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THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964) A tongue-in-cheek analysis by Steve Van Samson



16 Friday Oct 2020

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Amazon.com: The Last Man on Earth [VHS]: Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Umberto Raho, Christi Courtland, Antonio Corevi, Ettore Ribotta, Carolyn De Fonseca, Rolando De Rossi, Giuseppe Mattei,First, a little history…

These days, the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse can hardly be considered jaw droppingly original. With such beloved properties such as THE WALKING DEAD (2010), NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) and about a million in between, the zombie hoard concept has staggered and moaned its way into our hearts. Funny thing is, boil ‘em down to their component parts and you’ll find there are essentially two types of zombie films: Pre-Apocalypse and Post. But in the early 1950s, the idea of a world where mankind had been put on the endangered species list was unheard of. Lucky for us that in 1954, genre master Richard Matheson penned a novel that changed all of that.
In the world of Science Fiction and Horror, “I Am Legend” is kind of an important book. It inspired not only what is considered by many to be the quintessential zombie film (Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, 1968), but also three direct adaptations (including THE OMEGA MAN, 1971 & I AM LEGEND, 2007) and essentially an entire subgenre of horror. In other words, if the Zombie Apocalypse compels you to write a thank you note, it should probably be addressed to Richard Matheson.
But enough of that…
Tonight’s film is not only the first to adapt the story “I Am Legend”, it also happens to be the most faithful to the source material.
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964) is constructed of three distinct acts, beginning with a series of aerial shots depicting a sprawling, if barren metropolis. As these progress, the shots become more and more grim, eventually depicting dead bodies strewn over sidewalks, streets and stairs as well as a church’s marquee which boldly proclaims that THE END HAS COME. The sequence comes to its conclusion on a sleepy street, which would surely be charming if not for all the bodies.
It is here that through a broken and boarded window, we catch the first glimpse of our hero. Starring as Dr. Robert Morgan we have the great Vincent Price (HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, 1959, THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, 1971). Initially asleep, Robert is jarred awake to the shrill sound of an alarm clock. And like many of us are apt to, he greets the morning with all the excitement of getting a root canal, as he shuffles off and into the business of the day.
“Another day to live through. Better get started.”
With this haunting line, so begins the film’s first act.
For quite a while, the movie trudges along as a sort of one man show–depicting a typical day in the life of the titular LAST MAN ON EARTH. Initially, all of the film’s dialog is delivered via an inner monologue–providing vital insight into the mind of our protagonist, as well as establishing the ins and outs of this post-apocalyptic world. Apparently it has been three years since Morgan inherited the Earth, though by his own account if feels quite a bit longer.
After checking his calendar and adding oil to the ole’ generator, Morgan steps outside to greet the morning sun as well as some fresh dead folk on his lawn. These he regards with all the awe one typically reserves for the first glimpse of the morning paper. It is about this time that we begin to learn about the film’s so-called monsters. Though I have thus far likened these infected humans to “zombies”, this is not entirely accurate. While the infecteds are certainly zombie-esque (given their apparent penchant for moaning, shuffling, blank stares, etc.) they also share quite a few similarities with another classic monster–the vampire.
We soon learn that Morgan has fortified his home with such oddities as strands of garlic and mirrors. According to this film’s mythology, mirrors can be used to repel the infecteds who have a serious hate-on for their own hideous reflections. Of course later when we are treated to the limits of the makeup department, this fact becomes quite silly since the monsters (zompires?) look about as monstrous as the average post-bender collegiate.
But I digress…
After a few more steps in the morning routine, Morgan packs his kit with some freshly made stakes, loads up the car with two bodies from the lawn and hits the road. Better get a move on, Morgan–you’ve got a full day of errands ahead of you and daylight, she’s a burnin’.
After a quick fill-up, the good doctor’s first stop is “the pit”. Basically a perpetually burning gorge of insinuated bodies (insinuated since we never actually see any besides the ones Morgan tosses in). Admittedly, out of the many daily functions we have seen Dr. Robert Morgan perform so far, throwing dead zompires into the mouth of hell is probably the most exciting. The sequence ends with Morgan chasing the bodies with a whole can of petrol and a jumbo novelty torch–just to let the we the audience know that they the filmmakers were also wondering what was keeping this pit thing going.BlueisKewl: The Last Man on Earth 1964
Stop number two on Morgan’s crazy Saturday adventure is a visit to the local supermarket. Surprisingly, he passes through aisles stocked with cans and boxes of viable food, ignoring the lot. The item he’s after today is garlic since his home supply has apparently lost its potency. A good thing indeed that the market’s freezer is still working and there is a large supply of the stinky vampire repelling bulb inside. After stocking up on all the garlic he can carry, Morgan moves on to the really fun part of the day… FULL THROTTLE ZOMPIRE KILLING SPREE!!!
The score blares, all brass and swagger as we are treated to a montage of Vincent Price kicking in doors, hammering down stakes and feeding “the pit” with some freshly slain zompire folk. Then wash, rinse, repeat–it’s all very exciting. Eventually though, the sun starts to get low in that western sky. Noticing this, Morgan decides he had better head home, batten down the hatches and hunker in for another long night. And so he does. One safely settled in, the zompires appear almost at once, planks of wood in hand–they assault the doctor’s home, even calling him by name!
“Morgan… Come out Morgan…”
Fortunately for the good doctor, his zompire assailants have the approximate upper body strength of Spongebob Squarepants. After three years of nightly onslaughts, they have yet to set as much as one wormy toe into his fine, upper middle class home.
At its core, the point of act 1 is to show us a typical day in the life of THE LAST MAN ON EARTH. The mundanities feel mundane for a very good reason–Morgan is running on fumes. He exists simply to exist. Filling his time with the self appointed purpose of exterminating as many zompires as possible–making sure not to die in the process so he can do it all over again the next day, and the next… and the next.
The Last Man on Earth 1964: 15 things you didn't know! | Spooky Isles
Act 2 appears pretty much out of nowhere and is basically one big flashback. In it, we are able to glimpse a portion of Morgan’s life prior to the human race’s nigh-extinction. We get to meet his lovely wife and adorable young daughter, as well as his best friend Ben (who we’ve already met as the hero zompire who endlessly calls Morgan by name). These are the early days of the disease and they aren’t pretty–what with all the panic and hazmat suits and dead kids getting hauled away in trucks. The sequence is certainly interesting enough and adds some depth to our main character.
With the flashback over, we smack headlong into act 3. The final portion of the film takes what we think we know about the world and turns it on its head. Without giving too much away, I will say that the conclusion does a good job of providing an alternate look at Morgan’s unique outlook and situation.
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964) is admittedly something of a sluggish affair. It’s production is low and it features some seriously terrible audio quality as well as glaringly looped voice overs.–however, the film is certainly not without its charm. Price’s character, while incredibly disillusioned and apathetic, is fascinating when juxtaposed against the dystopian world just outside his door. We come to understand that Dr. Robert Morgan is a shell of his former self. A man resigned to continue the business of living–somehow finding balance in day to day survival, but perhaps without knowing why. And somewhere along the way, he became something unrecognizable.
I think Nietzsche probably said it best.

