VICE magazine's Sean Craig wrote an interview feature with Camille Paglia the other day that's raised a few eyebrows. It is certainly worth a read, as the writer/social critic outlines much of the thinking behind her new book Glittering Images, including her desire to raise the engagement of schoolchildren with modern art. As causes go it is an intriguing one, although I am reminded of advice Dr Lilian Alweiss once gave me after a particularly naieve rant I gave on the importance of culture - 'You're never going to have people down the pub shouting about Hölderlin'.

As it happens, the article does not focus on the high arts, so much as Paglia's claim that Star Wars Revenge of the Sith is the greatest work of recent years.

Within the context of her argument, as presented in the interview, this is seen to be the case because the concluding chapter of the Star Wars prequels has more 'global impact'. Of course that frames art as something which is seen by many, engaged with by many and ultimately causes an emotional response on a mass scale.

Viewed in those terms, well then yes - Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith could be considered the 'greatest'. This was the last of three phenomenally successful films - in terms of box office at least. They dominated - still do in fact, consider the amount of news coverage given to the Disney sale - conversation in popular media. Lucas was even accused of trying to undermine the presidency with his depiction of a emotionally vulnerable leader being manipulated into committing terrible acts by a treacherous despot. Amusingly writer Matthew Woodring Stover took the opportunity to complain in Star Wars On Trial that he was sick of being asked questions as to whether Bush was parodied in Sith. Obviously this film did make an impact on a large number of people, and not just tragic Star Wars fans. The People Versus George Lucas rather convincingly portrayed just how many folks have been profoundly changed by Star Wars.

So is Paglia correct then to insist that modern art is rubbish and Sith the closest thing to a genuine artistic moment? Well it strikes me as an unusually limited definition of merit. Many famous works continue to be admired because of a consensus view, and of course, popularity is a factor in that.

Except of course this notion of what is high art comes from centuries of valuation, as well as theoretical appreciation. Shakespeare is not just Shakespeare because of his wonderful language, but because of how much money he still makes. Van Gogh is relevant enough to become a character in Doctor Who - complete with weepy Coldplay music and an emotive performance by Bill Nighy explaining why we should all like him. Yes Paglia makes the point that pop culture is not sustainable as the dominant form of artistic engagement - but of course this ignores that pop culture is just the most commercialised variant of art available. We're still not chanting Hölderlin in the pub, but art itself has become incredibly diffuse thanks to online facilities available globally to writers, musicians, film-makers and others. Video games are mentioned in the interview, tacitly bracketed as outside consideration, although grudgingly admired for their dominance of the market. This again is a limited perspective, not allowing for the technical advancements and inspiration yielded by the medium.

Really what Paglia is bemoaning here is the disappearance of the artistic patron, the taste-setters and monied elites who attended galleries and salons more to be seen than to contribute themselves. If she wants to depict George Lucas as a modern-day Medici she may be on to a good thing there - but it is a role of fading importance. Modern art is not rubbish - it's just that the artistic establishment has been deconstructed by routers and bandwidth.

This article comes courtesy of columnist Anthony Soegito, a Sydney-based writer on films with his own site here. 

An earlier piece by Anthony on the history of Green Arrow is available here. 

(SPOILERS AHEAD!)

So CW announced they’d make a Green Arrow show called Arrow, ditching former televisual GA Justin Hartley from Smallville with Canuck Stephen Amell stepping in as Oliver Queen. The 2010’s are an interesting time for a ‘Robin Hood’ to operate, with the GFC ruining America and reports of people forced to live in tent cities. The gap between middle and upper class is growing, further, dividing the left and right, rich and poor, haves and have-nots. The end result of this tension is what the US media has labelled ‘class warfare’: a fertile starting point for a show regarding a rich man who fights on behalf of the poor. Does the show seize this potential and use it to its advantage?

Yes and no. I recall scenes from Looper that could have been reproduced well here, where homeless people wander the ruined streets while detached rich kids line up outside a nightclub; a fitting context for a show with this subject matter. But this very American ‘class warfare’ isn’t explored as in depth or as compellingly as the topic deserves, but is only tantalizingly hinted at.

And that pretty much sums up the show as a whole, full of awesome moments, compelling scenes (often surrounding Amell, who does an admirable job in the lead role) but it suffers from what I like to call the ‘CW problem’.

The CW television network, named as an amalgamation of CBS and Warner Bros., is known for making thematically unremarkable, unrealistic television with impossibly beautiful people dealing with un-relatable scenarios with laughable, fake dialogue. This easy-to-digest populist programming, much of it appealing to women, consists of shows like Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Smallville, One Tree Hill, etc.

I don’t want to sit and bash the network, nor be someone who rails against the mainstream, because that would be uninteresting. But what I do want to mention is that sometimes this fake mainstream American-TVness of it all, the CW-ness of it all, can be distracting and can inhibit interesting storytelling.

Arrow suffers from this. I don’t mean to be provocative, but I gender this argument because evidence suggests that the show was engineered for a female audience. Take for example the posters for the show. The comic book community can be (sometimes unfairly) associated with heterosexual, homophobic and misogynistic men and teens, so posters of a handsome bare-chested man probably weren’t designed with them in mind [unless they were aiming to score big with the repressed homoeroticism of comics? – emmet].

Hmmm....beefcake

The show often contains soapy scenes, moments that tend to be associated with shows like Gossip Girl, and feel out of place here. The effects are  jarring. Take for example a flashback where fan-favourite villain Deathstroke ties up Ollie, pulls out a huge-ass knife and tortures him by slashing his skin. This surprising and awesome scene is undercut somewhat as it’s just a set up to allow Katie Cassidy’s Laurel to touch those scars on his manly chest before kissing him, in what amounts to an unrealistic scene. I mean this is a show where a lesson Ollie learns is that one must kill to survive; some of this romance stuff doesn’t fit. I think the producers are pandering to an implied female audience, though I have to say, (despite my limited experience with female genre fans), if you just made a brutal, straightforward vengeance show the female fans would have come regardless.

I think my personal problem with the show lies with Katie Cassidy, in both her approach to her character and the writing. Cassidy’s performance can be forced and false, especially when scowling at Ollie or whenever her lawyer character is in court, though she does have her fleeting moments of charm. Another annoying element: Ollie was having an affair with her sister, then took her on the cruise that killed her, ruining her and her father’s life and she STILL wants to smooch him all things considered.  Her character isn’t the most flattering nor the easiest to support in this regard. Comic book and seasoned TV viewers can tell they’ll end up together eventually, but please, wait until a later season at least before they kiss each other. Let him date the Huntress a little bit (which I think he will soon anyway), and let them work their way around to each other.

