Bourne Identity Space Opera

Welcome to a future where a lot of things have gone wrong. Democracy is a thing of the past. The bureaucracies of the world have taken over. The Commission sounds suspiciously close to the European Commission which I guess is not something Neal Asher is fond of. The environment is unpleasant and overpopulation needs a final solution. At least that’s what the people in power seem to be planning. Rebellion is hard since the Commission controls orbital laser weapons that can destroy any riot in seconds. They also dispatch robots troops straight out of the war of the worlds to pick up any ringleaders for torture and brainwashing.

It is a chilling world where people are classified after their usefulness to society. Zero-assets are more or less dumped to fetch for themselves. Usefulness is of course assigned by The Commission.

This is the world where this electrifying story takes place. Saul is a man with extraordinary skills and intellect but who can’t remember what the things you put on your feet and walk in are. He wakes up in a box on the verge of incineration but escape bent on revenge. We get to follow his trail through what is left of Europe and Russia as he learns the world again. In a way this reminded me of a story by A. E. Van Vogt named Tyranpolis (aka Future Glitter from 1973) where the hero instead has a scientific breakthrough in an all-seeing kind of technology while Saul here goes for the AI interfaced brain that Neal seems so fond of (See Gridlinked).

The Yin of the story is a woman called Var who probably is Saul’s lost sister. She struggles at the abandoned colony on Mars where the political officer is trying to kill off all none essential people to make the resources last longer. Her story and Paul’s take turns in a way that fits well with the story and keep the reader interested.

There is a lot of good action down on earth and up at an orbital fortress but you never feel that the ending is in any doubt which is a bit sad in an otherwise excellent story. I can live with that and still enjoy the story but I have a high tolerance for characters like that.

The Departure is a good first novel in the Owner trilogy and the significance of that name for the series intrigues me. I want to know what happens next. I don’t think The Departure is for everyone but it is a good standard fare science fiction with a bit of social critique and a lot of action.

The next book in the series Zero Point will be out next year probably around the same time as this one.

Book information

The Departure (Owner Trilogy 1) by Neal Asher (Tor UK 2011) – Amazon US | UK

Visible in the night sky the Argus Station, its twin smelting plants like glowing eyes, looks down on nightmare Earth. From Argus the Committee keep an oppressive control: citizens are watched by cams systems and political officers, it’s a world inhabited by shepherds, reader guns, razor birds and the brutal Inspectorate with its white tiled cells and pain inducers.

Soon the Committee will have the power to edit human minds, but not yet, twelve billion human being need to die before Earth can be stabilized, but by turning large portions of Earth into concentration camps this is achievable, especially when the Argus satellite laser network comes fully online . . .

This is the world Alan Saul wakes to in his crate on the conveyor to the Calais incinerator. How he got there he does not know, but he does remember the pain and the face of his interrogator. Informed by Janus, through the hardware implanted in his skull, about the world as it is now Saul is determined to destroy it, just as soon as he has found out who he was, and killed his interrogator . . .

 

Person of Interest (CBS) – New series

Premiere: September 22   Order: 13 episodes

My cover of the upcoming Fall season for science fiction and fantasy fans continues with Person of Interest.

Extrapolate our current technology and apply significant funds to it and you could probably have something like what is used in this new show. It is not ‘real’ science fiction but rather csi-fi from those entertaining but mostly unrealistic crime lab shows. A software that uses pattern recognition to identify people about to be involved in violent crimes is not far beyond what we are able to do today.

Here Finch, a billionaire software-genius played by Michael Emerson (Lost) decides to do a Bruce Wayne but lack the physical talent so he recruits a presumed dead former CIA operative named Reese played by Jim Caviezel and together they work to stop crimes before they happens.

It looks like a mystery of week kind of thing that makes it easy to pick an episode here and there. Reese’s past is probably good for a background arc or two. How come he is presumed dead? The videos so far shows a lot of action but no female casts so I assume this is a testosterone feast - a mixture of Human Target first season and Enemy of the State?

Reese’s actions will catch the attention of the NYPD, including homicide detective Carter (Henson), and Fusco (Kevin Chapman), a cop who Reese uses to his advantage.

I find action without some love interest pretty boring so I hope there is some we haven’t seen yet. Maybe Reese have an old flame he pines over but can’t see because he has to stay presumed dead?

I will probably watch this expecting light entertainment, some spiffy state of the art surveillance technology and lots of action. CBS have a good track record for this kind of show and the trailer looks promising.

What do you think?

The “Person of Interest” cast includes Jim Caviezel, Emmy Award-winner Michael Emerson, Academy Award-nominee Taraji P. Henson and Kevin Chapman.

