James Review -- Kris Longknife: Bold

This week I decided to review Kris Longknife: Bold by Mike Shepherd. 

The story begins with Kris, her husband and bodyguard Jack, and their baby Ruth returning to Wardhaven after being summoned by King Raymond. The nearby Greenfield empire is in a state of civil war, (see the Vicky Peterwald series for more details on the war and the buildup to it) and Emperor Henry Peterwald has requested the Kris mediate between the factions loyal to the Empress and that loyal to Vicky. But before the trio can depart Wardhaven, they have to evade assassins because someone has put a hit out on Kris. Taking a squadron of battlecruisers, all that can be spared due to the ongoing conflict in the Alwa region, they set out for Greenfield during the journey defeating a pair of antique battleships that ambush their fleet en route to jump point. And at Greenfield they are forced to alter their plans and meet with the Imperial couple on ship after Jack and his advance security sweep is attacked by a group apparently planning to hold Jack hostage to influence Kris. After getting the Empress' side of the story, they set out for St. Petersburg, the headquarters of Vicky's forces, and meet with her arranging truce negotiations on the independent world of Cuzco. Despite more assassination attempts and a slow start, the talks go well. But when the Empress realizes that the rift between Vicky's faction and the Emperor is closing, she launches a two-front attack, sending a team to kidnap Ruth while calling a massive fleet to burn Cuzco to the ground with only Kris' nine battlecruisers to face dozens of battleships and more then fifty smaller warships.

I give this book 6.5 out of 10. It isn't horrible but it wasn't particularly interesting, either. The story cuts away from the conflict which had been the main focus of the recent story arc completely. Worse, this is the final book of this arc yet it sidelines the majority of the regularly appearing characters in the series within the first few pages. While I am hoping that this is setting up another spin off series, it didn't help the plot of this book at all in my opinion. Finally, the space combat is one of my favorite parts of the series but there wasn't much of it and it was usually utterly one-sided due to Kris' forces have a overwhelming technological advantage over her foes.

James Review -- Star Trek: Prey: The Jackal's Trick

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Prey: The Jackal's Trick by John Jackson Miller. 

Korgh, protege of the long dead Klingon Commander Kruge, has seized control of the House of Kruge while working to unravel the Klingon Empire's long alliance with the Federation or at least move the Empire to leading the alliance of the Khitomer Accords signatories. He has unleashed the Unsung, a colony of disgraced Klingons whose core are the families of Kruge's discommendated military allies armed with the Birds of Prey of the Phantom Wing, a secret squadron created by Kruge and equipped with the most advanced technology Korgh's agents can discover. Led by Buxtus Cross, a member of the interstellar group of con artists known as the Circle of Jilaan, encountered by the Enterprise-D in The Next Generation episode Devil's Due, who has disguised himself as a gravely wounded Kruge, the Unsung are prepared to seek vengeance against the Klingon Empire.

The book opens by showing how Cross was recruited by the Circle. After this it shows the commissioning of a new Bird of Prey commanded by Korgh's grandson with Admiral Riker and General Kersh. But the ceremony turns into a battle when a pair of discommendated workers, inspired by the action of the Unsung, strike. A rash of attacks by other discommendated Klingons and attacks on them ensues while Riker continues to arrange talks between the Khitomer Accords signatories to negotiate a free flight path through the territories of the various powers. 

But doing so will require the support of the House of Kruge, which controls much of the Klingon territory in the proposed free flight path. Korgh insists on choosing the Klingon Empire's lead representative to the conference, deliberately choosing someone who will hinder the talks, and holding them at the Spirit's Forge, a legendary Klingon Fortress guarded by an equally legendary order of warriors replenished after being wiped out during the final Borg invasion. Korgh also orders the Unsung to destroy the conference. 

Meanwhile, Cross has been directing the Unsung against a series of Orion pirate hideouts seeking treasure and his Orion apprentice Shift's vengeance against her own people. Cross had been ordered by Korgh to execute the clone of Kahless the Unforgivable but instead keeps the clone alive for study, planning to someday impersonate the reincarnation of Kathless himself. He uses his Kahless impersonation to lure the defenders of the Spirit's Forge to their deaths and allowing the Unsung to take their place. But the ambush is discovered and the Unsung are driven to retreat in the ensuing battle. 

