Where is the Rogue?

I like to read fantasy now and then to break with the science fiction and Trudi Canavan is one of my favorites. The Black Magician trilogy was where I fell in readership with her and in love with Sonea a street urchin turned magician. Sonea and many of her friends features prominently in this trilogy too.

The point of view characters are Sonea, her son Lorking, Dannyl and Lilia the novice. Trudi changes view between them in every chapter so the books reads like a tv show with change after each scene. I like that much better than a whole chapter that ends in a cliffhanger and then three chapters until we learn what happens. Sonea and the master thief Ceryl, a childhood friend are hunting The Rogue Skellin and he keeps building his drug empire in their city. Lorking is stuck in the Traitors Sanctuary while he tries to find a way to love and the secret of their magical gems, the later he wants to trade for the Guild’s Healing magic. Dannyl continues his quest for the history of magic while juggling an old lover and a potential dangerous new one. Lilia is a new character and she gets caught in a web not of her own making. She is a naïve young novice born of a family of house servants. Just the type of character Trudi does so well. Lilia is my favorite character, I like coming of age histories and she is so sweet and innocent. Her journey to discover her sexual identity is told very well in my opinion.

The greater forces behind the scene start to take form here. I hope Trudi writes more about the history of the land and it’s magic.

The one thing I feel a bit disappointed with is that we hear and see so little of Skellin the Rogue in a book with his name. What is up with that? It is a great book but the title might lead you to wrong expectations.

The story has good pacing and I read it in one sitting. Trudi Canavan has done it again with this fantasy drama in familiar settings all her own. I am very interesting in what is going to happen in the concluding volume next year. Traitor Queen will probably be out in spring 2012.

Book information

Other books by Trudi Canavan:

The Rogue (Traitor Spy Trilogy book 1) by Trudi Canavan - Orbit (2011) – Bought from Amazon UK | US

Kyralia is facing threats at home and abroad, as a rogue killer stalks its capital’s streets, while the neighbouring kingdom of Sachaka is breeding a rebellion that could destabilise the entire region.

High Lord Akkarin and Sonea’s son Lorkin has a legacy of heroism to live up to, but despite his good intentions, his incarceration in Sachaka’s rebel traitor stronghold could destroy the tenuous peace between the two countries. Angered by Lorkin’s seeming defection the Sachakans blame the Kyralian ambassador, Danny–and they are a savage people when roused.

And back home, in the University, two young novices are about to remind the Guild that sometimes their greatest enemy comes from within…

Last Week

Last week Annie Walker a CIA trainee was pulled from the Farm into the frying pan with a simple courier job gone awry.

This Week

This week Annie gets to deal with CIA walk-ins and her sister’s suggestion that she be the kids’ legal guardian in case something happened to them.

During breakfast Dannielle asks Annie to become the legal guardian of her kids in case something happened to her or Michael. Annie wants to think about it and rushes off to work. Back at home later that night she refuses leaving Danielle more than a little miffed. But Annie will have reasons to reevaluate her thinking before the episode is over. When it comes to your family you do whatever you have to.

If you remember from the pilot, Annie was pulled from training and put into the field mainly because her previous love affair with a renegade agent. Her married bosses Joan and Arthur conspire to use Annie as bait to catch Ben Mercer. We don’t get to see Ben this episode but Arthur assigns a new agent to Joan’s department, which she resents, with orders to get close to Annie. Jai Wilcox (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is the name of the new agent and we are to understand he is sent there to seduce her.

Auggie and Annie continues to have fantastic report and this week it get more hands on in the training room when Auggie teaches Annie the secret of fighting for real (he used to be a field agent before becoming blind). I don’t get any romantic vibe off them so far but I wouldn’t be surprised if something developed down the line.

After helping Auggie move into their new modern offices Annie gets her first assignment to debrief walk-ins. Crack-pot City according to Auggie. Her weapon for the day is a can of pepper spray. One of the walk-ins is a mother concerned her son Walter is in danger since he decoded a secret message from a number station, followed it to a mailbox where he saw a man pick up a secret message and he claims the man saw him and now he is scared. Annie is a bit surprised when the alleged college kid turns out to be ten. I think the kid played his role very well; he had all the symptoms of functional autism down pat. After giving Annie the specs for the still broadcasting station he and his mother leave.

