Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Film Review: Time Cut

A weirdly addictive slasher, murder mystery, time travel homage to old-school Disney Channel Movie storytelling

Do you remember what you were doing in 2003? Flip phones, low rise jeans, bright pastels, Kim Possible and Lizzie McGuire. It’s weird to think of 2003 as retro or historical, but for the purposes of this story, it is. Time Cut is a time travel, coming-of-age, slasher drama that takes viewers on a nostalgic tour of the early 2000s while trying to solve a teen’s violent murder by a mysterious serial killer.

The story opens in 2003, with a prologue introduction of the triggering incident: the murder of popular high schooler Summer Field (Antonia Gentry). Summer is at an unauthorized party to de-stress after the murder of three other close friends. While she’s there, a creepily masked killer finds and kills her outside of the gathering. Then the story skips ahead to 2024, when Summer’s younger sister, teen-aged Lucy (Madison Bailey), is living in the shadow of her death. Lucy was conceived after Summer’s death to be a replacement daughter. However, her parents preserve Summer’s room as it was when she was murdered in 2003. Her parents are trapped in twenty years of grief and, as a result, they are simultaneously overprotective and emotionally distant with Lucy.

Lucy stumbles upon a time machine hidden away in the same place her sister was murdered. The time machine is inexplicably just sitting there in a public location, barely out of view. She inadvertently triggers the machine and accidentally ends up in 2003 just a few days before Summer’s murder. Lucy gets a chance to meet her long-dead sister and see the reality of who Summer truly was rather than the idealized version portrayed by her parents. While there Lucy meets brilliant and nerdy Quinn (Griffin Gluck), who becomes her confidant, she meets Summer’s inner circle of obnoxious, self-absorbed bullies, and she gets caught up in the serial killer chase while trying to solve the murder mysteries and trying to get back home. As is often the case in stories like this, viewers will need a willing suspension of disbelief, not for the fantastical elements, but for the practical ones, such as why the time machine is so easily located and how Lucy is surviving financially in the past.

Time Cut feels like an old-school Disney Channel movie (except done as a slasher film with time travel elements). The film leans heavily into the post-Y2K teen drama style of acting and storytelling. Summer is the popular girl with one quiet friend, Quinn, whom she exploits. Summer and Lucy bond over teen angst, and Summer, bewildered by Lucy’s boxy 2024 pants, decides to give her a fashion makeover, complete with upbeat movie montage music. The sweetness of the time-loop sisters’ budding friendship is contrasted with Summer’s intense obsession with remaining popular. As a result, she is complicit in the cruelty of the bullies against Quinn, despite their longtime friendship; she’s willing to use Quinn to cheat on her homework; and she hides her feelings for her friend Emmy. The cutesy teen elements are also deliberately contrasted with the ongoing threat of the serial killer and the succession of violent, on-screen murders. Fortunately for the squeamish, the gore is kept to a minimum, and some (not all) of the scenes are cut away.

The film does a surprisingly good job of keeping viewers guessing until the very twisty ending. Time travel films always ask the same questions about whether we should change the past and what will be the fallout from doing so. Time travel stories, like vampire stories, typically have a universal set of rules that can’t be broken without consequences. Time Cut opts to acknowledge, and then do away with, some of the traditional time travel rules. As a result, we never quite know what to expect as the characters navigate the murder mystery they are trapped in.

Time Cut does not always have the best storytelling. There are plot holes, inconsistencies, and story elements that will require a willing suspension of disbelief. But, despite these shortcomings, it does manage to be confusingly addictive all the way to the end. And it provides a healthy dose of turn-of-the-century nostalgia.


Nerd Coefficient: 6/10.

Highlights:

  • Low gore
  • Twisty plot
  • Nostalgic appeal

POSTED BY: Ann Michelle Harris – Multitasking, fiction-writing Trekkie currently dreaming of her next beach vacation.

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

GUEST POST: Joseph Brant Interviews Chinese Horror Authors in the SINOPHAGIA anthology

Today Joseph Brant interviews Xueting C. Ni, Chu Xidao and Hong Niangzi about writing horror and their recent anthology Sinophagia

Cover by Alyssa Winans

Xueting C. Ni has been extolling the virtues of Chinese cultures to the geek community since the mid 2000s, hosting tea tastings and Wing Chun demos at anime conventions, publishing articles on China’s traditions, emerging popular cultures, both on her own website, and for major media such as the BBC and RTE. She writes nonfiction books which have covered mythology and the growth of internet fiction in China, as well as collecting, editing, and translating (a set of roles she refers to simply as “curating”) genre fiction for a Western audience. The latest of these, Sinophagia, was released worldwide on September 24th, from Solaris Books.

We managed to sit Xueting down, alongside Chu Xidao (a pen name meaning Knife-Loving Chu), and Hong Niangzi (The Red Lady), both contributors to the book, to ask them about the project.

Ms. Chu, Ms. Hong, your works are all very popular in China, and are beginning to be translated for the West. Ms. Chu, I know you had work in The Way Spring Arrives, which Ms. Ni was also featured in, but for those of our audience who have yet to discover you, what can they expect?

CX: I’m a writer from the generation that grew up during the transition between traditional and internet literature. As a student, I was educated in the traditional classics, but when I was beginning to write for the general public, it coincided with the explosion of China’s internet age, and I found homes for my work, not just in magazines and anthologies, but on forums, blogs, and literary websites. I was getting instant feedback from my readers. At university, I studied pop culture, and particularly found its dissemination of narratives interesting. This is definitely present in my creative work, which combines my interests with the changing times. Even though I write fantasy about ancient or imagined worlds, the themes are unique and the issues are eternal, and I hope I’m reflecting the current psyche of the public.

XN: She’s not just famous for horror, though. She’s well known in China for qihuan (fantasy) and wuxia (martial arts fantasy) works, and also, she’s just released a new licenced novel based on the Assassins Creed games, set in the Tang Dynasty.

HN: Well, I’m a woman born in 1981 in a remote mountain village in the Chinese province of Hunan, whose culture venerates witchcraft and spirits. I grew up with no television or radio, and there were frequent power cuts, so our main entertainment was lighting a fire in the house to keep the cold out and listening to the older generation telling us scary tales. Many of these stories became the inspiration for the horror works my readers have loved. I’m so happy to be translated into different foreign languages, and for these fireside stories told in our village to make their way out of China and be enjoyed across the world.

Xueting, after the success of Sinopticon, many people were clamouring for a Sinopticon Volume 2. What made you pivot to horror?

XN: As an eclectic reader, I have always read across genres. As I said in a previous interview, science fiction reflects the hopes of a nation, and horror reflects its fears. I think that both of these facets are important to explore, particularly in such an unusual and rapidly developing society as China. I can also see that, after what the world has been through in the current decade, it really needs the darker genres right now to work through some of those experiences and emotions, and the popularity of horror attests to that thought. China has produced some excellent pieces of horror both traditionally and in the contemporary times (although it may not like to see them as such) which I feel the Anglopsphere would enjoy and benefit from. Sci-fi, horror, wuxia and crime, these are genres I have always been drawn to and are particularly important to me.

We’ve recently heard a lot about science fiction in China, but not modern horror. Why is that?