I give this book 8 out of 10. The story is interesting and I enjoyed the few battle sequences a great deal. The ending also did a great job of leaving me wondering what will happen in the final book of the trilogy. However, there is a major plot twist that I feel had no real foreshadowing at all and another part where a character's actions make no sense to me given what is known of that character's culture.

Kindle Spotlight -- Another

Today we have a Japanese novel by Yukito Ayatsuji. It is Another.

The story takes place in Japan in 1998. Teenager Koichi Sakakibara has just transferred from Tokyo to the rural town of Yomiyama following a hospitalization. Everyone is friendly at first and the town seems very peaceful. But when he finally arrives at Yomiyama North Middle School, things take a strange turn. First, we are told a legend about a student named Misaki or Masaki (no one is quite sure) who died in the 1970s at this school. Ever since then, unexplained phenomena has been reported.

Anyway, Koichi meets his classmates and they seem to hit it off. However, he then encounters a mysterious girl in his class named Mei Misaki. She's antisocial, says cryptic things, comes and goes at seemingly random, and no one seems to notice her. They do, however, seem to take note of Koichi's attempts to befriend her and issue vague warnings. Koichi is understandably perplexed, but he can't get any answers from the students and faculty.

At first, this is just a confusing annoyance. But when people around him start to die horribly, it gets deadly serious and the people in his class become increasingly distant and terrified. At this point, the only one willing to answer his questions might be Mei Misaki. But the answers she gives won't necessarily make things easier for him, and eventually he will have a choice to make: stand up for Misaki and himself, or accept the status quo for the greater good.

This novel came out of nowhere for me, and I have to say...it's delightfully different. I thought we were just going to get a standard ghost story, but the explanation for the bizarre happenings in this story turned out to be far more cerebral than I could have imagined. It's complicated, but rewarding when you finally grasp what's going on. You think you have Koichi's class and faculty figured out, but then the big revelation comes and you realize you have to take another look at these people.

I should also point out that Ayatsuji wrote a sequel, so don't expect things to wrap up neatly at the end of this volume.

Bottom line: Another is intelligent and freaky.

https://www.amazon.com/Another-Vol-novel-Yukito-Ayatsuji-ebook/dp/B00AFZ5O5Q/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

James Review -- The Lazarus War: Origins

This week I decided to review The Lazarus War: Origins by Jamie Sawyer.

When the story begins things are not going well for the Alliance or the Lazarus Legion, a simulant operations unit or one of a number of Alliance units that operate enhanced bodies remotely by linking the controller's mind to the artificial body. It has been six months since the disastrous Damascus operation and the Alliance's conflict with the human Asiatic Directorate continues while the alien Krell have burst out of their Quarantine Zone and overwhelmed a number of systems including the Alliance's largest base.

The book open with the Legion operating behind Directorate lines seeking prisoners taken during the Damascus incident, including one of the legion's members. The prison camp is located but the rescue soon turns into a three-sided battle between the Alliance, the Directorate, and the Krell, which ends with the Directorate nuking their own colony though the Alliance strike team manages to rescue several dozen prisoners. The Legion is then ordered to Calico Base which is the most hated Alliance post of Legion commander Lieutenant Colonel Conrad Harris because it was the last place he saw his lost love Elena Marceau and the launching point for her ship, the Endeavor, flagship of the fleet sent to negotiate an end to the First Krell War a decade before the current conflict. The fleet never returned, but soon after reaching the base Conrad is called to a briefing b the Alliance High Command which reveals that the Endeavor is intact and believed to carry a secret that could defeat the Krell once and for all. But before more details can be given an ex-Alliance simulant ops team that had defected to the Directorate assassinates the high command and a full Directorate invasion of Calico ensues.

Conrad manages to escape on board the Colossus, the only Alliance warship at the base to avoid destruction, and the hunt for the Endeavor is on with the Directorate flagship in pursuit and the Krell lying in wait. The Legion eventually finds the Endeavor and the survivors of it fleet only to discover the horrifying truth behind its mission leading to a desperate battle to prevent the return of an ancient force which would obliterate both humanity and the Krell if given the chance.

The story also includes a few flashbacks to the period when the Endeavor fleet launches and the aftermath of that launch, as well as the incident where Conrad gets his first feeble clue that the Endeavor had a hidden objective..