[Review] Slaughterhouse Rulez

06 Tuesday Nov 2018

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I think I know what happened…Slaughter House Rulez

At some point in the last decade there was a party. Present at this party were the films St Trinians, Attack the Block, Harry Potter and Shaun of the Dead. I think Doctor Who popped by for a few hours too. No one remembers what happened at that party but 9 months later one of the attendees gave birth to a baby we shall call Slaughterhouse Rulez. I think Tom Sharpe was the Midwife.

The film seems to blend the above influences into a chaotic story about a young man (Don Wallace, ably played by Finn Cole) getting a place at a private school and trying to fit in with the upper class crowd that goes there. So far so classic fish out of water trope. As he explores the rather strange society of which he is now a part, he encounters the usual ‘school house tropes’ so beloved of Harry Potter and comes across the ever present culture of bullying and prejudice you always see in private schools. At the same time there is evidence of weird things – the history of the school talking about the slaying of a beast, the fracking company using school land to find shale gas and (weirdly) the same dog appearing in every portrait of every head the school has ever had.

Of course it really should not be spoilers to say that something goes wrong with the fracking and it leads to inevitable chaos. At least not to anyone who has ever watched Doctor Who. There is a very definite ‘Fracking is Bad’ analogy going on here which I doubt many will miss. This is inherent in the behaviour of the Fracking company and, of course, in the main horror plot. Though I won’t say what emerges from the deeps, I will say that it is definitely not Silurians. Once it happens, however, we move from ‘public school tropes’ straight into ‘horror movie tropes’.