XN: Part of the reason is in my previous answer: what horror represents is not what China likes to present to its people or the world. After a mini-boom in the 2000s, there was a slew of trashy works exploiting the profitability of this type of storytelling that gave the genre a bad reputation, as well as tragic copycat killings that happened around the same time as the Death Note incidents in Europe. These resulted in a ban that went on for a decade, discouraging many writers and eventually, filmmakers, that persisted for a while. There seems to be a rather polarised view of horror in China. The traditional zhiguai or chuanqi, records or tales of the strange that are often quite atmospheric and employ the supernatural to explore a range of social and societal issues, these are treasured but not seen as horror. What is seen as horror are the stories with the jump scares and torture gore. Part of the aim of this anthology and the talks I’m currently touring is to try and merge these two concepts and elevate the genre to the literary status it deserves, on par with others, because, just like them, it seeks to explore the depths of the human experience.

HN: Science fiction novels gained a lot more attention in recent years because they express advancements in technology and imaginings of the future, which resonates with the social psyche in this age of rapid development, whereas horror literature in China is usually associated with superstition as well as the supernatural. Even modern horror isn’t free from this stereotype. Moreover, I don’t think there’s enough translated works out there to enable foreign readers to appreciate China’s excellent horror tradition, which is an immense shame, because Chinese horror writing is often entangled with its millennia-old cultures, it depicts the intuitive foresight of an ancient Eastern civilization on human nature, reincarnation, fengshui and cosmology in the modern times. It’s mysterious and bizarre, but also splendid and magnificent.

How difficult is it as a woman to write in the horror genre? Do you think it is harder in China than it is in the West?

CX: I feel the genre is very well developed. I’ve seen plenty of dark suspense magazines, and the best-selling novels have all been thrillers. And online, the genre is booming.

XNI think the use of those terms demonstrates the issue China has with horror. A lot of writers don’t want to be associated with it at the moment. They prefer the term xuanyi, “doubt and suspense” or dark mysteries. If you euphemise something or avoid it altogether, then it comes under the danger of erasure. I was not aware of this euphemism at first. When I was initially putting together this anthology, quoting the terms for horror (kongbu and jingsong) to some publishers and agents, I stuck out like a sore thumb. Some publishers choose to assume I was soliciting for work and tried to assess me for translating their fantasy titles. Some authors backed out of the project altogether; others ignored the messages of this mad woman. I got sent some works that were suspenseful rather than horror. At the moment, it is hard for writers in China, especially women who want to delve into social horror, because very often a lot of their experiences are not seen as disturbing, and should be.

HN: Another challenge, especially in China, is the majority of horror fans are men, who tend to be bolder and want more thrills, so trying to engage them with female perspectives is no easy matter. On the other hand, appealing to female readers with love stories that are full of gore can also be a big challenge, as they tend to like sweet romances. Relatively speaking, the Western horror tradition is more established and more diverse, and female writers have a firmer foothold in the landscape. Yet, these challenges are what compels me to keeping breaking through the existing frameworks, to explore ever more unique, creative ways of storytelling, to grip the reader’s attention from the start with a marvellous sense of suspense, and thus to win their recognition and support.

Hong Niangzi / The Red Lady / 红娘子

Hong Niangzi, you have a huge following in China, especially with your Seven Colour Horror series. You yourself present as a “Colour-Coded Horror Heroine.” How much do you feel your persona is part of your success, especially in the age of social media and net novels?

HN: In the age of social media and internet novels, an author’s personal image definitely plays an important role on the propagation of their works and their success. The “Red Lady” persona I created for myself is closely associated with my work, and aims to provide the reader with a vivid and memorable symbol. With the seven colours I am representing seven kinds of emotions. It is a quick way of conveying the essence of the stories I intend to express, and my self-image, with its scarlet nature, represents my fiery passion, like a nüxia of ancient China.

XN: That’s the classic swordswomen of martial arts fantasies.

HN: In this way, I not only improve the interactions I have with my readers, but attract more attention on social media. Personal image and style of work combine to create a unique brand, and definitely give it more of an impact.

What do you think is the biggest difference between Western horror and the Chinese tradition?

XN: The biggest difference between Chinese and Western horror traditions seems to hinge on broad concepts such as delineation and pacing. The earliest Chinese concepts for gui, which is usually translated as ghost, actually had crossovers with divinity. It’s not until later that gui became associated with supernatural beings that cause harm, and morality. There’s even a place in the cosmos for spirits in the modern Chinese consciousness; they are not intrinsically frightful. Where Western horror may delineate more between the natural and the supernatural, for the Chinese, the horror is generated when taboo boundaries between the living and the dead are crossed. Chinese storytelling also has a different pacing, a four-part structure rather than the traditional Western three, and Chinese horror articulates yet a further variation on this. The pacing is something that reviewers and readers of Sinophagia have already picked up, and feel is an element that makes the works thrilling for them.

CX: China has had a tradition of “shamanism” since ancient times, and Taoism has its share of spells and charms to drive away evil spirits. Domestic thrillers pay more attention to karma. An individual’s death is not the end, and there is still the divine punishment of evil. Beyond that earthly conflict between good and evil, there is also divine justice, which focuses on roles within society. Western horror seems far more influenced by psychology, religion and the gothic aesthetic. Tropes like multiple personalities, the apocalypse, vampires and homunculi, etc. Behind the fear, there is often a complex psychoanalysis to be carried out, with more focus on the individual.

Chu Xidao / Knife-Loving Chu / 楚惜刀

Ms. Chu, what inspired you to write horror, and how does it interact with other genres?

CX: Horror comes from an inner fear, a fear of loss, which is then caught and recorded with a pen. I then combine it with fantasy, and add a little bit of interpretation outside reality, with impossible, imaginary scenarios, to dissolve that inner anxiety.

Do you think a country needs to be comfortable to write horror, or in hardship?

HN: The creation of horror literature is closely linked to a country’s social environment. In a comfortable environment, people are more likely to lean towards psychological horror and explorations of the supernatural; as their basic needs are being met, they can turn their attention to the experience of mental-related thrills. In hardship, horror novels usually reflect social problems or survival anxiety, manifesting in a more direct, radical expressions. I think different environments give rise to different types of horror literature, but whether in comfort or hardship, it’s possible to write compelling horror stories.

CX: No matter the circumstances, as long as humans experience death, there is parting, loss, and fear, and from that, violence and horror are born.

XN: Definitely. But I think that a country needs a certain amount of comfort to write horror. It would be ghastly to wish hardship upon any country. But literature is reflective by nature, and when reality is the very stuff of nightmares, it’s hard to find the space to reflect. Those nightmares don’t just go way after they occur. Decades after the Resistance and Cultural Revolution, writers like She Congge and Nanpai Sanshu are still reflecting on those recent collective experiences, and it’s important to do so. Contemporary experiences are more fragmented, and those who find themselves in horrific situations may not be in a position to tell their story, but horror writers like Yimei Tangguo and Zhou Dedong could and would, with their empathy and imagination. The roots of human fear are somewhat timeless, and often period settings can be effective frameworks to examine current or recurring concerns. This is why I loved working on Xidao’s piece Immortal Beauty. By retelling such an iconic classic tale as Pu Songling’s Painted Skin, it examines women’s objectification by society and individual fulfilment, issues that keep cropping up because they never seem to be resolved.

Sinophagia offers a mix of styles. Supernatural stories, folk horror, and stories that stray into science fiction and fantasy. Ms. Chu, are there any other stories in the collection you particularly enjoyed, or authors you’re glad the West is discovering?

