The X-Files Season 1 Episode 9-Space

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Okay, so the visual effects in this episode, Space, are laughable at best. The teaser culminates in the Mars face forming from the ceiling and attacking a man, Col. Belt. Then the ghost face attacks a woman driving her car. Then it gets worse from there. The ghost face then leaves Belt and goes into space and attacks the shuttle crew.
Although the story had good potential, I think it was too grand in scope for the first season with what appears to be a limited budget. I think that if this episode could have waited a couple of seasons, maybe it could have been better produced. Maybe I'm being too hard on the episode, as there were a couple of good moments. One of them was seeing Mulder turn into a fanboy when he meets Colonel Belt for the first time was pretty humorous.
But that being said, I don't know how this would've fit into the overall mythology of the show. Although there is a paranormal aspect to the episode and there is in essence an "alien" presence, it doesn't really fit in with the overall feel of the show. Overall I found this episode boring and I was glad when it was over.
*This review was originally published on X-FilesNews.com in early 2012.

The X-Files Season 1 Episode 8-Ice

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One of the best episodes of Season 1 is Ice. Although reminiscent of The Thing, I like Ice better. Overall it's an intense, creepy episode from start to finish. Starting with "We are not who we are." mantra which sets the tone from the start; to Mulder and Scully pointing guns at each other, "Mulder, you may not be who you are.".Once the team arrives to the Arctic Base in the middle of nowhere, we see the crazy dog attack Fox and Bear (coincidence?) and Bear (the only pilot that can get the team out of there) gets infected with the organism. Bear knows quickly that he is infected. He then starts getting confrontational and then things start moving in the episode. Especially when we see the team pull the organism out of Bear's neck! He of course dies as a result. On top of this, there is an Artic storm preventing any help from arriving any time soon. Conflict piled on top of conflict. This episode is not only a great X-Files episode, it's a great TV episode. You could stack this episode up against any other great TV episode from any era and any genre and it would compete well. Another great thing about this episode with respect to the X-Files mythology, is that it sets up the concept of the Black Oil very nicely. A great quote by Fox as the men disrobe to make sure no one is infected: "Before anyone passes judgement, we are in the Artic". It was good to see a young Felicity Huffman, Xander Berkley and Steve Hytner in this episode. Unfortunately, this great episode is followed by my least favorite episode of Season 1, if not the whole series (Yes, worse than Ghost in the Machine) - Space.

*This review was originally published on X-FilesNews.com in early 2012.

The X-Files Season 1 Episode 7-Ghost In The Machine

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Episode 7 is Ghost In The Machine, which happens to be one of my least favorite episodes of the whole series.I think one of the reasons I really don't like it, is that I'm sure 20 yrs ago, it was a high tech episode. For the most part, the X-Files holds up well over time. This episode however does not, it's a tech heavy episode, and the tech is early 90's at best. Also the cinematography isn't that impressive and the acting, outside of DD and GA, isn't that great either. During this re-watch, I'm noticing that there is some good character development on Mulder's part. This is an episode where we get a look into Mulder's professional past, back when he was a young, up and coming agent that dazzled the higher ups. He meets up with an old partner, Jerry, who has a checkered past in the Bureau. He comes to Fox for help and ends up taking advantage of Fox and steals his profile to make himself look good. Despite which, Fox forgives his friend and still tries to encourage him and tells him that he is a good agent. It was interesting to see Fox cover for Jerry multiple times and how Fox stuck with his friend and had compassion for him. This is a side of Fox that we don't get to see much of on a professional level. Outside of his relationship with Scully, we usually see Fox in conflict with everyone else he interacts with at work. Some things that I don't like about the episode, the COS trying to kill Scully in the vents; COS being able to electrocute people when they touch the door handles; a not so interesting appearance of Deep Throat (in my opinion); the COS being a poor ripoff of HAL9000. Interesting fact: Scully's Agent ID# is 2317-616. Good thing this episode is followed by one of my favorite episodes of Season 1 - Ice!

*This review was originally published on X-FilesNews.com in early 2012.