I give this book 7.5 out of 10. The combat scenes are excellent and the story well-written with many interesting characters, but I wish we had learned more about the various factions in play during the story. Also, having almost the entire tale told from the point of view of one character limits the reader's ability to know what is going on away from the protagonist and makes understanding the motivations and mindsets of any antagonists virtually impossible. 

Movie Review -- Doctor Strange

Today we have the latest Marvel movie. It is Doctor Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Is it any good? Let's find out.

The film opens with brilliant but cocky surgeon Dr. Stephen Strange. He's got it all--wealth, fame, and the friendship of fellow doctor Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams). However, everything changes when he is involved in an horrific car crash which nearly destroys his hands. With his future now in question, he looks to modern medicine to save him. But nothing works, prompting Strange to seek alternative and unorthodox treatments. His desperate journey takes him to Nepal where he meets the mysterious Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who takes him to his enclave to meet the even more mysterious Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). Said Ancient One turns out to be the most powerful sorcerer on Earth, and she reluctantly agrees to train him in the mystic arts. After a baptism by fire (or ice) on Mt. Everest, he very quickly establishes himself as a fast learner thanks to his photographic memory.

Unfortunately for all involved, Strange isn't the first gifted pupil she's taken on. The evil Kaecilius has recently betrayed the organization of sorcerers and stolen a page from an ancient book which details how to summon the dreaded Dormammu to our world. With the planet now being threatened, Strange must rise to the occasion and master his magical powers. But the Ancient One is hiding a secret that will have serious consequences for the good guys. Can Doctor Strange defeat Kaecilius and his lackeys and keep Dormammu from devouring our world?

I've seen plenty of Marvel movies. Some are better than others. I'm happy to report Doctor Strange is refreshingly different from those that came before it. It's visually stunning and has a terrific cast,  a stellar soundtrack by Michael Giacchino, and a smart plot. Also, it doesn't suffer from annoying stereotypes like Ant Man did.

The only wrinkle here is a less than believable turn of events at the end where one major character does an abrupt 180. I don't really buy it and neither did James.

Still, I enjoyed Doctor Strange and I hope you will as well.

James Review -- Willful Child

This week I decided to review Willful Child by Steven Erikson. 

The story opens at some unidentified point in the future with a junkyard owner and his son finding an alien spacecraft among their trash. The alien pilot flees, leaving the ship behind, and father and son board the craft then take off for space where they accidentally launch a planet-wide EMP strike on Earth. The story then jumps forward about a century. Humanity has recovered from the EMP using alien technology found after the incident and formed the Affiliation, an interstellar state whose true purpose is little more then conquering or destroying everything in its path. Captain Hadrian Sawback has been assigned command of the Engage class starship Willful Child and handpicked his crew, choosing female crewmembers solely on their looks. Sawback received his command after setting a record for solving a puzzle given to command candidates but in doing so made many enemies among the admiralty so his first mission is hunting for smugglers. 

After reaching their destination, violating a number of regulations in the process, Sawback locates the smuggler, a highly illegal AI that seizes control of the Willful Child and sets course for hostile territory in hopes of discovering who created it. This leads to a fleet of Affiliation dreadnoughts being deployed to destroy the renegade starship and a number of battles and adventures, including a trip to a future where genetically engineered house cats have overrun Earth, battles against an eugenically-bred super chicken with powered armor, and an encounter with a fleet consisting of thousands of alien dreadnoughts. Eventually Sawback discovers the true goal of the AI and how it is tied into the secrets of his own past leading to a desperate rescue mission.

I give this book 6 out of 10. While I found some of the characters interesting--especially Sawback who alternates between being a jock type character and a man who acknowledges the flaws of the setting's human society and is struggling to find a way to fix the mess humanity has become--the story has on flaw I find unforgivable. This is a Star Trek parody but it is not very funny. The more I'm either laughing out loud or fighting the urge to do so while reading a parody the better. While there were a few amusing parts of the story they were few and far between and I didn't laugh aloud once while reading this book.

James Review -- Alien versus Predator: The Rage War: Armageddon

This week I decided to review Alien versus Predator: The Rage War: Armageddon by Tim Lebbon. For our reviews of the previous two books in this series, see http://thegamecalledrevolution.blogspot.com/2016/06/james-review-alien-invasion.html. 

