The Event [New This Fall]

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Aug 042010

What if there was a cover-up so big that even the President was on a need-to-know basis? And what if some average guy stumbled upon the truth – a secret so powerful it could literally change the course of humanity? You think that guy would stand a chance of survival?

Title: The Event
Genre: Mystery | Conspiracy | Thriller
Network: NBC
Status: Premieres September 20
Timeslot: Monday 9/8c
Length: 13 episodes

Time to take a look at the Fall season. The Event is one of the shows that create most buzz at the moment but I will try to cover them all in the coming weeks. This article contains spoilers.

Updated August 29,2010

Is this a new Lost?

After suffering through last season’s failed attempts I don’t really care that much as long as it is fun to watch and there is some kind of ongoing resolution that doesn’t leave years of questions to be answered in a handful episodes. The producers promise that it will not happen here some major answers will be given as early as the second episode. My guess is that we will learn what the Event is but they will keep us guessing on what is behind it or how it was done. The show will contain genre elements but it is 95 percent based on the real world according to actress Laura Innes. It got some similarities, there is a central mystery “The Event” and there are multiple timelines, though so far no indication they take place in different realities. I am not a fan of multiple main characters so I am happy the Event seems to focus on one main character Sean Walker even if it will feature multiple points of view at times.

Producer Evan Katz (24) says this show is not going to be as dark. And part of that lightness stems from the innocence and optimism of its young hero. That makes me very happy. There is no indication on what level of friendly banter or bickering this show is going to have but I have no problem imagining Scott Patterson who does grumpy so well paired up with a very intense and verbal Jason Ritter. Banter and Bickering is an important factor for my viewing enjoyment so here is me hoping.

The Plot

The event is [an alien invasion] at least according to nymag.

Sean Walker (Jason Ritter) is on a romantic cruise with his fiancée, Leila (Sara Roemer) when she  mysteriously disappears. While searching for her he stumbles on the biggest cover-up in US history. The newly elected US President is about to go public about “The Event” against advice by CIA Director Blake Sterling not to while Sean is freaking out aboard an airline flight piloted by Leia’s father about to crash into the presidential retreat.

There is also the Mount Inostranka Facility, a secret prison in Alaska where I assume the people who somehow were involved in ‘the Event’ are kept.

Who is in it?

Jason Ritter (Life Unexpected) as Sean Walker. He’s a nice guy who went to MIT,” says Ritter. “The main drive of my character is love for my almost-fiancée, and he’ll do anything to get her back. And that means he has to do a lot of crazy things”.

Sarah Roemer (Fired Up!) as Leila Buchanan, Sean’s fiancée a MIT-educated biochemist who disappears as part of the conspiracy to force her father to crash an airliner into the presidential retreat.

Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls) as Michael Buchanan Leila’s father an airline pilot described as affable, Marlboro Man good looks.

Blair Underwood (Dirty Sxy Money) as President Eli Martinez, a family man who wants to fight the good fight. The role was originally written for a Hispanic man. Lisa Vidal as First Lady Christina Martine.

Zeljko Ivanek as the ‘fervid and brash’ CIA Director Blake Sterling.

Bill Smitrovich as Vice President Raymond Jarvis

Laura Innes as Sophia Maguire who is the leader of a mysterious group of detainees at the Mount Inostranka Facility.

Taylor Cole as Vicky Wallace and Wes Ramsey as Greg Kervin a couple who Sean and Leila befriend while on vacation that may have ulterior motives.

Ian Anthony Dale as Simon Lee is a government operative with mysterious ties to detainee leader Sophia. He is key to the show’s multiple storylines Ian told SFX. He added that the character of Simon will link the show’s various plot strands together.

“What’s really cool is that there are all these rich, diverse, grounded characters inhabiting these very separate worlds,” he explained. “They are all dealing with some critical personal dilemma which keeps it grounded, but Simon more or less becomes the bridge that connects all of the stories together.”

Who is behind it?

The Event is a production of Universal Media Studios and Steve Stark Productions. Stark (Medium, Facing Kate) serves as executive producer, Nick Wauters (The 4400, Eureka) is creator/co-executive producer and Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights, Trauma) is the director/executive producer; Evan Katz (24) also is an executive producer.

My View

The buzz at Comic Con was very positive and that talk for the Event but on paper it looks like yet another fast paced action adventure with character development be damned. Some sources that saw it at Comic Con have said the pilot was fun to watch but all over the place and we have to wait on episode two to get any answers. Much rides on the characters and how much fun it will be to watch. I will give the Event 3-5 episodes to convince me. I am looking forward to check it out but it’s nothing I jump up and down for.