Smallville Season 5 Episode 10-Fanatic

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Smallville goes political. Lex Luthor and Jonathan Kent run against each other for political office. The episode starts off with a cliffhanger and then goes back in time 48 hours to show us how we got to that starting point. Lois Lane takes over as campaign manager for Jonathan and helps him back on track. During his run for office, Jonathan is harassed and assaulted by some Lex Luthor fanatics who will do anything to get Lex to win.

Clark and Lana address the angst of their relationship issues and the fact that they haven't had sex since Lana went away to Met U and since Clark died and came back to life as a Kryptonian. Clark goes to Chloe for relationship advice and trusts her and her friendship. They discuss the posssible side effects of Supersex. Chloe, again, shows how great of a friend she is and talks some sense into Clark. Proving how blind Clark is and can't see the best woman for him is right in front of him.

Lex and Clark discuss politics and Lex reveals that his ultimate goal is the White House.

Then there's this crazy psycho girl who shoots her friends and then shaves her hair off because they won't go to the extremes that she wants to in order for Lex to win the election. She then attempts to seduce Lex by showing up to his mansion buck naked. Oddly enough, I found this bald headed female strangely attractive.

We then go back to the first scene of the episode, picking up with an extended version of the beginning cliffhanger, and we get to see how it all turns out.

While the episode is well written and executed, personally I'm not too hot on the idea of mixing politics and Smallville.

Lana and Clark meet in the loft and resolve their previous differences and agree to take it slow. Lana admits to being obsessed with the meteor shower and hypothesizes that there was a spaceship in the first meteor shower.

Thirty-Six by Daron D. Fraley

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Make sure to check out this ebook by Daron Fraley! Thirty Six is free on Amazon.com, today only for Kindle. If you aren't able to get it today, you can always buy it at a later time.

From Amazon.com:

When Aaron Cohen buys a souvenir from an antiques store in Lyon, France, and then sees the police raid the store right after he leaves, he has no idea that this is only the beginning of his troubles.

Back home in Chicago, Aaron is stalked by an old man from the antiques store. Mandie, a single mother in his apartment complex, has asked that they just be friends, but Aaron can’t help developing strong feelings for her, especially now that she is being harassed by her abusive ex-husband. And in the midst of all his emotional turmoil, the souvenir he purchased turns out to be an ancient holy relic that triggers shared dreams and prophetic visions.

A mysterious dream shared with a jewel smuggler whose arrest makes the nightly news. A nightmare of horrifying tornadoes shared with Ethan, Mandie’s eight-year-old son. A dream shared with Mandie that shows Aaron her true feelings for him.

And visions . . .

Visions of historical events, centuries in the past. Visions of the Lamed Vovniks. Visions of dangerous possibilities to come.

And if Aaron doesn’t get to her in time, Mandie will die.

Daron is the creator of Thirty-Six and author of the first book in the multi-author series. Originally from Wyoming, Daron has lived in the Midwest and in many towns and cities in the Mountain States region.

Writer by night, Senior Data Center Engineer by day, he has traveled to more than half of the biggest cities in the United States, one of his favorites being Chicago. The architecture, the people, and the regional foods all fascinate him. But his favorite places on earth are those where he can relax, think, and dream.

Not yet an expert world traveler, he has been to France, Switzerland, the Bahamas, St. Thomas, San Juan, Canada, and Mexico. He loves the Caribbean, and wonders how a small-town boy from Wyoming ever got the chance to fall in love with the ocean.

Previously published works include The Thorn and Water and Other Stories.

His personal website is: http://www.daronfraley.com

Legion by Brandon Sanderson

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Legion is a quickly moving story about how Stephen Leeds uses his condition of having "hallucinations" for his benefit and for the benefit of others. These hallucinations are personalities that manifest themselves to Stephen, and the reader, as actual persons. As a result of these others he is able to quickly adapt to new situations that arise and uses these hallucinations to solve conflicts. Stephen comes across as crazy to those around him, but in his opinion is "perfectly sane". These hallucinations have their own individual personalities, likes, desires and flaws.

Legion is well written and has a good pace. For the length of the story there is good character and story development in the amount of time available to do so.  Legion is a fun book that can be read in an hour or two and is enjoyable.