So I’m hoping the show can sever some of these more boring romantic teen girl romance subplots in favour of action, intrigue and stronger social commentary. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind some romance on my TV (I can’t imagine watching Aaron Sorkin’s Newsroom without it) but there are less clichéd ways going about it that can be engaging. I’m hoping that things change a lot in future, and that a) Ollie’s beard gets longer, b) he loses all his money (like in the 70s) and that the show focuses more on those elements. But in all it’s still an enjoyable show, the good scenes make up for the disappointing ones, so perhaps they can only strip back and get meaner.

Oh to be in New Zealand today!

I have been hanging out for the release of The Hobbit for what feels like an absolute age. From the nervous negotiations over the future of major partner in the production MGM during its bankruptcy, to the rumours of disconcerting framerate speeds, protests from trade unions - well, it's been a stressful time to be a Jackson/LOTR fan.

In another sense, as I have mentioned here before, I have been waiting for this since the late eighties at least. There's a palpable sense of validation among fantasy fans at the huge commercial success of Jackson's adaptation of Tolkien, hence the breathless anticipation among media commentators much in evidence today in the run up to the Wellington premiere. 

But there has also been a sense of rising disquiet in some of the commentary emerging before the film's release. For example on the imdb page for the film, a user has already posted a 'review' - albeit one predicated solely on the reviewer's annoyance that the slim novel has somehow produced the first of three major cinema releases - An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug and There And Back Again. 

At the risk of partisanship though, there is a simple justification of this. The Lord of The Rings for example excised whole chunks of Tolkien's text - and yet infamously, certain audience members were livid at the overlong 'endings' for The Return of the King (on the dvd commentary, Elijah Wood amusingly recounts being accosted by Jack Nicholson).  These stories are so dense with anecdotes and offhand references to epic poems - all composed by Tolkien to populated his invented legendarium - that there is simply too much content to attempt a straightforward adaptation. To even attempt to do so would be, as forum commentator icon Boromir remarks - 'folly'. 

The Hobbit - a big story with a humble beginning

 As any LOTR fan can tell you, the narrative of these books takes place in a much wider story, The History of the War of the Ring tells of armies and empires, secret civilizations, apocalyptic forces gathering - with the forming of The Fellowship expressly a small undertaking designed not to draw attention. Not only that, but the books themselves were preceded by an even greater epic of Tolkien's invention - The Silmarillion. Large, unwieldy and full of genealogies that rival the Old Testament, even a modern-day Cecil B. DeMille would baulk at bringing it to the big screen.

Except of course Jackson would appear to be giving us as much of a taste of this vast canvas of story as he can in these three films.

I have absolutely no problem with that and cannot wait to see the finished film - the director claims he only saw he print shown at the premiere only a few days ago - when it comes to Oz in December. Stories like this deserve all the time they are given.

There we have it, the conclusion to yesterday's podcast interview with Christian Read, Nicola Scott and Andrew Constant further expanding on the theme of horror as it applies to their work in Eldritch Kid and Torn for Gestalt Comics, and Earth 2 for DC.

The conversation continues to the work of  John Ajvide Lindqvist, Poppy Z. Brite, Charlie Huston and Clark Ashton Smith.  The rise of Vertigo and the British invasion is also touched on, as well as Alan Moore's Neonomicon and Garth Ennis' Crossed. 

Finally I would just like to thank everyone who took part. It was great fun to do. Enjoy folks. 

Follow Emmet and Ryan on Twitter - @emmetoc_ and @GeekOfOz. Podcast is also available on iTunes.

...as well as two errant podcasters. Many beverages are consumed and an attempt is made to discuss 'What is horror?'

This was a great experience for the Beardy And The Geek team, born out of a suggestion by Christian Read following our previous podcast interview to invite Nicola Scott and Andrew Constant from Torn - another excellent Gestalt Comics title - to have a round table discussion. 

The question then became, well, what are we to talk about? Horror being a common theme between The Eldritch Kid and Torn, this was chosen for what became a wide-ranging conversation about grotesque imagery in superhero comics, the use of humour as a balance to scares, gorn and of course - whether clowns are actually frightening.

With so much liquid courage consumed, there was plenty said - Part 2 of the discussion is now available here.

Follow Emmet and Ryan on Twitter - @emmetoc_ and @GeekOfOz. Podcast is also available on iTunes.

Tis the season again - unbelievably, with Halloween dispensed with as an ineffectual festive speedbump before the real business of Christmas hits the high streets. It can be a stressful time for gifters and giftees. Over the course of my pre-pubescence I found copies of Tom Brown's Schooldays waiting under the tree on at least three occasions. That was a book that just boomeranged back every year.

It was the gift that they wouldn't stop giving...

 So it is good to see that Madman have a selection of titles to tickle the fancy of kids and parental units to choose from, listed below. 

As you may now, we here at Momus HQ are big fans of Adventure Time and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which are great gifts for both kids and your disaffected twentysomething types busy rediscovering their childhood. - which is the tldr version of what this chap describes, quite brilliantly.

Transformers: Prime is also available - speaking of nostalgia it is great to see that Transformers is still a thing - as well as further collections of the phenomenally successful Ben 10.

For mater, pater, and the other older folk in your lives, there is plenty on offer as well. First up, the entire This Is England series, including Shane Meadows' compelling film with that terrifying young actor Thomas Turgoose, as well as the follow-up television series This Is England ’86 and This Is England ’88. Frankly Meadows managed to capture the feeling of living through the 80's incredibly well, with a sense of drama and hints of realism blended so well the project could be a companion piece of sorts to Alex Cox's Sid And Nancy. 

If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, have a look at the U.K. Classic Crime Collection which features Jonathan Creek, Bergerac and Miss Marple, perfect telly to watch with a cup of tea and biscuit.

See the full list below and have a perusal over on the Madman site. Merry festive Shopping Season everyone. 

 Kids fare.  

-          Adventure Time - The Complete First Season (SRP $29.95 DVD): What time is it? It's time for the ADVENTURE TIME - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON DVD. The Cartoon Network Emmy-nominated series that centres on the surreal, post-apocalyptic adventures of Finn, a human boy with a funny hat, and his friend Jake, a magic and mischievous dog. This DVD includes all 26 episodes from Season 1, special collectable DVD packaging and tons of special features. This is a must-have for any ADVENTURE TIME fan.