CX: Death of Nala offers a brief glimpse into such a multifaceted dilemma and is a story that really gripped me by the heart. Xiaoqing, who wrote The Shanxiao, has been a long-time friend of mine, and I’m so glad to see her writing included in this collection. She’s always been an author who writes about love in such a sly, seductive way, and can always make the reader’s heart flutter.

Ms. Ni, you’ve written in particular about how difficult it was to get the broad mix of stories you wanted in this collection. What were the biggest hurdles and triumphs?

XN: One of the biggest hurdles was getting authors and agents to come forward with their stories, given horror’s bad press in China. Once I’d convinced the agents that this contemporary horror anthology was a vanguard that presented a valuable opportunity, it took them a long time to reach the writers I wanted. This led to some nail-biting moments as my schedule rolled on. For the authors I had to reach out to myself, I could stalk them in a friendly way and hope they wouldn’t think I was a madwoman and just ignore my messages. Luckily, a few of them did not. Once submissions started flooding through, the other biggest hurdle was trawling through the gore and misogyny to find solid gems beneath—I could see the exploitative approaches that gave horror a bad name. And I also had to specifically request works by women to address the gender imbalance in the pile, and to deal with some male contributors who demanded certain terms or for the collection to feature their works only. I could hardly believe it when it started to come together; it felt like a miracle or the workings of the dark forces, take your pick. One of the triumphs is all the love I’m already seeing for the stories in this collection.

Ms. Ni, one problem about writing about “horrible things from China” is that it may add fuel to the fire of Sinophobia in the west. Was this something you considered when curating this book?

XN: This was something I had anticipated, after some Sinophobic readings were somehow made of the title of the last collection Sinopticon, and the worsening geopolitical situation around us, the flak from which I myself have not been free at author events. We picked the title of Sinophagia for its memorability and the creepy feeling it evokes, in the sense of devouring, but also as an ironic comment on the fear of Chinese and Asian eating habits that had been rife over the last few years because of COVID reportage. Unfortunately, we were still unable to totally avoid Sinophobia from one of our promotional collaborators, who stated as an “appeal” of the book “the horrors of living in China.” I insisted we dropped them, though it was incredibly stressful during an important stage of the book’s journey. It felt even more important to get through these hurdles and put the proper representation out there for the contributors, myself and my heritage.

Ms. Chu, your story is about beauty, and violence, and power—themes you return to repeatedly. What is it about these themes that work so well together?

CX: This piece was inspired by the classic ghost story from Pu Songling’s Strange Tales from a Studio, Painted Skin, which terrified me for most of my childhood, and the original title of the story, 红颜未老, comes from a song that was written by Chow Yiu Fei for Sandy Lam. A woman waits for her lover, looking and looking for him, but he’s a bad person. What she’s lost, she takes back for herself. It seems to be a love song, but it’s not quite. The human heart is a more complex thing than just love, but all we can see is what’s on the surface. This question reminded me that after I finished this, I wrote a story series called This Phantom Life, about a plastic surgeon who helps her employers change their fates by changing people’s faces. It seems to be a common theme in my writing, wanting to explore beauty and the violence hidden behind it, and the way they both affect human relationships.

Xueting C. Ni 倪雪婷
The West has such an established idea of China, the supernatural, and the legacy of Pu Songling, but this collection also features a lot of modern settings, with very modern characters and mechanics. Are you actively trying to update the idea of horror in modern China?

HN: I’ve always experimented with combining modern settings and traditional horror, to create new styles in the narrative. In this way, I hope to break that rigid Western view and propel Chinese horror towards the international stage. Confucian ethnics and Daoist principles play an important role in my stories, and still give cultural depth to modern horror, but the modern setting enables the reader to feel immersed in the fictional environment. A modern setting also allows for more innovative constructions, which I believe allow Chinese horror to be better represented.

What sort of horror stories do you like personally? What do you read for your own enjoyment?

CX: I love thrillers. I watch Hitchcock movies, and adaptations of Agatha Christie novels. They give me just the right level of chills. Horror films are a bit too much for me, so… maybe I just need a good proportion of beauty within my thrills. I loved Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More. Aside from those, I like reading Japanese speculative fiction, especially Eichi and Kotaro Isaka.

HN: I personally enjoy stories that combine psychological horror with supernatural elements, especially works that delve into the weaknesses of human nature and social problems. I tend to read Western horror, like the Cthulhu mythos, and Stephen King, but I also like to read Chinese tales of the strange, such as Pu Songling’s Strange Tales, Ji Yun’s Notes from Yuwei Cottage, China’s County Records, and also works like Investiture of the Gods, from which I can absorb traditional horror elements that feed my creative writing.

XN: Interesting what Xidao says about beauty and thrills. That’s how I found Immortal Beauty; whilst there’s certainly a sense of horror to the story, I also loved translating the beauty of the embedded cultural elements. I grew up with Chinese tales of the supernatural, and classic European gothic literature such as Dumas, Radcliffe and Wilkie Collins, so shapeshifting demons in caves and trapped but spirited female heroines will always have a special place on my shelves. Jump scares can be overwhelming for me, and creepy tales I find far more impactful than slashers and gore. And I think tales like that, Susan Hill and Shirley Jackson’s works, always stay with you long after you finish the story. Hammer village horrors and films like Get Out are also a favourite, along with China’s urban legends. I agree with Hong Niangzi about needing to return to those Strange Tales too. In my research, not just for this book but my lectures and talks, I’m always surprised by how creepy they still are, even by todays standards.

What is the one question you’ve never been asked in an interview that you wish someone would?

HN: I’ve been hoping that someone would ask me, “What first motivated you to write horror?” so I could reveal my inner motivations as an author and my passion for horror literature. In fact, what originally motivated me was wanting to bring those fireside tales, that I had heard as a child, to the world. Ancient stories passed down for centuries, stories that gave me insomnia, and the sense of dread that inspired in me, as well as the insight into the shining qualities in human nature. Through the external shell of horror, I hope to lay bare the complexities of human nature and dark side of society, and rouse more readers to contemplate their own destinies.

CX: I'm so delighted we’ve got the chance to introduce readers in the West to China’s dark suspense and this sort of dark history. So thank you, Xueting and Solaris. But, at the same time, whilst we've had many great works of horror and suspense come from the West, including film, television, novels, and games, there has been a section of those stories dealing with “the mysterious world of the East” as alienating and fearful, because of the cultural differences and barriers between them. We hope that Sinophagia will interest more readers in Chinese culture, bring people closer to each other, and encourage more excellent publishers to participate in projects like this and bring Chinese thrillers to life in different languages.

What else are you currently working on? Where can we see more of your work once we’ve finished Sinophagia?

CX: I’m continuing to write my fantasy works, set in the floating continent of Jiuzhou. Skylight and Cloud Shadows is the story of an avian man helping his friend take revenge and infiltrate the inner cadre of a league of assassins. I’m also working on a sequel to This Phantom Life: The Legend of The Cherished Night, which is the story of a young boy who learns incantations and spells as he roams the world. When I started the series, my own son Maike was ten, the same as the protagonist. But now he’s 15, and my character has aged far slower, so I feel I’ll have to pick up the pace. I hope I can finish these, and maybe they’ll be published in English. I’d love you all to read them.

