The Sandman Presents: Bast: Eternity Game (2003)

Author: Caitlin R. Kiernan  |  Illustrator: Joe Bennett  |  Page Count: 66

‘Sleep, child.  Sleep and follow me.’

Gods aren't flesh and blood.  Gods don’t die.  They simply fade away when no one remembers their name or what they represented.  Bast, the Egyptian cat goddess, isn't willing to go quietly into the neglected nothingness, so she attempts a comeback.  What she craves (sincere belief and a sustained worship in the waking world) is still possible, but in her diminished state reaching out across the realms for a second chance will take every last reserve of power she has.

Who better to latch onto than another female who is herself on the fringes, who doesn't fit comfortably in her environment?  Lucy McCuller’s troubles make her susceptible to Bast’s influences, but Lucy’s problems are bigger than her.  What's more is that ambition, in any form, has a tendency to take on a life of its own.

Eternity Game is a three issue miniseries that as far as I know hasn't been collected in a TPB or included in any of the post-Sandman anthologies, mores the pity.  It’s a brief but extremely satisfying glimpse into the mind of a deity on the verge of extinction.  It hinges on a truth that only those who've lived it can see and appreciate fully: something that would ordinarily be easily forgotten can be elevated in status and etched permanently into memory in the wake of tragedy.  If your intent is to manipulate someone, you can use that same elevation to your advantage.  It’s a horrible thing to do but desperation is a great motivator.

3½ slipping sands out of 5

Silent Hill Downpour -- Anne's Story (2014)

Author: Tom Waltz | Artist: Tristan Jones | Page Count: 80

"I'm just sayin', if you don't change the record you gonna hear the same damn songs over and over again... change takes guts, though."

In Silent Hill Downpour, fans were presented with an NPC who was seemingly up to bat in the town at the exact same time as the game’s playable protagonist, Murphy Pendleton. While all of the games have had notable and plot-relevant ancillary characters none of them appeared to have experienced things in exactly the same manner as those directly under your control. They showed up where they needed to but it didn't feel like they were on a continuous journey of truth and discovery, akin to your own.

Anne Cunningham, however, very much was. In a perfect world, she would have gotten her own complete scenario in the game itself. In this one, she gets a four-issue mini-series penned by one of its original writers, Tom Waltz. Things could be much worse, and I am pleased with the outcome.

Admittedly, revelatory isn't a word that can be used to describe this endeavor. There’s literally nothing here about Anne that a thoughtful player hasn't already inferred from what’s presented in the game proper. Further, the artwork is inconsistent when it comes to her appearance. In some “panels,” it’s spot on. In others, it’s too soft and vague to resemble her in-game model. I suppose one could argue it’s done to mirror internal turmoil, and I do appreciate the way other characters’ faces are purposefully changed in certain situations. There’s also a few series references casually peppered into the art for attentive readers to find.

In a vacuum, it would be strange (and damning) to say that the things revealed about and said by the side-characters are the most interesting nuggets found herein. In context, however, it’s the highest praise I can give because they are the means by which we’re shown how this exact version of the town exists for Murphy AND Anne.

On top of that, this taught me something I wouldn't have known otherwise and officially canonized my preferred ending. If you’re only a casual fan of the series or haven’t played the game, please, save your time and money. There are (appropriately) recreated scenes, but Murphy’s narrative is not rehashed in anything close to full. I can only truly recommend this to those who explicitly mention Downpour when reciting their series favorites.

3 Weeping Bats Living in Reseda out of 5

Nutted by NEG (last seen re-entering the hardware store).

Note: You can find spoiler-free, mini-reviews of some of the Silent Hill games, including Downpour, at our sister site, Nut Load.

The Tempest (c.1610–11)

Author: William Shakespeare  |  Page Count: 128

"Hell is empty, and all the devils are here."

Reading Shakespeare for pleasure, outside of an academic environment, takes considerable pressure off a reader. You won't be asked to give an opinion or answer difficult questions. Maybe you don't need to know what every little nuance represents, or care nothing about sociopolitical context and postcolonial concerns. Sometimes all you ask is a good story be told in a language praised for its beauty, and there's nothing wrong with wanting that.

