Author of sci-fi/fantasy, horror and adventure/thriller fiction

Cicero Trilogy by Robert Harris

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I just finished the Cicero trilogy by Robert Harris and was awed by the imaginative and fully realized rendering of ancient Rome during the fall of the republic, as well as Harris’s brilliant writing style.

The series is ostensibly written by Tiro, a slave who served as Cicero’s secretary, actually did write a biography of Cicero, and invented the first system of shorthand. This would normally be a turnoff right from the get-go, as I prefer as a reader to get right in the head of the main protagonist instead of viewing them through a filter, but Harris’s use of Tiro is very effective. You feel like you know Cicero, but you’re focused on what Cicero says and does.

Before I get into the books, I should point out who Cicero was and why he’s important. Marcus Tullius Cicero was one of the greatest and cleverest statesmen, orators, lawyers, and philosophers the Roman republic produced. He was a “new man,” rising to power as a senator, aedile, and ultimately consul purely through his popularity and persuasion, rather than old money and a venerable name. His influenced the Latin language, introduced Greek philosophy to the Romans, and fought political duels against Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, and Octavian, who would become Augustus Caesar. These battles marked the last years of his life, as he fought to save the Roman republic first from mob rule and then from the tyranny of dictatorship.

The three books in the bestselling trilogy are IMPERIUM, LUSTRUM, and DICTATOR. In IMPERIUM, we are thrown into the violent, wheeling-and-dealing, and backstabbing world of Roman politics, in which Cicero uses his wits and skills as an orator and lawyer against the entrenched patrician class to reach for the consulship. LUSTRUM deals with the dangers, seductions, and horrors of power, and the slide toward brutal mob rule. DICTATOR follows Cicero into exile and a dramatic comeback, where he strives to save the Roman republic against a series of would-be tyrants.

The books are amazingly detailed and realized, with every peculiarity of Roman life and political system explored, and with so many similarities to our own society and political system. Cicero is a thoroughly engaging character, a self-made man who is heavily flawed and is often forced to compromise, a politician who fights with his wit and clever scheming. The depictions of well-known Roman figures such as Caesar, Marc Antony, and Octavian are similarly very well depicted.

Overall, this series gets a high A from me. If you’re into Roman history or any historical fiction, this is a must read.

THE SILENCE (2019)

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I greatly enjoyed Tim Lebbon’s apocalyptic horror novel THE SILENCE, and Netflix’s 2019 film adaptation is fairly faithful and well executed. It was an enjoyable movie, despite some flaws.

First, let’s dispense with THE QUIET PLACE. From what I’ve read, the script for that movie was in the works before Lebbon’s novel came out, so neither may be a direct knockoff of the other. Both have strengths and flaws and neither in my view is that much better than the other. What made THE QUIET PLACE more effective was the much stronger use of silence to build tension (I was holding my breath during parts), while THE SILENCE is more effective in showing how the creatures spread and end up dominating the world’s ecosystem. THE QUIET PLACE hit me in the gut, while THE SILENCE hit me in the head. Similarly, I didn’t find it any better or worse than BIRD BOX, also fun but flawed.

In THE SILENCE, deep cave exploration opens up a ecosystem allowing a swarm of batlike creatures to escape. These creatures multiply quickly in balance with their food supply, and suddenly, they’re at the top of a seemingly bottomless food chain. I love that kind of apocalypse, where a new creature is introduced that isn’t evil but simply wants to eat and sees humans as food, displacing humanity in the food chain. Their weakness is they evolved in darkness and cannot see, so they navigate (and hunt) entirely by sound waves. As they rapidly spread, a family (fathered by the great Stanley Tucci) decides to flee to somewhere remote. The story focuses on their journey and subsequent survival where they end up. Spicing things up is the daughter (Kiernan Shipka, the poor man’s Emma Watson) is deaf, and the whole family communicates by sign language, which gives them an advantage in this dangerous new world.