The story begins with Space Station Hell under attack by Rage forces led by the android General Alexander which are seeking to capture the Rage defector/android Liliya. Predator forces reinforce the defenses and Liliya's group manages to lure Alexander's ship into a Predator ambush before continuing on their quest to intercept the Rage flagship Macbeth. But as they approach a Rage-controlled drophole they find the Rage forces they had hoped to surprise and Alexander, who had survived the destruction of his ship and replaced his damaged limbs with Xenomorph parts is in hot pursuit using a captured Predator craft. 

Meanwhile, the renegade Colonial Marines of the Devil Dogs and their Predator allies make their way to a predator outpost where they can study the captured Rage general Oscar. The leader of the predator science team soon recognizes some of the technology used in Oscar as belonging to the Drukathi, what the Rage call the Faze, an alien power far older an more powerful then the Predators who left the Milky Way galaxy long ago but left forces and traps as safeguards against the species they left behind advancing too far technologically. The Rage launches a massive offensive against the heavily populated human colony on Weaver's World, inflicting tremendous causalities on the civilian population. But this horrifying attack is just a diversion while the Macbeth uses a Faze-enhanced drophole to jump directly to the Sol system, launching an attack on the core of the human sphere. As the battle to defend Humanity's home rages, the Devil Dogs, the independent unit escorting Liliya, and their Predator allies unite to launch one final desperate strike against the heart of the Rage.

I give this book 8.5 out of 10. The combat sequences are brilliant. However, I do wish that we had gotten to see some more of the ongoing fighting over Weaver's World rather than just hearing about it during the portions covering the fighting on the ground. The ending was a huge surprise and does a great job setting things up for possible sequels and new directions for the plot of the setting. And I feel that once the story shifted its focus to the Sol system it narrowed down and should have shown more of what was happening elsewhere, especially reactions to a major event that occurred in the late middle section of the book.

James Review -- Star Trek: Prey: Hell's Heart

This week I decided to review Star Trek: Prey: Hell's Heart by John Jackson Miller. 

The story takes place in two periods of time, shifting between them throughout the story. The first is in the aftermath of the movie The Search for Spock. The death of Klingon commander Kruge has left his house, known for the skill of its engineers and shipwrights, in chaos as potential heirs fight over the position of house leader. Kruge's allies among the Klingon military have moved to secure the house's strategic assets against other houses and outsiders seeking to take advantage of the chaos. 

But this has led to the feuding nobles uniting their forces against Kruge's allies while claiming they seek to usurp the leadership of the house. Korgh, Kruge's protege, was entrusted with command of a hidden base on the planet Gamaral which was constructing the Phantom Wing, a secret squadron of highly advanced Birds of Prey. He leads Kruge's allies there with the nobles in hot pursuit, but when he arrives the base is empty and Kruge's allies are defeated by mercenaries hired by the nobles. Most of Kruge's surviving allies are discommendated en masse but Korgh, who was left on Gamaral, manages to make contact with the Phantom Wing and sets out to rescue Kruge's allies from exile to crew his fleet and seek revenge on James T. Kirk and the Enterprise. But after the leader of the exiles refuses to violate their banishment, Korgh is left to find a new path.

In the late twenty-fourth century Gamaral is a Federation colony and the Enterprise-E is sent to carry the nobles of the House of Kruge and the clone of Kahless to a ceremony celebrating the heroism of the nobles during the Battle of Gamaral, aided by Galdor, the house's Gin'tak, or trustee. After investigating, Worf and Kahless come to the conclusion that none of the nobles they are supposed to honor took part in the battle but as Kahless begins his speech the event is struck by a team of assassins while the Enterprise finds itself under attack from multiple warships that can fire while cloaked. 

Almost all of the nobles of the House of Kruge are killed in the attack while Kahless and Worf are captured by the assassins. In the aftermath of the attack, Galdor reveals that he is actually Korgh and offers proof that he was adopted by Kruge. Meanwhile, Worf and Kahless are taken to the assassins' base, a colony in the Briar Patch, where they discover that their captors are the Unsung, the survivors and descendants of Kruge's exiled allies. With the Enterprise and Klingon warships searching for them, Worf takes advantage of an Unsung ceremony being broadcast to the galaxy to send a hidden message to the Enterprise, but the ceremony swiftly take a terrible turn...