OK, so I mentioned the influences above. This film does not manage to get the same over the top chaos of the bad behaviour of the St Trinian’s girls, opting instead for a slightly more down to earth portrayal. It also lacks a central hero with the same brooding on screen presence as John Boyega’s Moses in Attack the Block. The comedy and wit and direction are all excellently done but again do not quite live up to the genius of Edgar Wright. However, to be honest, all of that is like saying Vermeer’s Girl with the Pearl Earing is not quite as good as Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. This is a well put together film with many excellent moments but one which will invite inevitable and largely unfavourable comparison to other films.

There were some missed opportunities. For example, the aforementioned dog was a brilliant addition and the amusing image of a very very similar dog in every portrait seemed to be hinting at something weird about either the head or simply just the dog (is the dog immortal? Is the head immortal and always have the same type of dog? Why are those portraits like that?). However, nothing seems to come of that. In addition, the house the hero ends up in (Sparta house) is portrayed as a house of ‘misfits and failures’ compared to the ‘house of geniuses’, the ‘house of jocks’ and the ‘house of women’*. However, for some reason, the so called house of misfits happens to have in their lobby the very spear used by the founder to slay the beast discussed in legend and has other features suggesting they were once more important. Nothing is made of this other than a throwaway mention used a comic relief. I feel there could have been a lot more plot relevance to all of that.

Overall, it was an enjoyable romp of a film with plenty of laughs and shocks and good use of famous names to play subsidiary characters supporting the mainly unknown young cast (of which I suspect only Asa Butterfield you might know from Ender’s Game). The supporting cast seem to be having immense fun hamming it up as caricatures. Pegg and Frost in particular are really going to town on their portrayals of a Housemaster and the leader of a group of environmental protesters.

Well worth a look. Though it does not quite achieve the greatness of any of its influences, it is an entertaining film.

 

*Which is totally not how houses in schools work (in public, independent or state schools) but Harry Potter seems to have made everyone believe that is how they work. You don’t get into a house because you are good at sports or good at something else. Though, I can understand how they managed to get a ‘house of women’ because, as is pointed out several times, they only started taking female students in the last year. That sounds exactly like the sort of thing a public school would do when faced with female students for the first time ever.

Julius Caesar: Storyhouse 3rd August 2017

08 Tuesday Aug 2017

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Given the current political climate, it seems to be the thing these days for a theatre company to reinterpret Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar with a very Trump like figure in the title role. In the US this has even led to anything with the name Shakespeare associated with it getting death threats from Trump supporters. For some reason they did not like the image of a Trump like figure being brutally assassinated on stage. Even though the play is not at all about glorifying or condoning assassination as a method of political protest. The Grosvenor Park open air theatre for Storyhouse's Julius Caesar

With the above in mind, I headed off to the Storyhouse open air theatre in Chester to see their interpretation of the Roman epic history play.

I do have one thing to admit before I continue, however. Something which may lose me Shakespeare cred points or something. This was the first time I had ever seen Julius Caesar…

I mean, I am not a total newbie to the Bard. I’m familiar with several of his plays, having seen them performed by a number of companies including the Storyhouse troupe. However, way back in school we were offered as a class a choice between three plays – Macbeth, Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet. Naturally, being teenagers, we voted overwhelmingly for bloody violence and so romance and political coups passed us by. Since then, I’ve always naturally gravitated to the more fantastical based stories than what were perceived as the serious histories. I’ve preferred not only Macbeth, with its witches and concepts of predestination, but also Midsummer Nights Dream with its faeries and the Tempest with its spirits and magicians, all precursors of modern fantasy and tapping into ancient myths and legends. Julius Caesar was something I never really felt the need to see.

So I arrived at the open air ‘theatre in the round’ in Grosvenor Park in Chester not really knowing what to expect save a passing knowledge of classical history, several viewings of HBO’s Rome with it’s bastardised version of events and the absolute certain knowledge that at some point in the play Caesar gets stabbed repeatedly in the forum.

Oh, and that the chances were they would be Trumping up Caesar.

Which seemed to be the case as the opening scenes of jubilant citizens were replete with ‘Make Rome Great Again’ placards and the set dressing had a certain ‘stars and stripes’ feel to them. However, there the comparisons to the current US president disappear. Despite superficial details, this Caesar is modelled more on the lines of a generic US president than any specific one – no orange faced caricature here. Instead we get a charismatic, grey haired, white man who plays the crowd by literally walking through the crowd shaking hands with the audience, his trophy wife in tow and a gaggle of aides and bodyguards on all sides. An elder statesman at the height of his power. His dialogue and actions are all as Shakespeare wrote them. of course, and the performance of the actor (Christopher Wright) who plays him works well to give the impression of a popular but controversial figure without devolving into petty parody. This is in a marked contrast to the reports of the controversial New York portrayal which had the actor dressed and acting more like the current incumbent and there were dialogue references to ‘5th Avenue’.