XN: I’m working on a nonfiction book on the culture of wuxia fiction, a horror lecture and a few SFF translation projects. My translation of Whale Ocean, which is a scifi by Nanpai Sanshu (also featured in Sinophagia) will be published in Strange Horizons’ Samovar. So lots of exciting things to come, and I’m still regularly turning out articles on my site, but yes, next projects already lining up and ready to go…

HN: At the moment, I’m planning the next novel in the Seven Colour Horror series, and expanding it into a grander fictional universe. The next one I’m writing will be associated with the colour yellow. To me, it has always represented sadness, nostalgia, and the past, so within these tonalities, I want to write a story about the past, that is full of sadness and longing, to commemorate my late grandmother. I hope that she’s doing very well in another world, and occasionally thinks of me. After Sinophagia, readers can continue to find my new works on my personal website, social media platforms and major internet publishing platforms. I’m also planning to introduce more translated works in English, so that more international readers could get to know my work.

Chinese inkwash painting by Qi Qing, inspired by Immortal Beauty, by Chu Xidao

Sinophagia is now available as paperback, ebook and audiobook.


Joseph Brant is a writer and editor who has worked on everything from esoteric mythology and pop culture to stories about dolls, monsters, and gender norms. He’s run Goth Nights in Beijing and has over 200 plush bats. Find him on Bluesky as @Macula.bsky.social.

Monday, November 18, 2024

The October Daye Reread: Night and Silence

Phew!

Friends, I have a confession to make. I have felt quite motivated the last couple of weeks and I think I’m back on the horse in terms of my reading and even starting to write again, though I may need to offer apologies to the Wheel of Time Reread. I pushed through a few books that have been lingering, and I’m feeling good (about reading, anyway). It’s been a while, relatively speaking, for October Daye, so I picked up The Unkindest Tide and I’m starting to take notes and speculate about a couple of characters (who *is* Maeve, anyway?) when I thought maybe I should double-check that I’m caught up on actually writing about the rereads.

I am not.

I finished Night and Silence back in August, so we’re going to do the best we can here.

Welcome back, dear readers. Today we’re going to revisit the twelfth novel in Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series: Night and Silence. We are making a good push to catch up with publication, and with no October Daye novel this year, and if the September publication schedule holds with Tor (the series having moved from DAW), I’ve got some time. If I don’t flake. Twelve down, six to go.

The preceding novel, The Brightest Fell, took Toby to the deepest (and sealed) realms of Faerie to bring home the sister she never knew she had. Being a hero, she might have done so anyway, but Toby’s Firstborn mother Amandine took Tybalt and Jazz, and so a-questing-she-did-go. As an investigator and fully named Hero of the Realm (not always in capital letters), many of Toby’s novel-length missions involving finding people.

Night and Silence is the second book, after One Salt Sea (#5), where Toby has to find her missing daughter. There’s a much longer story there, and hopefully, if you are reading me talk about book twelve, you’re well familiar. If this is all new to you—hey, I really like the October Daye series, definitely recommend you read it, and start from the beginning. The books more or less stand on their own, but there is a growing impossibility of references and connections to how all this fits together that so much of the richness would be lost if you start *here*. There are worse places to start (Be the Serpent), but this is maybe also not the place.

If you are here, though, you’re ready for the search for Gillian and for Secrets to be revealed. I really like lore, and Night and Silence builds the lore of Faerie through the storytelling and also with more detail that Toby’s ex-husband and Gillian’s father has remarried a woman named Janet. Because this is a Seanan McGuire novel, Janet is far more than she initially seems—which is just the new wife who raised Gillian when Toby disappeared (being turned into a fish for fourteen years and all) and resents the mere idea of Toby trying to get back into Gillian’s life—but begins the novel accusing Toby of kidnapping their daughter, a scene that does not go well for either Toby or Janet at all. With grace, these are two hurting parents with no reason to like or trust the other. We see everything through Toby’s perspective, of course, which is one of the things I most appreciate about this series, because we see Toby trying to give understanding to Janet (and others). She may not always verbalize it, but she is more thoughtful than she often gets credit for by other characters.

Let’s just be clear that I’m going to spoil Night and Silence and, frankly, anything that runs through my mind while working through this.

I’ve mentioned Janet as the woman who married Cliff, Toby’s ex husband. If you’ve read the series this far, you don’t know Janet. You know Miranda. People have multiple names in this series and alternate titles and it’s just a mess of names. Miranda has been magically alive for some five hundred years. This bit doesn’t make a ton of sense, but it’s also the underpinning of the series. Back in the day when Oberon, Maeve, and Titania were walking through Faerie, there was a “Ride” where a human becomes a part of Faerie and is granted some power and position, but that incurs a debt, and that debt is paid through the sacrifice of that human’s life during the Ride of one of the Big Three of Faerie.

Janet, then a daughter of a Scottish landholder, fell in love with a man named Tam Lin, and Tam Lin was to be Maeve’s sacrifice in her Ride. Through the conniving of Firstborn Eira Rosynhwyr (always, she’s the worst), Janet “broke” Maeve’s ride and is ultimately responsible for Maeve’s disappearance and the splintering of Faerie. She, through a dalliance with Oberon, is also the mother of Amandine, which makes her Toby’s grandmother and Gilian’s great-grandmother despite now being married to Cliff and being known as Gillian’s mother.

It’s an absolute mess and also holy crap. McGuire has brought up breaking Maeve’s Ride a number of times throughout the series, and it’s mythic in every possible way. It’s this thing that happened so long ago (and is it weird that I wonder if 500 years isn’t actually that long in Faerie?) that it’s legend—but then, for all the fae, now Oberon and Maeve and Titania are all legend, and we are very close to McGuire pushing towards a presumed endgame in bringing back Oberon and Titania (like her daughter Eira, Titania is the WORST) and we have to be on the cusp of Maeve’s return. I’ve got a theory, which I’ll discuss more when I write about The Unkindest Tide, but it’s almost a certain that we’ve already met Maeve.

Lore! It’s a lot of Lore!

Also lore, but truly pertinent to Night and Silence, but for a number of books now the Luidaeg has been talking about needing to do something about the Selkies and that their debt is going to come due and they are on the clock and Toby is going to help the Luidaeg deal with it—but through the eventual rescue of her daughter, Gillian is elf-shot, and being fully human (see One Salt Sea), is going to die. But wait, there’s more! To save Gillian, the Luidaeg gives Gillian one of the lost Selkie skins, which anchors Gillian into Faerie, and Gillian *cannot* take off the skin for one hundred years and return to being human, or the elf shot will kill her. Faerie is seldom kind.

What all that means is that we are truly on the cusp of the Luidaeg doing something about the Selkies, and now Toby will have an even more personal stake in that action.

Next up on the reread will be The Unkindest Tide, in which the Selkies’ debt is paid, Toby is stabbed again, more Firstborn!, and because the path from A to B will always run through any number of additional letters, there is a bonus murder mystery.

Open roads and kind fires, my friends.


Previous Rereads

The Brightest Fell


PUBLISHED BY: Joe Sherry - Senior Editor of Nerds of a Feather. Hugo and Ignyte Winner. Minnesotan.

Friday, November 15, 2024

Book Review: To Turn the Tide by S. M. Stirling

An argument about the Roman Empire that masquerades as a time travel into a alternate history novel.