Videos

Promo

Official Preview

Sources

The Futon Critic, Blastr, Wikipedia, NBC, EW.com, Deadline.com and others

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Veteran by Gavin Smith (Gollancz)

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Jul 212010

Title: Veteran
Author: Gavin Smith
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Gollancz, June 2010

Order from: Amazon US | UK | sfbok

Three hundred years in our future, in a world of alien infiltrators, religious hackers, a vast convoying nation of Nomads, city sized orbital elevators, and a cyborg pirate king who believes himself to be a mythological demon Jakob is having a bad day: “Nothing gets in the way of a hangover like being reactivated by your old C.O and told to track down an alien killing machine. The same kind of killing machine that wiped out my entire squad. And now it’s in my hometown. My name is Jakob Douglas, ex-special forces. I fought Them. Just like we’ve all been doing for 60 bloody years. But I thought my part in that was done with. My boss has other ideas. If I didn’t find the infiltrator then he’d let the Grey Lady loose on me. And believe me; even They’ve got nothing on her. So I took the job. It went to shit even faster than normal. And now I’m on the run with this teenage hacker who’s had enough of prostitution. The only people I can rely on want to turn the internet into God. And now it turns out that They aren’t quite what we’d all thought. I’ve been to the bottom of the sea and the top of the sky and beyond trying to get to the truth. And I still can’t get far enough away from the Grey Lady. All things considered I’d rather be back at home deep in a whiskey bottle.”

Veteran is a fast paced, intricately plotted violent SF Thriller set in a dark future against the backdrop of a seemingly never ending war against an unknowable and implacable alien enemy.

Information

Veteran is Gavin Smith’s debut novel and it is dedicated to Ruth & James Nicoll. I believe that they are “The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary” – James Nicoll and his wife. I found the quote online and I just had to include it here. English’s actions as described are appropriate to the novel.

The Author

Gavin Smith is new both to me and the world but he writes like a pro. I had to check inside if it was a pseudonym for an established author. Gavin Smith is 35. Born in Dundee he now lives in Leicester. He has a degree in Media Production (specializing in script writing) and a MA in Medieval history. He owns his own marketing company.

World building

Earth is a gritty place with social segregation after a long war with the alien Them and Gavin paints it well even though the story is written in first person. There are flashbacks to the time Jakob Douglas fought in the war that explains a great deal. There is also a lot of discussions that sometimes slows down this otherwise fast paced story but makes it clear to the reader what really is going on.

Plot

The plot is in short that Jakob Douglas is reactivated to hunt down one of Them. Then he discovers that there is more going on than meets the eye and become the hunted himself. He must fight back to stay alive. Which he eventually does after a number of adventures in some spectacular and intriguing places with names like Rigs, Crawling Town and Atlantis.

Characterization

The characters are what I really love with this story. They are gritty and twisted but in a good way. Jakob is no superman he has lots of luggage from the war to carry around but he grows as the story grows. But no one grows more than Morag, first the story play her as an almost insignificant figure which reflects the way Jakob and the others  treat her. This is something she resents but it is also her driving force to grow later in the story where she becomes principal.

There are a great many other notable characters both friends and enemies that easily takes up life in the mind of the reader.

The banter and bickering is excellent and that is a huge plus for me.

My view

Veteran is an excellent read, I had trouble putting it down. This is one of the best books I read so far this year. It got mysterious aliens, conspiracies, realistic battle scenes, fast pace, lots of wow moments and wonderful characters. I would say this is a mixture of Heavy Metal, Cyber Punk and Classic SF. It is Military Science Fiction at its best and I would recommend it to a wider audience. I can’t wait for his next book.

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Rubicon First Promo

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Jun 082010

Rubicon is a new conspiracy show on AMC, Premieres Sunday August 1. Looks like an interesting show. Probably not genre related but I will have a look anyway.

Source: SpoilerTV.com

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The Event Ordered to Series

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May 082010

The Event is a NBC drama picked up for series according to the Hollywood Reporter.

It might be something science fiction with it, the description says “a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind” … that sounds SF.

Does Jason Ritter’s casting here mean what I think? Will Life Unexpected be canceled soon? It is on the bubble.

“The Event” is an emotional high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter, “The Class”), an Everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer, “Disturbia”), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history.

Sean’s quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including: newly elected U.S. President Martinez (Blair Underwood, “Dirty Sexy Money”); Sophia (Emmy Award nominee Laura Innes, “ER”), who is the leader of a mysterious group of detainees; and Sean’s shadowy father-in-law (Scott Patterson, “Gilmore Girls”).