In fact, a more notable sign of this play being interpreted for the modern day is in some of the other casting. Several characters, including the pivotal role of Mark Anthony (played by Natalie Grady), have been gender flipped here. This is a good, positive move for a 21st century production, especially as not only is the character who gets the (in)famous and most identifiable ‘lend me your ears’ speech a woman but so is Cinna (one of the conspirators) and Lucius (Brutus’s servant). None of these character has significant changes to their personality or actions as a result of this change, apart from the point where Mark Anthony and Octavius seal their alliance against Brutus and the conspirators with a kiss*. This creates several strong and interesting female characters in a play where traditionally most of the main characters are male and female characters limited to relatively secondary roles without seeming to water down the roles at all. Cinna is still keen to commit the assassination and Mark Anthony is still as keen and ruthless in avenging it.

The modern touches are see throughout. Casca, for example, at one point dresses in a trenchcoat and looks like an aged CIA or FBI agent which is a nice touch and the various ‘rude mechanicals’ are dressed in clothes that can only be described as ‘chav’ and carry cans of lager as they are being obnoxious at the main players. During the riot scenes, several can be seen carrying the box for a flatscreen TV and other consumer goods in a clear nod to the way every single riot in The Simpsons seems to end in looting. Most of the main characters, being patricians, are of course well dressed in smart suits, though they do change to modern military garb later.

The plot moves through the first act with the conspiracy and the seduction of Brutus, ending the first act with the well known ‘et tu Bruti’ line and much blood spilled. The second act explores the aftermath, with the war between Brutus and Mark Anthony triggered by Anthony’s provocative speech to the plebians (which makes good use of actors planted in the audience for a more immersive feel). Of course, followers of history (or watchers of HBO’s Rome) know how that ends for all involved…

Overall, this is a well performed piece of theatre. Immersive without being too much ‘in your face’ and making good use of popular, modern references without breaking the essential nature of the original play. The parts are all well played with strong performances from all. An entertaining evening that has definitely changed my mind about Shakespeare’s more historic stories.

*Would be interesting to know if the director would have included that touch if both characters had been male or both female.

[Review] Quigsnip by Sean Phillips

12 Saturday Sep 2015

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Quigsnip, subtitled The Untold Tale of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, is Sean Phillips’ attempt at a sequel to Oliver Twist. Like Tony Lee’s Dodge and Twist, Phillips uses Quiqsnip to examine characters and situations in the original book and extend their stories on. The difference is that while Lee goes many years in the future, bringing the Artful Dodger and Oliver back to London as young adults, Phillips takes us closer to the original source by beginning his tale soon after the events in the original.41vGnNxStzL__SX326_BO1,204,203,200_

I guess that the main hero of this book needs no introduction. Oliver is still the same blond haired waif that most are probably more familiar with from the film versions than the original novel. We join him as he gives over a chunk of his wealth to a charity aimed at helping orphans like himself. Fagin, Sykes and the Artful Dodger are all dead – executed for their crimes – but one member of the Fagin gang remains at large – Quigsnip – and he seeks revenge against the boy who ruined all his plans.

And who is Quigsnip? You might be forgiven for thinking that he is a creation of the author, retroactively inserted into the original story background in order to justify the tale. That is certainly what I believed when I first started reading the flashback scenes in which our villain reveals himself. However, without fear of spoilers, I can say that the author has thought of this and has provided an interesting justification for his creation based on a throw away scene in the original novel which. His suggestion is that Dickens may have intended a larger role for this character.

Quigsnip carries out his devious plan and Oliver finds himself caught in a dangerous bind that he must use all of wits and charm to defeat. There follows a reasonably fun romp through Victorian England. Oliver is deprived of his wealth, his family, his friends and his reputation and must fight to win them all back. There are many cameos by characters readers of the novel may recognise and, as an extra bonus, the entire town of Coketown from Hard Times plays an important role.