The Tempest isn't a play that gets chosen often by people who just want to dip a toe, but it's one that I return to time and again. Many of the themes within its pages he's used before, but in a different way. A shipwreck gets the players to where they need to be, as in Twelfth Night (c.1601–02). Someone who's been wronged seeks revenge (too many too mention). The fantastical is there, but it's less comical than his other famous work that makes use of it, A Midsummer Night's Dream (c.1590–96). There's still a lot of laughs to be had, however, because it does after all have elements of tragicomedy, but there's a lot of weight to it, too. It's also a romance, proving that one thing can be many if the author intends it.

It's been suggested that the valedictory epilogue from the play's most memorable character, Prospero the magician, also the father figure, is in essence the author's own farewell to his audience and to the stage at large. It's believed that Shakespeare retired to Stratford some time afterwards, around 1613. No one will ever know for sure, but there's no doubt that it's one of the most well-written scenes in the entire play, suggesting it was of utmost importance to the bard.

3½ strange bedfellows out of 5

The Sandman Presents: The Furies (2002)

Author: Mike Carey  |  Illustrator: John Bolton  |  Page Count: 96

"...the immortality resides in the role, not in the being that enacts it."

Events in The Furies take place a few years after the end of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman saga (1989-96).  It continues the story of one of the secondary characters, Lyta Hall, so if you've not read all 75 issues (collected as ten volumes) then you’ll be missing a huge chunk of backstory.  In truth, it would be best to not read The Furies if you lack that Sandman knowledge, because it’s largely reliant on it.

Carey’s words build an atmosphere that’s thick and oppressive.  Bolton’s painted art compliments it.  He’s a superb artist, so it’s hard to say for sure but there may be some actual photography blended into the backgrounds.  Either way, it manages to be more emotionally affecting than the text; it’s as if there’s actual pain and a unique kind of anguish captured in the brush strokes.

The text is structured similar to a Greek myth but within that there’s a recurring theme of attempting to understand what’s required to play a role.  We’re asked to wonder if the proper surroundings would make it any more real.  Imagine being witness to a Shakespeare play performed in the actual Globe Theatre.  There’s no doubt that the historical setting would add an extra element to your appreciation and a special kind of resonance to the happenings.

Carey’s best works manage to provide both a satisfying ending to the story and somehow leave a reader with deep thoughts rolling round in their head, thoughts that inspire further, relevant readings; he achieves that with The Furies.

3½ pomegranate seeds out of 5

ICO: Castle in the Mist (2008)

Author:  Miyuki Miyabe  |  Translator:  Alexander O. Smith  |  Page Count: 370

'Whatever it was that dripped from the cage, it was blacker than pitch,
the colour of melted shadow.'

The story as presented in the ICO video game (2001) was purposefully vague. It encouraged players to speculate about the backstory of the characters. The act of filling in the blanks created a more personal experience, making us not just the protagonist but also the teller, the narrator of the story as it was being lived in real time. Reading someone else's version of those events is interesting, but when put into context, isn't a published version of such simply fan-fiction sold at RRP?

Regardless of whether or not that's a fair assessment, I made sure while reading to judge the work for what it did well (or otherwise) with regards world-building, characterisation, etc, and not for being different to my own interpretation of the game's story; to have did otherwise would be a disservice to everyone involved.

I was wholly ignorant of Miyuki Miyabe's reputation in Japan. She has a huge catalogue of titles available. Castle in the Mist is her seventh novel to be translated into English. In all honesty I thought it was a first novel, period. The stiffness of the dialogue and the formulaic spoon-feeding of conventions that make the majority of fantasy novels so bland is adhered to from the very first page. The stiffness may in part be explained by it being a translation—there's a definite lack of love and flair inherent in that aspect—so I can't say with any certainty if a poetic sensibility is inherently absent from the work or just missing from the English language version. I'm not able to read Japanese.

Things pick up a little when the story delves into Yorda's past. The author is more comfortable and thus more successful exploring things from a female perspective, which makes sense, but even then the story never dares to break away from a safety zone or a trite, established way of genre thinking. It's a typical fantasy about a Princess in a castle, a cruel and overbearing guardian that stifles her, and a male saviour with selflessness and innocence in his arsenal.

