Last week

Mott and Tara tried to out twist Bill and Loreena’s but since no actual twisting was involved they failed. But Tara maced him good afterwards but more paranoid viewers suspect a smashed head just makes vamps angrier and gives you a headstart (pun intended). Tara is awesome when she wants to. Tara splits right after freeing Sookie and run into Alcide coming for the rescue. Loreena walks in on Sookie untying her man and decides to have a bite. And Sam catches on what his real parents are up to with their other son.

This week

Loorena learns how lovely Sookie tastes before Bill and Sookie makes vampire aspic out of her – it is gory. Tara and Alcide to the rescue but Debbie walks in on their rescue party with a gun. Tara is a strong little fighter, she unarm Debbie all by herself. Cooter bites a bullet from Alcide and Debbie swears to hunt Alcide.

They roll Bill up in canvas and stash him back in Alcide’s truck. I ride back her with him, Sookie says. Said and done, Sookie feeds the lifeless Bill and he ravages her until she is lifeless. Guess if she is going to forgive him that? They kick Bill out and drive Sookie to the hospital where they have difficulties to type  her blood.

Meanwhile in Jason’s world Hoyt gets a new girlfriend and Jason gets a lead on information about Crystal. He could ask that meth dealer in the county jail, who refuses to talk unless Jason gets him some Meth. So Jason is with Lafayette when they call from the hospital that he must come immediately, Sookie is in coma and expected to die. Jason holds her hand and they all have their talk with her.

Sookie meets Claudine (a special character from the books, all the fans jump up and down) in a dreamscape and dance with the fairies, they look really happy and gay btw. Claudine says your cup is empty, we can’t have that can we she says and they go for a refill in the spring. Lots of people are using that spring. But before long darkness  descends and the faeries jump into the spring and disappears (it is Bill coming into the room). Claudine parts with; don’t let him take your light. Bills blood saves her but her friends are not happy with Bill.

One of the most entertaining parts of this episode was Eric interrogating the queen, who he keeps in a birdcage. It looked quite cute. He threatens to drain her lover unless the queen tells him why she is interested in Sookie. The lover is Sookie’s cousin; she whispers the secret to Eric before she dies. Eric turns her before it is to late and then we switch to the Magistrate torturing Pam. Russell is very entertaining when he rejects ‘the authority’ and force the Magistrate to marry him and queen Sophie Ann before beheading him with a pointed stick.

On the side Sam track down the dogfight and confronts his family. They have been using Tommy to fight as a dog. Tommy elects to walk away with Sam. Wonder how long that will last.

There was no Jessica this week otherwise I am a happy, happy fan.

Said and done

• I newer thought I was smart enough to get depressed (Jason)
• Last time you came to me looking like that you wanted V (Lafayette)
  I left all that behind, I want Meth. No, It’s not for me (Jason)
• I am so happy I could bleed (Queen Sophie Ann)

What we learned this week

• Sookie has no blood type, but her brother does.

Post Mortem

Truebies & Newbies: Jessica & Debbie

Next week

True Blood 3.08 – Night on the Sun (HBO)
Shaken and disillusioned, Sookie rethinks her relationship with Bill. Sophie-Anne takes up a new residence as Russell plots his next move. Jessica and Bill reconcile; Jason throws down the gauntlet in hopes of saving Crystal; Lafayette gets a surprise visit from his mom, Ruby Jean; Sam tries to keep Tommy in check; Merlotte’s gets a new waitress; Eric proves the depth of his allegiance to Russell. Sookie finds herself in a vulnerable position when Alcide needs to deal with a family emergency.

Related Posts

• True Blood 3.06 – I Got a Right to Sing the Blues July 26, 2010
• True Blood 3.05 – Trouble July 19, 2010
• True Blood 3.04 – 9 Crimes – The List July 14, 2010
• True Blood 3.03 – It Hurts Me Too June 29, 2010
• True Blood 3.02 – Beautifully Broken June 26, 2010
• True Blood Renewed for a 4th Season June 21, 2010
• True Blood a Review of the 3rd Season Premiere June 14, 2010
• True Blood Final Minisode – Jason June 2, 2010
• True Blood Minisode 5 – Bill May 24, 2010
• True Blood Minisode 4 – Sam May 20, 2010
• True Blood Minisode 3 Sookie Lafayette Tara May 12, 2010
• True Blood Season 3 Poster and Mini-Sode 1&2 (youtube) May 4, 2010
• True Blood Season 2 Finale and speculations September 14, 2009
• True Blood season 2 June 16, 2009

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.

Related Posts

• New Science Fiction Books in July 2010 – Revisited
• Cybermage’s Summer Reading 2010

Title: Blood and Iron
Series: Penrose/Robot wars book 2
Author: Tony Ballantyne
Genre: Science Fiction
Jacket art: Jon Sullivan
Inside Illustrations: Sebastian Winnett
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Tor UK
Copy: Bought by me

Order from: Tor UK | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

Appointed Commander of the Emperor’s Army of Sangrel, Wa-Ka-Mo-Do of Ko tries to establish relations between the existing robot population and the humans who have recently arrived on Yukawa.

On the continent of Shull, Kavan forms the Uncertain Army and is marching to Artemis City. Upon discovery that the city’s generals have made an alliance with the humans, he retreats to Stark where he plans the eventual overthrow of Artemis and the humans.

Meanwhile, Karel is heading South, hoping to be reunited with Susan, his wife. As he walks, he hears more of the stories of the robots, and begins to understand something about his place on the world of Penrose.

But with limited resources and tensions growing between robot and human it’s only a matter of time before problems arise. And it’s becoming more and more apparent that the humans are a lot more powerful than the robots first expected…

Information

This is the second book in the series that started with Twisted Metal (review below). The first book explored the origin of the robots on Penrose as well as the City of Artemis’ war of conquest against Turing City and the North.

This story continues the story of Karel a strange robot that survived the conquest of Turing City on his quest to rescue his wife Susan from Artemis City and it also follows the former commander, Kavan of the Artemis Army on his return to the same city. We don’t know much about the second continent Yukawa but here we get to follow Wa-Ka-Mo-Do a newly appointed commander that has to deal with the newly arrived humans.

• The book is dedicated to Eric, Chris and Simon
• There is a map of the second continent Yukawa in the beginning

The Author

Twisted Metal was the first book I read by Tony Ballantyne and it blew my mind, it was such an original story. He is a British writer that lives in the Manchester area, regularly contributed to magazines such as Interzone and Private Eye before embarking on his first novel/series, Recursion. I haven’t read his first series but I have it on my to-read list.

World Building

This is such an original world populated with humanoid robots and animal robots. The great mystery is how did they come to be? The Book of Robots talk about the Makers and the first robots but it is forbidden in Artemis and Yukawa. Now the humans have arrived, are they really the makers? Filthy animals according to some.

Above their world hangs a metal moon, what is that? And are the humans mining it?

I especially enjoyed the Emperor and the Silent City and their brand of robot society contrasted with Artemis utilitarian world view ‘everything is metal’

Plot

Kavan has succeeded in conquering the north and now he is returning to Artemis City as a hero. But the leaders fear him and they plan treason to stop him, for they have been twisted to love leadership above all. He forms an army and marches against Artemis City picking up knowledge and followers on his way.

Kavan made to follow and believe in one ideology as are all the soldiers of Artemis can be seen as a clever critique of fanaticism as opposed to Karel’s freedom to make up his own mind.

Karel is also on his way to Artemis City to reunite with his wife. He travels in the wake of the Uncertain Army and he explores secrets hidden in the old mountains of the north on his way and he also picks up followers.

