First, a slightly exaggerated story—I have a friend who semi-recently went ape-shit angry over a rating he saw on Rotten Tomatoes. He FB-posted a scathing rant directed at the obviously corrupt reviewers, who’d mortally sinned by having published an aggregate rating that differed significantly from the audience rating, which btw, matched his opinion. Tens of his followers hopped onto his little rant wagon with their pitchforks and torches in hand, and they proceeded to stalk their way through the underbelly of the FB village hunting for the vile Frankensteins of disagreement.

It bothered me that my friend saw the need to funnel his anger into something as unimportant as a collection of movie reviews. It bothered me more that he seemed to be bubbling with so much anger that it spilled out over such a trivial thing. I did not, however, engage. I mean, who really needs that kind of shit in their lives. On the other hand, I will say here, something inspired by that pointless drama.

I decided to write movie, TV, and book reviews for Discover Scifi because:

I thought it might be fun.

NOT because I’m a troll.

NOT because I want to tear people down.

As a guy who makes his living as a writer, I spend a lot of time thinking about why stories work and why they don’t. Writing a review helps me crystallize my thoughts on the subject. It’s a way to help me become a better writer.

And, if you find that you tend to like the same movies/books/TV shows I like, then hopefully my reviews will help you cull through the flood of entertainment opportunities pouring across your internet connection so you can find something fun to fill your me-time need for happy escapism.

On the other hand, if you find you disagree with me, then look at me as a reverse barometer. If I like it, you probably won't. If I don’t like it, you might. Seriously, we all have people like that in our lives, right?

Everybody’s different. We live in a big world with an endless supply of movies and books. If social media has produced any good in this world (and I’ll happily make the argument that it hasn’t), then it’s shown us that the world is full of people with different opinions, and that we’ll never unanimously like the same things. So please, allow me to have an alternative opinion.

– Bobby Adair

Bobby is a former programmer, with a long-lived passion - and only recently fulfilled desire - for writing.  He is the author of the Freedom Fire series, the Slow Burn series and the Ebola K series.

Want Bobby to review a book, movie or TV show? Let us know by adding it to the poll below, and/or voting on your favorites.

Pros:

The action scenes were good, not great, but good. I did, however, dig the chase/shoot-em-up scene through Cartagena. It felt like watching a T-1000 in a Will Smith mask chase an old Will Smith through a 1052-count box of HDR crayons. The colors—WOW!

Young, CGI-face Will Smith looked 100% real in almost every scene. The technology that does this is maturing quickly, and it leads me to speculate what the future of the movie biz will look like when the stars never have to age, never get fat, in fact, are never less than perfect. And how does that turn into unrealistic self-perceptions out here in the real world?

Oops, I’m off the topic again. Back to the movie…

In the big climax battle, when the URT© (Urban Riot Tank) shows up with its spiffy-fast missiles and shreds a convenience store with its mini-gun and laser-like tracer rounds, I was double-dawg-diggin’ it. I liked the proto-robocop super-soldiers who were just fodder for Will and his sidekick-chick to shoot with perfectly aimed shots.

Will Smith in the lead—well, I’ve always liked Will Smith, but he’s a likable guy. I think for most movies, he just shows up on set and says, “Hey ya’ll, I’m feeling kinda lazy, so I’m just gonna act like me in this this time around,” and the director says, “Cool, dude. Action.” For the most part, Gemini Man felt that way.

Overall, though, the movie does an excellent job at being what it is. 

But of course, we have to look at the cons too.

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Cons:

After I watch a movie like this, I sometimes wonder if the producers were sitting around saying, “Hey man, we’ve got a big budget for special effects, we signed Will-Fucking-Smith to star, and we’ve got a gold-plated formula/trope and an interesting premise. That’s good, right? I mean, Jimmy’s nephew can write the script. I heard he got a C+ on his spelling test, so the kid is literate. What more do we need?”

Some of the dialogue was silly. But I’m not going to judge too harshly there. I mean, I’m a writer, too. Lots of silly shit sounds good in my head when I’m in the heat of the story, but doesn’t sound actual-silly until I re-read it six months later. You know, after I’ve published. So it goes.

Most of the stuff that happens in the movie seems to happen as an excuse to set up an action scene or a trip from Georgia, to Cartagena, or Budapest, or any other exotic locale the budget can stand, because we audience members expect that from the trope. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t really support any of it. It all just sorta happens, ‘cause.