It’s not often that one finds that the end of the book is what a reader might consider reading first. Usually an afterword of a book is best read in the aftermath of the book, when the reader’s thoughts can gel and coalesce and get a peek behind the curtain. It has happened, though, that said peek behind the curtain feels like it is oddly placed, that it should be in a foreword, or if it was a standalone piece altogether. Or, that the afterward and its arguments is the dog, and the book is the tail. 

In this context I want to talk about S.M. Stirling’s To Turn the Tide. 


But let’s go back to the end of the book before we get into the meat and potatoes of the actual book. The title is “For Nerds like Me: Concerning Technological Innovations and Time Travel”. Stirling begins with what is exactly on the tin, talking about works such as Lest Darkness Fall, The Man who Came Early, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and others. What follows is a long essay on the practicalities of what and how history and technology could be changed. There is a lot of discussion (which winds up in the book by the characters themselves) about the practicalities of providing technological innovation, and what kinds of innovation can be brought. There is also a lengthy discussion of the history of the Roman Empire at the time of the Marcomannic Wars in terms of society and technology and its impending fall. Oh, and for good measure, mentions of the mutability of history in general


But the thing is, this afterward is written in a tone and style as if you hadn’t actually just read the book itself, which I found peculiar. The ending of the essay even says “To find out more, you will have to read To Turn the Tide and its sequels”. And while the essay sets a lot of things up, it remains in terms of characters and plot mostly non-spoilery. It’s an academic argument from a non-academic on a number of levels that the book seems to have been written once the afterword was done, to see what it would look like as a story, rather than an essay.


And so we can now actually turn to the book that seems to put its own afterward into practice. 


To Turn the Tide starts in early 2030’s Vienna, where a scientist has invited several Americans to his house. They all have gotten to Vienna and the House before the world has decided to go to hell. As they learn the professor has built a time machine, a global thermonuclear war of the highest and fullest order breaks out, and a fusion bomb dropped on Vienna activates the machine and sends the professor and the Americans to 165 CE. The Americans are not murdered (although the professor does die) thanks to the intervention of a merchant who decides not to rob and kill the stunned mysterious travelers who seemed to fall from the sky. With the merchant’s help, the Americans get themselves on their feet, find that the Professor had packed a lot of money and gear (it was clear he was going to bring them all back before the bomb forced his hand) and now they have to make a life here. Going back or avoiding changing history (à la the concerns in Island in the Sea of Time) are impossible, given the nuclear war. They have to make the best of it. But they know a bunch of the outlines of history, and know in the next couple of years, a massive German invasion is coming (the Marcomannic Wars). Arthur and his friends decide they need to survive, and to prop up Marcus Aurelius and the Roman Empire... and keep it from sliding downward (they’ve seen Gladiator, they know who Commodus is). And so a story begins as the Americans try to use the money and goods they have (including a lot of seeds, of things like potatoes, chilies and tomatoes) to introduce positive change for the Empire, starting in Pannonia.  And, Arthur knows the formula for gunpowder.


The book is very heavy on its historical and technological arguments, and of course the nuts and bolts of trying to bootstrap technological changes from the wheelbarrow to gunpowder. This means the characterization of the characters is a bit lacking. Arthur Vanderberg, who soon becomes Artorius, gets the most of the book. He’s the veteran, and as the book goes more and more oriented toward the war with the Germanic tribes headed into Pannonia, he gets more and more screen time, he is the hub that the other Americans run around. It’s no surprise that when the Americans’ place in the world goes up, he’s the one that’s considered the leader and rises the farthest and highest. We really understand his deal, but we get lesser and varying degrees of motivation and drive from the others. One of them, Filiipa Chang, gets a same sex relationship that looks like a deliberate inversion of a relationship in another Stirling castaway in time novel, Island in the Sea of Time. Two of the other Americans not very convincingly and later in the book pair off with each other, leaving one unattached completely.  Given that intimate relationships are the major way the book drives character development, the book falls down significantly on that score.


There is a lot of playfulness, though, with the characters even given that thinness here with the Americans making lots of movie and book references and having a mentality that readers can identify with. Unlike a lot of previous time travel castaway novels, this is a novel where the characters come to terms with it immediately, and they have done the reading and viewing, as it were (the aforementioned Lest Darkness Fall gets explicitly talked about by the characters). There are other fun bits too, as when the Americans, now that they have tomatoes and chilies, decide to introduce the Romans to Texas pit style barbecue...and the Romans go gangbusters for it. There is even a cameo by a character from another time travel novel that is set in the same time and place that I will allow the reader to find and discover. I didn’t recognize her at first, but later, when I re-read the section, it's obvious who it is. 


Marcus Aurelius himself becomes a character in the book, with a point of view. The book has, as many people interested in him do, a bit of a crush on the man, as he is clearly more intelligent and clever than many of those around him, and he comes to accept the strangers with their newfangled ideas far more readily than perhaps reason would allow. I get the feeling that out of the “Good Emperors”, Marcus is clearly Stirling’s favorite. And Verus, his co-emperor, is definitely depicted as a slacker nobody remembers (to be fair, even today, most people who know Marcus Aurelius don’t even remember Verus was co-emperor with him until he died of the plague). 


The action sequences, and they get bigger and more prominent as the book goes along, are a draw for readers who like that sort of thing. Are you the kind of person who saw the battle at the beginning of Gladiator (a movie the characters have seen!) and thought “adding a primitive gun barrage to this fight would make it even cooler?” If that is the case, then there is a lot for you to love. There are long stretches of the book that are ticking over technological changes and development, and then there is the sharp shock of war, described in bloody and serious detail. War is definitely hell. Even as Arthur tries to develop primitive gunpowder weapons, he can’t get the Romans to Napoleonic level technology where gunpowder weapons are everything in a battle (the book is heavy on how much things can change and how much materiel can actually be produced; it does a great job in showing the gunpowder weapons as a force multiplier but not the be all of warfare, but Stirling has a great admiration for Romans, and has the characters point out how easily the Romans borrowed technological ideas from rivals and neighbors, and so they take up the gunpowder weapons similarly).


But is the book worth reading? Who is this book for? I think this book is for the kind of people who would read that afterword first, and would be excited to see it in action. It’s a book that, with its afterword in the lead, is making historical arguments about the Roman empire, technology and history, with the fates or even development of the characters as somewhat of a secondary concern. In some ways it is a definite evolution of some of Stirling’s thought given his previous time travel, alternate history books, showing development of his thinking on how things could be changed, but in other ways, there is a bit of a regression on the character front. Arthur and his friends don’t quite stand up to, say, Captain Alston and the islanders of Nantucket in terms of memorability, save for Arthur. 


I personally enjoyed the book, given its focus on alternate history, history, and thinking about a subgenre and the practicalities of time travel, changing history and a reconsideration of the reign of Marcus Aurelius and the Roman Empire. It’s not a book for those who are deeply invested in the characters and their lives and growth and development as much, I am afraid. 


--


The Math

Highlights:

  • Intensely interesting worldbuilding and piece of life in Pannonia 165 CE as the Americans are dropped into it.

  • Deep consideration of the problems of technological change and development and theories of history

  • A Baen cover that doesn’t hurt the eyes

  • Notably weak on characters, even the lead. 

My rating? That's tough. For me as a writer, it hits a solid 8 out of 10. If the characters had more depth to them, it would be an easy nine. But the characters really drag down the final score a whole point. And if you aren't interested in time travel, the problems of the Roman Empire, et cetera, that 8 score is generous and this book is probably Not For You. (See what I mean?)