Wa-Ka-Mo-Do is in trouble, the humans has been given land and privileges by the emperor but the robots of Yukawa has been made for a society without humans and the tension continues to build. The humans’ motivation is not pure and there are fractions in conflict with each other. He learns more about the mysterious humans and befriends a teenage girl I hope will return next book. There is exploitation and colonialism in the way the humans treat the robots.

I also enjoyed Susan’s exploration of Artemis City while she tries to find her missing friend and escape.

Eventually there is a clash on both continents that will change their world forever.

Characterization

I love the robots, Tony switches point of view and there is no problem understanding or believing their motivation. I am usually not fond of multiple main characters as it dilutes my focus but here it works great for me. The switches back and forth are timely and appropriate to what is happening. You will find that the timelines might not be what you expect but that works well too.

The only one I miss from the first book is Maoco O, the city guard that survived and was about to start a resistance. What happened to him?

My View

Easily one of the best books I read this year if not the best. There is not often you read a truly original story. A world of robots made for how that world is, clashes with new concepts as conflicting human groups lands and starts to take advantage. It is a story about exploitation, colonialism, fanaticism and free will all packed in an epic science fiction saga about robots. I have been fascinated by robots since I read The Caves of Steel. You can read it as a standalone novel but I recommend you read Twisted Metal first. This is one of the books you should read this year.

Related information

• My review of Twisted Metal
• Tony Ballantyne’s homepage tonyballantyne.com
• Blood and Iron was one of my picks for New Science Fiction to Read 2010

Title: The January Dancer
Series: The January Dancer 1 | Firestar Future 1
Author: Michael Flynn
Narated by: Stefan Rudnicki
Publisher: Tor 2008 | Blackstone Audio
Genre: Space Opera
Hardcover: 352 pages
Audiobook: 13h
Order from: Audible | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

“The January Dancer tells the fateful story of an ancient pre-human artifact of great power and the people who pursue it. Starting with Captain Amos January, who quickly loses it, and then the others who fight, scheme, and kill to get it, we travel around the complex, decadent, brawling, mongrelized interstellar human civilization it might save or destroy. Collectors want the Dancer; pirates take it; rulers crave it; and they’ll all kill if necessary to get it.” This is a story of love, revolution, music, and mystery, and it ends, as all great stories do, with shock and a beginning.

Information

I listened to the audio book version and I connected with that voice from the very beginning. It was a good choice with the right accent and dynamic enough for the other voices in the story.

In the best Gaelic tradition a beautiful redhead Harper walks into a bar looking for a man who can tell the tale of the January Dancer so she can make sweet music of it. She finds ‘the Scared man’ and he tells her the Tale of The January Dancer.

I feel that listening to this instead of reading it added extra realism in the storytelling, I could feel myself sitting in that dark alcove listening to the scared mans masterful word weaving as he dealt out piece by piece to keep the suspense high.

I would have gladly brought him all the uisce beatha he could drink to get him to finish his story.

World building

The story of the January Dancer takes place in a future world were humanity is spread among the stars along the highways of space. Known space is divided by a rift that may have been created in a war or a cataclysmic event. Much of history and science is lost in legends. Legend has it that the Rift was created in a cataclysmic war that shattered the Commonwealth of Suns, devastated Terra and plunged everyone into ‘the sundering’ when dark ages ruled and many worlds lost contact with mainstream humanity.

The side of the Rift centered on Terra consists of The Confederation of Central Worlds under the dictatorship of ‘Those of Names’. Flynn has his way with names.

The other side is occupied by the United League of the Periphery a more loose association of worlds under Ardry of High Tara. The ULP is kept together by highly trained agents called ‘hounds’ or ‘pups’.

Technology is not very well understood by most, many legends claim that it was more advanced ‘before’. They can still manage interstellar travel along the high roads where space travels faster than light. The roads have named like ‘Route 66′ and ‘the Silk Road’.

The world just is, I am there. Michael Flynn is a master world weaver I can never do his intricate weave justice with my scribblings.

Plot

One side of the plot is the scared man and the Harper but they tell a story some twenty years before.

A motley crew under Captain January finds an alien artifact (The January Dancer, named after the Captain) on a desert planet when they stop for repairs. This sets off a series of events where different actors across the spiral arm try to gain control over it. An ancient legend of an object of power a Twister is involved. The story focuses on a group that seems to get together by chance; it consists of  the Fudir, an opportunistic criminal from Jehovah, Hugh a guerrilla leader and once planet manager of the first planet where the Dancer changed hands and two kennel agents Greystroke and Bridget ban. They eventually track down the Dancer and confront its power.

Characterization

The Fudir is my favorite character but they are all great. The voices on the audio were superb and the way they are described really makes them come alive. It feels like the scared man has meet each and every one of the characters and he tells their story like you would tell your best friend.

The way it is done is perfect for the story and the way it is told. But I as an outside reader gets so curious about those characters that I want to know more! Some of the characters like the Fudir and Hugh you get to know a little more about.

My View

I am in awe with this book, the combination of wonderful prose and just the right narrator meshed perfectly. Its only drawback is that it is too short. I am not sure the story telling technique will fit everyone but I would recommend that you give the audio version a try. The January Dancer is space opera wrapped in a Gaelic saga served by a Harper and a scarred man. I am already on the sequel Up Jim River.

I elected to combine the two part season finale to one review. This Review contains spoilers.

Plot

The Lucian Alliance tries to take control of Destiny, but they too are cut off from home as the Icarus planet they dialed from exploded.

Colonel Telford, free of the mind control is undercover with the Lucians when they board the ship so Young doesn’t open the gate room to space as he intended, instead giving the Lucians a foothold. The Lucians occupies the gate room and takes some of Destiny’s crew hostage among them TJ.

There is something off with one of the members of Kiva’s party, he was friendly with Rush in a peculiar way while back at the Icarus planet. What is his story? Who does he work for?

Destiny dropped out of FTL when dialed but the counter to the next jump has not started. Why?

Something weird is happening with the ship. One of the Lucian soldiers is disintegrated by a strange light coming from outside the ship. I first thought it could be the advanced aliens from that constructed solar system who caught up with Destiny. Then we learn that on top of the invasion the ship dropped out of FTL next to a binary system orbiting a black hole. It is what has been happening to the ship, every time the sun rotates around the black hole a burst of gamma radiation hits the Destiny and it has to boost its shield every time. Now the shields are about to fail. Rush and the science team comes up with a solution but someone has to go outside to fix it but to get outside they have to use an exit Kiva controls. She blackmails them into turning over control of the ship to her before allowing it. Telford comes up with a plan where he would turn control back to Rush who will hide from capture. Unfortunately Kiva walks in on him when he is about to and they both shoot each other. Kiva is alive but unconscious while Telford to all appearance is dead.

Eli and Chloe hide and end up in an unexplored part of the ship. Since Colonel Young shut down life support in all unused parts of the ship in preparation for the attack they struggle to survive. After the prisoner exchange they discover that Eli and Chloe are missing but they don’t start looking for them. Eli finds a console and has to leave Chloe to rush to save  Scott and Greer who are trapped outside.

In the final minutes a firefight breaks out in the infirmary and TJ is hit, Chloe looses consciousness, Young and his men are separated from the civilians and are about to be executed, Scott and Greer are still trapped outside. Talk about cliffhanger!

We also have the mystery of the disappeared  ancient-chair man. Where is he?

Characterization

Rush – I like the way he starts to make sense and I can understand some of his motivations and I am starting to love his character and the dynamics in the conflict between him and Young – For the sake of the crew – they both agree to get along. I would love to see Rush alien knowledge start to surface (he was captive to those aliens far longer than Chloe).

Wrang – I still think she is a Lucian spy. Unless she is or she is some other kind of undercover her behavior doesn’t make much sense. I don’t like her character much because I can’t understand how she could possibly act the way she does, it only makes her disruptive without making sense, yet.