-          Ben 10 Ultimate Alien Vol 8 (SRP $19.95 DVD): In the thrilling final volume of BEN 10: ULTIMATE ALIEN, Julie surprises everyone by joining a fanatical group that worships Vilgax, and Dr Amino soon returns, forcing Ben to confront him as an all-new alien. There are even more bad guys waiting for Ben when his old enemy Dagon closes in, followed by the re-emergence of Vilgax in his most powerful form yet. Can Ben stop them both and avoid the ultimate ending?

-          Ben 10 / Generator Rex: Heroes United (SRP $19.95 DVD): Two of Cartoon Network’s biggest heroes team up for this special event! When a mysterious rift appears over Manhattan, Rex is on the scene to see if there is trouble coming. However when Humungosaur comes from the clouds, Rex gets a bit more than he bargained for! Rex begins battling it out with the Vaxasaurian in Central Park, not realising that Humungosaur is actually Ben Tennyson! Ben soon discovers he's in an alternate dimension and that he and Rex must team up to overcome their combined foes.

-          My Little Pony; Friendship Is Magic (Vol 5) - Best Friends Forever (SRP $19.95 DVD): In the fifth and final volume of the first series of MY LITTLE PONY; FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC, the ponies are starting to learn that good friends are like ‘cutie marks’: sometimes they can be hard to find but once you get them, they're with you always and forever. The ponies know all about the power of friendship: having best friends has changed their lives and they all love each other very much. So what's the best way to celebrate with friends? Attending the biggest party of the year, the Grand Galloping Gala. But will the Gala live up to their expectations?

-          Regular Show - Slack Pack (SRP $19.95 DVD): If you like ADVENTURE TIME, you’ll love the hilarious slacker antics in Cartoon Network’s new series, REGULAR SHOW. Two groundskeepers, Mordecai (a 6 foot tall blue jay) and Rigby (a hyperactive raccoon) are best friends who spend their days trying to entertain themselves by any means necessary, much to the displeasure of their boss, Benson (a gumball machine) and to the delight of Pops (an older, lollipop-headed gentleman).

-          Transformers: Prime (Vol 5) - One Shall Fall, One Shall Rise (SRP $19.95 DVD): In this epic final volume of the first season of TRANSFORMERS: PRIME, Megatron is attempting to enact an ancient Cybertronian prophecy. But while the planet in the prophecy was long thought to be Cybertron, the Autobots come to the realisation that was actually Earth all along. In their pursuit to stop Megatron, the Autobots finally discover the source of Dark Energon and it will shake the world to its very core.

-          Cartoon Network Presents 8 Christmas Crackers! (SRP $14.95 DVD):  Deck the halls with lots of laughs and get ready to ring in the festive season with eight Christmas episodes of your favourite Cartoon Network shows and characters – including BEN 10, JOHNNY BRAVO, THE POWERPUFF GIRLS and more. Your Christmas cheer-o-meter will be cranked so high after seeing this DVD that you might want to change your first name to Rudolph!

-          Transformers: Prime - Season One Collection (SRP $69.95 BD): The complete season one in high-definition! It has been three years since the Decepticons last attacked Earth and there is a sense of uneasy calm on Earth. Optimus Prime and the Autobots know that it is not a matter of if but when they attack again, and soon enough, they are drawn into a sudden and epic battle - exposing them to three human teenagers, whom they must also protect on top of saving the world from Megatron and the Decepticons.

Adults & Teens

-          Paul Kelly – Stories of Me (SRP $29.95 DVD / $34.95 BD): This intimate documentary charts the remarkable life of one of Australia’s most gifted and beloved singer-songwriters. For almost 40 years, in over 350 songs, Paul Kelly has been mapping out the Australian landscape and its people. For the first time in a feature length film, the man behind the music is revealed, as Kelly speaks candidly about the people who have helped shape his life and music.

 -          Bernie (SRP $29.95 DVD / $34.95 BD): In the tiny town of Carthage, assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede (Jack Black) is one of the town’s most beloved residents. When Bernie befriends Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine), a sour yet affluent older widow, the two become inseparable – and Marjorie, increasingly dependent. As Bernie’s extroverted personality becomes stifled, we realise that even the nicest guys can be pushed too far.

 -          A Royal Affair (SRP $34.95 DVD / $39.95 BD): In 1766, Denmark is ruled by fear and oppression. Caroline Mathilde is married to the mad King Christian VII, who ignores and humiliates her. When the King introduces Struensee (Mads Mikkelson), the new royal physician, Queen Caroline finds an unexpected political ally. Their attraction is initially one of shared beliefs about how Denmark should be governed, but it soon blossoms into a passionate affair. Together, they start a revolution.

-          360 (SRP $29.95 DVD / $34.95 BD): From a simple decision made by one man – to remain faithful to his wife – springs a series of events which ripple around the globe with dramatic consequences, eventually returning 360o to the place of his initial decision. From uplifting, beautiful and romantic moments through to desperate, confused and conflicted interludes, each protagonist in 360 has their own vivid, entertaining, funny, tragic narrative as their stories weave and intertwine across the globe. Featuring Academy Award winners Anthony Hopkins and Rachel Weisz as well as Academy Award nominee Jude Law and rising star Ben Foster, 360 shows that we’re all truly connected.

-          Alien Deep (SRP $29.95 DVD / $34.95 BD): As the discoverer of the wreck of the Titanic, Bob Ballard believes the tough job of shining a light into the abyss has only just begun. The oceans cover 71% of the planet – a mere 5% of which has been explored. In that 5%, Ballard has found the Titanic, the Bismarck, the carrier Yorktown and entirely new forms of life. Just think of what’s waiting for us in the remaining 95%!

-          Metalocalypse: Season 4 (SRP $34.95 DVD / $34.95 BD): As the prophecy foretold, they licked their wounds and returned from the air to the earth. Brutality wields its uncomfortable death-hammer in the fourth season of METALOCALYPSE. Excruciating horrors loom, waiting for the right moment to crush us all into a smooth repugnant paste, with very few lumps. Experience the lurking blackness of dating, the waking death of flying economy and much more. Will our beloved Dethlok survive these deathly trails or will they perish like a flaming serpent cast down by Odin? The METALOCALYPSE indeed looms nearer.