As Legion begins we are introduced to the main character, Stephen Leeds, who is by his account, a genius. However, he is plagued by these hallucinations. These hallucinations are separate persons with their own personalities and agendas. Stephen interacts with them as individuals and relies on them for information throughout the course of the story. While this phenomenom is not explained or fleshed out (which is what the author seems to have done intentionally), it is intriguing to read.  The reader is expected to read on without the explanation being given, however it doesn't impact the story. There are hints in the story that this wasn't always the case with Stephen and that it was a condition that was brought on to him somehow.

There are a couple of interesting things about Legion that captured my interest from the start. One is the concept of having multiple personalities being a help and not a hinderance to one's life. This concept is addressed in the story, not only in theory but also demonstrated throughout the story, which is one of the reasons why the reader doesn't get hung up on "How does this all work?".   Another interesting concept is the MacGuffin (that is more fully fleshed out than most) of the camera and how it is included in the plot of the story. While this MacGuffin lends itself to science fiction, it was believable and fun to read. With the inclusion of this particular MacGuffin and it's capabilities, the story is like a modern day Indiana Jones adventure - but better.

This short novella is one of Brandon Sanderson's shorter books, and as Brandon is known for his lengthy novels this can come as a surprise for those that haven't read one of his shorter stories. While Brandon's longer novels are amazing, his short novellas are just as entertaining. Such is the case for Legion.  With the speed and efficiency that Brandon writes his books, I'm sure there will be a follow up to this story especially since the ending leads us to believe that there are more Stephen Leeds stories to tell.

I recommend this novella to all readers who enjoy a good mystery. There is a little bit of violence, akin to a PG movie, and there are no scenes of sex and no swearing.

Legion Novel

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I recently got my latest book, Legion by Brandon Sanderson published by Subterranean Press. It's a shorter Sanderson novel as it's only about 88 pgs, but it sounds interesting. The cool thing that Brandon is doing with this release, is that he is giving away, yes - giving away for FREE! - an ebook copy to everyone who buys this book. All you have to do is send him a photo of you holding YOUR book (that you bought) and he will email you a copy of the Legion ebook. Pretty cool, huh? For those that don't know Brandon, that's par for the course for him.

Divergent

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Divergent is the start of a great new series by author Veronica Roth. Veronica is a new writer, with this being her first published novel. She hangs out on Goodreads.com alot and blogs often.

Divergent is a young adult novel set in a dystopian world where society has broken down into different factions. Each faction has a specific purpose and serves a unique role in this society. This novel has drawn comparisons to the Hunger Games, and while there are some general similarities, it isn't the Hunger Games 2.0.  The story is a coming of age story with the main character, a teenage female named Beatrice Prior. (No, this is not the Hunger Games 2.0). Every year there is a ceremony where the young people have to choose which faction to join. Most end up joining the one they were raised in. Beatrice ends up choosing a different faction than the one she was raised in. She ends up leaving her home and family to join a new group of people to learn the new factions lifestyle.

Beatrice renames herself Tris and has to learn how to go from being raised in a peaceful faction, Abnegation, to learning how to fight, as she has joined the faction that is more aggressive and in charge of enforcing law and order - Dauntless. Much of the story's angst comes as Tris has to learn how adapt to this new lifestyle and her training with the other new recruits.  There are some emotional struggles for Tris, there is a lot of physical action and fighting, and there is romance as Tris falls in love with one of her trainers.

Divergent is written in the first person POV of Tris and while it took me a couple of chapters to get used to the style; it allowed me to easily read through the story in a matter of hours. While the world of Divergent doesn't have much depth to it, the characters are mostly well developed and their actions are believable. I had fun reading this book and it is one of those summer reads that you're glad that you read it and can move on to your next book.

Divergent is a good story overall, quick paced, easy to read with some good angst. At times, it was easy to tell this was Ms. Roth's first novel due to the simple writing style. The story was pretty linear with not much depth. However, I did enjoy the overall story and it is a page turner. I would recommend it for those that are looking for something fun and quick to read.