Tyson Adams's Blog, page 43

Best Adaptations of All Time?

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In keeping with my monthly series of posts on book adaptations – Book vs Movie – I thought I’d share this CineFix video as my last post before the Festive Break. They cover a lot of great adaptations, even mentioning a few I was unaware were adaptations.

Thanks to my readers and commenters for dropping by this year. I hope you all enjoy whatever Holiday tradition you celebrate. Best wishes from me to you.

Now let’s argue over whether this video has missed any of our favourite movies based upon books.

Tagged: Adaptation, Book adaptation, Book adaptations, Book to film, Book to movie, Book versus Movie, Book vs film, Book vs Movie, CineFix, Right What You No, Tyson Adams

Book review: Neuromancer by William Gibson

Neuromancer by William Gibson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you directly influence the creation of cyberpunk, The Matrix, the term cyberspace, and popularising the term ICE, does that mean you get a pass on influencing dubstep?

Case is your average run-of-the-mill washed-up loser. On his way to drug addled death after his hacking career is cut short, he is recruited to perform the ultimate hack. Patched back together with new organs, he joins a team recruited to help an AI.

I feel like I’m being unfair in my rating for Neuromancer. This is one of those classic novels that deserves the praise it receives. The influence this novel has had on science fiction, particularly upon film, is hard to overstate. It is also easy to underestimate the skill of Gibson’s writing. For example, just before starting Neuromancer I tried (and failed) to read a sci-fi novel with a similar level of world building and interesting ideas. Where that novel failed in being able to make the jargon feel natural, and the explanations flow, Gibson succeeds. His narrative isn’t bogged down by the world building the way many others can be.

Having said that, Neuromancer didn’t grab me. It was entertaining enough to keep me reading, but not enough to have me rating it higher. I’d imagine that had I read this novel 20-30 years earlier my opinion would be different. It is the curse of being the original that everyone copies. At some point people like myself won’t be wowed because they’ve seen it all before by the time they read the progenitor.

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Tagged: Cyberpunk, Dubstep, Molly Millions, Neuromancer, Razorgirl, Right What You No, Sci-fi, science fiction, Spec-fic, Speculative Fiction, Tyson Adams, William Gibson

New Harry Potter by Botnik AI

Next generation comedy is here.

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Source: Botnik Studios

I think it is safe to say that author careers are safe from being replaced by AIs for a few years yet.

Tagged: AI, Botnik, Botnik Studios, Fantasy, Fantasy fiction, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Portrait of What Looked Like a Large Pile of Ash, JK Rowling, Magic, Right What You No, Tyson Adams, Wizards, Writing

Book Review: The Call of Cthulhu by HP Lovecraft

The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Why choose the lesser evil? Vote Cthulhu.

Francis Thurston starts fossicking through his uncle’s things and discovers some notes and a carving. Fascinated, he searches high and low to uncover the origins of the carving. Soon he is traversing the world to uncover a cult and the being they worship. Things only get better from there on in.

It is hard to review a classic work of fiction. Usually, there are only a few paths open to you:

1) Fawning sycophancy;

2) A belligerent dismissal of the work as rubbish which avoids engaging in anything other than superficial comment;

3) Overly detailed comment and critique that ends up being worthy of a Masters dissertation that no-one will bother reading and just assume you did #2 (i.e. a complete waste of time);

4) A review that is clearly based on having watched the movie adaptation.

The reasons that this is a hugely influential work are clear. The mystery being uncovered with a slow reveal. The dense and subtle narrative. The gradual rise in tension as we come to the realisation. It is also a bleak comment on human existence and our insignificance. But there is also the use of the memoir narrative that appears to have been very popular in speculative fiction in the past. For me, this style removes both the narrator and the reader from the events of the story, which removes much of the tension and emotion.

I feel comfortable saying my rating is “good but not great” because Lovecraft himself described this as a middling effort.

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Tagged: Book review, Book reviews, Cthulhu, Horror, HP Lovecraft, Lovecraft, Macbre, Right What You No, Spec-fic, Speculative Fiction, The Call of Cthulhu, Tyson Adams

Book review: Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Pitch: The kid from The Sixth Sense grows up to become a short-order cook.

Odd Thomas lives just above the poverty line in a small town. He works as a short-order cook, driver for Elvis’ ghost, and ad hoc homicide consultant. When a creepy guy surrounded by bodachs enters his restaurant, he starts to uncover a plot to stage a mass shooting. Yes, the small town is in the USA; how did you guess? With the help of his soulmate, Stormy, he tries to stop this evil from happening.

Ever since I watched the Odd Thomas movie on Netflix – starring Anton Yelchin – I have been meaning to read some Dean Koontz. My last Koontz outing was….. many years ago in the form of Night Chills. For some reason, despite finding Night Chills enjoyable and highly memorable, I’ve not come back to Koontz. Well, the drought has been broken.

Despite enjoying Odd Thomas, I still have reservations. The narrative is told in the memoir narrator style, something that robs the book of tension, yet still manages to provide a twist. The story itself feels drawn out, with a lot of detail put into things that probably don’t matter. So I’m left wondering if I’d prefer to try something like Phantoms rather than the next Odd Thomas novel. Probably won’t take me another 30 years to read the next Koontz though.

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Tagged: Anton Yelchin, Book review, Book reviews, Dean Koontz, Netlfix, Odd Thomas, Paranormal, Paranormal thriller, Right What You No, Thriller, Tyson Adams, Urban paranormal

Things you only do when drunk

I’ve always been amazed at what a few quiet drinks at your local allows you to do. Alcohol imbues superpowers to all those who consume. Some of those powers are amazing, others are powers we’re glad we forget about the next day.