With Auggie’s help they confirm the code, they have to raid the CIA museum to get a decoder and they need the previous recordings Walter made. The message originated in Belfast making it IRA related so Annie is assigned a British MI6 liaison to check out Walter’s apartment. The difference between CIA and MI6 becomes evident when the middle aged British agent appears; CIA is young and lacking in experience while MI6 is getting a bit on the old side. What I don’t understand is why they had to meet at a market with a silly protocol instead of him just showing up at the CIA with his credentials? His name is James Elliot.

Walter and his mom never came home from Langley so Annie and the Britt search the premises but before they are finished they are attacked. Annie fresh from training has trouble fighting the perp before James pops him a third eye. Walter has an impressive amount of equipment but it seems he brought the tapes in question with him. This time they almost get out before the cops arrive but they this time they are not even questioned before an undercover agent springs them.

Joan and Arthur continue to have a troubled relationship. I can’t sense any warmth there; I doubt they will make it. But it is well played and adds to the dynamics of the show.

Annie is miffed mostly on herself concerning her sister’s will and the fight she almost lost the day before but Auggie cheer her up and shows her how a real fight works, you have to be closer. That was a fun scene.

British intelligence leads them to a former IRA operative living in the US. They decide to pick him up as he arrives at Union Station.

Annie is not satisfied with the outcome and gets permission to look into Walter’s disappearance. Using clues found at the apartment she tracks them down to a cabin. She gets the tapes from Walter and start to transfer them to Auggie at Langley. Annie has a cozy chat with the mother about taking care of Walter that affects her thinking about Danielle’s will. When the mother tells that they tried the British embassy as well as the CIA pieces fall into place. James has been lying to her; he said he never heard of it. She finds the tracker on her phone as his car pulls up behind her. He brought two goons with him. Annie pulls a McGuyver killing the two goons and then has a very satisfying brawl with James where she gets to use her Mace for effect.

James was a double agent for IRA planing to pin the bombing on the former IRA member. That’s the part of the story I have a hard time believing. Doesn’t IRA get most of their funding from the US? Why would they set off a bomb there?

The episode ends with Annie signing Danielle’s will.

So far I like this quite well. It is fast paced; it got human interest and a cast to be fond of. I can’t wait on next weeks episode.

Said and Done

Finally a room with windows (said the blind guy)
This guy has gone analog in a digital world

New Intro

They had a new intro this week. It reminded me a little of Chuck.

Next Week

Covert Affairs 1.03 – South Bound Suarez (USA)
Annie targets a college student to get information about a corrupt government official in Venezuela, but the murder of another agent who was involved in the investigation complicates her task.

Covert Affairs on USA Network – “South Bound Suarez” …
Uploaded by USANetwork. – Full seasons and entire episodes online.

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Spartacus is an attempt to remake 300 as a TV show with a significantly lower budget. It’s a speculation in sex and violence. All the outdoor scenes are filmed in front of a green screen very close to the actors, and it shows.

But a bit into the second hour it starts to work, mainly because of four people.

John Hannah who plays Batiatus, the owner of the gladiators school.

Lucy Lawless plays a wicked, wicked woman and I mean that in the best of ways. She got that glimmer in her eyes we remember and love from Xena. She plays Lucretia, Batiatus playful wife.

Peter Mensah plays Doctore, the whip-wielding harder-than-nails trainer of the Gladiator school.

I would say Newcomer Andy Whitfield, who plays Spartacus pulls parts of it off, even if I don’t get the real hero vibe. He gets better in the second hour.

Spartacus (Andy Whitfield) is a free man who crosses the wrong Roman army leader, is parted from his wife Sura (Erin Cummings) and condemned to die by the hand of gladiators. When he defeats all four of his foes, however, an ambitious owner of a ludus (gladiatorial school) purchases him in hopes of turning Spartacus into a successful and profitable fighter

One thing that annoyed me was the the blood splatter they overused to switch between scenes. The computer generated graphics is so and so, especially the circus view (from the air) was bad. The lack of budget shows there.

This show has a lot of nudity and sex if you like those things. I don’t know if you can say it’s tasteful, but I doubt the romans where. It fits in to the setting and is pretty explicit. It is refreshing that they portrait sexuality as equal opportunity both for men and women. Same sex relations is seen as totally natural. Guess there will be some that will take very public offence with this series, but I say, let them. Sex is fun even on TV.

The blood spatter is epic and stylized even if it never comes close to Kill Bill’s splatter feast. Fight scenes are fierce and realistic and not with too many slow motions and retakes, even if they overdo that in one or two scenes.

It is randy and violent, and I won’t feel too guilty when I watch it.

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