Geek of Oz

For a book about a woman who's purportedly an excellent shot, Gunslinger Girl  misses more often than it hits. In a future America that's equal parts Westworld , Borderlands  and Red Dead Redemption , Serendipity Jones is a girl with few things, including a pair of asshole brothers, a controlling (and likely childbeating) father, her late mother's twin six-shooters and a lyrical name that can be, unfortunately, shortened to Pity. After suffering one familial humiliation session too many, Pity and her friend Finn decide to leave their two-bit town and head for Columbia, beacon of civilisation and city of adventure. En route, Pity gets waylaid and redirected to the much seedier settlement of Cessation, where she unwillingly falls in with a troupe of performers from the Theatre Vespertine, famed in Cessation as a premier source of entertainment. Except sometimes, the Theatre performs a Finale, and that's where Pity starts to have problems. A sci-fi western set in a nea...

It's getting to the point where I almost can't write reviews about Brandon Sanderson's work anymore. Even the slightly riskier of his recent narrative ventures - like the experimental Legion: Skin Deep  - end up paying rich dividends, to say nothing of his thoroughly entertaining doorstopper material in The Stormlight Archive. There's only so many ways a reviewer can praise an author's work before it almost becomes a find-and-replace with the newer book's title on the old review. Like with last year's Shadows of Self , we've been spoiled with yet another exciting, layered, thought-provoking and just plain fun  entry in the Mistborn series. The Bands of Mourning  picks up six months after Shadows , with Wax still reeling from the last book's devastating emotional gut punch. He's yanked from his attempted convalescence by the kandra, who've discovered the possible whereabouts of the most powerful weapon in Mistborn history - the titular Band...

If there's one thing Brandon Sanderson is a master of, it's world-building. If there's a second thing, it's genre-mashing. If there's a third, it's probably something obscure, like mini-golfing or cake decorating. Picking up a year after where The Alloy of Law left off, Shadows of Self  continues fleshing out the wild west-styled world of Mistborn, centuries after the climax of the original trilogy. It's the same kind of 'swallow metal and gain superpowers' schtick, but alongside bowler hats, carriages and magic-aided revolvers. Kinda like that awesomely terrible Wild Wild West  film with Will Smith, except the giant metal spider is replaced by people in evening wear who can fly and slow time. So, y'know, better. Nobleman and part-time law enforcer Waxillium Ladrian has a problem; namely, his uncle, who's secretly the head of an evil crime syndicate controlling the city of Elendel in the middle of a protracted period of civil unrest. Whi...

I dedicate (some would argue waste) countless hours watching films in search of moments when the art form genuinely moves me. Scanning for films which surpass mere entertainment or even escapism, in hope of witnessing something which feels significant. My Sweet Pepper Land the latest film by Hiner Saleem sits comfortably in this category. I feel it’s only fair to warn you that this may very well descend quite rapidly into an all-out-love-fest, such was the experience I had watching it, so i’ll try to maintain some level of composure, but no promises … The film is set in a post Saddam Hussein Kurdistan, which  is struggling to define itself despite newfound independence. Baran (Korkmaz Arslan) is a restless war hero, who in search of a new challenge, agrees to be the sheriff of an undesirable remote rural village. Enroute to his new posting he meets Govend (Golshifteh Farahani) the village school teacher, Govend is dedicated to her work, despite immense pressure from her fa...