Reference: Stirling, S. M.,  To Turn the Tide  [Baen, 2024].

POSTED BY: Paul Weimer. Ubiquitous in Shadow, but I’m just this guy, you know? @princejvstin.

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Book Review: Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer

Area X gets weirder (and more male-driven) in Jeff VanderMeer’s fourth installment, the prequel Absolution.


I’m a big fan of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy (2014). I’ve presented on it at conferences, taught Annihilation multiple times, and wrote a dissertation chapter on the trilogy. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about these books—perhaps too much time to accurately write a review of the fourth book, Absolution, so do with that what you will. Also, there will be light spoilers for the trilogy. 

The original trilogy explores a place on the Florida coast called Area X through multiple characters and points of view. Area X is a transitional environment where things that enter it do not remain the same (to put it mildly), with sometimes horrific results. The Southern Reach is a quasi-governmental agency created to control (or defeat) Area X and try to figure out what exactly is going on. By the end of the trilogy, it’s clear Area X cannot be contained.

Ten years later, VanderMeer has released Absolution, which takes place before Area X becomes the infamous location of the trilogy. Like the environment that VanderMeer has released this prequel into, much has changed—including VanderMeer as a writer. His more direct works (which is perhaps a misnomer) such as Finch (2009) and Southern Reach trilogy have been replaced with more dense, circular stories that give up linearity for the weird. While VanderMeer has always been part of the new weird, his later novels, such as Dead Astronauts (2019), really lean into the weird in terms of structure and prose. I wondered how he would approach this change in his style when it came to returning to Area X or if he would double down on his current style. He chose the latter, so while the novel doesn’t read quite the same as the original trilogy, it retains the weirdness.

Much of Absolution is told from the point of view of Old Jim, who owned the bar in the town on the Forgotten Coast in the original trilogy. In the prequel, we learn Old Jim was sent there by Central in an operation to see what was going on with the strange things happening on the Forgotten Coast (which becomes Area X). Old Jim has a rambling, near stream of consciousness style that makes for a dense, rich reading experience. He’s also an unreliable narrator, which adds another layer of weirdness to what is actually going on in the Forgotten Coast as it is difficult to discern what is trauma from Old Jim’s decades as an operative and what is actually something bizarre happening. Old Jim is obsessed with the Dead Town expedition, an early group of biologists that mirror the later expeditions into Area X in the original trilogy. He scours Central’s archives for notes from the biologists’ journals for clues of what actually happened before being deployed to the Forgotten Coast.  

Without dipping into spoilers, there is a time jump to a later point in the Area X timeline, with the story told from the point of view of Lowry, an unlikeable drug-obsessed and “fuck”-addled member of the first expedition into Area X (and a character from the original trilogy). Much like Old Jim’s section, the writing is dense and fully stream of consciousness with an intense amount of profanity that adds to the difficulty of reading the prose out of pure stuttering repetition. 

As these two sections suggest, the book is much more character driven and focused on the voices of these characters as opposed to uncovering the mystery of Area X, as in the original trilogy. The other main character is Cass, another Central agent who works with Old Jim to discover what is going. She is a spy but also a lookalike for his missing daughter, and the two become conflated for him as she becomes a surrogate for his daughter—not just his colleague. Her character felt most like a callback to some of the multi-dimensional women who populated the original trilogy, such as the Biologist.

Perhaps because this book functions as a prequel, there are very few answers in its pages. Much of the book is simply weird in the unique ways that VanderMeer explores the weird. What surprised me about this addition to the Southern Reach was the focus on the human. While the place of the Forgotten Coast and Area X are certainly important characters to this novel, the human voices are overwhelming in their narrative style. VanderMeer’s trilogy of 2014 had clear parallels to how environmental thinkers were engaging with the climate crisis, which has led to the 2014 trilogy being on many environmental and climate-focused reading lists and syllabi, mine included. In Absolution, the environmental commentary is much less clear cut. Some of this change comes from the characters. In this book, we don’t have a biologist point of view character to comment on the transitional environments or how humanity is impacting different species. Rather, these two men, Old Jim and Lowry, are infected with their jobs (and in Lowry’s case, drugs) as much as by Area X, which is supported by referencing Dr. Alison Sperling’s theoretical work on the body in the novel’s acknowledgements. 

While weirdness for the sake of weirdness might be enough for some people, it wasn’t for me. Then again, I’ve spent a lot of time in Area X. If you preferred reading about the Biologist (from Annihilation) and Ghost Bird (from Acceptance), then Absolution might leave you feeling hollow. If book two, Authority, was your favorite of the original trilogy, then you will most likely enjoy this prequel that investigates these disintegrating human systems in all their toxic weirdness.

--

Reference: VanderMeer, Jeff. Absolution [MCD, 2024].

Posted by: Phoebe Wagner is an author, editor, and academic writing and living at the intersection of speculative fiction and climate change.

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Film Review: Pedro Páramo

Netflix adapts one of the most acclaimed classics of Latin American literature

Latin American history has been stained with blood since the time of colonization. The respective canons of our national literary traditions have variously grappled with the sense of disorientation of having to figure out how to build new nations after finally winning our independence; and the ever-present shadow of violence that haunted those first attempts (and that still haunts us in many ways) left a clear mark on our writers. But the special blend of Indigenous and Catholic beliefs that occurred in Mexico created a unique cultural relationship with death.

One of the manifestations of the role of death in Mexican consciousness is Juan Rulfo's 1955 novel Pedro Páramo, one of the biggest masterpieces of the Spanish language. Told in a minutely fragmented, extremely nonlinear style, it anticipated many of the technical innovations of what would eventually be called magical realism. It follows multiple first-person accounts in the remote town of Comala, where the main narrator travels to look for Pedro Páramo, his father. Pedro Páramo embodies the archetype of the Mexican macho: a selfish, violent authoritarian who exploits men and consumes women. His inner demons gradually turn him into a bitter loner, feared and hated by everyone. By the time the narrator arrives looking for him, Comala is an abandoned waste, its inhabitants long gone. But the deep pain that lived there still echoes in the walls and in the streets. Pedro left behind many tormented, restless spirits, from whose voices we piece together his story.

Pedro is a rich landowner at a time when the Mexican Revolution is trying to put an end to the outrageous inequality that has always been the scourge of our countries. Through shameless fraud, manipulation and murder, he gradually becomes the uncontested authority in the town, but all his money and his power are useless against the capricious hand of death that continuously denies him any morsel of happiness. One character defines him as "living rancor," and that sentiment takes hold of him until nothing else remains.

Of many classics of literature it has been said that they can't be adapted to cinema. Curiously, the numerous jumps in the narration of Pedro Páramo, from past to present and from one narrator to another, feel ready-made for the screen. The Netflix adaptation follows almost exactly the sequence in which the text is written, and that structure, full of abrupt breaks, which in book form demands constant attention and effort from the reader, lends itself to the audiovisual medium with surprising ease. (Rulfo also wrote movie scripts, so maybe he had a sense of the possibilities of scene cuts when writing his novel.)