Young – Is one of my favorite characters on SGU. He is a leader put in a hot spot he never expected, he struggles with personal demons, he fails to deal with his personal life and it all makes him more human, more of a realistic leader than many seen on TV. He makes though choices and sometimes he is wrong but he always tries to do the right thing.

Chloe – I think she has been treated unfair by many fans, the writers have treated this character all kind of clueless which I haven’t enjoyed much. I enjoyed the lost in that spider labyrinth part where she started to show alien knowledge, give more of that.

Eli – Has been under utilized in my opinion. I like the character and I like the way he doesn’t go around pining for Chloe, much. But lets bring forward his mystery solving skills, let him explore the ship. I still cant forget the scene when they recruited him, beamed him up to orbit and his amazement, bring that back if you can.

Scott – I don’t like because I want to see Chloe with Eli and he seems to be some sort of player. Besides that I do like his character, the young buck still deciding on who he wants to be or become.

TJ – She is one of the characters that really bounded with. She can be terrible frustrating to watch at times but it all makes sense and is relevant to the place her character is. She is well written and well played. I for one would like her to have her baby. It would be inconvenient but so is life. I am pretty sure the baby is dead though, look at the blood on her belly.

Greer – I like him but his character is starting to be borderline stereotypical, they played the angry black man card a little to often lately, he must be more than that. The tension between Greer and Wrang is interesting, I just hope they don’t make her forget her sexual orientation. Greer’s talk with Scott was true Master Sergeant, keep the young ones on track.

Kiva – I love her, please, please let her stay for next season. She is feisty and driven by righteous fury that Earth has taken all this knowledge for itself. I have seen her in other roles before and she got a very sublime touch to all her roles and she is one of the hottest women I have seen on TV. I guess we will see more of her second in command next season, but I hope Kiva makes it.

My Conclusions

I started writing these before I saw part 2 so they reflect the whole season too. I am a character person, having characters that I like and can root for is important for me to enjoy watching. But characters aren’t everything there must be a plot that takes us somewhere, that has a beginning, a middle and an end. This season and the finale have both.

The three last episodes have been a frantic ride. New really interesting characters have been added to the mix. This whole season has been really clever, SGU is intelligent Science Fiction just the way I like it. Awesome season finale.

I am not really surprised that SGU ended with a cliffhanger, I am just surprised over the extent of it, and everything is up in the air more or less. At least we don’t have to wait six months for it to return (I hope). Until we meet again watch the promo for season 2.

Who Will Survive – Stargate Universe Season 2 Video

Bonus pictures

Title: Line War
Series: Agent Cormac 5
Author: Neal Asher
Paperback: 496 pages
Genre: Space Opera | Military Science Fiction
Publisher: Tor 2008
Order by: Tor | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok | tbd

The Polity is under attack from a ‘melded’ AI entity with control of the lethal Jain technology, yet the attack seems to have no coherence. When one of Erebus’ worm ships kills millions on the world of Klurhammon, a high-tech agricultural world of no real tactical significance, agent Ian Cormac is sent to investigate, though he is secretly struggling to control a new ability no human being should possess…and beginning to question the motives of his AI masters.

Further attacks and seemingly indiscriminate slaughter ensue, but only serve to bring some of the most dangerous individuals in the Polity into the war. Mr Crane, the indefatigable brass killing machine sets out for vengeance, while Orlandine, a vastly-augmented haiman who herself controls Jain technology, seeks a weapon of appalling power and finds allies from an ancient war. Meanwhile Mika, scientist and Dragon expert, is again kidnapped by that unfathomable alien entity and dragged into the heart of things: to wake the makers of Jain technology from their five-million-year slumber.

But Erebus’ attacks are not so indiscriminate, after all, and could very well herald the end of the Polity itself…

Information

This is the final Cormac Novel as far as I know, the ending is open but with good closure so there might be future stories. There are three important points of view in the story Cormac’s, Mika’s and Vulture’s.

Agent Cormac is as usual the main protagonist. Mika is Cormac’s love interest and the one the Dragon choose to communicate with. Vulture is again a ship accompanying Mr Crane.

World building

As usual Neal build a coherent well thought out future world as the setting for his story. The Polity is one of the better ones I have seen and I like that it is not the perfect world, it got flaws and the players human, haimen and ai’s all have their weaknesses.

Plot

Orbus makes his play for the Polity with massive diversion attacks along the Line while he hold his real plan a secret. I thought that part was well thought out and was believable as was the Polity AI’s responses. Here you get mighty space battles with huge loses of life and equipment. It disturbs me a bit the casual way thousands of deaths is treated but then I realize that is exactly the way emotionless machines would see it.

All the players are being played in true spy thriller tradition and each step in the plot reveals deceit after deceit until the true players are revealed in the end.

Cormac tries to understand the randomness of the attacks together with his drone sidekick and Jerusalem. They start to make progress when they get help from an unlikely source.

Mika’s sejour with the Dragon is an amazing thrilling journey to the roots of the Jain technology and the gruesome deceit at its bottom.

Characterization

This is a story about revelations and Cormac has fears that he might be an avatar of some distant AI like Horace Blegg especially with his newfound powers. That question keeps us in suspense up until the end.

I love the characters even the ones on the ‘evil’ side. I would have liked a bit more on Cormac and Mika but then I am a sucker for love.

My View

Line War is a good ending to the Cormac Saga. The onion is pealed, the truths revealed and the guilty punished what more is there? Well, there is an opening for future Cormac stories but I haven’t scryed any such intensions from Mr Asher. I have been taken in by the Polity universe so I have The Skinner and The Voyage of the Sable Keech marked down for summer reading.

Title: Polity Agent
Series: Agent Cormac 4
Author: Neal Asher
Cover art: Steve Rawlings
Genre: Space Opera | Military Science Fiction
Publisher: Tor / PanMacMillan 2006
Paperback: 496 pages
Order by: Tor | Amazon US | UK | B&N | Sfbok | tbd

From 800 years in the future, a runcible gate is opened into the Polity and those coming through it have been sent specially to take the alien ‘Maker’ back to its home civilization in the Small Magellanic cloud. Once these refugees are safely through, the gate itself is rapidly shut down – because something alien is pursuing them. The gate is then dumped into a nearby sun. From those refugees who get through, agent Cormac learns that the Maker civilization has been destroyed by pernicious virus known as the Jain technology. This, of course, raised questions: Why was Dragon, a massive biocontruct of the Makers, really sent to the Polity? And, Why did a Jain node suddenly end up in the hands of someone who could do the most damage with it? Meanwhile an entity called the Legate is distributing pernicious Jain nodes …and a renegade attack ship, The King of Hearts, has encountered something very nasty outside the Polity itself.

Information

ECS Agent Ian Cormac is the protagonist in this fourth Cormac novel.

World building

The story takes place in an universe where benign artificial intelligences rule the Polity where most of humanity reside. The border of the Polity is called the Line and most of the story takes place on or around the Line. ‘The greatest benefits for the most’ are the guiding principle for the Polity and that wakes some deep moral questions.

Horace Blegg’s storyline reveals more of the inner workings of the beings that governs the Polity. All is not peachy among the AI’s as we saw in Brass Man. There are fractions that wants to leave the humans and pursue Jain technology for themselves. One such AI, the warship The King of Hearts goes searching for the AIs that left the Polity at the end of the Prador war to pursue Singularity but he finds something much more frightening.

Plot

In this fast paced story of sinister secrets, mighty space battles and suspenseful adventure Polity agent Ian Cormac has to track down and stop the spread of Jain technology in the Polity and find out who is behind it.

