Thoughts on "Pacific Rim: The Black"

Season 2 of "Pacific Rim: The Black" aired on Netflix last week. I binged it. Now, as my seasonal allergies kick me in the brain stem, I find myself processing it.

"The Black" is a sequel (I think) to Pacific Rim 2. Set in Australia, the Precursors (the extradimensional aliens behind the invading kaiju) open multiple rifts in Australia, overwhelming that land with kaiju. The Pacific Defence force (it has a fancy name that I forget just now) enacts a protocol to cut off Australia from the rest of the world and leave it to its own devices because of reasons.

Mind you, I don't understand what the reasons are, but when you watch Pacific Rim, you don't worry about the details too much.

"The Black" follows the Travis family. Parents Brina and Ford Travis are Rangers who pilot a Jaeger. Young Taylor Travis is a cadet, learning to become a Ranger and pilot of a Jaeger (and kind of shit at it). Young and headstrong Hayley is the baby of the group. For reasons, Brina and Ford leave their children with some survivors of the frenzied and chaotic evacuation of Australia in some kind of isolated and idyllic haven, then go off for help.



Five years later, it seems Brina and Ford ain't coming back. Taylor has grown into a teenage control freak with a stick up his ass. Hayley is a brat determined to get out of the idyllic haven and try to get off of Australia, despite the continent being overrun with kaiju. Things happen. The kids come across an abandoned Jaeger named Atlas Destroyer with a fancy talking AI to guide them. Atlas Destroyer, being a training Jaeger, is unarmed and needs proper power cells. That leads to hilarity that has the annoying protagonists come across the mysterious Boy, a mute child in an abandoned government lab, and Mei, a gun-toting teenager with attitude who works for the ruthless Shane, an Aussie warlord in a casual suit who wants Atlas Destroyer.

Whew!

Shenanigans ensue. Turns out Shane has Jaeger drift tech and uses it to do a mind-whammy on Taylor. He steals Atlas Destroyer and tries to have the kids killed, but Mei swoops to the rescue. They all jaunt off in Atlas Destroyer as a dysfunctional family with interpersonal strife and... wow does the story go off the rails.

Season two introduces the Sisters, some goth-mask wearing cult women who work with hybridized kaiju. They want Boy because it turns out Boy ain't a normal boy. More shenanigans. Then we have our conclusion that ends our weird anime excursion.

Yeah, I hastily summed up the plot there, but I have to say, season two really didn't make a lot of sense. It offered a lot of mystery, but answered no questions posed in season one, and really just made all the characters annoying as hell. Except Boy. Boy was just Boy.

All-in-all, I appreciated what "Pacific Rim: The Black" was trying to do. It was trying to be Pacific Rim: Road Warrior. It was doing pretty well in season one, getting that mojo down. The character of Mei was clearly the writers' favorite, with her attitude, lethal skills, and dance moves. I'll be honest: she was pretty much my favorite as well, along with Boy. Those two seemed to have the most interesting stories going for them. The Travis family was just a bunch of dead weight, as far as the narrative went. They were agencies of moving the plot along, but I wouldn't call them especially sympathetic characters. In the end, I really wanted to know Mei's story and what the deal was with what Shane did to her. And I wanted to know exactly wtf Boy's story was. Like explicitly. But the writers didn't seem interested in actually answering questions. They concluded their story the way they wanted and... uh... well that was that.

There were some good mecha vs monster fights, mainly in season one. Season two spent way too much time trying to delve into contrived conflicts, which frankly distracted heavily from what season one set down. It was disappointing, but such is the way of things.

Disney+ Star Wars stuff

Late to the party, I've finally seen "The Mandalorian" and "The Book of Boba Fett" in their entirety.

I have to agree with the general sense that "The Mandalorian" is brilliant and the sort of Star Wars that fans deserve, rather than the incoherent, mishmashed, drivel that was the last three films. And yet, I have questions.

First of all, does every desert planet have Jawas? Did they just migrate from Tatooine or did they migrate to Tatooine at some point?

What the hell is up with Tatooine anyway? For a planet that's furthest from the bright center to the universe, it seems like everyone and their cousins heads out there for this or that.

Is it a requirement for someone in Mandalorian armor to learn to speak Tusken? Or are Mando and Boba Fett just special?

Tatooine is a desert planet, right? I mean, I've seen no bodies of water and "moisture farming" is a thing. So... where the hell are people getting the wood for planks and the Tusken stick weapons?

