Wednesday, 28 October 2009

The Shield Season 7

Ouch.

I need to say that again. Ouch.

I loved the first couple of series of the Shield. It was tough, hard, morally ambiguous in a way I hadn't really seen in cop shows before. Had a killer twist in the very first episode. And featured a superb, eye-poppingly angry and dangerous central performance from Michael Chiklis as Vic Mackie. "Are you the good cop or the bad cop?" a suspect asks him. "I'm a different kind of cop," he replies, before beating a confession out of him with a telephone directory. This was my kind of show.

It's a bit of a shame in a way that it was rather eclipsed for me thereafter by the coming of The Wire, which was not only the best cop show I'd ever seen, but probably the best tv I've ever seen period. It also felt as if the Shield dropped off slightly in quality in its middle couple of series, though it was still capable of some great moments. But boy did they build back up to a hell of a finale with this final season, which has to be one of the toughest, most uncompromising and courageous endings to a tv series of which I'm aware.

After watching Vic and his crooked pals on the Strike Team beat, blackmail, lie and murder their way out of about six impossible situations in previous seasons, there's a horrible sense of inevitability about the final reckoning as the walls close in and they begin to turn on each other. Watching Vic and his one-time compadres squirming increasingly desperately for some way out as the wheels come off the wagon is almost unwatchably tense, and the tension builds, and builds, and builds to a series of gobsmacking moments in the final few episodes.

It's worth watching all seven series for one scene alone, in which Vic finally confesses to his butcher's bill of crimes. As he's trying to decide whether to do it they hold an ultra-tight close-up on his face for what feels like about 30 silent seconds, and all the anger, and bitterness, and swagger, and self-disgust that sums up the character is communicated without a word said. It's a brilliant piece of acting, but Chiklis is ably supported by some great work all round. It doesn't end quite the way you might have expected. But it's a perfect ending nonetheless, and one that leaves you feeling raw for days afterwards. Ouch.

Horribly brilliant.

Labels: film and tv

Tuesday, 20 October 2009

Swords and Dark Magic

So I've dropped a couple of hints that I'd have a short story in an anthology coming out next year. Its co-editor, the very wonderful Lou Anders, has now posted the table of contents so I feel free to reproduce it, because it is a doozy, and you are going to want a piece of this, oh yes you are:

"Introduction: Check Your Dark Lord at the Door" - Lou Anders & Jonathan Strahan
"Goats of Glory" - Steven Erikson
"Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company" - Glen Cook
"Bloodsport" - Gene Wolfe
"The Singing Spear" - James Enge
"A Wizard of Wiscezan" - C.J. Cherryh
"A Rich Full Week" - K. J. Parker
"A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet" - Garth Nix
"Red Pearls: An Elric Story" - Michael Moorcock
"The Deification of Dal Bamore" - Tim Lebbon
"Dark Times at the Midnight Market" - Robert Silverberg
"The Undefiled" - Greg Keyes
"Hew the Tint Master" - Michael Shea
"In the Stacks" - Scott Lynch
"Two Lions, A Witch, and the War-Robe" - Tanith Lee
"The Sea Troll's Daughter" - Caitlin R Kiernan
"Thieves of Daring" - Bill Willingham
"The Fool Jobs" - Joe Abercrombie

Ouch. I think you'd have to agree, that is pretty darned heavyweight. Lou and Jonathan wanted to produce an anthology that would combine some old masters of Sword and Sorcery with some of the newer writers in the form and get a definitive look at the field, and I'd say they've succeeded with some pretty flying colours. Particularly pleased to have a short story in an athology alongside Michael Moorcock, since I read and really enjoyed his stories as a kid. Shool-an-Jivan, Lord of all that is dead in the Sea, may well still be my favourite name in all of fantasy...

The book's due out from Harper Eos, June 22 2010, but you can pre-order now. There's also going to be a limited edition from Subterranean Press in due course, I believe.

A collection not to be missed by anyone who likes sorcery with their swords, or vice versa. My own story is relatively chunky (8-9,000 words, which puts it in the novelette bracket, I believe) and features some characters from the forthcoming The Heroes, but I know next to nothing about any of the others. I'm actually really keen to get a copy myself so I can find out more...

Labels: news

Tuesday, 13 October 2009

Serving Suggestion

Rugged frontiersman Anton Vuorilheto sent me this photo of him getting closer to nature with his Best Served Cold. Watch out for that waterfall, Anton!

How do you eat yours?

Labels: ha ha

Monday, 5 October 2009

Fantastyval

So I'm off to be a guest of honour (I know, stop laughing, they are clearly using 'honour' in its broadest possible sense) at Fantastyval, a fantasy festival (No!) in Holland from 16th-19th October. The schedule shall be:

Saturday 17th
11.30-11.50 Reading
13.00-14.00 Lecture (Probably about expectations in epic fantasy)
15.30-15.50 Reading
16.30-17.30 Informal chat, Q&A, and signing

Sunday 18th
11.30-11.50 Reading
13.00-14.00 Panel "Writing across borders"
15.00-15.20 Reading
16.00-17.00 Informal chat, Q&A, and signing

So a lecture (which I have given before but *ahem* some members of the fantasy-buying public have yet to hear it), plus some informal Q&As and four readings. Still wondering exactly what to do for the readings, but probably at least one from the First Law, one from Best Served Cold, and one from the forthcoming and as yet entirely-un-exposed-to-the-public The Heroes (ooooooooooh, how incredibly exciting). Perhaps I shall look forward to seeing some of you there...

Labels: appearances