from previous winners. This allowed us to see a whole new view of the games, which I really enjoyed. Plus, it was great to see some truly evolving characters in this movie. The characters of Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, Effie, and Gale really have changed and it was very interesting to see the ways how.

Of course, the outstanding cast is what made this so compelling. Jennifer Lawrence was outstanding as always, with Josh Hutcherson also putting in a good performance. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland and Jena Malone were also stand-outs in a cast where everyone was great.

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Godzilla 2014: Official Trailer Released

Exciting news for movie fans today, as the first trailer for the upcoming Godzilla reboot was released. We here at TEN were very impressed with the trailer, and with its much more mature tone than this year's Pacific Rim. Don't get me wrong, I loved Pacific Rim, but I don't think Godzilla would have worked with the same tone.

Additionally, this movie looks to blow the infamously bad Godzilla movie of 1999 out of the water. Not only are the effects far superior, but with the acting talent of Bryan Cranston (hot off the insanely popular Breaking Bad) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson - a somewhat underrated actor, who has put in some great performances in films such as Kick-Ass and Anna Karenina, and is sure to become a big name after 2015 with a key role in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

I was also impressed with how restrained the editors of this trailer were with how they showed off Godzilla, choosing to show subtle glimpses of him, with a big reveal at the end, rather than blow their load right at the start.

Could Godzilla be one of the best blockbusters of 2014? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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The Entertainment Network: Phase 2

Oh dear. This won't do at all. I would like to take this moment to apologise to the world for the lack of posts on this site for the last few months. Our last fully written post was written way back on the 4th August, meaning that for the last four months this site has been dormant.

Not anymore.

I'm happy to say that I am working on bringing TEN back in a big way both in December and all through 2014. Due to personal commitments this site just cannot be my main priority at all times, however I am currently aiming to post at least five articles a week (hopefully one every week day) each of a higher standard than this site has seen recently.

It is true that in the Summer I prioritised the video section of this blog over the written section - and I am immensely proud of the 230+ subscribers we have gained. However, what I really want is for the written and video sides of this site to co-exist.

You will still be seeing videos from us. However, it's time we brought articles back to the forefront as that is what TEN has always been about.

Thanks for sticking with us through this quiet time, and I hope you'll stay with us for an exciting new year of The Entertainment Network.

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VIDEO: Thor: The Dark World After Credits Scene Explained

Caution! If you don't want the after-credits scene in Thor: The Dark World spoiled for you, don't read any further!

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US Box Office Top 10: 4th August 2013

This week, the action comedy 2 Guns, starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg was released to the masses and managed to take the top spot in the process pulling in over $27 million. This means that the adamatium-clad X-Man, Wolverine is knocked down a spot to No. 2 only managing to make $21 million. Not a bad haul, but not particularly good either. Luckily, The Wolverine is doing much better overseas, reassuring Fox that the X-Men franchise is one that can be relied upon.

The other big release of this week is The Smurfs 2, which makes a rather lacklustre debut at No. 3 making little over $18 million - less than the $35 million that the first movie made. However, The Smurfs are also performing better overseas with a worldwide total of $80 million already, coming close to that $105 million budget.
It also seems that all Sony needs to make up is the advertising costs for The Smurfs 2 as The Onion's A.V. Club have recently revealed the film made up its production costs on product placement alone. Does that seem really cheap and nasty to anyone else? Or is it just me?

Near the bottom end of the top 10, lies many films that are still struggling. First, we have Turbo which falls three places this week from No. 4 to No. 7. The film is currently up to a total of $69.5 million in the USA and $111 million worldwide meaning it is yet to breakeven on that $135 million budget - and that's not including advertising. Dreamworks and Fox had high hopes for the movie, having even planned a Netflix TV Series based on the success they assumed the film would get. However, at this rate I wouldn't be surprised if they hit the brakes on their Turbo plans.

Turbo gives an angry glance to the queue of kids waiting to see Despicable Me 2...

Meanwhile, Red 2 is also struggling. It is yet to open in some territories, but that doesn't stop its domestic gross from being anything other than a disappointment. The film has been in theatres for three weeks now, currently ranking No. 8 with $45.2 million made in the US since release. Compare this to the original Red which on its third week had pulled in a US total of $58.8, and was still ranking high at No. 3 and little resemblance can be seen. Releasing a movie in Summer instead of Autumn (or Fall for US readers), has proven to be an awful move for this movie - with the original Red seeing release in October, as opposed to Red 2's July release date.

Finally, Pacific Rim falls to No. 10 this week after four weeks of release. The film has still made less than $100 million in the US, and while it has been doing remarkably well in China, it may not see any of that money unless the Chinese film council decide to pay up. The film is yet to open in three territories, so there is still hope, but the dying light that is Pacific Rim 2 gets dimmer every week.

Here's the Top 10 in full:

1. (-) 2 Guns - $27.4 million
2. (1) The Wolverine - $21.7 million
3. (-) The Smurfs 2 - $18.2 million
4. (2) The Conjuring - $13.7 million
5. (3) Despicable Me 2 - $10.4 million
6. (5) Grown Ups 2 - $8.1 million
7. (4) Turbo - $6.4 million
8. (6) Red 2 - $5.65 million
9. (8) The Heat - $4.72 million
10. (7) Pacific Rim - $4.57 million

For more Box Office news, stay with us here at TEN.

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