The third book in the Ashraf Bey series started well, but left me feeling unsatisfied at the end. The narrative structure is similar to the first two books, with flashbacks providing deep background to the primary plot, and with multiple viewpoint characters exposing different sides of the story. The central mystery concerns an attempt to assassinate the Emir of Tunis, Ashraf’s father. Ashraf goes on a mission to Tunis to investigate this, and also to dig around in his own past. Although both mysteries are partly resolved in the closing chapters, there is a lot of unnecessary running around to get to that point, and some of the plot lines are wrapped up without much explanation at all. It lacks the drive and focus of Pashazade and Effendi. Still, it’s a worthwhile read if you’ve read the first two books. (Maybe not such a good introduction to El-Iskandryia and its characters, though.)
Author Archives: Martin
The Hunted
Aaron Hallam (Benicio Del Toro) is a “killing machine”, shaped by the military, and traumatized by Kosovo. L.T. Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones) is the man who trained him, a legendary tracker and military adviser who “doesn’t do that thing any more”. Hallam, apparently driven insane by the ghosts that haunt him, kills some hunters in the Oregon forest. The FBI bring in Bonham to hunt him down. Capture, escape, capture, escape, near miss, final resolution. Yawn. There are occasional hints that these characters are more than just cinematic stereotypes: Hallam was involved with a woman and her daughter before he went AWOL; there’s the suggestion that his killing spree was actually a covert government/military mission; and was there a reason that LT never answered his letters? But the film never properly asks these questions, let alone answers them. As a result, it’s impossible to care about the characters and what happens to them. The film is tense and action-packed, but ultimately completely soulless.
The Matrix Reloaded
The effects, stunts, and fight scenes are unquestionably amazing, but that’s not enough to make up for an overly dense and bloated plot. The Wachowskis seem to have become too wrapped up in the hype and over-analysis of the world they created, and disappeared up their own philosphical navels instead of making another kick-ass film. The fight scenes are beautiful, but they lack tension because we pretty much know that Neo is going to win. (In this respect the most interesting scenes are the ones that don’t feature him.) The fully computer-generated scenes aren’t as seamless as they would like you to believe. It’s a shame to have to fault the film because it isn’t as fresh and different as the first episode, but I had been hoping it would be another genre-defining moment. Instead it’s merely Matrix taken to the next level. So, it’s good…just not great.
The Transporter
Frank Martin is a transporter. He takes packages from one place to another, no questions asked. To do his job, Frank operates by a set of rules: 1) Never change the deal, 2) No names, 3) Never look inside the package. His carefully organised life starts to go wrong when he breaks rule 3…. The film opens with a fantastic car chase, and it keeps the pace up right to the end. Although it’s set in the South of France, it’s essentially a Hong Kong action movie. The fight scenes–of which there are many–are beautifully staged and deliciously over-the-top. The acting won’t win anyone any Oscars, but it is appropriate to the genre: the villain is a caricature of wickedness, the policeman is tired and cynical, and Jason Statham as the action hero is strong but sensitive. Great fun.
Jon Courteney Grimwood – Effendi
The second book in the Ashraf Bey series is as good as the first. It’s different: the relationships between the various characters have changed following the events of the first book, and the focus of the narrative is less on Ashraf himself, and more on Hamzah Effendi. Just as in the first book, the story spends a lot of time in flashbacks, bringing the history of its characters to light. We already knew that none of the protagonists were innocents, but in places Effendi is surprisingly brutal and violent. The action kicks into high gear for the last hundred pages, with a neat twist to bring plot home. The final showdown is a bit too easy, and most of the political sub-plots are unnecessary, but it’s a damn fine book nevertheless.
Jon Courteney Grimwood – Pashazade
Part murder mystery, part post-cyberpunk cyberpunk, and part exploration of the fascinatingly intricate city of El-Iskandryia. The story begins with two mysteries: who killed the woman in the study, and who is ZeeZee? ZeeZee is a refugee from the USA. He has just found out that his real name is Ashraf al-Mansur, that he is the son of the Emir of Tunis, and that he has been brought to El-Iskandryia by his aunt so he can marry the daughter of the richest man in North Africa. ZeeZee/Ashraf is not a man to be confused by this, though. He is a natural chameleon, and he adapts to his new persona quickly. Grimwood weaves the two plot lines together skilfully with flashbacks and plenty of foreshadowing, but by the end of the book only one of the mysteries is resolved…. Brilliant writing, with well-rounded, interesting characters–something for mystery and SF lovers alike.
Windmills Pub (JD Wetherspoon), Stansted Airport
They blamed their crapness on the fact they had only just opened. That might work for a one-off pub/restaurant, but for a major chain like J.D. Wetherspoon it doesn’t hold water. Hostile, untrained bar staff didn’t know what dishes the kitchen had run out of, so they took our orders for one thing, and served us something else entirely. Hostile waiting staff didn’t know where the tables were for delivering food to. On our first visit (going to Rome) they had run out of ketchup and napkins; on our second visit (coming back) they had run out of forks. The food itself was appalling, too. Their burgers are limp, flavourless, and clearly straight out of a frozen multi-pack. And as for their BBQ chicken, I’ve had things that tasted just like chicken taste (and look) more like chicken than that did. The only good point was that we got a refund for the incorrect orders. Avoid this place at all costs.
X-Men 2
Longer, with more secondary plot lines than the first film, it felt like a good “superhero film”, but it just didn’t excite me in the same way. I kept waiting for a bigger climax to happen, but eventually it didn’t. There have been a lot of really good superhero films lately. Am I just feeling spoiled by quality, or disappointed that this wasn’t the new Matrix film?
John Gregory Betancourt – Roger Zelazny’s The Dawn of Amber
If you take this for what it is, an add-on novel in a shared universe, rather than an actual new Amber book by Zelazny, then it’s actually quite entertaining. If you’ve played the Amber RPG at all, then it will all seem very familiar: new relatives springing from the woodwork, the world or universe is in danger, intrigue and treachery yada yada. There’s nothing here that hasn’t already been done in dozens of Amber RPG scenarios. But nevertheless, it’s not bad at all. The plot moves along quickly, there are some exciting moments, and the scene is set for further adventure. Think of it as fan fiction done by a professional writer, and you won’t be disappointed.
George P. Pelecanos – Hell To Pay
Derek Strange and Terry Quinn deal with racism, poverty, prostitution, drugs and murder, as well as their own personal relationship and anger management issues. It’s a gritty, downbeat novel that makes many important points about many important issues. It’s also rather slow and dull. The pace doesn’t pick up until the last 50 pages or so, but by then it’s too late to salvage a decent crime story from the overbearing worthiness of the book’s central themes.