-          This is England: The 80s Collection (SRP $69.95 DVD):  Collected for the first time are all three of Shane Meadows’ award-winning releases - THIS IS ENGLAND the movie, THIS IS ENGLAND ’86 and THIS IS ENGLAND ’88 the TV series’. Set against the back drop of Thatcher’s Britain, unemployment figures rose, Youth Training Schemes fell and the kids refused to toe the factory line and spilled out onto the streets. This compelling and award winning series follows the lives of a group of disenfranchised ‘80’s youth!

-          U.K. Classic Crime Collection: It’s time for crime again with the U.K. Classic Crime Collection. Featuring introductory volumes - available at a limited time low price - from these unequalled sleuths, on the case and sure to excite every crime drama lover. The collection includes Miss Marple (RRP $19.95), Bergerac (RRP $24.95), Campion (RRP $19.95), Dangerfield (RRP $19.95), Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (RRP $19.95), The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries (RRP $19.95), Jonathan Creek (RRP $19.95), The Mrs Bradley Mysteries (RRP $19.95), Paul Temple (RRP $19.95) and Midsomer Murders (RRP $19.95).features.

Set for release in the US, as well as Oz, to commemorate World AIDS day on December 1, this documentary by Australian film-maker Rohan Spong is an account of an annual concert organised by Mimi Stern-Wolfe that features the work of composers who have contracted the disease.

Spong has described his experience directing the film as follows: "It was like looking through a keyhole to another time and another place, I could tell there were some really important memories there - this film has an unusual angle because I'm definitely a young outside looking in." What's perhaps most striking about the film is how it also indicates a certain perspective on AIDS has been lost by the present generation. Many of the interview subjects relate their experience watching friends die during the 80s - one poignantly describes how he began crossing out names in his address book until there were almost none left - as well as the bigotry directed at victims of the disease and the gay community. While today to some degree it could be argued attitudes have become less ignorant, by the same token there is a lack of concern in relation to the disease itself.

All The Way Through Evening is in that sense not only an expression of a community's artistic response to this epidemic, it is also a musical memento mori to a disengaged contemporary youth culture.

Spong films Mimi's preparations for her 2010 concert, showing her affectionate relationships with musicians and collaborators scheduled to perform at the event, before introducing interviews with the friends and loved ones of the composers due to feature on the programme. In this structured fashion we come to know Kevin Oldham who was inspired to compose music based on the work of Emile Zola and the sinking of the Titanic; Robert Chesley who appears in a segment of recorded footage, casually wearing a t-shirt that reveals his lesions - in his life and work as a playwright he sought to reveal the true nature of the disease in order to inform the public; and Chris DeBlasio who composed the piece from which this film takes its name, as well as the astonishing song 'Walt Whitman in 1989' which imagines the iconic poet bearing witness to the ravages of AIDS.

DeBlasio's song contrasts Whitman's visiting of AIDS patients with the poet's own experience of seeing young soldiers mutilated in war. It is a comparison not lost on some of the interviewees, who explicitly compare the devastation of the disease to a form of warfare. Chesley also described, in some of the footage included with this documentary, how he would see yard sales with a name and a date of passing, and know with certainty that this person had also died of AIDS. These were the shibboleths of a community under siege and once again, the film makes it clear how it was left to this community to carry the burden of these deaths alone - to be diagnosed HIV positive was something that had to be kept hidden for reasons of personal safety, not to mention further estrangement. It is interesting that Spong's previous film, The Songs They Sang, dealt with the use of music in the Vilna Ghetto to also provide hope in the face of such horror. 

Another point made by Perry Brass during the documentary is how before AIDS the New York gay scene allowed participants to move easily between underground sex and high art. In Nick Kent's biography Apathy for the Devil he notes how his own introduction to music, which post-adolescence led to the debauchery of the 70's rock scene as part of his career as a NME journalist, was hearing Debussy for the first time. Classical music is not so removed from visceral feeling, as long as it contains passion. Brass' anecdote serves as a reminder of how vibrant the culture of this community was before it became overshadowed - and how the work of Mimi is quite defiant, an attempt to preserve an aspect of that spirit through music. When she is shown a video of a performance given by Chris DeBlasio with vocalist Michael Dash, she wryly makes the comment that film-makers tend to ignore the pianist in favour of the singer. To his credit, Spong avoids the cliche and captures several intimate live performances given by Mimi and her collaborators in the film, showing her eyes darting along the sheet music as she plays, shooting the singers from below as their throats swell to hit that next note.

This film is both timely in its evocation of a time, as well as powerfully moving in its commemoration of the lives of these talented souls lost so tragically. A wonderful film.

Being a DJ was a nice, easy way to charge up his batteries. Tapping ley lines, bleeding faerie circles, siphoning demon gates, necromancy… all that tricky, traditional shit was difficult as well as dangerous. The yield from trancers and dancers wasn’t as good, but it took much less effort to harvest because they gave it to him willingly. Eco friendly, too: they never dried up and they kept coming back.

The apotheosis of Kurt Cobain into adolescent rock martyr in the 90’s was an undeniable cultural milestone for many Gen Xers. It also resulted in my spending an inordinate amount of time as a teenager watching dodgy bands play terrible music in pubs that smelt of piss and cigarettes. Grunge felt like a last gasp of rock ‘n’ roll, an angry death rattle of a music genre that refused to slip into irrelevancy. It encouraged every aspiring musician with a need to stand in dark rooms and play their hearts out to do just that – if these kids from Seattle could take on the music industry and change it, there was hope. Grunge also jettisoned a lot of the baroque nonsense that had congealed around rock.
What makes Bloody Waters so appealing is how Jason Franks sites his supernatural satire on the cusp of this movement in modern music, capturing its refusal to compromise.

Clarice Marnier is one of those individuals who sees rock as a way of becoming something more. Of actually becoming an individual, instead of just another follower. After all, the history of rock ‘n’ roll is full of rebels taking on the system. She spends every available hour on guitar lessons, enduring school and her education as a necessary nuisance despite her driven intelligence. She joins bands, grows frustrated with their lack of ambition – and so starts to form her own.