Precisely because the movie didn't need to add more technical embellishments to a text that was itself quite complex, some Anglo reviewers have reported feeling left unimpressed by it, describing it as too long and not experimental enough for its source material. My suspicion is that they watched the movie in its lackluster English dub instead of the powerful dialogues of the original Spanish, most of them taken verbatim from the novel. I'm not surprised to find that, where English media have assigned this movie to a Hispanic reviewer, its reception has been more favorable. The languid, understated tone is part of the point. The trip to Comala is a descent into hell, and when these ghosts speak, they have much to lament. You can get bored with Pedro Páramo if you're not intimately familiar with the way the real and the unreal are experienced by Latin Americans. The generational shock of colonization and the repeated shocks of subsequent civil wars built a collective mindset where no assumptions are guaranteed, where things can crumble down at any moment and the most delicate beauty coexists with utter terror. You don't need fancy CGI to tell our stories. Our mundane, common lives are already full of the impossible.

Director Rodrigo Prieto masterfully communicates the intensity of the events in Pedro Páramo with vivid colors and stark chiaroscuros. The result is a slow-paced account of a life of frustrated desires painted with heightened accents. Nothing much seems to happen while a tempest of emotions roars under the surface. That's the tension in the heart of a Mexican macho, who is expected to show at all times a hard face that nothing can move, even as his unacknowledged feelings eat him alive. Here's where we can notice the ace up the sleeve of this movie: Gustavo Santaolalla's monumental soundtrack, at the same time unobtrusive and ominous, matching the all-consuming resentment and fury that hide in the ordinary flow of everyday moments.

This production lives up to the thorny responsibility of adapting a national epic. Many classics of Latin American literature took upon themselves the task of expressing an entire country in a book. To get a feel for the soul of Argentina, you read Martín Fierro. To get a feel for the soul of Colombia, you read One Hundred Years of Solitude. That's the position that Pedro Páramo occupies for Mexico. And the many souls trapped between the empty houses of Comala tell of a land mercilessly punished by men's ambitions, a land that resonates with the clamor of a very old pain that still hasn't found peace, a land where the melancholy of memories finds some comfort each time someone listens to them.


Nerd Coefficient: 9/10.

POSTED BY: Arturo Serrano, multiclass Trekkie/Whovian/Moonie/Miraculer, accumulating experience points for still more obsessions.

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Videogame Review: Persona 3 Reload/Episode Aigis by P-Studio

It’s Going Down.


When the clock strikes twelve, the world enters an eerie state called the “midnight hour” and the shadows come out to play. But what is this midnight hour and why are these shadows on the hunt? And why has the high school turned into a horrid skyscraper called Tartarus? Discovering the answers to these questions is precisely the mission of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (S.E.E.S.). As you take control of the silent protagonist (who you can name whatever you please, though Makoto Yuki is canon) through this eighty-plus-hour JRPG, you’ll discover more about the world, your friends, and the city around you. Persona 3 is where the series pivoted to include the social link formula it is known for today, and Reload refreshes what made it special and puts a modern coat on it. So grab your evoker and put it to your head, it’s time to blow your persona out of your brain.

I must declare that I never played the original Persona 3, nor did I have a chance to play Persona 3 FES or Persona 3 Portable, so my frame of reference is strictly tied to its sequels, specifically Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 (not Royal, sorry Kasumi). As Persona 4 and 5 are two of my all-time favorite JRPGs, the 3 Reload announcement was an exciting prospect. For me, a new Persona game would be released, with a new set of characters to love, and a new dungeon to explore. Persona 3 Portable allowed the choice of a female protagonist, so they must have removed some features of the past games to create this updated version unfortunately, as I would have loved the chance to have a female protagonist in a Persona game.

The game’s aesthetic is fantastic. The character models and art style make it feel like you’re watching anime at times. Sure, there’s the occasional NPC who has a lower budget model, but the overall look of the game is vibrant and diverse and is always appealing. The high school setting and dorm (two of the places the player frequents) don’t necessarily wow, but have an ingrained sense of comfort that grows on you as you spend your hours on Tatsumi Port Island. P-Studio has ensured visual parity between the oldest modern Persona game (1 and 2 are a different beat altogether) and the newest. Now we just need a little refresher for Persona 4 and we’ll be golden.


But the parity doesn't just stop and the in-game animations and visuals, it also extends to the UI and combat. The UI is beautiful, seamless, and most important, stylish. Like its predecessor-successor Persona 5, P-Studio knocked the UI’s look out of the park with its distinct sophistication. You could probably show me that UI in ten years and I'll know exactly which game I’m looking at. That said, the item UI could use a bit of organization. Finding items, especially late game when you’ve collected so much, can end up being a bit of a hassle. And the naming conventions of the skill cards aren’t necessarily intuitive.

The combat is fun and flashy and exactly what I love about these games. For those of you who haven't played any Persona, the games are turn-based. The primary goal of combat is to down your enemies (putting them in a weakened position). This can be done by landing a critical hit or exploiting an enemy’s weakness (like fire, ice, etc.), once one is downed, the player receives a huge 1 More on their screen, allowing them to attack again in a row. Once all enemies in the current encounter are down, you have the opportunity to engage in an All-Out attack, which sees the main character and allies land a combined attack on remaining enemies that does a lot of damage. In Persona 3 Reload, finishing a fight with an All-Out attack guarantees the activation of an event called Shuffle Time, which allows the player to pick prizes (and who doesn't love prizes?). This combat loop is extremely satisfying and easily hooked me for hours on end. One of my favorite new additions to the combat is the updated Persona 5 baton-pass. Shifting, as it has been renamed, allows the player to exploit enemy weaknesses with greater ease, and adds an extra flow to the combat. When the character triggers an enemy weakness, they can use their 1 More action to transfer their additional turn to a teammate (who may then be able to exploit another weakness or heal the team). This creates ample opportunity to down the entire enemy line and get a chance at the sweet, sweet Shuffle Time.

Though I love the combat and would love to see something like it implemented in some of my other favorite series (Pokemon anyone?), there are a few gripes I had that occasionally created some irritating bumps. The main player character is considered the party leader. If the party leader dies, it’s game over. You have to restart the game, the fight, or go to your last save file. It’s dumb and inconvenient and doesn't enhance the experience in any way. In a game with insta-kill spells, this can come on randomly. There were a few fights in which I was deep into an encounter and the main character was insta-killed, leading to much frustration. In reality, my other characters would simply use a revive spell or item. The game doesn't have to end. Also, I’m not sure if it was a glitch, but halfway through the game, the game-over screen stopped allowing me to replay a battle I had lost (meaning I could only restart the game or load an old save file). Why? Later on, I would sometimes be offered the ability to retry, sometimes not. Not sure what the deal was there, but it was an odd inconsistency. Also, outside of combat, item management in combat is not the best. Also, I think an option to skip the All-Out attack animation should have been considered. I saw it about a million times, I don’t think it’s necessary to watch it every time.


Filling the persona compendium is a satisfying endeavor that kept me occupied throughout my adventures in Tartarus. For those not in the know, personas are different creatures and mythological beings that the characters summon to grant them their magical abilities. Unlike the supporting S.E.E.S. members, the main character can summon multiple personas. There is a certain Pokemon-like element to it, the collectible element is exciting, and trying to get better and better personas with better abilities is a continuous goal. Unlike Pokemon, however, personas are easy to discard for a better one. The sentimental attachment gained from sticking with a certain group of Pokemon doesn't exist here. Instead of Pikachu, you have Thor (but Odin looks to be a bit better, so maybe I’ll go with him…). Some of the designs are neat, some are quite bizarre. Who wouldn't want to use Alice from Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There? Or what about Lucifer? Yeah, that’s about how wide the compendium goes.