Kudos to the publisher, Haikasoru, for being brave and taking a chance on it. The game didn't sell in huge numbers in the West, so I can't imagine the target audience for the novel was projected as groundbreaking, but, even so, they didn't opt for cheap paper to cut costs. It's a beautifully presented book.

1½ misshapen shades out of 5

The Physics of Star Trek (1995)

Author: Lawrence Krauss  |  Page Count: 188

'Thanks to Albert Einstein and those who have followed in his footsteps, the very fabric of spacetime is filled with drama.'

It's common knowledge that Star Trek not only 'boldly' ignored the laws of grammar, but that it wilfully ignored the laws of physics, too, However, in some instances the real-world science behind the fictional quick-fixes is surprisingly close to the TV show technobabble. Most fans will know why transporters were introduced, but not how they would theoretically work. TPoST provides answers.

It doesn't set out to debunk or discredit TV writers—it's not trying to achieve credibility by standing on the ashes of others—instead it aims to inform and explore the reality of what would be needed to achieve the life-changing physics used in the show. It's not just another boring cash-in / tie-in / stick-the-arm-in book designed to milk the wallets of every weak-willed Trek fan ever.

Thankfully, you won't need a degree in quantum mechanics to make sense of the text, but some basic high school science knowledge will help. If you know why Newton owes a debt to an apple, or why Einstein is more than a black and white poster in a student dig, then you're all set. I don't know if true physicists or mathematicians would agree, but for an average Joe like me the structure of the book is a credit to the author. Complex theories are built bit by bit atop a foundation of easier concepts, making it very easy to follow.

Not everything pertaining to a hobby or interest need pander to its target audience. Often the best additions are the ones that teach us something of value at the same time, whether it be academic or emotional. I think a large percentage of Trek fans would agree with that statement because even if Paramount weren't in it to challenge norms and teach by example, Gene was, and the people he reached keep that vision alive. Ultimately, TPoST is perfect for Trek fans who possess a passion for learning and have an interest in the wonder of science.

4 cosmic poker games out of 5

Batman: Arkham Unhinged: Vol. 2 (2014)

Author: Derek Fridolfs  |  Artists: Various  |  Page Count: 168 

“Penguin’s been hiring people to kill you.”

“That old crow’s wasting his money. I’m already dying… of boredom.”

The second volume of video game tie-in Batman manages to outdo the first, but unfortunately it's on the scale of tedium that it excels. Being tied to a game plot limits the freedom an author has, and at the end of the day any changes made must be reset so that everyone is returned to their game setting. In a situation like that the dialogue becomes even more important than normal, so extra effort should've been made to spice it up as much as possible, but—no disrespect to Fridolfs, perhaps he was busy with other, more important projects—the majority of it could've been written hastily over a light breakfast.

Robin pops in and out of the walled city as if it's a twenty-four hour supermarket, making a mockery of the idea that it's supposed to be near impossible to escape from. Whilst there he becomes an ineffectual bit player in what amounts to an extended fight scene that goes nowhere interesting.

The Arkham City Sirens story fills in some of what happened to the trio of women after the events in the first game, but mostly it feels like an excuse to have ladies with back-breaking breasts jumping around. The three women are at least largely faithful in personality to their game counterparts, which is to say they lack any kind of warmth or likeability; even the colourful Harley, who's admittedly a love-her-or-hate-her character ordinarily, never escapes two-dimensionality.

The only part of the text that I enjoyed was a flashback to a time years before the walled city was in existence, a time that deeply affected one of the villains and set him on the path he's currently on. It's not in-depth enough to be called an origin story, but it's an insightful glimpse into what spurred him to take the first steps into his current career. It was a clichéd moment but because it dared to be dramatic it still managed to feel superior to anything else. Repeated use of flashbacks would eventually draw too much attention to the technique, but the distance it provides from the walled city seemed to have given Fridolfs the space he needed to better express himself creatively.

The book collects together Batman: Arkham Unhinged issues 6–10.

2 punch bag thugs for hire out of 5