still alive; also, books & TV

[rose_griffes]

Oh, hi, LJ people. I'm playing catch-up with stuff here, so there may be belated comments on posts in the next few days. In the meantime, here's a quick overview of stuff I've watched and read lately.

I watched the first eight episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender with several of my wee relatives. It's quite good. (I realize that this is not news to many of you, but sometimes you just have to figure things out for yourself.) Although the humor is definitely aimed for its young target audience, the characters were well-written, the stories enjoyable, the scenery lovely and the music... oh, I really liked the soundtrack.

So is there some sort of viewer's guide out there? Which episodes are vital and which can be skipped? I'm not sure I could make it through every single episode, but I wouldn't mind watching enough of it to get the general idea and have the pay-off of the story arc.

I also watched the first episode of the BBC series Luther. I'm not sure what to think at this point. It's more of a curiosity than must-watch television right now. It improves, yes? Tell me if it does, because I'd like a bit of motivation to move on to episode two. Specifically: there's more going on than just Luther having tension with Alice, right? Like, actual other cases with actual detecting? I'm happy to have Alice around, but I want more than the Luther and Alice dance around each other in deliciously psychotic ways show. That should be the spice and not the meat.

Re-read Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Still fun. Too bad I didn't enjoy Gaiman's solo novels except Neverwhere, although I've never tried any of his graphic novels. I need to go to the library and see what Pratchett I haven't read yet. I think I've managed to read most of his Discworld novels.

I read the novel True Grit. I haven't seen any movie version of it; everything I knew about the basic story is from fannish osmosis. So this first read-through was more about "Ack, what happens?!" than enjoying Mattie's narration. I want to read it again for her distinct voice, now that I won't be driven as hard by wanting answers about the plot.

Started reading Daughter of Persia, a memoir by an Iranian woman. I'm halfway through. It's fascinating; I may post about it when I'm done.

Comments

[chaila]

The Avatar fandom is HUGE, so I'm sure there are tons of viewing guides or something similar, but sadly I've never been enough into the show to know where they are. I'm useless! I will say that the whole show gets a lot more engrossing in seasons 2 and 3. In season 1, I kind of thought...kid's show, good characters, excellent worldbuilding, good story, but it does get more epic. The eps are so short that I kind of burned through it without even realizing.

Specifically: there's more going on than just Luther having tension with Alice, right? Like, actual other cases with actual detecting?

Yes. The pilot sets up a couple of things that are continuing threads, one of which is definitely Alice and her dance with John, but there are other cases and significant stories. After the pilot, I expected the whole season to be about John trying to prove that Alice is guilty but that is not the case. It's a much broader character study of John than that, though Alice proves an excellent foil. As for general improvement, idk? If you didn't like the pilot, it may not be for you. Then again, I know one person who didn't like the pilot and actually hated Alice, but went on to like the show anyway. Maybe give it at least one more ep?

I just started Neverwhere! I'm curious to see how it goes, as I really didn't like American Gods as much as the entire rest of the world.

[rose_griffes]

I did a cursory google search for some kind of guide, but didn't stumble across anything useful yet. May have to try again.

I'll give Luther another try. I wasn't ready to declare "No more!" after one episode anyway. So we'll see.

I liked Neverwhere. I didn't love it. Gaiman's novels have that mythology explored in a modern setting, so I should like his work, and I just... eh. I think there are two other books I started and just abandoned. (Speaking of that, Charles de Lint's Someplace to be Flying has some awesome Native American and African mythology woven into a modern world, so if you haven't read it, you might give it a shot.)

As for American Gods, ahahahaha. I think I posted about it in a "book trauma" entry one time.

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to the answer on the must-see eps of AtLA, too. I just mainlined Legend of Korra today, but that was fairly easy as there are only 12 eps.

[emmiere.livejournal.com]

I just put up a quick guide here for plot. Episode titles used, no spoilers past the first ep otherwise.

A:tLA viewing guide

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User emmiere referenced to your post from A:tLA viewing guide (http://emmiere.livejournal.com/52021.html) saying: [...] asked at her post [...]

[emmiere.livejournal.com]

I've got this universe on the brain with the Korra finale from yesterday, so I'll give the viewer's guide a shot. I've used episode titles, but left out any plot or character spoilers past the first ep.

Posted at my journal

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

*bounces* Yay! Awesome!

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

You remind me I have season 1 of Luther right here for a rewatch and I need to watch it! I actually like Alice and Luther but that wasn't my main reason for watching. I just wondered if the guy was really going to lose it and if he was going to be a good cop or not. I do think each season they focus on one case, though. I mean there are only six eps a season so it's not a lot. I missed Alice later so I'll enjoy seeing her again.

I have to rewatch but I also was shipping Luther and his wife and really hoping they'd get back together again in the first season.

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

Nobody can fix anyone else, but at this point, Luther losing his wife is pretty clearly a catalyst for starting some unfortunate behavior. Of course, that's really interesting to watch, so...

I'm gonna watch one more episode before deciding whether the show stays or goes.