There are flaws in the plot. Quiqsnip’s plan for example, is overcomplicated and full of potential pitfalls that do not get challenged. Of course this is no different to many schemes carried out by villains in all fictional universes (including Bond) though there are some fairly major flaws. These include a reliance on hypnosis which seems to have a greater power here than it does in the real world  – forcing someone to unconsciously perform acts against their personality, something that even fictional hypnosis considers impossible. Phillips also seems to place Coketown a lot closer to London than it is largely believed Dickens intended it to be, which is the approximate location of the North West industrial town of Preston in Lancashire. This tale places it a lot closer, within 100 miles of London. Nevertheless, this is a minor issue and one which does not detract from the tale (unless you are an unforgiving pedant 🙂 ) and does allow Oliver to walk there from London (eventually – even at only 100 miles it is still along walk).

Another issue with the book is the writing style which I think is trying to mimic the style used by Dickens. This is a laudable effort but does lead to the text sometimes seeming bloated and stilted. This issue may be due to modern readers not connecting with an essentially now very old fashioned style or perhaps Phillips not quite managing to deliver the style in an entertaining way. This is not to say the writing is bad, there are in fact areas where it is good, but rather that just as in Karaoke where it is considered a mistake to cover Elvis, it may be ill advised to try to cover Dickens.

Overall I enjoyed this book, especially the interesting essay at the end where the character of Quiqsnip is analysed. Here is revealed the author’s love of the source material. The ending to the fictional tale is also satisfying and includes some suitably Victorian melodrama. Well worth a look.

[Review] Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

06 Monday Jul 2015

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Children of Time

Written by Adrian Tchaicovsky

Published by: PanMacMillan

Children of Time opens with a rather neat concept. An obsessive scientist, Dr Avrana Kern, an excellent characterisation of the very definition of hubris, is seen at the culmination of her life’s work – about to release a colony of apes and a gene modifying nanovirus onto a terraformed planet. Her goal is to create a species of sentient ape and to collect data on their evolution and cultural development from a satellite in orbit. Clearly this is a universe in which ‘Planet of the Apes’ was never created otherwise she may have thought twice… However, a terrorist group who are opposed to such experimentation* target the experiment leading to the apes being destroyed, the nanovirus infecting a colony of insects and our arrogant professor trapped in the monitoring satellite slipping in and out of suspension as the centuries pass.

What follows are two separate stories. In one we see the development of the insect cultures created by the virus, in particular the species of spider who form the dominant lifeform on the planet. They go from primitive creatures not too different from our own earthly spiders to establishing a complicated society with religion, social issues and technology. Each iteration of this story sees a new leap in evolution as the spiders learn new tricks, helped by the virus, and make attempts to commune with their ‘god’, the AI in the satellite which is set to find evidence of sentience.

The other thread follows the last remnants of the human race, asleep in a generation ship called the Gilgamesh, travelling through the centuries in search of a new home. Here we have our hero, Holsten Mason, a mild mannered classicist – an academic who studies the ancients. Just as a modern day classicist would study the culture of the Romans or the ancient Greeks, Mason is an expert on the languages and cultures of the long dead culture who were capable of terraforming planets.

The story set in the Gilgamesh is fairly standard SF fare. Generation ships, light years of travel, changes in the crew each time the PoV character comes out of suspension. There is very little here that has not been seen before, though I am enamoured of the concept of the equivalent of a modern day Latin master – an expert in the culture and language of a civilisation millennia old – being used to translate documents and transmissions that could be vital for humanity’s survival. Mason is an entertaining and sympathetic ‘everyman’ who interacts well with the other characters on the ship, being the unwitting participant in the mutinies and insane plans that happen around him as the others vie for power when all he really wants to do is carry out his studies and conduct his somewhat understated and pathos filled affair with the ship’s chief engineer.

Where this book really shines, however, is in the wonderful treatment of the spider culture.

Tchaikovsky clearly has a thing for insects, in particular spiders. You can tell that simply by reading the fantasy series, Shadows of the Apt, for which he is more well known. All of that Arachnophilia also comes out in this. Indeed, I did harbour suspicions that Children of Time could very well end up as a prequel to that series. When reading Shadows of the Apt I did sometimes wonder how a planet could be populated by races descended from insects and here is a plausible explanation. In the end, however, this seems to not be the case but you do have to wonder if the author was riffing off his previous ideas and trying to justify them in some way? Certain plot events make this idea less likely but it was still an entertaining thought for a while. Whether linked to the Apt books or not, the spider culture in this novel is fascinatingly established with a clear line of development from primitive savages to a modern culture that explores some modern societal issues in an interesting way. For example, gender equality is given a lot of time, which is understandable in a species where the females traditionally eat the males after mating, and there are debates about religion and the ethics of survival. These sections of the story have an unusual feel to them, being written from the PoV of characters who do not communicate via speech but rather via vibrations on webs and a complicated body language involving multiple limbs. This means little or no dialogue in the traditional sense and this adds a little edge of ‘uncanny valley’ to the feel of these parts of the story.