At this point in the ‘Behind The Music’ special we would learn about how the aspiring rockstar had a lucky encounter with an agent who catapults him to fame and glory. The key word there is ‘him’ of course, as Clarice Marnier soon discovers there’s a glass ceiling waiting for her. Her solution is to employ her lead singer and affable lover , as well as aspiring black magician, Johnny Chernow to make a deal with the Devil. Who of course is a Silence of the Lambs fan. Instead of a one-stop solution to her problems with sleazy record company men, this decision only serves to reveal to Clarice that the music industry is littered with demons and warlocks – never mind the host of backstabbing rivals jealous of her success and already looking to take her out. Her rise to the top proves to be a mite more eventful than the lives of most musicians. Janis Joplin never had to take out any succubi or incubi – as far as we know.

Franks’ neat inversion of the Blues myth of the guitarist selling his soul for success – liberally played with here – cleverly sums up the history of rock from its beginnings on the banks of the Mississippi to the MTV VJs cheerfully gossiping on the sex lives of celebrity popstars. Clarice is a fantastic central character, an anachronism in an industry of fakes and fops. Indomitable, cutting and fiercely ambitious. She repeatedly makes the point that her success is due to self-discipline and not being given a hand up. Any young rockers hoping to get a free ride on the back of her fame are given short shrift. While she does openly talk to reporters about her deal with the Devil, the assumption is this is just your typical whacked out rockstar weirdness. The distinction she draws between the two kinds of favour forms the crux of the plot – just how much of her rigid principles will Clarice compromise in order to succeed?

Readers of Franks’ comic The Sixsmiths will recognize the sly pisstakes of conservative Christian values, not to mention the same deadpan humour. The banter between Clarice and Johnny is frequently very funny, not to mention their casual contempt for each supernatural roadblock they encounter. The hysteria surrounding rumours of Satanism in heavy metal – I can remember footage of the members of Judas Priest chuckling amongst themselves while in court accused of trying to brainwash listeners with their lyrics. As Bill Hicks once remarked “What musician wants his audience dead?” Franks eventually delivers an unexpected exposition on the themes of the story with an epilogue that hammers his points home – cf Milton, is the Devil the archetypal rebel, or just an unwitting instrument of God’s will?

This is confident and very entertaining writing, at times reminiscent of Harlan Ellison’s Spider Kiss meets Pratchett and Gaiman’s classic Good Omens. Franks’ enthusiasm for rock shines through on every page, but there’s also a satirical wryness here which catapults this above other supernatural thrillers clogging up the market. A great, fun read.

The Kindle edition of Bloody Waters is available here. Check out the gorgeous cover by Rhys James below.

This article comes courtesy of columnist Anthony Soegito, a Sydney-based writer on films with his own site here. 

In honour of the current version of the Green Arrow character presently being personified on the small screen by Stephen Amell, let’s take a look back at Ollie Queen’s history on and off screen, and see how much his various interpretations have changed over the years. 

 To start, we need to look at who Green Arrow used to be. Created in 1940 by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, GA was a rich kid with rich kid toys, complete with a costume (that then included red elements), Arrow themed gear (Arrow-Car, Arrow-Plane, Arrow-Cave) and a plucky sidekick in Speedy; it was obvious that he was a mirror image of Batman.

Entering the 70s Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams changed his costume and added a goatee. Oliver Queen had lost all of his wealth and embodied an edgier version of Robin Hood, a leftist who loudly and vocally fought all of society’s ills. With failing sales of Green Lantern, DC Editor Julius Scwartz brought in O’Neil and Adams, who paired Queen with Hal Jordan. Jordan acted as the conservative representative of authority and government in opposition to Queen’s liberal social-change advocacy. It was also during this time that his most controversial and famous story came about; when his former partner Speedy was revealed to be a heroin addict. 

The 80s saw Mike Grell take over, placing Ollie into a hard-boiled environment, removing his trademark trick arrows and allowing him to take lives. This period also saw a revision of his origin, suggesting Queen used the thrill of vigilantism to rebel against his upper class upbringing. It was also this period which replaced his feathered cap with the - now preferred - iconic hood.

The 90s were a time for replacement heroes, with Queen dying in 1995 whilst taking on terrorists. His illegitimate son Connor Hawk took over the mantle, as was Jordan’s having gone mad and being replaced by freelance artist Kyle Rayner. DC it turn would subsequently dumped all the good work made with these interesting characters when the originals returned. Kevin Smith resurrected Queen in 2000 and Geoff Johns ‘rebirthed’ Hal Jordan in 2004.

Of these various stages in GA’s long life, you’ll find that he’s mostly represented in two ways, as a high-flying Batman rip-off, or as an outspoken leftist figure, keeping people in line.

The closest Golden Age representation of Green Arrow is in Batman: The Brave and the Bold’s representation, voiced by James Arnold Taylor. Wearing a costume straight from the Golden Age this GA comes complete with all the Arrow themed vehicles.  His similarity to Batman isn’t ignored as he and Batman have an open and friendly rivalry, racing their vehicles against each other and often comparing their crime-fighting proficiency.  I group Justin Hartley’s Green Arrow from Smallville in this first interpretation of GA as his rich-boy version stood in lieu of a Bruce Wayne in the show; Warner Bros refused to let them use Batman due to the Nolan films coming out.

The other version of Green Arrow, the O’Neil/Adams’ social activist figure, is present in Justice League Unlimited. This version was brought into the team to keep the big characters honest; a self proclaimed ‘old lefty’, the character pulled no punches and threw down with the best of them. Kin Shriner voiced him in the series (and reportedly dressed as Green Arrow for the recordings), and filled him with a loud brashness and sarcasm that was later mirrored in Chris Hardwick’s interpretation of GA in The Batman, as well as in the trailer for the upcoming game Injustice: Gods Among Us.

That brings us to Stephen Amell’s version, who actually has more in common with Mike Grell’s gritty 80s version than the others. Aside from the trademark hood, Amell’s Arrow kills some of his opponents like Grell’s GA, and deals with non-powered villains. Indeed, the modus operandi of Arrow is a superhero show without super-powers, reflecting Grell’s insistence that no superheroes make an appearance in his book: If Hal Jordan did show up, he’d be out of costume and using his real name. Grell also refused to call Green Arrow by his costumed identity, and the show has followed suit thus far. This makes him more of a Robin Hood character as opposed to just a straight superhero interpretation.

Some of the older elements still remain however, with Queen still retaining his vast wealth, his desire to tackle social problems at a higher, corporate level. Though this may soon change as his friend and confidant Diggle wants him to tackle smaller crime as opposed to just the higher-ups, it’s a promising sign that the creators of the show have acknowledged elements from across Green Arrow’s vast history to create something that incorporates all his many facets.