I give this book 7 out of 10. The battle sequences are well-written but too few and short for my taste. The investigation of Worf and Kahless into the Battle of Gamaral was interesting but rendered moot by the timing of the assassin's strike. And the political portion of the book dragged on too long. Also, the back cover reveals a key spoiler that I feel shouldn't have been revealed until the reader reached the appropriate point in the story.

Hidden Gem -- Star Wreck

Recently James gave me a book to read, and I thought I'd share it with you. It's the 1993 unauthorized parody Star Wreck V: The Undiscovered Nursing Home by Leah Rewolinski. It's the fifth book in the series, but you don't have to have read the previous capers.

The story begins with Starfreak Command ordering Captain Smirk and his crew of geezers to report to the Under the Attic Nursing Home following a debacle with the Fountain of Youth. Smirk and his fellow senior citizen officers aren't about to take this lying down, however. They hijack their ship, the USS Endocrine, and warp to the planet where the Fountain resides.

The angry Admiral Les decides to dispatch another aging crew, this one led by Jean-Lucy Ricardo. They hightail it to Smirk's location, only to discover the renegade crew has built a theme park utilizing the mystical water. Christened Juven Isle Park, it's marketed as a fun place for youngsters. Ricardo and co. want to apprehend Smirk and his compadres, but they have trouble identifying them since the Fountain has restored their youth. After a few days of trial and error, the clueless pursuers come up empty.

Exasperated with Ricardo's failure, Les sends a third officer to finish the job: Commander Crisco. If he succeeds, he'll get command of Geek Space Nine. But will he even nap the right crew? Meanwhile, there are more hijinks involving the Kringle Wart, his son Smartalecsander, the omnipotent Q-tip and an android who thinks he's Elvis.

Star Wreck isn't shy about its low-brow humor or lack of subtlety. Each scene is like a pie in the face, and you know exactly who's getting lampooned if you're a fan of Star Trek. Rewolinski expertly nails the wacky humor she was aiming for and left me wanting more. The book is also the right length; at 149 pages, it doesn't wear out its welcome. If this were a full-length novel, the humor might have worn thin, but thankfully this isn't the case. It's also dirt-cheap BTW.

If you're a Trekkie, you've got to read Star Wreck V: The Undiscovered Nursing Home.

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wreck-Undiscovered-Nursing-Home-ebook/dp/B01GCA2F0E/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XYPVPRDV0AYYWR7AMD0F

James Review -- Deus Ex: Black Light

This week I decided to review Deus Ex: Black Light by James Swallow. 

The story begins more than a year after the battle on Panchea, an experimental weather modification base with dark secrets that served the climax of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and the Aug Incident where Hugh Darrow, a mad scientist seeking revenge against those who could benefit from using his creations while he could not, forced much of the world's cybernetically-augmented population into psychotic episodes, often with devastating consequences, leading to widespread hatred and oppression for the remaining Augs. 

Adam Jensen awakes from the coma he has been in since the incident to find himself in an asylum for Augs effected by the incident in Alaska. After befriending Stacks, a former steeljack who wiped out his wife and children in the madness of the incident, Jensen seeks to destroy the Illuminati, which provided Darrow with the means to carry out his plan as part of their own plot to control the world. 

The pair escape the facility and journey to Detroit to make contact with Frank Pritchard, a hacker who had once worked with Jensen at Sarif Industries. Jensen returns to find his home city in ruins, the hope of revival brought by the Aug industry ruined by the incident. The team launches a raid on the remains of Sarif Industries HQ seeking Neuropozine, the drug needed to prevent Stacks from suffering implant rejection. While there they encounter a number of Augs who were driven from an abandoned Sarif Industries factory by the Motor City Bangers, an Aug gang, 

Believing that the Bangers are seeking military augmentation prototypes at the factory, Jensen's team moves to destroy the factory but things go horribly wrong. Stacks sees a room full of failed Aug limbs which triggers a flash back to the death of his family along with a new psychotic episode, leading to him being mortally wounded after killing a number of Bangers. Jensen chases Magnet, leader of the Bangers, from the burning factory but is intercepted by Task Force 29, a covert Interpol counter-terrorism unit investigating his activities and the prototype weapons. 