The alien civilization-killing Jain technology is like an onion layer after layer is revealed the further we dive into the series. Now we start to see a bigger picture and how the different players tie in to each other. Who and what the Dragon is and his real mission to our galaxy; Who the Legate is and who is maneuvering behind the scene.

Characterization

Ian Cormac’s progression from emotionless field agent towards a whole human continues and we get to see much more human interaction between him and his associates. Many of the characters from the previous books are back and take on bigger parts like Mika and Thorn.

As always Neal Asher provide delightful and easy to love characters like the war drone who is gagging for a fight after years of boredom and routine. There are also new ships to get to know.

My View

Polity Agent is an intelligent space opera which ponder some big questions like death, identity of self and the dangers of new technology framed in suspenseful and entertaining adventure. You should read the previous books in the series before this one, you won’t be disappointed.

Title: Victorious
Series: The Lost Fleet 6
Author: Jack Campbell (John G. Hemry)
Cover Art: Peter Bollinger
Genre: Military Science Fiction | Space Opera
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: ACE April 2010
Order: ACE | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

As war continues to rage between the Alliance and Syndicate Worlds, Captain “Black Jack” Geary is promoted to admiral-even though the ruling council fears he may stage a military coup. His new rank gives him the authority to negotiate with the Syndics, who have suffered tremendous losses and may finally be willing to end the war. But an even greater alien threat lurks on the far side of the Syndic occupied space.

Information

The book is dedicated to Paul Parsons and S.

As usual the book starts with a six pages long list of the ships in the fleet. It also says where ships have been lost in battle.

The protagonist of this series is Captain John “Black Jack” Geary.

The Alliance has been fighting the Syndics for a century – and losing badly. Now its fleet that was crippled and stranded in enemy territory back home again. They were saved by a man who’s emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he had been heroically idealized beyond belief . Captain John ‘Black Jack’ Geary’s legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Appalled by the hero-worship around him, Geary is nevertheless a man who will do his duty. And he knows that bringing the stolen Syndic hypernet key safely home is the Alliance’s one chance to win the war. But to do that, Geary will have to live up to the impossibly heroic ‘Black Jack’ legend.

The Author

John G. Hemry (LCDR, USN ret.) is an American author of military science fiction novels. Drawing on his experience as a retired United States Navy officer, he has written the Stark’s War and Paul Sinclair series. Under the name Jack Campbell, he has written six volumes of the Lost Fleet series. He has also written over a dozen short stories, many published in Analog magazine, and a number of non-fiction works. The only thing I read by John is the Lost Fleet series, but that is going to change.

World building

The world building is good enough for the story. We learn the bigger world as seen by John Geary, back from a century long hibernation. Much have changed and not for the better. Knowledge and finesse have been lost. The world is much cruder but also more built on the brutal necessities of a century long war.

The tension between the civilian leadership and the military is obvious when John Geary returns to the Alliance. The changes for the worse, the degradation of civil rights and freedom have gone far. John doesn’t solve the problems but he shows them there is another way with his ironclad integrity. It is a bit stereotypical but not more than one would expect.

The same is true for the Syndics but they didn’t have that much cohesion to begin with so there the results are worse. The Syndic Empire starts to crumble under their failed leadership. But the Alliance don’t want the Syndic to go under, they need every human they can get to fight the aliens responsible for this war.

Plot

John first has to deal with the political leadership of the Alliance to get the clout to negotiate a peace with the Syndic hopefully saving them from themselves at the same time. But they won’t give up without a fight.

Then there are those aliens to deal with.

Characterization

Captain John Geary have to deal with the love of his second life. She is untouchable as his flag captain, the way he deals with that is enjoyable and emotionally satisfying. He continues to be human and to doubt himself while doing his duty. That gives him a more real feeling and it is also a good contrast to the Legend of Black Jack.

The characterization is what makes Lost Fleet great, there is both strength and weaknesses in the characters that makes them come alive.

My View

Victorious is a satisfying conclusion to The Lost Fleet, a fast paced Long March kind of military science fiction series about a man having to live up to the impossible historical legend of himself. It is not Great Literature but it is a fun read. I am lucky the author got a contract for two new series in the same universe, I am sure to get those too. If you like military space opera like Honor Harrington you should take a look at Lost Fleet.

The New Series

Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier is a new series that follows Black Jack and his companions after the events in Victorious. It will deal with the mysterious aliens.

The Phoenix Stars is a new series set in formerly Syndic star system as the people there cope with the ongoing collapse of the Syndic Worlds

There is a sadness with season finales, you say goodbye to friends that have entertained you with their company for a season and now they must go. Some friends go and newer come back, but the best friends keep returning with that special chemistry, that connection that makes them special, Chuck is special.

It is really amazing that one show have been able to collect so many attractive and likeable characters as Chuck. This season finale draw my attention to how much that means for a show to become great. Through the whole finale, the whole season and the whole series there is this family feeling that binds it all together. There is a family of Chuck, Ellie and Stephen but there is also the big extended family with Sarah, Awesome, Morgan and Casey. Their other family is the Buy More, not as close but still with an emotional bound, a cohesion that many, too many shows fail to achieve. For me that is very attractive.

What’s also great with Chuck is that it allows the characters to grow, to change and take on different roles. I for one think it was great that Ellie finally learned the truth about her brother. She must have been surprised and more than a little chocked when she saw Chuck down that CIA agent and Awesome by mistake revealed that Chuck was a spy. That paved the way for the great emotional scene when they sat down together and talked about it and she got Chuck to promise to get out  after he dealt with Shaw and the Ring.

Morgan is a growing character, now that he has been in the loop for a few episodes, he thinks he is on top of it all. His partnership with Casey works great. Casey used to scare the shit out of him but now… it’s not really like they are friends, but they are family and they both care for Sarah and Chuck. Morgan and Awesome is another great entertaining surprise this season. Their relationship have also changed and when they go after the prison transport to liberate Sarah, Chuck and Casey in Casey’s car it is one of many really good scenes in this season finale.

Casey have become one of my favorite characters on TV, Adam Baldwin is a comic genius. His grunts, eyebrows and facial expressions have been a delight the whole season. Now when he has his daughter Alexis back in his life he added another dimension to his character. Him telling Alex I am your father (Star Wars anyone?) was a fantastic scene. She can fight too and the look on Casey’s face when he found out was priceless.  Added potential for fun was when he found out Morgan carried Alexis number, that is going to be so fun next season.

It was a strong scene when Shaw shot Stephen to make Chuck emotional so he couldn’t fight back. The regeneration technique the Ring was developing at that base makes me wonder if he really is dead for real. But both Ellie and Chuck believes he is. One of the basic motivations for all the shenanigans that goes on in this show is to protect the ones you love. That’s what makes Ellie lie about her CIA contact. That is why Stephen disappeared from their life. That’s why Chuck never told Ellie about being a Spy. And I am sure that’s the reason they are going to lie next season too.

Chuck and Sarah works well as a pair now, lets not split them up again will you. Chuck discovering his father’s real job and Orion’s secret lair is great. Wonder if he will keep it a secret from Sarah too? That would be a great setup for all kinds of Mr and Mrs Smith action next season.

The season finale was great, the Ring leaders and Shaw arrested, Casey reunited with his daughter, Chuck and Sarah are out of the spy business (yeah, right), the Buy More destroyed and Jeffster on the run as primary suspects for that bombing. I hope we will see Big Mike, Lester and Jeff again even if Buy More might not return, wonder what kind of new cover the team will get then?

The search for Chuck’s mother will be a major plot for season four, I am sure. I wonder who she works for?

Have a nice Summer Chuck! We meet again in autumn.

This week’s episode of Chuck sees the return of his father. Elli thinks she works for CIA and that Casey is a bad guy out for her father but she has been duped by a Ring operative. Chuck had a dream about Shaw being alive and asks Morgan for help in finding Shaw.