The dungeon design is varied, not just aesthetically, but in layout as well. Some were easier to navigate than others, but none were particularly difficult by any means. Every block has a unique look with new enemies to encounter. Admittedly, many of the enemies are re-skinned, which leads to a bit of redundancy in the design, but since each new re-skin comes with a new set of weaknesses and abilities, it essentially feels like a new enemy. Trying to discover a new enemy’s weaknesses never gets old thankfully, even if the enemy designs begin to tire. While I enjoyed most of the dungeons, one in particular was visually obfuscating, causing me to have to pause the game multiple times. It wasn't fun to look at for more than twenty minutes at a time and I find it a rather odd inclusion. It’s what I imagine some sort of hallucinogenic trip to look like, and it isn't particularly pleasant. Another irritating Tartarus issue I had concerned the consistent commentary from teammates. I swear I’ve never played a game where I was told about every single treasure chest and every single enemy in the game. The only conclusion I came to was that play-testers simply couldn’t see any of these things. But boy is it annoying at times. Also, the number of times I heard Fuuka tell Koromaru how cool he looked in combat made me want to remove him from my party. Of course he looks cool! He's a dog with a knife in his mouth.

I’ve talked about the meat, but what about the potatoes? The social link and daily life activities of the main character are part of what makes modern Persona what it is. Persona 3 Reload doesn't disappoint in this respect. From the dying man, Akinari (one of my new favorites) to the unusual monk Mutatsu, the social links are satisfying and worthwhile. While a few of the main party characters seem a bit single-minded, they eventually open up a bit. Though Sanada’s incessant desire to work out drove me a bit crazy, I still warmed up to him, and Junpei. Well, Junpei is Junpei. My only issue in this game is that not all teammates have social links. Sure you can level them up in a social way that increases combat ability, but you can’t link them up, which is an odd omission. Considering I prioritized my social links, I missed time-sensitive events with some of my fellow S.E.E.S. members that I would have liked to have seen. Another small gripe is the nighttime social links. At night there are exactly two. Daytime? Seventeen. I understand the need for a big imbalance due to the game’s structure, but there were quite a few nights where having another companion available would been a great addition, and it would have allowed me to spread the love a little more evenly. Beside that though, I enjoyed getting my part-time jobs and leveling up my social stats (academics, charm, and courage). Having only three (as opposed to five for P4 and P5) allowed a more focused assault on specific stats, though each can hit a max of six (instead of five as in the other games).

Last but not least, sound! I played in English and loved the characters and voice actors. I loved the dorm crew and am so glad I got a chance to become a member of S.E.E.S. (even if Junpei got on my nerves sometimes). Having a silent protagonist is a bit odd at times, but it works for the Persona games on the whole. But where the game shines is the music. The soundtrack is fantastic. Every Persona game has an amazing soundtrack and Persona 3 Reload has an absolute banger of an OST. “Color Your Night” and “It’s Going Down” are some of my favorites. My girlfriend even came into the room a few times to ask what I was listening to because it sounded cool (for the record, she is not into video games). Even if you don't play the game, the soundtrack is worth listening to on its own.


Persona 3 Reload
feels like it could be an entirely new Persona for those who’ve yet to play the original. For those who have played the original, I can’t say how it compares, but I do know that it is now in line with its contemporaries. While there are some intriguing choices made (like excluding some teammates from social links), the overall package is an appealing and satisfying one. It’s difficult to say where I place this darker iteration in the series, but I do know one thing, when the final cutscene rolled, I felt the same sensation I had at the end of the previous two games; a mournful end to something good, a goodbye to a group of friends. And that’s how I know it was a successful Persona game.

--

The Math

Objective Assessment: 8.5/10

Bonus: +1 for an excellent OST. +1 for visual splendor. + 1 for social links.

Penalties: -1 for party leader KO game over. -1 day/night activity imbalance. -1 for repetivie dungeon voice lines.

Nerd Coefficient: 8.5/10

Posted by: Joe DelFranco - Fiction writer and lover of most things video games. On most days you can find him writing at his favorite spot in the little state of Rhode Island.

———


Why did you make me do this?



The good thing about a Persona game is that they usually release a big update or add-on that brings with it a significant chunk of gameplay. The bad thing is that, by the time it comes out, you’d have to replay the entire hundred-hour game just to experience it (hence why I have yet to try Persona 5 Royal—again, sorry Kasumi). I didn’t realize what kind of DLC Episode Aigis was going to be (whether it would be post-game or integrated like Royal), so I waited for its release before playing Persona 3 Reload. What I wasn’t expecting was a $35 price tag. It’s a hefty one.

Now, I went at length with my primary review, so I’ll keep this one brief. Episode Aigis is post-game content that you can probably play without having to finish the main campaign (of course you would have to endure the spoilers). The only thing that carries over here is your persona compendium. Episode Aigis places the character at level 25 and has you and the old team essentially re-level up to get as powerful as you were before. It’s not exactly an enticing premise, but since the combat is enjoyable, it’s not much of an issue.

Introduced right away is the new character Metis, who accompanies the heroes throughout the Abyss of Time as they try to resolve issues from the past. Metis has charm and is at times humorous, but the number of times she says the word “sister” got on my nerves. It’s annoying, frankly. I liked her kit and wanted to see more of her since I was used to the rest of the cast, but there were a few times I put her aside just so I didn't have to listen to her call Aigis sister for the millionth time.

The DLC is sizable, taking about thirty hours and comprising three new dungeon types that are intermixed throughout the exploration of the Abyss of Time. Notably absent are any social links or daily activities. This is primarily a combat-focused add-on. Yes, there is a reason for the combat, and the story does resolve things for all the ancillary characters that were in the main game, but the potatoes are missing from the meat and potatoes plate.

While the combat is great, there isn't much in the way of new enemies or combat mechanics. It feels like a rather exploitative DLC that should have been about $15, or better yet, included with the game (since they had already released this years ago with Persona 3 FES). Sony recently remade The Last of Us Part I and included their Left Behind DLC with the package because it is now considered part of the first game. I fully believe P-Studio should have done this with Episode Aigis. Or at least not charge $35 for something that doesn’t quite live up to the base game.

One of the issues I had with this DLC was that enemies attacked out of turn on many occasions (a big no-no when you're trying to coordinate your attacks), something that never happened in the primary game. Also, one of the end-game enemies, Maya, was an irritating pain and I just eventually ignored her (not that I couldn't beat her, she would just eventually run away after I wasted my time fighting her).

The story has an odd Christ allegory that I found drained a bit of the end-game appreciation. Speaking of, I disliked how the end battles remove character weaknesses to buff playtime. It creates boring drawn-out battles that I just wanted to be over.


To be honest, I appreciated the ability to see more of these characters and to watch them work through the problems that were a result of their actions in the main game. If you enjoy the main game and its characters, then this is a worthy addition. I would just wait for a price drop or a bundle. Have no worries though, the soundtrack is still peak.

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The Math

Objective Assessment: 7/10

Bonus: +1 for story extension. +1 for amazing OST.

Penalties: -1 for lack of social links. -1 for how many times Metis says "sister". -.5 for rehashing from level 25.

Nerd Coefficient: 6.5/10

Posted by: Joe DelFranco - Fiction writer and lover of most things video games. On most days you can find him writing at his favorite spot in the little state of Rhode Island.