Their futures are on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind. Ian Anthony Dale (“Daybreak”) and Emmy winner Željko Ivanek (“Damages”) also star in the ensemble drama.

“The Event” is a production of Universal Media Studios and Steve Stark Productions. Stark (“Medium,” “Facing Kate”) serves as executive producer, Nick Wauters (“The 4400,” “Eureka”) is creator/co-executive producer and Jeffrey Reiner (“Friday Night Lights,” “Trauma”) is the director/executive producer.

NBC’s newly picked up drama series The Event is looking to become the new 24 and now it is close to tapping one of the key writer-producers behind the departing real-time Fox drama, Evan Katz, as showrunner. (deadline.com)

Learned from castings:

A thriller about a regular Joe caught up in a large conspiracy. It is about Sean a regular man fighting his way through the mysterious circumstances of a conspiracy to assassinate the U.S. president.

Ivanek is set as Blake Sterling, the “fervid and brash” director of the CIA.

Dale as Dan Taylor, a government operative assisting Sean in thwarting the assassination attempt who might have ulterior motives.

Sarah Roemer (Fired Up!) will play Sean’s girlfriend, Leila Gasiorowski, an MIT-educated biochemist who disappears as part of the conspiracy to force her father, Mark Gasiorowski played by Scott Patterson (described as affable, Marlboro Man good looks”), an airline pilot, to crash an airliner into the presidential retreat.

Laura Innes is believed to be playing the leader of the inmates at the Mount Inostranka Facility, a secret prison in Alaska. Said role, Neil McCann, was originally written as male.

Blair Underwood (“Dirty Sexy Money”) has been tapped as the president on the drama pilot, a thriller with a unique storytelling device that features multiple points of view concerning a decent, regular fellow who battles against mysterious circumstances that envelope a larger conspiracy.  His role, Elias Martinez, a family man who wants to fight the good fight, was originally written for a Hispanic man. (efc)

Wes Ramsey (“CSI: Miami”) and Taylor Cole (“Heroes”) have both landed roles in The Event. While not indicated, they’re believed to be playing Greg and Vicky, a couple who Sean and Leila befriend while on vacation that may have ulterior motives.

Nick Wauters is behind the hour, which is set up at Universal Media Studios.

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Bitter Angels by C. L. Anderson (Sarah Zettel)

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Feb 162010

Bitter Angels was written by Sarah Zettel (isfdb) under pseudonym. It’s a military science fiction of sorts with a central murder mystery. And I liked it much more than Kingdom of Cages, which put me off from her, seems I was wrong.

The Erasmus System is a sprawling realm of slavery, smugglers, spies—and constant, creeping decrepitude. Here everyone who is not part of the ruling Four Families is a slave of one kind or another. But the Guardians, a special-forces branch inside the United World Government for Earth, have deemed Erasmus a “hot spot.” Somehow, it is believed, this failing colony intends to launch a war upon the solar system.

Ex-Field Commander Terese Drajeske, now a mother of three, has been called back to active duty and sent to Erasmus, ostensibly to investigate the murder of her colleague—and friend—Bianca Fayette. At first blush, the death defies explanation: Bianca was immortal. But beneath that single murder lies a twisted foundation of deceptions. Suddenly Terese is plunged into a vortex of shattered lives, endemic deceit, and one dreadful secret. In this society without hope, someone has put into motion a plan that will cast humanity into chaos. And Terese, who has given up her family and her sanity to prevent war, may be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice….

Bitter Angels is a story about hope and the belief that you might end all conflicts without killing. It is  not an  especially military science fiction if you with that mean soldiers, technology and battles.

It is a story about friendship. Bianca was Terese Drajeske’s best friend and mentor and when she dies under mysterious circumstances Bianca leaves her husband David and her three daughters to find her killers and stop the threatening war that she was trying to uncover. But it’s not a blind friendship, Terese soon find reasons to doubt Bianca’s motives.

It is also about the bound between three survivors from Oblivion, one a pilot in the security forces, one a doctor and one a renegade smuggler. And how that bound affect the fate of a whole system.

It is about how peace keepers sometimes keeps a morally wrong status quo for fear of  something worse. The Blood family keep the Erasmus system in slavery and economic depression. Trying to remove them might lead to war so the Guardians don’t.

I liked the mystery part, but it took a bit too long to get to when it started to make sense, around page 300. I wouldn’t mind if the author made faster work of that. It left only 150 pages for the real action and the characters to grow.

Now and then I felt it was too much talks, meetings and dead ends that didn’t bring the story forward, but I might have missed a point or so. It slowed it down from excellent to good in my mind. Bitter Angels is a good mystery-spy science fiction and if you like that it’s a book for  you.

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