Chuck still has dreams of Shaw being alive and turns to Morgan for help to keep it a secret from Sarah, but Morgan cannot resist Sarah’s interrogating techniques.

Meanwhile, after being contacted by Ellie, Chuck’s father Stephen shows up at the Buy More, not knowing about the Intersect 2.0 in Chuck’s head.

Worldbuilding

The seasons Ring arc is revealed. The Ring has built a new Intersect and the Ring agents have been trying to get some way to safely download it. Remember the episode where they fried the brains of subject after subject? They know that Stephen Bartowski has survived having Intersect 1.0 download and now they are after his solution.

Plot

The Ring is after Stephen and his invention. They use Ellie to get his location but Sarah and Chuck foils that attempt. After Sarah fells the last kidnapper with a well aimed kick Stephen asks Chuck.

Does she have the Intersect too? No Dad, that all her

Chuck asks Casey to protect Ellie and he follows her but comes to believe she is having an affair. Casey asks Morgan what he believes so Morgan does an interview with awesome and almost falls into love with him himself.

When Ellie returns home unexpected and discover Casey scouting out her place she wacks him on the head with a frying pan, twice and escapes with the ring operative.

We see agent Shaw downloads the Intersect in the closing scene. Is that version 3.0?

Characterization

This episodes theme is on lies, especially the ones of the Bartowski family. Part of the charm of the series is Chuck, Morgan and Awesome’s inability to lie convincingly. But here Ellie lies too and see where that takes her.

When they try to track Shaw Casey makes Sarah re tell everything she and Shaw did in Washington, to which Chuck mentally grinds his teeth. He is not the only one lying.

Big Mike reveal his past as Rain in Earth Wind Fire and Rain as he gives Lester his tacky scene outfit and tell him you have the hips of a six year old girl, use them. The whole Buy More subplot with Jeffster splitting was as always amusing and entertaining. Lester’s rant against the Man was memorable.

After they find Shaw’s spy will in his penthouse there is much talk about the dangers in their line of work. It is and endearing scene when Sarah gives Chuck her spy will.

My View

Chuck vs the Living Death was a great episode, fast paced, with big arc revelations, intense buildup for the finale next week and a very fun episode. There is much happening in it so I had to re watch it before writing this. If you are not watching Chuck you are missing out on some great TV.

Chuck’s two hour season finale is tonight, Chuck vs the Subway and Chuck vs the Ring Part II

Shaw returns to threaten everything that Chuck holds dear as his friends, family and the woman he loves are all put in mortal danger. Chuck has to find Shaw and stop him before his own world gets torn apart but with Chuck finding it increasingly difficult to flash, will he find Shaw in time or will the Intersect that has saved his life so many times in the past, finally be the thing that kills him?

Stargate Universe is one of my favorites and this episode proved me right. It’s setting the scene for the season finale. This episode goes back to the first episode and what happens here explains a lot of what we saw then. It is about treason/mind control and the Lucian Alliance (read about it on stargate.wikia.com). The Incursion Part One starts next week.

Worldbuilding

We learn something about the Lucian Alliance, they knew about Icarus and Destiny beforehand. Now they are trying to take it over again. According to Rush they are a human coalition made up of various Milky Way planets formed in the power vacuum left behind by the Goa’uld. They’re criminals, mostly… Street gangs with spaceships. But it seems that they might be something more, and they might even have some right in their complains that the Terrans take it all for themselves and don’t share, at least that is what Kiva says.

Plot

Dr Rush is disturbed by haunting dreams of handing secrets over to Lucian Alliance spies on Earth then he sees himself reflected in a window, he is Colonel Telford. He tells Young and convinces him to let him take the next stone to Earth to find out the truth. Young doesn’t trust Rush so he goes after and tells General O’Neal who sends Dr Jackson another old SG-1 member to follow him.

Rush sets up a meeting but is exposed almost immediately, captured and taken off Earth on a Lucian cargo ship and tortured by Commander Kira until he reveal his identity. He is then taken to a gate world similar to Icarus where they have setup operations to dial Destiny. Everyone on the Lucian side might not be on the same side, one guy behaves suspiciously. Rush is forced to help them.

While Rush is being tortured Telford goes straight to Camile Wray, Is she a Lucian spy too? That would explain a lot. Eventually Young confronts him, interrogate him and even fight him but he doesn’t get him to tell the truth until he brings General O’Neal aboard.

All this not knowing gets the civilians nervous and without information they seem to assume the worst and rumors fly around. The failed revolution is not forgotten. I wonder if there are more Lucian spies on Destiny? They knew about Icarus on forehand thanks to Colonel Telford, they might have slipped in a group of infiltrators. That would help to explain why they in my opinion overreact and try to take over the ship.

Characterization

TJ’s baby shower unites the crew. It is heart breaking how they craft little gifts for her child.TJ is still worried and Chloe tries to comfort her. Alaina Huffman continues to convince as pregnant medical officer.

Commander Kiva played by Rhona Mitra would be a wonderful addition to Destiny. She is hot and interesting and she believes she is doing the right thing. I am a reasonable person that only tries to do the best for my people she tells Rush while he is being tortured. You make a terrible first impression he replies. I am afraid it is most likely that she will only be on for a few episodes and then as the enemy but a man can always wish ( I know she has a role on The Gates this summer as a vampire housewife so she might not have the time anyway).

Master Sergeant Greer had some anger issues this episode too, when he almost beat Telford to death. That is a man about to explode.

Young continues to fight with his demons. The way he orders the others to stay out of it when he tortures Rush shows leadership. He doesn’t want to do it but he can’t see any other way. It is especially clear when he in the end tries to force the truth out of Telford by opening his cabin to space while he forces himself to watch.

I am starting to like more and more of the crew, Greer, Young and TJ especially. I can’t say I like Rush as a character but he is interesting and more understandable now and well played.

Trivia

They showed one of the best science fiction books ever as a tribute to the author John Scalzi there when Rush asked the escort if he was okay staying in the car and he showed him The Old Man’s War (read my review) . John Scalzi is a Creative consultant for the show. He also has an impressive blog with SGU discussions called whatever.

My View

Good episode with lots of interesting stuff happening that ties back even before the series started and it all starts to come together. We are getting more and more of the big picture. The Lucian Alliance are about to try to take over the Destiny. This can go in many ways, they might succeed (at least for a while) or they might fail or Stargate Command might even be able to use the gate to keep contact with Destiny. I love SGU and it keeps getting better and better.

After the cliffhanger ending of Over There part 1 I’m thrilled and filled with anticipation for part 2 the season finale of Fringe. Walter had been shot and collapse outside a hospital. William Bell steps out of the shadows outside Alt-Olivia’s window and tell Olivia he has been expecting her (If it wasn’t for the high respect one have for his character and the actor playing him one could come up with other reasons an elderly man hangs outside a lovely young woman’s window) and Walter is in trouble. In addition to that Peter is about to help Walternate build a sinister world-busting-looking bomb that might be missing only the detonator and that missing piece might be Peter himself.

Roll the tape!

Worldbuilding

Airships are so cool, why don’t we have more of them? The Alterverse seems to have had much trouble with Fringe events; maybe their warlike reaction is not totally unfounded. On the surface it seems like Walter has a lot to atone for. I would not be too surprised if most of the Fringe damage in Alterverse stems from Bell’s and Walternet’s experiments through.

In many respect the tech levels in Alterverse is higher than us, they have fast healing drugs, exploding bullets, flexible touch pads and much more quite spiffy.

The differences between our two world where something to enjoy in this episode, I would like to learn more. Even the comics in the background was changed Red Lantern instead of Green.