The “Person of Interest” TV show is produced by Warner Bros. Television. Emmy Award winners J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk (“Lost”), Academy Award-nominee Jonathan Nolan (“Memento”), David Semel (“Heroes”) and Greg Plageman (“Cold Case”) are the executive producers.

 

Chuck returns with a sweet, heartwarming and fun episode about a man and his ring or if you want to a serious case of proposal interuptus. Everything is planed, the Champaign, the musicians, the balloons and Chuck is about to pop the question when Sarah tells him about her parents failed proposal in a similar restaurant with balloons and accidental fires. Needless to say, Chuck aborts the mission with some sweet situational comedy as result.

The episode continues in similar ways even if it includes a French Chateau, a microchip hidden in a bottle of wine, and the usual fun and games. The team is back on track.

Some moments were really hilarious like when Casey has to play Chuck’s manservant. Lester is also having marriage problems of the arranged kind and she is on her way to the Buy More. You can guess how that goes.

Another highpoint is when Sarah ambushes Morgan, I never seen her so hot. I am taking control of this mission now, Morgan you are working for me now. First Morgan and then Casey get involved in the proposal. Morgan is surprised when Casey tells him he knows what is going on. Cause I am a spy not a moron.

Casey is the Man! I am so impressed and his advice to Chuck is so Right.

But as often in Chuck it is close, so close but Sarah has her mission now…

Wow and Bravo! This show really makes me happy. I am happy you guys and gals are back!

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The manly Human Target show is back with shocking result. The world is going under! Two, I say Two stunning females are allowed to join the casts as full members of the team. One even claims to be the new boss. That can’t be good!

It is, good that is. The humor is there, Chance recklessness and utter abandonment of all pre planning is there, Winston’s and Guerero is there…

The one liners are there …

And Long legs stepping out of a chopper like she owns the world is there, so is Miss Winston-gave-me-another-chance professional thief is there.

There are the usual shenanigans with assassination attempts and an elaborate plot to lift a few billion dollars from the poor long legged widow.

It is good to have some reliable uncomplicated fun to watch again.

The opening episode was great but I am not sure they should have changed the office windows like they did. Chance should have a say in that at least.

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What is it with NBC and spy shows? Do they need another? They have Chuck. Though Undercovers looks like fun CSI-level scifi action.

Outwardly, Steven Bloom and his wife, Samantha, are a typical married couple who own and operate a small catering company in Los Angeles – with help from Samantha’s easily frazzled handful of a sister, Lizzy. Secretly, the duo were two of the best spies the CIA had ever known, until they fell in love on the job five years ago and retired.

When fellow spy and good friend Leo Nash goes missing while on the trail of a Russian arms dealer, the Blooms are reinstated by boss and agency liaison, Carlton Shaw  to locate and rescue Nash. Following leads that take them to cities spanning the globe, Steven and Samantha quickly realize that perhaps this supercharged, undercover lifestyle provides exactly the kind of excitement and romance that their marriage has been missing.

New series always make me a little excited, I hope Undercovers lives up to my expectations and maybe surprise me with something I don’t expect.

Crash-bang on the door and jump down a balcony and then run up to the roof where I put the little cute memory stick in one of the chutes action sets the mood before we go all catering.

Mr and Mrs future spy are talking. We pay our employees too much. They are so good, they deserve it. Up walks a cute as a button employee and tells her boss she is making pork for the Orthodox Jewish wedding. She is her sister that explains the fine features and why she is not fired yet.

Sister opens door for old guy looking for Steven and Samantha Bloom. He looks way to nice to be a spy master which makes him the perfect spy master. He is a little dry though but it would be hard to refrain considering the airheaded greeting. I like the mode already.

Agent Leo Nash is missing. So jump-on-balconies has a name. Nash sounds familiar, like Walker. Carlton Shaw (I remember an agent Shaw too) is with the agency and he comes to offer them a job. Operation Black Swan is still in effect to capture Alexander Slotsky arms dealer, black market dealer and murderer. Oh my, he is dry, the dialog is not shabby. I like Carlton already. He leaves them morally challenged.

Back to catering a wedding they start to remember their own and getting emotional about Leo Nash. Back home they are too tired to make sweet love before sleeping.

Next day Steven looks up Mr Shaw and promise to help him as long as he doesn’t tell Samantha. Carlton silently opens the door, revealing Mrs Bloom. That’s what we have seen in the trailer so many times before.

They start to examine Leo’s case files while the kitchen manages itself like a Tonga party. They get into a conundrum when they start to talk about Leo. Sam was his partner and Steven gets a bit inquisitive about how many missions they were on together. They left all of this behind them five years ago and decided never to talk of their time in the agency, which seems like they have succeeded in doing up until now. Now they are in it together.

Oh, double cross? Mr high and dry is hiding the real reason they have been reactivated.