This guest feature comes courtesy of Ed Allen, writer, gamer and man of taste. His website can be viewed here. And yes, I had a cold when I recorded the audio bits.

How can I describe DayZ? A multiplayer zombie survival game, set in 225 square kilometers of eastern European forest, coastline and townships the title is based on the aging ARMA II engine and is currently a free mod (to people who own the original game) that functions as the alpha stage preview of a standalone game due to be released in the coming months. [‘phew!’ – ed]

It’s a sandbox type game that leaves players entirely up to their own devices. The only objectives are to keep yourself fed, watered, healthy and not get killed by zombies... except that all sounds too cold doesn’t it? It doesn’t explain the near-cardiac arrest I experienced the first time another player shot at me, nor does it account for the relief and gratitude I felt when I was rescued by two friends on a roadside in the middle of nowhere - half blind, half deaf and repeatedly passing out due to the blood loss I had suffered two kilometers to the north whilst attempting scavenge for supplies alone in a village full of enraged zombies.

It’s those real emotions - dread, elation, excitement, determination, loss - that I’ve felt through DayZ and the memories that it has left me with which set it apart from any other game I’ve played for quite some time.

The cheerfully modable ARMA II

Once you’ve got the game downloaded and correctly installed, you log into a server, select a gender (best to go with male because the camo clothing doesn’t work with females yet), and suddenly there you are: on a beach, alone, somewhere near one of the many coastal towns with only a bandage and some painkillers. If you’re lucky the zombies (or worse: other players) haven’t seen you yet. You’ll need to find food, drink, shelter and guns - so you’d better get to it. Survive. Oh yeah, I almost forgot: when you die (and you will) it’s back to square one - you lose everything.

I don’t want to bore you by dryly describing the things the game allows you to do, if you’re still interested when you’ve finished with my spiel then you can find out all you need to know at the official website: www.dayzmod.com. Even in it’s alpha stage DayZ’s engine is capable of some truly impressive feats, including masses of players operating simultaneously on a single server in a gargantuan map (seriously, it’s ridiculous), surrounded by hundreds of zombies at any one time and allowing you to use a range of vehicles including cars, boats and helicopters to get around. Impressive as those things might sound, they don’t add up to the emotional highs and lows I’ve felt whilst playing and I think it’s fair to say that my experience of DayZ has been greater than the sum of its core mechanics (and if there ever was a sentence written that could completely alienate non-gamers from the rest of this piece I think that was it).

With that in mind, I’ve got a few stories to tell you...

Battle by Berezino

Campsite Ambush!

My experiences haven’t always been as good as those though. As an incomplete alpha release DayZ suffers from some discouraging gameplay problems. The zombies themselves only present a real threat to unequipped or inexperienced players in urban areas and their animations are often like glitching robots on ecstasy attending their first drum and bass rave. The AI’s behaviour (which I must say has significantly improved since I first started) is far too easily outsmarted and the landscape of Chernarus is too sparse to make the player vs environment experience a challenge once you’ve figured out how to equip yourself. Another game-breaking problem (one which has also been improved upon recently but still occurs) is that there’s no guarantee that the player-generated camping tents used to your store items will exist beyond the next server reset. There’s also the intolerable graphics bugs created by the NPC soldier corpses in several locations, projecting terrain colored triangles across your vision when you get too close, sometimes to the point where they completely fill your vision and make the area unplayable; while this problem can be temporarily fixed by tweaking your advanced graphics settings, this is something likely to be viewed as unacceptable by less forgiving players than myself.

DayZ creator Dean Hall

 Whilst the issues that arise from flaws in the ARMA II engine or the mod itself will surely be fixed by the regular development patches or by DayZ’s commercial release, I am most worried by those that are caused by the behaviour of the players themselves. Hackers are an ever present concern: utilising infinite ammo weapons, teleporting, giant bombs, invulnerability, auto-aim, and occasionally even an auto-kill button that wipes out the entire server, they can ruin an entire afternoon’s session for the sake of a moment’s ‘lulz’. A milder form of ‘item hacking’ is effectively destroying the balance of balance of DayZ’s weaponry too; when I started playing the higher tier weapons like sniper rifles and ghillie suits were extraordinarily rare but now they’re everywhere, (while the chances of finding one legitimately hasn’t changed). Unfortunately, due to the deliberate openness of ARMA’s engine it’s unlikely that proper hacker protections will exist until the standalone game is released.

Penny Arcade takes on DayZ http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/07/30

The ‘shoot first, rob the corpse, don’t ever ask questions’ attitude of most players is understandable but becomes very grating when you’re a newly spawned character. If everyone is a bandit and is stealing off of everybody else, what’s the point in leaving the starting towns? or gathering rare equipment and establishing a base when everything you own is going to be stolen by the team with the helicopter? or even playing the game when all you do is player vs player and other shooters offer a superior PvP experience? It doesn’t add up to a sustainable community in my mind.

My fear for the future of DayZ is that as the hype dies down gamers who lack the masochistic tendencies required to cope with the relative cruelty of the game’s mechanics will feel alienated by it, while even its most committed evangelists will grow bored and move on to fresh pastures long before the full version is released. Once you grow tired of the player vs player combat, gathering supplies or building helicopters there’s not much else that you can do at the ‘endgame’ of DayZ. On the other hand, the current alpha test version is far from complete and according to the developer there’s a host of new features coming soon that will expand the range of possibilities available to players; the DayZ community has also been hard at work, converting the other ARMA II maps into modified versions of DayZ which relocate the zombie-survival action to radically different landscapes and offering players a welcome change of pace.

In spite of the negatives, I think DayZ has a lot to offer gamers. If you’re willing to commit a good chunk of time and able to gather a group of friends together on Skype (or similar VoIP program) for a DayZ session then you can share an experience that’s unlike anything else I’ve ever known in my quarter-century of misspent videogaming excess. These days it’s very rare for a game to pierce my emotional armour and actually make me feel something - and DayZ has. Big time. In that spirit, I’d like to share one more ‘war story’ with you before I finish...

The Chernogorsk Not-Quite-Rescue Department

Since those heady days we’ve been playing on other DayZ maps (mainly Lingor Island) or other games, including an ARMA II mod called ‘Takistan Life’, but that’s another story...

Some exciting news from the 2012 Classic Rock Awards, as John Edginton's excellent documentary Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here scored the Best Film/DVD Award.

As some of you may remember, this comes as something of a relief given that somehow Rock of Ages was also in contention, and the thought of this worthy film losing out to a Tom Cruise flop was enough to make your friendly correspondent break out in a rash.