So Boba Fett. Wow. He's a crime lord who doesn't do crime anymore? How does that work, exactly? Though that's the sort of logic I'd expect from a dude who got punk-smacked by Han Solo and wound up in a Sarlacc pit.

So Luke is not the last Jedi and that's kind of an established thing when he's starting up his Jedi school, before he starts going into attempted nephew-murder and drinking blue milk from the source. So... huh. That kind of makes Rian Johnson's movie even more bullshit, doesn't it?

Review: The Broken Room by Peter Clines

I periodically search to see if Peter Clines has come out with any new books. I loved "14" more than words can say. I enjoyed "The Fold" and managed to read "Terminus" finally. "The Broken Room" is not exactly set in the same world, but... well...

"The Broken Room" is a story of Hector, a top government operative who is beyond badass, and of Natalie, a young orphan who has escaped The Project with the assistance of a dead agent to whom Hector owes a debt.

Natalie tracks down Hector and asks for his help, then things get crazy.

"The Broken Room" has a very Stephen King-vibe to it. There's flavors of "Firestarter" and "The Institute" in the tale, but Clines does not go down Stephen King's roads. No, Clines makes Natalie's and Hector's stories real in very different ways, while tossing the occasional Easter egg to fans of "14" in very clever ways.

I burned through the book in two days and was unable to put it down. Both Hector's and Natalie's stories, and characters, had me completely hooked. I loved this story tremendously. It's not set up for any kind of sequel, but that's fine. It's a brilliant story and I highly recommend it.

Review (okay, reaction): Quillifer series by Walter Jon Williams

Every now and again, Amazon's recommendations are actually not all that bad.

I came across "Quillifer" by Walter Jon Williams and read the synopsis. It sounded intriguing, so I got it for my Kindle and gave it a read. I wasn't past the third chapter when I ordered the next two books in the series. I've just finished the third book and have been giving my brain a chance to catch up.

In summary, the series is about Quillifer, the humble son of a butcher and an apprentice lawyer. When his home city gets attacked by raiders, his life takes some dramatic turns in some seriously weird directions. One of those directions has Quillifer, a lover of the ladies, manage to piss off a goddess-like water spirit who decides she's going to amuse herself by throwing all kinds of torments in Quillifer's way.

Despite this divine interference, Quillifer's fortunes rise. He winds up lover of many ladies and a reluctant soldier as well as... well, why spoil too much?

Williams has an incredibly engaging protagonist in Quillifer, as well as an entertaining and unusual narrative style. The books are all narrated in the first person and written as though they're being told to an audience of a specific character that differs in each book. It's quite fascinating, really. Quillifer's fortunes vary quite a lot and I have to admit I'm finding myself sympathetic to the fellow.

I gather that Williams has six books planned in all. There are three out at the moment: "Quillifer", "Quillifer the Knight", and "Lord Quillifer". I can't wait to see where things go in the next three. It's looking like Williams will actually make headway in the series, unlike past favorite authors of mine like Patrick Rothfuss and George R.R. Martin.

The Madness that is March

Blink and I just let a few months fly by.

I guess that's 2022 in a nutshell.

Fucking hell what a year.

So long 2021

Another year bites the dust.

I can't say 2021 was all that terribly bad for me. All of my family stayed out of the hospital for the year, which was a nice change of pace. Got vaccinated to the gills. No Covid. Hell, aside from seasonal allergies, I've not really been sick in a couple of years now.

Got a new, better, job. Like the people I work with.

All told, I really can't complain too much about 2021. The isolation bit has sort of sucked, but it's not been as intense as 2020. The hints of politics for 2022 and 2024 are a source of the odd sleepless night, but I can't do anything about that.

See ya 2021. I won't say you've been a bucket of fun, but you've not given me too much grief. Here's hoping 2022 isn't a dumpster fire.

Review: "Leviathan Falls" by James S.A. Corey (Expanse finale)

I finished "Leviathan Falls" the other day and have been processing since then.

The last book in the Expanse series by the two authors who write under the pseudonym of James S.A. Corey is up to the usual sweeping standard of epic crazy. Multiple views across worlds as the fall of the Laconian Empire shakes out, some of the mysteries of the protomolecule builders come to light, and there's a final-ish showdown with the dark things beyond the rings.

I don't want to drop spoilers in, but I found the overall story to be quite satisfying. I found the conclusions for most of the main characters to be pretty good. I think one character got a raw deal, but such is the way of things. There was one new POV character introduced who bugged the shit out of me, but it's a moot point now. And the epilogue was perfect!

Sigh. Now I need a new series to read.