The spider story could have faltered due to lack of characterisation. After all, each time we see them we are progressing several generations in their development. However, the author neatly avoids this by following set lineages of spider as they progress – the representative of each one being called the same name. So the story follows successive Portias, Biancas and the males that serve them which adds a false sense of continuity to the characters. This works well and allows the reader to gain a greater sense of empathy with the characters.

In all there is little not to like about Children of Time. It hits a number of SF concepts that have been revisited before but does so in an entertaining and novel way. Speaking as a biologist, the science aspects of the fiction are well represented and while on the edge of what may be possible, do not feel too far fetched with even the blatant deus ex device of the nanovirus to paper over any cracks in the evolutionary biology being not all that obvious. Definitely recommended.

*Maybe they have seen Planet of the Apes?

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D.A Lascelles is the author of Lurking Miscellany, Transitions (Mundania Press) and Gods of the Sea (Pulp Empires). He lives in Manchester UK. You can sometimes see him writing about Zombie porn on https://lurkingmusings.wordpress.com/ but he mostly blogs about books, vampires, science fiction and Terry Pratchett. He is inordinately proud of the fact that one of his Pratchett articles was referenced on the French version of the author’s Wikipedia page.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaLascelles

Twitter: @areteus

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[Review] Demon’s Embrace by Scarlett J Rose

28 Thursday May 2015

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Demon’s Embrace: Book one of the Redemption of the Fallen

By Scarlett J Rose

Published by: Far Horizons Publishing

This book kicks off with a dramatic concept. The end of the world is not just nigh, it has already happened. Armageddon, the battle between Heaven and Hell, has occurred and in the final stages both God and Lucifer vanished leaving their armies trapped on earth and entirely without purpose.

Enter our hero, Evie MacIntyre, whose job it is to find work for the dispossessed and bereft former denizens of the higher (and lower) realms in a world where demons walking the street is a every day occurrence. A series of ugly encounters with Marius, one of her clients, a demon who thinks humans like her are just playthings to be used and abused as he wills, sees Evie saved by Decimus – a demon who has slightly more honourable ideas about what he wants to do with Eve and who becomes our hot love interest.

What follows is a strange mix of erotica and urban fantasy which does not really seem to decide fully on what it wants to be. The development of Evie’s relationship with Decimus is definitely along the lines of an erotica with decidedly BDSM tones. His tastes, while more vanilla than Marius’s fantasies of Evie as a very Gor like slave, still carry the forceful and domineering traits that make such alpha male characters so popular in romance and he is certainly not averse to the use of bondage and blindfolds. Sex scenes are described in exquisite detail with no risk of fading to soft candlelight and there is no doubt that the author intends to arouse the reader with her writing.

However, overlaid on this is a good urban fantasy tale that explores the changes brought to the world by the presence of Angels and Demons. Such things as the existence of an agency that specifically works to integrate demons into human society being a rather neat example. The plot follows Marius’s attempts to claim Lucifer’s throne at the expense of the people of earth and Decimus and Evie’s attempts to stay under the radar as they carry out their love affair but of course ending up dragged straight into things. The supernatural elements are nicely underplayed – neither the demons nor the angels are woefully overpowered – and the changes wrought on earth seem appropriate to the events that have occurred. Overall a decent Urban Fantasy novella.

The main issue comes in the fact that the story seems torn between its two halves. Some UF fans may be put off by too much erotica and erotica fans may be alienated by not quite enough sex. Though, having said that, the style is very similar to other self published UF such as Dianna Hardy’s Witching Pen series (which has the angel as the BDSM dominant rather than a demon) so maybe there is more of an audience out there for this than I think. Still, for my personal preference, I would have liked to have seen more of the world building and plot development showcased and hope that this will be possible in future instalments.