Plot

The plot is that Walter and Olivia with the help of William Bell tries to save Peter before he blows up. Walternate and Alt-Olivia tries to stop them and Walternate follows his own agenda which seems to be the destruction of our universe. He almost tricks Peter into charging the power supply for the bomb, but Peter becomes suspicious when he realizes that it is attuned to one individual only – himself.

In the end William Bell powers their return trip to this universe, but Olivia was switched and Alt-Olivia took her place instead. It is not clear whether or not William Bell survived that.

In the end Alt-Olivia contacts Alterverse and asks for instructions via the Typewriter we have seen before. She gets them, but we are not allowed to see them yet.

Characterization

Yes, you do. I have thought of one hundred reasons…
why you should come back. To — to fight the shape-shifters,
to take care of Walter, to -
- to save the world. But in the end…
you have to come back.
Because you belong with me.

Anna Torv really gets to shine this episode; she plays both Agent Dunham and Alt-Olivia. First she confronts herself to learn where Peter is being kept but she is not very cooperative. Is it still a catfight if she fights herself? She also finally confesses her feelings for Peter and they kiss.

They’re our doubles, alternate version of ourselves,
but don’t be deceived, Olivia.
They’re monsters in our skin.
They’ll do anything,
say anything to gain our trust,
but they can’t be trusted.

Alt-Olivia is an interesting character; it feels like she has empathy and was about to realize that they didn’t have to be enemies at times. The first time she sees herself is such a good scene. She gets so psyched when she discover herself rescuing Walter on the security video at the hospital..

Them both talking about their families was also one of the many highlights.

Peter also did well in the character department. Meeting Alt-Olivia was a great scene and she escorts him to a safe house. How is she? Alt-Olivia asks interested in Olivia. She always tries to right some imagined wrong, haunted I guess …; The way Peter describe Olivia makes it clear how much she means to him.

Changing the Laws of Physics might be above my abilities.
Peter tells Walternet

Walternate is Alterverse’s Secretary of Defense and he is a cruel man, wonder if having his son taken caused that or if there is something else behind it? The way he treats Olivia in that dark isolation chamber when she plead and beg to be let out is cold. How is the political system in Alterverse? I get a feeling it is much more totalitarian than here? What do you think?

Harvard is on the edge of a Fringe zone of people frozen in a brown field. It’s there Walternet has been trying to find a way to travel the universes. How much of the damage to Alterverse is he responsible for?

Bell to Walter about Olivia
We accomplished a lot together, but she might be our greatest accomplishment

Walter finally got to confront Bell about his memory, and the answer didn’t surprise. You asked me.

Peter has not forgiven Walter but he is not angry any more. You did cross universes twice to save my life he tells him.

My View

Over There was an excellent season finale, it explained a lot but it also created new questions. The introduction of the alt team is great. I can imagine all kinds of wonderful uses for this next season; we might even get to see the two teams work together? Is it a Multiverse?

Once again Fringe proves that it is the best SF show around!

Spoiler warning!

This was hidden in The CW’s press release for the upcoming Season and answers questions left open from Supernatural’s recent season finale. A very unusual move, wonder if it was intended?

SUPERNATURAL: Season six will be a season of mystery and shadow. Heaven and Hell have been left in complete disarray since the apocalyptic events of season five. And now, monsters, angels and demons roam across a lawless and chaotic landscape. And so Dean Winchester, who has retired from hunting and sworn never to return, finds himself being pulled back into his old life – pulled back by none other than Sam Winchester, who has escaped from Hell. The two reunite to beat back the rising tide of creatures and demon-spawn, but they quickly realize that neither are who they used to be, their relationship isn’t what it used to be, and that nothing is what it seems.

Title: The Orphaned Worlds
Series: Humanity’s Fire 2
Author: Michael Cobley
Genre: Space Opera
Cover art : Steve Stone
Design: Peter Cotton
Publisher: Orbit 2010
Order: Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

Darien is no longer a lost outpost of humanity, but the prize in an intergalactic power struggle. Hegemony forces have a stranglehold over the planet and crack troops patrol its hotspots while Earth watches, passive, rendered impotent by galactic politics. But its Darien ambassador will soon become a player in a greater conflict. There is more at stake than a turf war on a newly discovered world.

An ancient Uvovo temple hides access to a hyperspace prison, housing the greatest threat sentient life has ever known. Millennia ago, malignant intelligences were caged there following an apocalyptic war. And their servants work on their release.

However, Darien’s guardians have not been idle, gathering resistance on the planet’s forest moon. Knowledge has been lost since great races battled in eons past, and now time is short. The galaxy will depend on the Uvovo reclaiming their past – and humanity must look to its future. For a new war is coming.

The Author

Michael Cobley is a new author for me; the first thing I read was Seeds of Earth in September last year but it impressed the hell out of me.

Information

The cover is of burning space ships that are leaving a planet’s night side. They leave paths of burning gas and dirt-brown clouds behind them. They are appropriate to the content. The first part had a cover of a blue planet with spaceships in front of it; this planet is shaded by night and looks brown and lifeless wonder what book three will hold?

The book is dedicated to David Wingrove author of Chung Ho and co-author of the three Myst novels. He is a friend of the author.

In the beginning there is a list of the Main Characters that is an important list good to have to handle the many characters in this book. It is followed by a list of the Main Sentient Species in Humanity’s Fire, there are 18 different main races in this story.

Background

Way back in ancient times there was a cataclysmic war with a race from another universe. That race was imprisoned in the Warp Well on Darien but they left allies behind.
In this universe three colony ships where sent out from Earth, one of them ended up in the Hegemony where they become the commando soldiers and body guards of that techno-dictatorship, but their loyalty is built on a lie. The second ship ended up on a mining planet where they are kept as indentured laborer. The third ship landed on Darien, the final battle ground of that ancient war. Darien used to be a living world, a sentient world but it was deeply wounded in the war and has slowly been growing back. It became a new battleground when the legendary Warp Well was discovered there.

Worldbuilding

The worldbuilding is extensive in this series, Michael Cobley have created believable alien cultures, each are not described in detail but instead they are exemplified by the characters that represent them. There are 18 major races and numerous minor ones. Sometimes I wish the list at the beginning was a bit more extensive.

Plot

The human and Uvovo underground fight the Hegemon occupation of Darien, but other players involve themselves too. Especially Legion a technology construct that fight to free the prisoners of the Well and the Construct that strive behind the scene to gather allies to fight back. One novel and entertaining part of the story takes place inside hyperspace where ancient races live on in tiers.

Humanity fights its own fight to unite again, to free the indentured and liberate the minds of the other colony. Not much is known about the fate of Earth but it is believed lost to the Hegemony.

There are some ‘improbable’ plot twists but what do you expect from Space Opera?

Characterization

This is very much a character driven novel with an important plot. Michael’s Characters be they friend or foe are complex full entities with understandable motivation. Many of the characters makes an inner journey of self discovery as they discover the realities behind the façade of the world they live in.
Each chapter is named after the character whose point of view it presents. There are many different main characters here but to my relief their stories start to converge and merge. The first book was worse in that respect. But it works great

My View

The Orphaned Worlds is a well written, fast paced and coherent multi character novel that I enjoyed to read and had trouble to put down. The pace picks up and the novel ends in a cliffhanger. The players have been presented and the board is laid out for The Ascendant Stars in 2011. You should read Seeds of Earth before this one.

The alternative universe we plunge into has the same characters but with different roles. Here they are in some kind of rapid deployment force for dimensional rifts. They operate out of a place quite like Stargate Command or Threshold’s HQ. I must say Olivia looks good in red hair. They work on that universe’s Fringe Division. But they don’t know about the other universe until Olivia and her team crosses over and they find a 20 dollar bill on a corpse that didn’t make it across and Walternet tells them the truth about the other side.

