Posted by Matthew Lang, on April 12th, 2012% 
I was recently given a copy of Glenn Cooper’s The Devil Will Come by a friend who works at a literary festival–it was a Speculative Fiction book, which is a genre he typically doesn’t read and one I often enjoy. Cooper’s book is centred around the Vatican and the Catholic faith, but unlike Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, the Catholics are not the villians of the piece. Indeed the heroine we follow is a young nun, who is tasked with uncovering the mysteries of a secret sect who have vowed to destroy the Catholic faith in the name of money and power, guided by the true power of astrology. Apparently, we’ve had the symbol for Pices wrong for a very long time.
Initially, the reading experience was very promising. Cooper’s text was well put together and the plot was compelling. There was a great drive and flow to the action that kept things chugging along, with enough twists and turns that were neither overtly foreshadowed nor spelt out in great detail before they became relevant to the plot, which has always been my greatest gripe when reading a mystery story. The characters too were well formed, although I still personally wonder if the device of creating a character (or characters) and writing from their perspective for the specific purpose of having them die in an attempt to heighten the emotional impact of their (usually messy) deaths is one that is worth doing. Personally I feel a bit cheated when I recognise the device. Still, the major characters were very well crafted, and I particularly enjoyed the interactions of the protagonist and her family, as well as the look back to the times of the Roman Emperor Nero and Elizabethan England.
**WARNING: THE FOLLOWING TEXT MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**
However (and you knew there was going to be a ‘however’), I was jarred out of the book and the narrative on several occasions, and I personally felt like homosexuality was used in the book as a shorthand for the concepts of ‘evil’, ‘debauched’ or ‘lesser individuals unworthy of due process’, which I personally was unsettled by. It also made me ask if this was a deliberate plot device (given Occam’s Razor and that one of the situations involved the historical figure of Christopher Marlowe), and I was being overly sensitive, or whether this is a prime example of latent homophobia. Now as a proponent of diversity, I have to admit it is crucial to accept that there is nothing that prevents anyone in the GLBT community from being a villian, or bad, debauched or just plain evil. I am also hesitant to demand that any story where a gay character is penned as evil must be balanced by one that is not. I suppose what I object to in this particular work, is the idea that homosexuality is given a token treatment in a ‘that’s so gay’ fashion. As a successful author, it is . . . → Read More: The Ease of Offending
Posted by Matthew Lang, on March 21st, 2012% Mass Effect 3, Bioware’s (alleged) finale to the Mass Effect Trilogy hit the shelves this March as one of the year’s most anticipated games. It has been lauded for it’s improved action sequences, branching narrative and there’s also currently a petition out there demanding that the ending be changed–after it already was changed due to a furious reaction when the original ending was leaked onto the internet.
Design and Aesthetic
Mass Effect 3 is stunning visually, with both environments and characters rendered in gorgeous detail which far surpasses those from Mass Effect 2 or 1. Frankly, I’m a bit amazed the aging Xbox can cope with the rendering, even across two discs. There is still some texture pop, but overall the graphics make the game feel like an interactive movie, and the addition of an additional combat-minimalist, narrative style of gameplay gives that option additional weight. The locations are also a far cry from the repetitive interiors of Mass Effects past (do not talk to me about Dragon Age 2), with every location that you visit unique in design and flavour–even the N7 side missions take you to uniquely designed levels that may have a cohesive design style, but are a far cry from the ‘same base, different filling’ that was hidden behind the old ‘pre-fab building’ excuse in earlier games.
Musically, the Mass Effect Soundtrack is a joy, although at some times it pushes to the forefront in a rather intrusive ‘here’s the soundtrack’ moment, most notably in the early cutscenes with Kaiden/Ashley. Still, the sound design in Mass Effect 3 is generally supurb, swelling beneath the action or drawing away to heighten the impact of the story.
Gameplay
Perhaps the area that has received the most tweaks since ME2, Mass Effect 3′s combat is generally a faster paced experience, with a better variety of enemies, and improved AI that makes the battles just that little bit more difficult. It’s also worth noting that squad powers have been tweaked in unexpected ways beyond the multiple evolution options provided, so it’s worth double checking before sinking points into the very familiar warp ammo, which now combines with biotics rather than being the go to for bypassing enemy defenses. Despite the AI improvements, I still find one of the best tactics for dealing with combat is biotic crowd control, as sinking points into fast power recharge means you can donate singularities left right and centre do deal with most threats, and the new ability of all classes to carry all weapons has made the sniper rifle a weapon of choice for just about any situation.