What sets The Story of Wish You Were Here apart is how it treats of the everyday personalities involved in the making of the album, as well as interviewing the surviving members of Floyd. This gives the film a genuinely lived in sense, a taste of what it must have been like to be a part of this project, as opposed to being forced to listen to some trumped up muso ranting about artistic significance. For these folks, it was a gig and that's were the real insight comes from. 

Edginton dropped The Momus Report a line to express his feelings on the win:  

My reaction is to be pretty surprised quite frankly,given that Scorsese's George Harrison documentary and "Searching for Sugarman" were also in contention. Both terrific films.The film did receive a remarkably positive reception when it was shown on the BBC in the summer and there was quite a buzz about it on Floyd websites who did some relentless campaigning on our behalf.

Nick Mason himself, revealed to be quite the affable no-nonsense charmer in the film, picked up the award at the ceremony. Floyd's other win on the night was the 'Reissue of the Year' award for its release 14 remastered albums, three 'Experience' edition CD sets and three multi-disc box sets.

Sounds like it was a good night to be a fan of honest to goodness rock and or roll.

Ryan and Emmet have a wee chat with Mark Withington, creator of Rocksalt, a fun romp featuring a couple of mates who love Joss Whedon and Quentin Tarantino getting swept up in a vast conspiracy involving android assassins, talking dogs and a kick-arse heroine.

It's a great book. It's also the kind of read that takes you completely by surprise.

As will Emmet's attempt at impersonating a *certain* famous actor. 

As always you can follow Emmet and Ryan on Twitter - @emmetoc_ and @GeekOfOz, and listen to the podcast on iTunes. We'd love to hear from you.

This article comes courtesy of columnist Avril Casey, @Avril_Ladybird, from Dublin, Ireland.

Savita Halappanavar was 31 years old, married and 17 weeks pregnant with her first child when she was admitted to University Hospital Galway with back pain. She was found to be miscarrying and was told that her baby would not survive and that it should be over in a few hours. She was upset, but accepted the news and requested that the doctors induce labour. Instead of proceeding with what should have been a standard procedure, the consultant told her, “As long as there is a foetal heartbeat we can’t do anything”. What followed was a tragic and heartbreaking sequence of events. Savita spent three days in agonising pain, developed a fever and shakes, was vomiting and collapsed when she tried to walk. Her cervix had been fully opened for almost 72 hours, creating a large risk of infection. She ultimately developed septicaemia and died on Sunday the 28th October. 

This is a Catholic country

During her last few days, Savita repeatedly requested a termination but was told, callously, that they could not terminate because, “this is a Catholic country”. It’s a phrase that has been picked up by media across the globe. The Catholic Church has had a profound hold over the Irish people for centuries and has influenced everything from law to politics to education. The law in Catholic Ireland states that abortion is illegal, but the Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that situations where the woman’s life is at risk should be exempt. In somewhat of a paradox, our Constitution “acknowledges... the equal right to life of the mother and guarantees in its laws and... by its laws to defend that right”. However, five successive governments have since refused to legislate clearly on this issue, leaving physicians reluctant to take any action to terminate pregnancies. This has prompted the European Court of Human Rights to state that, because of Irish law, legal terminations were likely to not go ahead due to doctors’ fears of prosecution. 

© The Irish Times

 It is worth noting that in 2010 the European Court of Human Rights also found that the Irish government’s unwillingness to legislate for a right established in the Constitution amounted to a violation of women’s human rights. It seems that paradoxes abound in these waters because only days ago (November 13th), Ireland was granted one of three coveted seats for Western countries on the UN Human Rights council. In light of current events, it wouldn’t be surprising if the UN were now doing the political equivalent of desperately searching for the receipt of the item they bought so they could return it as it was ‘not fit for the purpose intended’. 

If further evidence was needed of the detrimental effect this disharmony of law and Constitutional rights has, there is no need to look very far. As recently as April 2012, a group of four women got together to meet with Members of Parliament to ask why they could not access an abortion in Ireland after a diagnosis that, in each case, the foetus had “an abnormality incompatible with life”.

They were told that their baby would die in the womb or at delivery.

They were told that if the baby did die in utero, they would be expected to carry it to term.

They were told that they would not be granted an abortion in Ireland if their own life was at risk.

So they traveled – were forced to travel – to the UK where they could access a safe, legal termination of a pregnancy that was not viable anyway.

In 2010, Michelle Harte was terminally ill with cancer and was denied life-saving treatment because it would have resulted in a termination of her pregnancy. She, too, was forced to travel to the UK to seek proper and humane medical treatment for her illness.

Savita’s story has shocked and saddened the Irish population since its announcement. Less than 24 hours after the story broke, a protest took place outside the offices of Parliament and at various other locations around Ireland and abroad. On Kildare Street, the 2,000 or so people who gathered were seated for a five minute silence in remembrance of Savita and in reflection of this tragic, needless loss of life. There were speeches. One speaker told of Savita’s vibrant energy and how she will be missed, especially for her involvement in the community and her organisation of the “Diwali” festival in Galway, a celebration of the Indian ‘festival of lights’. The festival has been cancelled due to her loss. Another speaker shot from the hip and her heart when she mourned Savita’s death and cursed the government for treating its country’s citizens like dirt. TD Clare Daly, who tabled the bill for legislation in April this year, spoke passionately about the need for clear legislation to avoid any further tragedies like Savita’s.

It is unspeakable that a country such as Ireland, which was in the OECD’s top 10 Better Life Index in 2011, should still withhold life-saving medical intervention from a pregnant woman.

It is shocking that there is no legislation in place to protect the safety of a woman carrying an unviable foetus.

It is galling that Savita Halappanavar died in a hospital after spending three days in agony while being denied proper medical intervention.

It is appalling that Michelle Harte was denied treatment for cancer while pregnant.

It is heart-wrenching that many more women must travel abroad to access necessary life-saving interventions while such humane treatments are criminalised in their home country.

Savita’s husband, Praveen Halappanavar was quoted as saying, “if it had happened in the UK or India, the whole thing would have been over in a few hours. We just pray now, that wherever she is, she is happy.” 

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, when interviewed by Time magazine in September of this year, was asked about the stance of abortion legislation in Ireland. He said, “I think this issue is not of priority for government now”. Because the government were so unwilling to prioritise women’s health, a woman is dead. Enda Kenny and every other government representative need to prioritise this issue now. The electorate already have. As Liam Ward (@liamdv4) pointed out on Twitter, “The Irish State can pass a law within hours to save banks but takes 20+ years to pass a law to save women’s lives”.