Jensen escapes but so do Magnet and the prototypes. Jensen and Pritchard continue their investigation and discover that Jensen's security pass was used to enter some of the possible prototype storage sites. This leads them to two of Jensen's former subordinates at Sarif, but one is killed by a hit squad sent by his partner who is then executed by the Illuminati agent who masterminded the plot to seize the prototypes. Jensen tracks to weapons to an airport where they will be handed over to an Illuminati smuggler but Jensen is captured by Task Force 29. After convincing the Task Force's commander that they both want the prototypes destroyed, Jensen is invited to join the raid on the airport as an unarmed observer, but he is forced into action with the raid runs into a trap. 

After the battle ends, the task force team's leader tries to recruit Jensen who declines and departs. But Jensen soon discovers that an Illuminati strike team is planning to ambush the train carrying the prototypes to their destruction with orders to seize the cargo and kill everyone on board. This leads Jensen into a desperate effort to stop the Illuminati from seizing the prototypes and save as many Task Force 29 agents as possible.

I give this book 9 out of 10. The story is well written and manages to stand alone for the most part despite leading into the plot of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. The significant characters are developed well and the combat sequences were great. However, there were some plot threads that I feel needed more attention and I wish we had seen more investigative work done during the story.

James Review -- Rebellion: Weapons of War

This week I decided to review Rebellion: Weapons of War by M.R. Forbes. 

The story begin the rebel starship Magellan has successfully escaped Earth after retrieving a Dread weapon from resistance forces on Earth in hopes of examining the weapon and discovering why Dread weapons can penetrate Dread armor that human weapons are useless against. But the Magellan fled beyond the edge of the slipstream it used to escape and is now stranded in deep space until another slipstream can be located and reached.

And, on board, Gabriel St. Martin faces the painful task of informing his father General Theodore St. Martin that among the human clones used by the Dread forces were clones of Gabriel's mother Juliet which means she was captured by the Dread at some point. And this news comes while the general is struggling with addiction to the pain medications he was put on after losing his legs. But rather then driving the general further to despair, this news ignites a new determination to beat his addiction and regain his ability to lead. 

Back in the Sol system, Dread officer Tea'va is assigned command of the warship Ishur and sent to pursue the Magellan. He forms an alliance with the scientist Zoelle, one of the clones of Juliet St. Martin, and when the Magellan is located he launches a fighter strike with the few pilots recovered from the strain of the many slip jumps needed to intercept Magellan. In desperation, the humans launch their own fighters only to discover to their shock that the fighter weapons can damage and destroy the normally immune Dread Bats. 

After this failed strike, the Dread known as Gr'el launches an attempt to assassinate Tea'va and seizes control of the Ishur. Tea'va escapes but finds himself on the run through his former command with his allies dead and Zoelle turning against him to become Gr'el's second in command. Meanwhile, on the Magellan the vessel's science team discover the secret behind the Dread armor which leads to the Magellan launching a desperate assault on the Ishur. 

Elsewhere on Earth, Soon Kim, a pilot from Magellan shot down drawing fire from the fighter carrying the captured Dread weapon, is rescued by a resistance unit led by Donovan Peters and Ehri, one of the Juliet clones who has turned against the Dread. They return to find their base overrun and receive orders from their dying general to take the base's medical officer and flee to a major resistance base in Texas. But the journey is made difficult by Dread forces hunting for them, and cracking down on any surviving free human settlements they can find. Donovan's band meet both friendly and hostile humans and launch an attack on a Dread base hoping to win a victory to rally survivors, many of whom have spent all their lives running from and fearing the Dread conquerors, to the rebel cause.

I give this book 7.5 out of 10. The author did a great job with the main characters but there was far too little attention given to developing the minor characters in my opinion. There were many times minor characters died and I felt nothing because they hadn't been developed enough for me to have any feeling regarding them. The author did wonderfully develop the Dread culture and explain their point of view and motivations and feelings regarding the war, but the action scene needed more length and intensity badly. Also, there was a love triangle side plot which I feel was pointless. The story ended on a good cliffhanger though and I'm still looking forward to the pending sequel.