Another, relatively minor issue comes in an aspect of the formatting. There is a tendency for some phrases in the text to be bolded and in a slightly larger font than the rest. I am guessing this is in order to provide emphasis and give tone, especially to dialogue, but in practise I am not sure it works and can in fact be distracting, especially when there are pages that are mostly dialogue. It is also not really necessary as the tone is quite well portrayed by other means. I suspect that this is a case where the writer needs to trust her audience to understand what she is saying.

Minor issues aside, I found this to be an entertaining read with some very interesting ideas which I look forward to seeing developed in future instalments of the series. Recommended if you like your demons kinkily dark and your angels a bit grubby.

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D.A Lascelles is the author of Lurking Miscellany, Transitions (Mundania Press) and Gods of the Sea (Pulp Empires). He lives in Manchester UK. You can sometimes see him writing about Zombie porn on https://lurkingmusings.wordpress.com/ but he mostly blogs about books, vampires, science fiction and Terry Pratchett. He is inordinately proud of the fact that one of his Pratchett articles was referenced on the French version of the author’s Wikipedia page.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaLascelles

Twitter: @areteus

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[Vampire Month] Review of Cranberry Blood by Elizabeth Morgan

15 Sunday Mar 2015

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As we have just had a week of Elizabeth Morgan, it seemed appropriate to post my review of Cranberry Blood. A review that has also gone to Goodreads and Amazon.

Cranberry Blood by Elizabeth Morgan

Available from www.e-morgan.com

Heather Ryan is a Slayer, the latest in a long line of family members dedicated to the lifelong quest of killing a particular very old vampire – Marko Pavel. If that is not complicated enough, she was also born infected with Vampire blood, a condition she manages with the help of a concoction of Cranberry juice and animal blood (hence the title).Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000038_00064]

One day her life is saved by a werewolf called Brendan who claims to have been sent by her recently dead grandmother.  It seems grannie had seen the need for them to be together in one of her visions, which are usually scarily accurate. Though Heather always respected her grandmother’s abilities as a seer, she finds it hard to come to terms with why she now has to put up with the irritating Brendan – what danger is he supposed to protect her from?

Morgan quickly establishes a dynamic between her two main characters, one of sniping and arguments. The over protective alpha male with the snarky alpha female rebelling against his attempts to ‘save her’ is a common trope in urban fantasy but one which is presented very well here and will appeal to fans of this genre. This relationship is threaded throughout the plot, which revolves around Heather’s attempts to track down her ancient nemesis and his attempts to use her for his own ends, and adds an appropriate level of zip to an already fast paced story. In my reading of this, there was no thoughts of ‘will they/won’t they’ because it is clear from the first page Brendan appears that they will. The question is more when and how many buildings will be destroyed in the aftermath.

Cranberry Blood is a very British Urban Fantasy novel. Heather is an Irish girl living in London, Brendan is described as having a northern accent and it turns out his pack live in Scotland. The action moves from inner city London to the wilds of Scotland giving this more a Being Human/Dog Soldiers vibe than most US based UF. This is a refreshing change and reminds readers that the Vampire and Werewolf myths that most UF take from originate in Europe. This is played upon in the characterisation of some of the characters – the Vampires are very Eurotrash in their attitude, for example. It certainly makes for a more familiar setting to those who live in the UK than the often unreal skyscapes of New York or Chicago. This may alienate US audiences but then again it may not as there are many Anglophiles on the other side of the pond who may also be looking for something that is different to standard UF.

If I have one issue with Cranberry Blood it is the concept of a Slayer. Now, I am happy with the idea of a family dedicated through many generations to killing a specific Vampire menace. It makes sense – you have to play the long game when dealing with immortal bloodsuckers and I really like the thought that has gone into this. However, I am not sure I would have gone so far as to have made that into a proper noun. Not only is there an issue of Joss Whedon potentially considering it a challenge to his IP (though not a huge one as the similarities basically end with the name and the fact this particular one is female) but I am not convinced that it really deserves that capital letter. That implies there is some official title involved when really it is a private, internal family thing. Had there been a secret underground organisation that trained multiple people to fight vampires (such as the Church order detailed in Skyla Dawn Cameron’s novel Hunter) and that organisation granted graduates of their training programme some form of official title then I’d be happy that they could be called Slayers. Using it in a family seems wrong to me. However, this is only a very minor gripe in what is basically a very well written and fascinating novel.

Overall, Cranberry Blood is a novel worth taking a look at. A very fun romp through a very British urban fantasy landscape. I’d like to see more UF set in this country.