Olivia and Walter travel to the other side with the help of her fellow Jacksonville kids. To somehow return with Peter before he explodes like a bomb. Before they cross the kids get a night on the town where I get a Heroes wibe with their superpowers. Olivia takes farewell of her nice and sister before leaving. Walter Prime continues to convince. He is quite convincing as he lead them to the other side.

They cross over about the same time Peter wakes up on the other side, he doesn’t know he is a bomb that can destroy the universe, and at least he gets to see his mother.

One thing I wonder over is the other side why do they have rationing? They seem so much more technologically advanced than us.

Walternet wants Peter to help him with building a bomb to destroy our universe/planet, that is my guess. What Peter doesn’t know is that he will fuel the bomb and it is finished ready to go.

Olivia’s team set up a meeting with Bell but they are betrayed. Walter and Olivia escapes. Olivia follows alt-Olivia to her apartment and while she stands there Bell shows up, telling her Walter is in trouble.
Interesting times, I can’t wait to this week’s season finale.

It is getting closer to season 3 and the quality and quantity of the information are getting better and better. Here is a trailer with the first shots from when Sokie enters Club Dead. It is also quite comprehensive at showing the new cast and the wolves. The one thing missing I expected to see were the hillbilly lycans.

This weeks episode is about feelings and fears. I am still amazed about how down to earth Stargate Universe is and how clever the writers put it all together.

When the crew suffers from vivid hallucinations that tap into their personal fears, Tamara Johansen isolates the affected from the rest and then tries to seek out the cause of the affliction as it spreads and becomes life-threatening.

Expectations

From the description above I expect some kind of infection making the crew see things. But I also wonder about Destiny. Isn’t there like a medical computer on the ship? It’s on a mission boldly going where no Ancient has gone before, and they don’t have any automated hospital aboard and It doesn’t have some kind of medical scanner integrated in the gate room. That is kind of weird but could be explained by the ship not recognize them as crew I guess, so it hasn’t activated those systems yet.

Worldbuilding

Not much worldbuilding this episode. Young is still searching for Franklin the missing ‘chair man’ but have not found him. The entry into a whole new galaxy at the end was extremely undramatic.

Plot

The away team to the last planet brought ticks back. They inject a poison that affect the emotional centers of the brain and cause hallucinations of things you feel strong emotions about. Here is how they affect different people:

• 2nd Lt James makes sweet, sweet love to Mathew Scott before whacking him on the head with one of the lamps, killing him dead.
• Greer sees Camile Wrang conspire with Rush to take over the ship and in the end he acts out on it and almost kills her. In the end he stops when he sees his father.
• Dr Dale Volker is afraid of enclosed spaces so he is locked in in his room, walled in in a corridor and locked in in his bed. Interesting how the man afraid of enclosed spaces have the only bed seen so far that is a bunk in a wall.
• Lt Mathew Scott sees his son, I have to go back and re watch some episodes, I don’t remember him having a son? The kid asks “Why did you leave me?”.
• Chloe sees her beloved father
• Rush sees the aliens that took him prisoner, at one stage he is in a room similar to that on the alien ship, slowly filing with water.
• One crewman tries to carve up his forearm to get the snake he sees in there out.

It takes a while until TJ and the others can figure it out and find a safe way to remove the ticks. They also have to save the people affected from hurting themselves or others.

Characterization

This episode is about feelings and fears. At the end the people affected stand there with their naked feelings open to themselves and others.

It is clear that 2nd Lt Vanessa James is pining for Scott, they might have had or is having an affair, it’s not clear to me at this time. She walks in on Mathew making out with Chloe. “Couldn’t find a broom closet?” she says bitterly. But from earlier discussions she had with TJ I wouldn’t rule out she is pregnant with Scott’s kid.  We got to see quite a lot of her this episode, good acting and good characterization by Julia Benson. In the end I think the only one not knowing that Vanessa got feelings for Mathew is Chloe.

Feelings over the foiled attempt by the civilians to take over the ship has not gone away. Master Sergeant Ronald Greer is still deeply suspicious of Camile Wrang and Dr. Nicholas Rush which comes to the surface when the tick affects him. It is also not clear to me if they have given up on the thoughts of taking over the ship again. I think I said it before Jamil Walker Smith does angry really well. The scene afterwards when he meets Wrang in the corridor is as emotionally awkward as they get. I can’t stop the feeling that there is more to Greer’s obsession with Camile, does he have feelings for her? As far as we know she is in a happy same sex relationship, but some men go for unobtainable.

I guess it was time for Chloe to be emotional again, the writers are not kind to this character. Even though she knows it is a hallucination she persist in staying with her father. She even gets Eli to promise not to tell anyone else she is affected. In the end Eli and Scott has to drag her to the infirmary.

I haven’t figured Eli out yet. He is the basic good guy, being infatuated in a girl that just wants to be his friend. It’s empowering the way he doesn’t pine for her, much and the scene in the end where she stand there unhappy looking into the void, he turns and walk away, was good.

As I said before Young is not a happy man. He is more collected this episode but the scene in the end when the clock starts on ten hours and they find a planet in range, show with all clarity the fatigue he and the rest of crew feels. For a moment there it was almost like he gave up before ordering an away team to get ready.

My View

Pain is a strong character driven episode with some action. We learn more about the characters but not much about the universe. I feel a bit cheated out of a passing the void episode, did Syfy change the order of the episodes? It was a good and entertaining episode and the writers are building up the characters and universe towards the finale that hopefully is about getting a bit more control.

No one is pregnant, at least as far as we know (that was my lame guess why Anna was back). This week in Chuck I imagined all kinds of joy when Ellie and Awesome return unannounced. But the clever cleaning gnomes fixed their trashed apartment. Instead of flashing Chuck has these weird dreams every time he falls asleep, they eventually leads him to a psychiatrist and a fast forward to the CIA loony bin.

We all know Sarah has difficulties expressing her feelings, telling Chuck she loves him for example. It becomes clear how much it bother Chuck when he lays it out to Doctor Leo Dreyfus (guest star Christopher Lloyd) “we have a solid relationship” he starts with before it floods out of him in a true Chuck rant.

Morgan dressed in a tuxedo, walks like a god when he crosses the store on his way out to meet Chuck. Anna who is there to ‘catch up’ with him is flabbergasted, Morgan brushes her off because he is on a mission tho help Chuck prove a murder plot on an African president, this is just before Chuck is enrolled as an unwilling mental patient.

If you remember the back story Morgan was devastated when Anna broke it off with him. Now he is natural, as natural as Morgan can be, focusing on his ‘Bro’ and how to help him, this happens one more time, Morgan brushes Anna off again and in the end Anna realizes she wants him because she can’t have him and in one of the final scenes of this episode she tries to take him back, but Morgan realizes he doesn’t want her any more and decline. I felt it was a pity, because I like Anna, her character is interesting and bitchy, but it felt right for Morgan, well handled by the writers and the actors. Will we have a pining Anna in the Buy More now? Or is she going back to Hawaii?

Maybe we should talk about the main plot of this weeks episode? Chuck dreams, he foretell an assassination attempt by the Ring on a visiting African president at the concert the following night . He shouldn’t have woken everyone in the middle of the night to do it, Casey needs his beauty sleep. Instead of believing him a sleepy Beckett sends him to a CIA psychiatrist. Chuck and Morgan goes to the concert hall to prove he is right, dressed in the aforementioned tuxes. He falls asleep after an amusing little chat with Morgan about relationships accompanied by shushes from their fellow spectators. He dreams again the scientist beside the president is the killer, Chuck confronts him, flashes on the tooth as a fake containing Ring data and punches him so the tooth flies away. Sarah and Casey arrive in time to see him taken away by guards.