Play pool, snooker, or billiards

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Eat a kebab

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Find a kebab store

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Listen to the greatest hits of the 80s

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Go to a nightclub

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Queue for a nightclub

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Dance

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Sing Karaoke

Not drop dead instantly from embarrassment from being at a Nickelback concert

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Tagged: Alcohol, Billiards, Dance, Drinking, Drunk, Funny, Humor, Humour, Karaoke, Kebab, Nickelback suck, Nightclub, Pool, Right What You No, Snooker, The 80s, Tyson Adams

Movies that need claws

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Hugh Jackman is a proud Aussie export. We love that he is a Hollywood A-lister, and even more that he makes the rest of us Aussies look awesome.

But, and there always is a but, Hugh has appeared in some films that could have been greatly improved with one simple addition. I give to you the list of movies that would have been much improved if Hugh had popped the adamantium claws and gone berserker.

Van Helsing

Let’s face it, anything would have improved this schlocky mess of a movie. Instead of Hugh turning into a werewolf toward the end, if he had turned into Wolverine and shniketied some vampires, this would have been watchable.

Australia

Wouldn’t it have made more sense to have Wolverine living in outback Australia? Then he could have taken on the invading army during the WW2 scene.

Scoop

Imagine a Woody Allen film with Wolverine in it! Imagine the boat scene with Hugh going Wolverine on Scarlet Johansen’s character, and Scarlet going Natasha Romanov on him! Imagine if this newly awesome film wasn’t directed by a creep!

Deception

Imagine if this film didn’t suck. I think adding Wolverine to the mix would have done wonders for this lame movie.

Real Steel

Wolverine versus Robots. I rest my case.

Swordfish

Who else wanted to see Hugh decapitate John Travolta in this film? Or any Travolta film barring Pulp Fiction?

Pan

I’m not sure anything would have made this a film worth watching, so claws wouldn’t have hurt.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Wouldn’t it have been great if Hugh was playing Wolverine…… Wait a minute. This movie sucked even with Wolverine in it.

Tagged: Australia, Awesome, Deception, entertainment, Hollywood, Hugh Jackman, Les Miserable, Movies, Oscar, oscar nomination, oscars, outback australia, Real Steel, Right What You No, Scarlet Johansen, Scoop, Suck, Swordfish, Tyson Adams, Van Helsing, Wolverine, Woody Allen, woody allen film, X-Men Origins

Book Review: Solomon Creed By Simon Toyne

Solomon Creed by Simon Toyne

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When people have had enough of a white guy as the hero, make them an albino.

Solomon Creed, dressed in a handmade suit sans shoes, is walking into the desert town of Redemption when a plane crashes on the road behind him. And then he’s running away from the fire and into a town of crooked business leaders and cops. Solomon is here to save a man who was just buried. Guess he’ll just have to save the town instead.

When I spotted this novel on my local library shelf I was intrigued. After the opening few chapters, I was strapped in and ready for more. But somewhere along the way, I started noticing things that lowered my enjoyment of this thriller. There is a brisk pace to Toyne’s writing, and that is coupled with short chapters and plenty of action. Though the pacing is oddly coupled with a drawing out of events, and some scenes that feel like diversions from the narrative. For example, the opening fire is still raging until 30% of the way through the novel, which means we don’t really narratively move forward despite plenty occurring.

The other part that didn’t work for me was the final “twist”. While there were hints of the supernatural dropped throughout the novel, the last supernatural elements that tied the plot together and told us who Solomon Creed was (kinda) felt like they weren’t foreshadowed well enough. This could just be me being mean to a novel I was only half enjoying, but it could also be why I was only half enjoying it.

Those comments aside, this is a fast-paced thriller, and it does offer a slightly different take on the Knight Errant or Walking the Earth stories.

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Tagged: Book review, Book reviews, Knight Errant, Reading, Right What You No, Simon Toyne, Solomon Creed, Supernatural, Thriller, Thrillers, Tyson Adams, Walking the Earth, Why is every desert town called Redemption?

The Ultimate Multi-tool

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It seems that my work, my hobbies, my break time, and even my writing all bear an uncanny resemblance.

I listen to music, usually from iTunes.

I watch TV shows, usually streaming.

I catch up on the news, usually via live streaming.

I read up on the latest science, usually on science blogs.

I play guitar, with the computer backing track and music on the screen.

I catch up with friends, on Facebook, Twitter, and Email.

I phone family and friends, using Skype.

I sit down to write at the computer; possibly it is time I started using a typewriter.

Tagged: Cartoon, Cartoons, Computers, Hobbies, Right What You No, Tyson Adams, Writing

How to write suspense

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TL/DW = the unknown.

Limit the point of view so the reader has limited information.
Choose the right setting to limit the known.
Style and form can be used to mess with the conveying and pacing of information.
Dramatic irony can be used to reveal some information to the reader that the characters don’t know.
Cliffhangers can be used… If you also like coming up with implausible resolutions to them.

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See also: http://www.writersdigest.com/qp7-migration-conferencesevents/nine-tricks-to-writing-suspense-fiction

Tagged: Horror, Mystery, Pics, Right What You No, Suspense, Ted Ed, Thriller, Tyson Adams, Video, Writing, Writing advice, writing fiction, Writing tips