There are also notable absences in gameplay–no hacking code, no memory games with circuit boards and a much streamlines scanning system. Bioware has also added a mechanic that makes scanning both more rewarding, and something that you have to stagger out over the course of the game, rather than a tedious chore, which is . . . → Read More: On Saving the Universe: Mass Effect 3 Review
Posted by Matthew Lang, on July 1st, 2011%
Kathy of Top2BottomReviews has had a squizz at The Secret of Talmor Manor, and she’s given it a rating of four kisses (out of five) and the cover four out of five as well!
“It didn’t take very long for me to find myself lost—all in the best way of course—in Matthew Lang’s The Secret of Talmor Manor. And lost is a good description, because it’s not just us, but Jake as well, struggling to discover what is going on. What’s better is that we have front-row seats to the untangling of the mystery. And tangled it is! Lang does a fantastic job keeping—okay me, he kept me—guessing right up to the end.”
Read the full review here. Read an excerpt here. Buy the book here.
There’s also a bit of an interview over here, if you’re interested in seeing what goes on in my strange mind at any given point in time.
Posted by Matthew Lang, on May 15th, 2011% 
The Secret of Talmor Manor has been reviewed over at Coffee Time Romance and More, receiving a rating of 4 Cups for an outstanding read.
“This story has both a great mystery and an even better mystical element to its plot. There is fantastic dialogue and debates between Jake and Nate, discussing everything from pagan runes to agnosticism. The conversations feel so intelligent and real, it is easy to get caught up in the character’s thought and emotions.”
(Read the full review here).
Don’t forget there’s still time to enter the Goodreads Giveaway for a signed copy of the novel ahead of it’s launch at Hares&Hyenas on Friday the 20th!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Secret of Talmor Manor by Matthew Lang
Giveaway ends May 19, 2011.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win
Posted by Matthew Lang, on May 1st, 2011%
If you grab a copy of MCV this week, you’ll find a review of The Secret of Talmor Manor inside of it.
‘Pick up a work of gay fiction these days and you’re usually reading a novel about jaded, cashed-up yuppies, who talk about little more than which nightclub has the cutest busboys. But in The Secret of Talmor Manor, Melbourne writer Matthew Lang has tried something more ambitious than this ‘his ‘n’ his towels and matching labradoodles’ approach to gay men’s lives.
”The Secret of Talmor Manor is bursting with imagination and intelligence. It’s a fantasy novel, a gothic mystery and a work of modern gay fiction rolled into one.’ (Read the full review online here).
You can read an excerpt from the novel here, and don’t forget you can still enter the Goodreads Competition for an autographed copy of the book–details in the last post.
Buy links:
eBook: PDF, EPUB, PRC (Kindle Compatible) — MLR Press Paperback Edition — Amazon.com
Posted by Matthew Lang, on April 21st, 2011% I’m rather excited at the moment! Some of the first reviews for The Secret of Talmor Manor have come in and it’s not doing too badly! But don’t take my word for it–take theirs:
Golden Nib Award at Miz Love Loves Books “This book is bloody brilliant. It has great writing, humour, a superb plot that weaves its way into your heart and mind, and a fabulous ending.
I loved the historical aspect and lapped up the visuals when Jake visits Talmor Manor in his dreams. The quality of visuals in his dream-like state are nothing short of marvellous—it’s creepy in a way, yet at the same time it’s like Jake is meant to be there so it’s okay. I smelled the musty air, saw the dark feel of the place, and absolutely adored the scene with the cook who made Jake some food. God, I really did like this book very much. There’s so much to talk about that I could go on all day…” (read the full review at Miz Love Loves Books)
4 out of 5 stars at The Romance Reviews “Spare a thought for Nathaniel Norwich. One moment, he’s an Edwardian lord whose manor has become imprisoned by a witch’s spell, and the next moment he’s landed on Jake’s living-room carpet in modern-day Melbourne. Oh, and he never thought he was gay. A tangled web?” (read the full review at The Romance Reviews)
In case you missed it, The Secret of Talmor Manor is available from:
eBook: PDF, EPUB, PRC (Kindle Compatible) — MLR Press Paperback Edition — Amazon.com
Don’t forget you can still enter the Goodreads Competition for an autographed copy of the book–details in the last post.
|
|
sending...