The film handles all this competently, and if you like apocalyptic fare, there’s plenty of fun here, though there isn’t much going on with the characters. The daughter has the potential of transforming from shy young woman with a disability to a leader, but that doesn’t play out. The father has the potential of transforming from a timid, civilized, middle-aged man into a tribal leader who will do anything for his tribe (like the dad in THE QUIET PLACE), but no character arc is apparent. As a result, all the struggle is with the creatures, though we don’t see the characters really suffer for it or be affected by it much internally once they reach a sanctuary. As for external struggle, there isn’t that much until they find sanctuary. The film then runs into the same issue as the otherwise fantastic book–the monsters play themselves out as a threat, and a human threat is introduced, which in turn plays itself out before coming to an abrupt end. The result is a film that is titillating but somewhat emotionally flat.

Overall, I liked THE SILENCE and give is a B as a movie and B+ as an apocalyptic movie.

THEM THAT FOLLOW (2019)

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I was fortunate to catch THEM THAT FOLLOW (2019) at the Calgary Underground Film Festival last night. It’s an engaging film about the beauty and danger of religious faith. The people in this film live a religious life in full belief that God and the Devil intervene in one’s worldly affairs based on how strong one’s faith is, which must be tested by snake handling.

The film is about Mara, the preacher’s daughter, who lives in a small, isolated, Appalachian community of Pentecostals. Mara’s problem is she loves a young man who is a doubter and is distancing himself from the church, and she might be pregnant with his child. Her father wants her to marry another man who is gentle and properly devout, though when this man tells Mara how God calmed the demons in his heart and keeps them at bay, you get a glimmer of what he is capable of. To show their devotion to and trust in God, these particular Pentecostals are snake handlers. When they announce themselves ready for a test, they hold a rattler snake. If the snake calms, they pass, and if it bites you, you must face your next test, which is to survive the venom through faith without any medical attention.

Pentecostals are Christians who emphasize the agency of the Holy Spirit and believe God is something to be directly experienced, not ritually worshipped. The small rural community in this film are almost entirely true believers, including Mara, who is in love with a man and somewhat headstrong but must obey her father, church, and faith and marry someone else because that’s how it works, women must obey men in all things.

The resulting spiritual tension is fairly powerful because the story puts you in the shoes of somebody living in this world, where God is always watching and the Devil is always there to tempt you, and God must be loved and obeyed with energy and feeling every minute of the day. That’s the real strength of the film, which is how sensitively and immersively it handles empathy and point of view. Everything that happens is through Mara’s point of view, and Mara is devout. It doesn’t ridicule or moralize for or against Pentecostalism or even the snake handling. It doesn’t demonize her pastor father who controls her life. The tension culminates in a powerful last act where Mara is forced to make her final choice.

Overall, despite some clunky pacing and somewhat fuzzy development of the central conflict, THEM THAT FOLLOW is a solid drama that immerses you in people living in a highly restrictive and regulated belief system and worldview, and a young woman’s struggle between living the life of faith in which she was raised and the worldly love that she wants.

ROMA (2018)

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Written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who directed one of my favorite films–CHILDREN OF MEN–ROMA (Netflix) is about a family living in the upper-class Colonia Roma area of Mexico City in 1970-71. It’s a surprisingly powerful and compelling film in which the story and visuals work together almost flawlessly.

First, the story, which focuses on Cleo (played in a wonderfully understated way by newcomer Yalitza Aparicio), an indigenous live-in maid. She spends her days cleaning and taking care of the family’s four children, in many ways being a more active parent than the parents themselves. When she becomes pregnant by her boyfriend, she sees even worse security and grinding poverty ahead. Meanwhile, the family is in trouble as the father’s relationship with the family is becoming increasingly strained. It all culminates in a message of redemption and endurance against adversity.

It’s otherwise hard to describe the plot of the film, as there isn’t much of one. Partly autobiographical for Cuarón, the story rolls out as cinema verite. Things just happen, and the story just ends (or continues without us), though there’s plenty going on thematically if you want to think about it. This is one of the things I really like about ROMA, which is how it treats the viewer like a functioning adult. It doesn’t tell you what to feel, though you may feel plenty while watching it. There’s a lot going on in the subtext of the film, whether it’s the Corpus Christi massacre by paramilitaries during the Dirty War, or the common people struggling with the rich over land rights.

