As I'm sure everyone knows, procrastination can come in many forms. These are some quick thoughts on the recent forms I've been using when I wasn't writing this weekend.
Watching: Game of Thrones Season 2 (Rated R)
The first season of Game of Thrones, based on the book "A Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin, was some of the best television in any genre in the past years. Brutal and (mostly) mature, it was a different kind of epic fantasy centred around characters and politics that were as elegant as they were covered in literal and metaphorical grime.
Very briefly, Game of Thrones is an epic-fantasy/mystery series set on the continent of Westeros in the wake of a rebellion against the Mad King, Aerys Targaryen. With the help of "Warden of the North" Ned Stark, Robert Baratheon was crowned as the new king after Aerys was slain. As the Baratheons are only one of several powerful houses on Westeros, including the Starks from the North and the very rich, very determined Lannisters in Casterly Rock, Robert is surrounded by enemies who would have the throne for themselves.
If there was much to be said against the first season at all, it was that the first half was stylistically different to the second half - more specifically, it was good for all ten episodes, but the last few episodes were so good that they make the other good episodes seem less strong by comparison. Also, parts of the show are sometimes sidetracked by the same pretensions to "maturity" that have plagued fantasy fiction for decades: overly stylised sex scenes and anachronistic profanity. Hey guys, maturity is more than that...
Anyway, I'm happy to say that if the first two episodes of Season 2 are any indication, the quality of this show is not diminishing. There were no long, out of place sex scenes (those that are there seem to be better edited), and the tense pace set up by the outstanding episodes 9 and 10 of Season 1 isn't showing any signs of slowing, despite the introduction of several new characters.
Over all, I'm looking forward to seeing how this series progresses, as there has never been anything like it before.
Reading: Fables (Mature Readers)
Not much to say about this fantastic comic book series other than "read it!". A long-running and award winning series about the characters from fairy tales, known as "Fables", who ran from their homelands to escape a mysterious enemy. They settled in New York of all places, and the series touches on multiple genres while deftly building a detailed, intriguing world around familiar characters such as the Big Bad Wolf, Snow White and Prince Charming. This series is also very good at going places you don't expect, especially since nearly all the characters are in the public domain.
Playing: Alan Wake (Rated M)
I will also refrain from going into much detail about this game as I would like to write a longer piece about it once I have finished the DLC. Suffice it to say for now that this is a very interesting experience, different and familiar all at once with some very motivated people behind it.
As a self-referential thriller about a writer who gets trapped within a story of his own making, some parts in this game "click" better than others. The B-movie tone is inconsistent, wavering between well-presented emotional storytelling and goofy thrills. The action is well executed with some clever twists on gun-combat, but is also a bit repetitive and unadventurous. The graphics are very detailed and the lighting is some of the best seen in a game, but the animations are creepy-awkward (not on the monsters, on the people we're supposed to relate to).
So although at the moment it sounds like a mixed bag, Alan Wake's successes outweigh its failings. More to come later!
P.S. Question for readers: Does anyone agree/disagree that, though they are very different shows, the new Battlestar Galactica surely paved some of the way for Game of Thrones as a dark, heavily serialised television series?