That’s when he ends up in the CIA mental hospital where spies end up when they can’t take it any more. It is quite a treat with all the quirky characters there. When The scientist shows up with two goons to find out how Chuck got the Intel, a patient who thinks himself Merlin tries to save the situation and yells “Spy Attack!”, and all the patients go totally Kung Fu and you believe its in the bag, the bad guys speed dart them with their trank guns.

Sarah and Casey believe in Chuck but analysis of the tooth proves it is 100 percent human and doesn’t contain any Ring info (that is because chuck picked the wrong tooth by the way). They all end up at the Doctor’s house in the middle of the night, when Sarah arrives Casey is already there. That was a good and emotional scene where Sarah for the first time says she loves Chuck. “Maybe you should tell him that” the doctor tells her before they leave for the hospital and saves the day.

The big arc of the rest of the season hits somewhat unexpected. Ellie works for the Ring! Justine (the ring operative/camp leader from Africa) cons Ellie into believing he is a CIA agent sent there to protect her father. He tells her that Casey is a bad man sent after her father. After she accidentally discovers Casey’s arsenal she have no trouble believing it. And after Awesome tells her it is crazy that she would believe something like that about Casey she also believe Justin telling her not to talk with anyone else about it, they would only tell her she is crazy. In the end Justine convince her to contact her dad.

In the end Sarah tells Chuck she loves him, just as he is about to tell her that he might have long term problems due to mental stress from the Intersect, so he doesn’t tell her. If we are to believe Chuck’d dreams Shaw is still alive. But Chuck doesn’t tell Sarah when he wakes up. When will they ever learn? It is amusing most of the time, the young two’s inability to communicate.

Did you notice the weird ‘hypnotic’ screens on every TV in Buy More? What’s with that? They had some obvious Rorschach pattern going on.

An even better episode this week, rumors says Chuck is renewed with an order for 13+9. It could be official any time now.

Next episode is 3.17 Chuck vs the Living Dead

After his last dream, Chuck asks Morgan to help him on a side mission. Their investigation becomes complicated when Stephen J. Bartowski returns and learns that Chuck downloaded the Intersect 2.0. Luckily, Chuck’s father may be able to help his son.

Chloe, Mathew and Eli is left behind when Destiny starts to cross the void between galaxies.

Young is not a happy commander, he has to reinstall rationing and abandon all hope to rescue the ones left behind, deal with personal failure and T.J’s pregnancy.  You feel his emotional pain as he watches himself in the mirror, deciding not to shave before facing the crew. He isn’t forgiving himself it seems.

Rush discovers that they all are going to die of old age before reaching the next galaxy, Destiny have been trying to conserve energy for a reason. The jump will be five percent short, leaving Destiny to drift powerless for thousands of years before it reaches their destination. Their bones will be dust long before that, he state.

Amanda Perry is the only one able to help them repair the ship in time according to Rush, but she is paralyzed from the neck down. She also has a history with Rush. Lt James is the first one to use the much hated stones but she can’t stand it. Camile Wray takes her place.

Camile wants to go home. Her girlfriend is creped out you can tell, imagine someone else with the mind of your loved one. I am not sure I would have kissed them.

Rush and Amanda walk around the ship like two starstruck teenagers. I can understand Amanda’s delight in being able to move and eat by herself for the first time since she was nine. Rush clearly has feelings for this woman.

An explosion shakes the ship out of FTL, one of the drives is damaged. The transit disturbs the mind stone connection and Lt James experience short time memory loss. Considering what happens later I wonder if the aliens somehow spoofed the stones signal here? Staying connected to the mind of Lt James without her knowing it? They where able to intercept a stone transmission before. Lt James dream about being locked in a dark room, so she don’t sleep much. Could this be something going back to the attack on the gate planet?

Franklin, the guy who became comatose after using the command chair where also affected by the transit. He seems almost lucid now.

They get the scare of their life when someone dial in on the Stargate, but it’s just Eli, Chloe and Mathew coming back. That was an anticlimax. No expansion on their experience on the planet? They discover aliens on the planet they just left when they dial back. Is it only me that find that suspicious? At least they arrived after the explosion.

They seems keen of doing a rock video kind of sequence in every episode now? food stinks, people shave, run and make moonshine and drink.

The robot is a bit of a disappointment, it repairs the engine and bypass the damage.

Of course Amanda tries to sleep with Rush before she leaves. What is it with these body switchers? It creeps me out that they feel free to use the bodies they borrow to sleep around. Luckily TJ walked in on them.

The explosion in the engine was probably a sabotage by the aliens to disable the ship and signal their position to them. Or is Rush mind affected? Chloe seems to have memories from her short imprisonment in the aliens mind reading machine. Rush was there much longer.

The Aliens reappears and commence to attack Destiny. Young write his will and prepare to sit in the command chair when Franklin speaks and asks to sit in the chair, strapped in he tells the others to go and a mist starts to fill the chair and they jump to FTL at the last minute.

Amanda says an emotional goodbye to Rush before leaving. Young and James open the command chamber only to find the chair empty. Where is Franklin?

Sabotage was a good episode, it would have been great but for the abrupt ending of the two episode left-behind arc, that felt just wrong, it might have it’s explanation in later episodes but here it felt too simple. I have all respect for the writers, but why didn’t they expand on the stranded people, cancel the cripple and put Amanda Tapping on?

So what’s next? A total reset as they leave that galaxy behind? Next episode is called Pain and is about something they brought along from the last planet.

Castiel was taken by Angles earlier and believed to be dead or at least out of the count, now he is back with no recollection of what happened to him and with his ‘Angelic Battery’ all discharged, so Bobby have to wire him money for airplane fare. I would have liked to see him on that airplane. While he take this more mundane way of transport Dean and Sam goes after Pestilence at a hospital.

Matt Frewer plays a magnificent Pestilence, I love his character in Eureka and this is almost as good. Sam and Dean are detected sneaking in the corridors and Pestilence twist his ring and infect them with deadly viruses. When all seamed lost Castiel storms in and save the day, at least almost. Pestilence’s last words are “You are to late”.

Back at bobby’s hideout they learn that Bobby sold his soul to Crowley. I hope they don’t kill of the King of the Crossroads this season, he is such an enjoyable villain. The scene that also was in the promo with Bobby being asked “Did you kiss him?” No! Then Crawley show them the picture on his cell.

Sam and Dean’s talk was good when they gear up Crawley jumping into the conversation was also good “You guys are lucky you have your looks” when they are a bit clueless. Castiel bitching with Bobby about being useless was also an amusing scene. This is the kind of humor I love with Supernatural.

Remember that future episode, with zombies affected by a disease? The vaccine Pestilence’s henchman was brewing is about to go national in a few days. They have to stop that and get Death’s ring at the same time.

Crawley is a wicked, wicked demon, he gives back Bobby the use of his legs, Bobby is so happy that you can see him considering selling his soul again.

Sam and Bobby goes after the warehouse the vaccine will be shipped from. Good fight there, Sam saves at least ten people and in the end Castiel finds himself useful as he blows the head of a Zombie that is strangling Sam.

Death has a nice theme song as he rides up in his grey Mustang (I think it was a Mustang). Crowley and Dean have to look for him before finding him in a Pizza place. Death is eating Pizza. Would you eat a Pizza offered by death? Dean does. Death wants the devil’s control off. He calls him a bratty child having a tantrum. He gives the ring to Dean on the conditions that Sam is the only one that can stop Lucifer, and Dean has to promise to let him. Dean promises him. Remember you can’t cheat death, Death warns him before teaching him to use the rings.

They now have all the rings. Death told Dean how to operate the rings. Next episode is the season finale “Swan Song” airs May 13.