The second thing that really works about this film is the amazing cinematography. The film is shot in black and white, with plenty of wide angle shots, including long, calmly panning shots following a character through a busy street or even the ocean. As with CHILDREN OF MEN, Cuarón shows off how good he is at the visual set piece with ROMA, which involved the construction of vast sets. The result is stunning directorial control and a high-brow art house look and feel to the movie though without any of the usual tedium that goes with it. There’s always something going on on screen to focus on, something from real life to muse on.

When I first saw the trailer for this, I was surprised how much acclaim it had gotten, including multiple awards and nominations. It just looked a chore to watch, and hard to grasp what it was about. I’m glad I finally watched it, as it was very good, showing what can be done with a modest budget (just $4.4 million), characters we care about, social realism, and artistic cinematography.

THE BOUNTY HUNTERS by Elmore Leonard

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Elmore Leonard’s debut novel, THE BOUNTY HUNTERS, is a classic western tale about a Civil War veteran and retired Army scout brought back into the service for a final dangerous mission: escort a green lieutenant into Mexico to bring back a renegade Apache chief. I hadn’t known Leonard got his start with Westerns (subsequently discovering the films 3:10 TO YUMA and other Western films are based on his stories) and found it a real treat.

The story centers on Dave Flynn, a classic Western hero: doesn’t say much, means what he says, takes no crap from anybody, knows how to survive in the wilderness. He suspects his mission into Mexico is a fool’s errand as it was arranged by Major Deneen, with whom he shares a dark secret from the Civil War. He and the lieutenant cross paths with Apaches, undisciplined and unruly Mexican police, and a ruthless gang of bounty hunters–American desperadoes who kill Apaches and get paid by the Mexican government for each scalp. When the bounty hunters turn up with a bag of scalps that may not be Apache but instead Mexican farmers, Flynn gets embroiled between these three sides and plays them off against each other to save some local people he cares about, including a fiery and strong Mexican beauty. It’s up to Flynn to do what’s right, deliver Western justice, and save the girl.

The novel was published in the 1950s, and I was happy to see how well it holds up. In my view, it flirted with but didn’t rely on racial and gender stereotypes, and our hero survives more on his wits, experience, and demeanor than he does on any seemingly superhuman capability. His sense of justice is more focused on protecting people he cares about than a stark code of justice that is never challenged by situations involving moral shades of gray. The result is a realistically delivered, solid yarn with likeable characters and Leonard’s trademark quality dialogue that holds the story together even as it occasionally plods or comes together loosely.

OVERLORD (2018)

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Produced by JJ Abrams, OVERLORD (2018) is a WW2 zombie movie that made me long to watch either a good WW2 movie or good zombie movie, as for me it didn’t quite achieve either. I was excited to watch it as I authored (with Tim Long and David Moody) a WW2 zombie series called THE FRONT, but in the end, I found OVERLORD predictable and boring, despite some really nice visual elements.

The movie begins with a platoon of the 101st Airborne in the skies over Normandy, preparing for the big drop in the early hours of D-Day. Aside from showing a racially integrated unit (okay fine it’s 2018), the movie starts out with overused tropes. The platoon is oddly led by a sergeant, because all sergeants are tough and crusty and lieutenants are novice weaklings, and we have, echoing SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and BAND OF BROTHERS, a “jerk who has a heart” paratrooper bragging how he’s going to killer Hitler and end the war. Everything goes badly, and with only a handful of paratroopers surviving the drop, they set out to a French village where they have to blow up a radio tower, a mission that for some reason is critical for D-Day to succeed. There, they discover the Nazis (in full purely evil sadist trope mode) are experimenting on a zombie serum to create super soldiers. Teaming up with a local woman, our band must destroy the lab and the radio tower.

Visually, the movie is nicely done, and the action is good. The protagonist (Boyce) is likeable enough, though his character is almost as flat as everybody else’s, resulting in me not caring if anybody survived. The pacing in the second act is awfully slow, wasting an opportunity to make me care about these soldiers. OVERLORD seems to want to deliver B movie schlock, and for me it didn’t achieve the pulpy, fun, comical, self-deprecating kind of B movie schlock that really works. As with many Hollywood movies, the result feels flat and paint-by-numbers.

OVERLORD’s gotten some good reviews, so as always YMMV. It’s not horrible, but I found it somewhat forgettable.