Off to Madrid and Leo’s safehouse. That’s a comfy looking apartment, do they pay agents well? I like the way it is no big thing with the arsenal under the bed or the research on his desk; a recite from a Café from the day before Leo’s disappearance is. My god, Samantha is so beautiful, I distract easily.

They sit down at the café only to become accosted by a fan boy who is so thrilled to be working with the legendary Mr Bloom (a few others around the square seems to be agency). Now it is Sam’s turn to be intrigued when fan boy rant on about this and that mission.

Bantering Couples is so delightful. Sam and Stevie are charming. Call me simple but I like it. They get so excited so that they want to break into a bank? Did I miss something? Ah, the camera feed from the ATM (btw it would not be called that in Spain). What’s up with the slow motion running out of the bank and the lens flare? I thought that was TM of the latest Star Trek movie.

Leo was meeting with this guy handling over documents the day before he disappeared. Lucky for them there is a logo there that leads them to a shop they break into. It is about that time Steven starts to air his doubts about Leo. While they are breaking and entering Leo is having the time of his life strapped to a chair and beaten. I guess it tops a spring pony. Humorless Russian breaks his fingers and he talks like a canary (he doesn’t look like he is broken though). Meanwhile the Blooms decide to crash a Marriage party.

Leo and I used to go out, she say before jumping out of the airplane. Got you there Stevie! They start bickering about it but not finish it before the wedding. Then they start ranting about the catering budget of this fabulous wedding. I felt that was a nice touch. They find their mark and Sam decides to do some Sexspionage to copy his phone. Uncovering the female lead seems to be the thing in today’s spy business and who am I to complain.

Meanwhile Leo is selling Big Russian guy leads.

Mr Hoyt (Also a name to remember, love of baby-vamp Jessica) is the name of the hero worshiping sidekick. How much money on that he is undercover and will betray them in the end?

Paris, here we come!

They track Nash last call to the roof and Steve has no problem finding the flash drive. Only to be surprised by another Russian with a gun. Stevie is a bit rusty there at first in the fight scene but once he knife the guy in the foot it goes better.

Old Dry bone wants them to hand over the drive but now Steven and Sam decides to go all free agents on him and handle it themselves. Considering that Shaw hasn’t been exactly upfront with them it is hard to blame them. But they don’t know that and we don’t know exactly what he is up to.

Meanwhile Slotsky is having management discussions with his staff. That’s a rough boss, and mean too. Failure is fatal.

The best crypto expert in Europe hangs outside Our Lady in Paris which is lucky for Steven and Sam. He needs six hours to decrypt the memory stick but he can locate the computer that made it to Moscow in seconds.

The vintage postcards of each city they visit are another nice touch. I wonder if they blew most of the budget on travel for the Pilot. We will see, if the rest of the season takes place in the US or really fake foreign cities we know. If they faked all these locations they did a good job.

Why do they drive ugly Russian cars, don’t they know every respectable Russian businessman drives a BMW nowadays.

Realistic time frame, they are in Moscow preparing when crypto guy calls. There was information on classified weapon systems in those files. Bummer, now they think Nash is a traitor.

They get all emotional about how they meet and how this reminds them of that. How did they meet? Over a firefight? Because that’s where I think they are heading now. They play well together. Sister calling with catering issues is going to be comic relief.

Leo doesn’t seem happy to see him. He doesn’t want to be rescued. I had that feeling all the time. So are they there to sabotage Leo’s plans? Sam turns up and their nine months together comes up before they are surprised by a Russian who dies in a hail of bullets and they have to run for it.

They hear that Slotsky is in the building and now it is Sam’s turn to go all Rambo. Talking about Rambo, the Russians have an RPG they fire at the escaping Steve and Leo. The style is really playful and they got all the toys out.

Slotsky tries to flee in his SUV and Sam goes after him in the boxy orange car. Wait a minute; I think I recognize this ‘Russian’ power plant. Another agent was here on Monday but they had no car left, they had to use the escape bus. I start to think of a Chuck-Undercovers crossover that would be something.

That woman got mad skills, when a pistol is not enough and Slotsky sprays bullets over her windscreen she unpacks the grenade launcher! Pop goes the launcher and up goes the car and the arms dealer. Who to my surprise crawls out of the car to get a signature kick on the chin from Mrs Samantha Bloom.

I was wrong Hoyt is still the adoring sidekick and Mr Dry offers the Blooms a Job. So that was the sinister plan? I am a bit disappointed. Oh, I got to smile. You can see how much it hurts inside Carlton to accept their demands to take the job.

The pilot starts in bed and ends in bed which is kind of fitting for a show that is called Undercovers.

Not bad, not bad at all. Undercovers is delightful entertainment with some sexy spy action. I don’t think there was anything in the pilot that really surprised me but I had fun watching it and I will definitely watch it next week too.

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