The movie starts a little slow as it gives us a chance to get to know the character and the situation, so we can bond with the hero before the shit hits the fan. I can or can’t be okay with this sort of thing, depending on how well it's done. Maybe for me, I just saw Will Smith being Will Smith, so I figured I already knew him, and I didn’t need to get to know the character he was ‘playing.’ So, this time around, it seemed a little like wasted time.

Author – Joe Haldeman

I’ll start by plagiarizing a meme (if that’s possible) and say:

The Forever War is the granddaddy of today’s Military Scifi genre. Change my mind. 

Of course, you’d say, ‘Well, there’s Heinlein’s Starship Troopers.’

And I’d reply:

Starship Troopers is the great-granddaddy of today’s Military Scifi genre. Change my mind. 

I’ll cover Starship Troopers in my next Classic Review. Today, it’s going to be The Forever War.

First, a little history. I bought this book in paperback twice. Once back in the 80s because I loved the title, once in the 90s because it had a different cover, and I didn’t realize it was the same book. Unfortunately, I used to buy a lot more books than I had time to read them (that really hasn’t changed), so I never read either until much later. At the time, I thought it was a fantastic book.

The copy I purchased this time around was the audiobook, and that’s what I’ll be reviewing here.

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A little about the narration:

The audiobook was recorded in 1999, and to me, the audio quality sounded just a tad substandard. Perhaps that was all in my imagination. It didn’t, however, inhibit my ability to understand the narrator at all. He read clearly, with excellent diction. He was just a tad dry for my tastes. I did, however, listen at 150% speed. Was that the narrator's style, or the story making me want to hurry it along? I can’t say. But at 150%, it worked for me.

On to the story: I loved it the first time I read it.

I’ve recommended the story to my friends for years. This time around, I thought it was thoroughly okay.

It is Military SciFi, but it is not a high-action story. Of course, there are space battles, even the big climactic throw-down at the end—very satisfying. But, the military action is a bit sparse when compared to many of the more modern books I’ve read in the genre.

So, what do you get instead of rock’em-sock’em war? 

Well, you get a lengthy newbie soldier training sequence. That’s a pretty standard trope in many military stories before the hero(es) goes off to war. You also get a heaping helping of world-building, a world that needs to get built and rebuilt several times because the author chooses to tell his story in a hybrid FTL universe.

What I mean by this is that one of the things authors have to consider when they sit down to write a space opera of any sort, is whether faster than light (FTL) travel occurs in their new universe. The choice carries significant implications for the story that develops. In The Forever War, Haldeman employs ‘collapsars’ the same way wormholes are employed in more modern fiction, as gates through which space travelers can jump from one area of the galaxy to another. For journeys in areas where no collapsar is in the vicinity, travelers in Haldeman’s books move at some significant fraction of the speed of light. Hence, time dilates. So, soldiers go off to battle and come back decades or centuries later. Haldeman squeezes this set of circumstances for lots of pretty interesting chapters, many of which have to do with explaining a world a hundred or several hundred years in the future.

Overall, it’s a good book — worth a read.

A few notes I should mention, however: Haldeman, through his character’s voice, does offer up an editorialized point of view on many of society’s changes. Perfectly fine, we all do it. That’s part of the fun of being an author. However, a few points arise in the book, one where female soldiers were required to sexually service their male counterparts, and one where homosexuality was portrayed as a choice, not a genetic outcome. He presents both of these without the irony that his character seems to view nearly everything else. That seemed a tad odd to me, as though Haldeman were presenting both as natural beliefs. I don’t agree with any point of view where such things are natural, at the same time, I’m not one to get offended by much. But if you, as a reader, are, then beware, there may be a few other pitfalls for your sensibilities wrapped into the text of the story.

Bobby Adair

* If you feel like I’ve been unnecessarily harsh on a masterpiece, or too easy on a terrible POS, please read my Disclaimers, Caveats, and Excuses page before you flame me.

Bobby Adair is a former programmer, with a long-lived passion - and only recently fulfilled desire - for writing.  He is the author of the Freedom Fire series, the Slow Burn series and the Ebola K series.

One of Bobby's favorite quotes:

“It’s not just about me and my dream of doing nothing. It’s about all of us...Michael, we don’t have a lot of time on this earth! We weren’t meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements.”
- Peter Gibbons, Office Space