At this year's Octocon event in Dublin I had the pleasure of interviewing Rob Curley and Maura McHugh - as previously mentioned here - on the subject of their comic company Atomic Diner.

During a wide-ranging discussion we touched on their titles The League of Volunteers (latest issue is in stores now), Róisín Dubh, Irish mythology and history, as well as Mary Talbot's tribute to Joyce in Dotter of Her Father's Eyes.

Listen, enjoy and don't forget to subscribe to our channel on iTunes.

I must confess the very first thing I thought after watching the trailer was.....where's my bloody Zombie Zatoichi! I'll come back to that in a moment. First - to the trailer itself.

Admittedly it starts off on an ominous note, with Brad Pitt and his young family swept up in an epidemic that quickly consumes Philadelphia (which is in actual fact a disguised Glasgow I believe). The decision has also been taken to depict these zombies as a monolithic sea of the undead, infecting and devouring all in their path. These zombies do not just run, they consume cities.

For the most part this appears to be a decision taken to thrill audiences with a new horror spectacle and it might well prove to be popular.

However, as an adaptation of the novel it is problematic. The title itself is intended to rhyme with 'World War Three' and Brooks has described how he was inspired by The Good War, which featured interviews and recollections of those involved in the Second World War. As such World War Z presented a series of short vignettes set during different periods of a global pandemic. Some characters are revisited by the interviewer, allowing the reader to track their survival. In essence that is what the book is about, survival in the face of global collapse. The notion of the zombie allows Brooks to turn the world upside down, even introduce stories from a host of different genres within the one book. I mentioned Zatoichi above - one plot set in Japan has a blind man become an adept zombie slayer. I love it, as it is such a cheeky reference, but also quite an interesting idea in itself.

This trailer implies that the movie will follow the efforts of Brad Pitt's character to initially get his family to safety and then undergo his own mission, whatever that might be. This is hugely disappointing as it lacks the larger scope of the novel and the quiet tragedy of survivors around the world enduring over a number of years. What has happened here is a failure of resolve. The fascinating notion of an oral history of a zombie epidemic reduced to an action thriller for ADD-debilitated audience members. This could have been a mixture of faked zombie footage with a host of talking heads. Reds, but with zombies.

Ah well. We still have Henry Rollins' narration. I will treat that as the proper adaptation.

People who would happily speed through Zoo City during the day won't detour here at night, not even to avoid police roadblocks. They're too scared, but that's precisely when Zoo City is at its most sociable. From 6pm, when the day-jobbers start getting back from whatever work they've been able to pick up, apartment doors are flung open. Kids chase each other down the corridors. People take their animals out for fresh air or a friendly sniff of each other's bums. The smell of cooking - mostly food, but also meth - temporarily drowns out the stench of rot, the urine in the stairwells. The crack whores emerge from their dingy apartments to chat and smoke cigarettes on the fire-escape and catcall the commuters heading to the taxi rank on the street below.

Just a note to say I hope whoever found my copy of this book which I left on a train at Turku station enjoys it. This is a wee little tradition of mine when I travel. I continually acquire books, so rather than return home with a new piece of luggage stuffed with hardbacks that could get me kicked off a plane, I tend to just leave them in public places. 

It's my little treat. 

Zinzi December not only has a wonderful name, but a colourful past, that in the bizarre techgnostic alternate Johannesburg of this story has marked her out as one of the animalled. Which is to say her sin is visible for all to see as an accompanying totem creature, in Zinzi's case a sloth. A former journalist, she has hit rock bottom following the death of a sibling and her own crippling drug addiction, and so has turned to writing conscience-wracking scam e-mail campaigns to make money. Her time is spent in a ghetto for the animalled, the 'Zoo City' of the title. Her lover happens to be a member of the local proxy authority, a rare noble-hearted fellow named Benoit who is otherwise surrounded by thugs.

Zinzi's own 'talent', another aspect of the animalled process, is that she can find lost things, which allows her to eke out some additional income. Unfortunately her latest outing has led to her becoming the suspect in a murder investigation. Her elderly client dead, with her own pariah status making her an easy target for the police, when a dubious offer of work from a legendary music producer comes along Zinzi reluctantly takes the job - to track down a teen singer on the cusp of real stardom. Unfortunately Zinzi's journalistic instinct alerts her that something more is happening here than a simple missing persons case, with hints of black magic rites, a possible cover-up of a club massacre from years before, and mounting corpses seemingly fallen victim to an invisible killer. 

There are two aspects of this book I love. Firstly the disjunct between Zinzi's performance as an innocent naif to sucker her scam email victims - she generally plays the role of an African princess in exile, or a traumatised adolescent - with her cynical 'real' self. Her narration during these sequences of the book is very entertaining. There's also Beukes approach to exposition, recreating an imdb-style page on a film documentary explaining the history of the 'Zoo plague', the religious symbolism, social upheaval - even a shout out to Philip Pullman's daemon concept from His Dark Materials! It's a very winning approach, one that mirrors how folks generally research things these days. Perhaps hints of her journalist past and the ever-present imminent deadline? Why watch a film when you can simply read the user comments!

Unfortunately the conclusion feels rushed somehow, a somewhat shaky resolution of all the excellent world-building that proceeds the final third of the novel. Several characters are dispatched unceremoniously having served their plot purpose as the story moves forward. There's a hint of Chandler to the proceedings, the collection of known unknowns growing as Zinzi becomes more involved, but he would have carried off the arbitrariness of these events with a little more panache I feel. 

Still that is not a fair comparison. This is a richly imagined world, with a neat sideline in sarcasm. It is no wonder the book has done so well for Angry Robot. Give it a try. 

Folks you may have noticed that Momus has been awfully quiet lately - with the exception of several guests posts from the industrious trio of Ruairi, Oran and Ed.

Well as it happens myself and @Mrs_OC have been travelling around Europe for the past month visiting friends and family. This coming Thursday we return to Oz and I will start to work on this backlog of content. I have a number of podcasts, interviews, reviews - and a special report on this year's Octocon held in Dublin (I am very excited about the guests for next year).  What's more I have one more piece from Ed to share, but we're cooking up something different for that one - as it is all about mod of the moment Day Z.

Cheers folks, and thanks for your patience.