[Vampire Month] Review of Being Human SE5 Ep5

06 Wednesday Mar 2013

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Appropriately enough for Vampire Month, over on Cult Britannia you can now read my latest review of Sunday’s Being Human episoide.

http://www.cultbritannia.co.uk/tag/being-human-no-care-all-responsibility-review/

Pop over there and have a look and then come back here for Aaron Smith’s Guest post, due to go live in 30 minutes….

Reviews

15 Friday Feb 2013

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This is a basic, general information post I am putting up because there seem to be some issues with writers communicating with me in order to get their books reviewed. Rather than repeat myself countless times, I thought it prudent to have a page that I can link people to when they ask and this is that page. If you have anything you would like me to review, please read the following as it will make both our lives that much easier.

Your friendly, neighbourhood reviewing team....

Your friendly, neighbourhood reviewing team….

So yes, I do reviews. I post said reviews on a number of places.

Self Published and small press ebooks

If you have a self published ebook you would like reviewed, I will review it for epublish a book which is a site dedicated to the ebook format and is specifically geared for the self or small press author. They will also cover small press ebooks but will not cover any paperback or similar hard copy versions since the purpose of the site is to promote the ebook.

My preferred ebook format is Kindle but .pdf is also fine. You can email the appropriate file to my email address given below.

Hard copy books (Trad, small press and self published)

The majority of my book reviewing is for epublish above and therefore mainly concerned with self published ebooks. However, I have done some reviews of paperback books which were shown on the Cult Britannia website.

Books reviewed on Cult Britannia need to be somehow linked to the UK Geek scene. Either sci fi, fantasy or horror in a UK setting or written by a UK author. If you are interested in having your hard copy book reviewed, then you will obviously have to be prepared to send me a copy and I will have to talk to the Cult Britannia team to make sure it is fine to post the article there.

In theory I will also review hard copy books that are not UK linked. However, I cannot post them to Cult Brit or epublish due to the rules those sites have. I will, however, post them to my own blog.

I can provide appropriate address details if you contact me via one of the methods below.

TV Shows

I have done reviews of films and TV shows for Cult Britannia too, though these are usually because the site team have asked me to do them. If there is a UK based geek show or film you think is being overlooked by Cult Britannia that you think deserves some coverage feel free to let me know and I can suggest it to them.

I also do my regular GQ blog posts which measure the geek quotient of non-geek shows. I am always open for suggestions as to which shows deserve this treatment. So far, I have done Downton Abbey and Hawaii Five 0.

Anything else

Yeah, if you want to send me stuff to review I will review it – roleplaying games, chocolate, theatre, computers, microwaves, sports cars, Faberge eggs,… I am happy to accept them all. If you have something more unusual than a book or TV show you want me to look at then contact me and I will consider it. Again, any reviews of such things will likely end up on this blog rather than epublish or Cult Britannia but if you think it may fit the ruies of either site then feel free to pitch an idea to me.

Contact

It seems that some people have had trouble contacting me about reviews so here are the best ways to achieve that:

Email – any email to dalascelles-writing@yahoo.co.uk will reach me easily and that account is checked regularly. This is by far the quickest and easiest way to contact me about reviews.

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DaLascelles?ref=stream is my shiny new facebook page and it is always hungry for likes. Again, a message sent to that account will likely get dealt with fairly quickly as will posts on the wall

Twitter – https://twitter.com/areteus you can send me a DM on there or post a Tweet to me @areteus and I will get wind of it and reply as soon as I can.

Finally, leaving a comment on this blog will also get through to me (as some have already found). Though this is a less efficient method than some of the others it does still work.

Time

One warning I do give to all who ask reviews of me is that I can’t always get round to them in a particularly timely fashion. It is not so much the time taken to write the review but rather the time to read the book that is often a problem. So, if you do want a review, please be aware that you might have to be patient. I will get round to it as soon as I can. There is also sometimes a delay between my writing the review and it being posted on the sites. This is something I cannot control. Be assured that I do try to get through them as quickly as possible.

[Review] Dodge and Twist by Tony Lee

05 Thursday Jul 2012

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Over at the epublish a book site I review the ebook of Tony Lee’s Dodge and Twist – an exciting caper set in Dickensian London and following the fates of the characters of Oliver Twist years after Dickens left them.

Follow this link to read the review: http://www.epublishabook.com/?p=5690#axzz1zl9rwsqi

Feel free to comment here if you have any to make.