The Heavy Water War
The Heavy Water War is a 2015 six-episode war drama TV miniseries produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. It is a Norwegian/Danish/British co-production, directed by Per-Olav Sørensen that tells about the German nuclear weapon project and the heavy water sabotage in Norway to disrupt it during the Second World War, with a particular emphasis on the role of Leif Tronstad.
An excellent war drama involving physics and the birth of the atomic ge.
Another post-rock band, this is a bit more intense than others.
And it’s from Germany.
Killing Snow White
(Fairy Tales Retold #3)
by Jamie Campbell (2013)
The queen has been portrayed as evil for too long. Now it is time for her to tell her side of the story. She once had everything – a loving husband, a ready-made family, and the respect of everyone in the kingdom. Until the day the king died.
As Snow White tries to do everything in her power to hate her step-mother, the evil queen only has love for her. She has always wanted a daughter and was hoping their relationship could be salvaged.
Another fun story that tries to rectify the misrepresentation of evil in fairy tales. Snow White is the evil bitch, her step mother just another hard working woman trying get by.
Callsign: Bishop (Erik Somers)
(Chesspocalypse #5)
by Jeremy Robinson & David McAfee (2011)
An Iranian terrorist cell has gotten their hands on weaponized Ergot-B—a compound that causes violent hysteria, madness and death within 24 hours—and plan to unleash the weapon on major cities around the world. Successful deployment would begin a bloodbath as those exposed would kill everyone they encountered before succumbing to the compound’s lethal effects.
Erik Somers—Callsign: Bishop, is called in to investigate, but his first discovery shocks him to the core. Dawoud Abbasi, the terrorist leader planning to unleash Ergot-B, is his biological father.
This could have been a long novel, with the entire Chess Team involved. It’s the first Chess Team novel set in modern Iran, and there was plenty of scope for an interesting thriller. Instead it’s just one team member taking on the Jihad. Still, it’s up to the usual Robbinson standard.
Callsign: Rook (Stan Tremblay)
(Chesspocalypse #3)
by Jeremy Robinson & Edward G. Talbot (2011)
After a failed mission claims the lives of his five man support team, Stan Tremblay, Callsign: Rook, flees Siberia and finds himself on the secluded coast of Norway, north of the Arctic Circle. Exhausted, cut off from the outside world, and emotionally beaten from his defeat in Russia, Rook just wants to find a place to rest. The small coastal town of Fenris Kystby seems like the perfect place.
Within hours of arriving, he discovers that the town is not as tranquil as it appears. The townspeople are mistrustful of outsiders, a pack of mysterious wolves stalk the local tundra, and two villagers have been killed by a creature that defies explanation. To make things worse, there are rumors of something sinister, something the townspeople refuse to discuss.
Despite the hostility of the locals, Rook commits to stopping the creature murdering townspeople. As the body count rises, he quickly learns that the greatest threat might walk on two legs. And when he uncovers the town’s hidden past, Rook knows only one thing for certain: something is rotten in Norway.
By now we know what to expect. An agent alone, facing hostile forces and an indifferent local population. You get a bit of insight into Rook’s character, but not at the expense of the action. Another good read.
Here is another excellent artist in the down-tempo/chill-out genre. I found them from Dave’s Lounge podcast.
All seven albums are on bandcamp.
Fate’s Fables 1-8
By T. Rae Mitchell
This was read after being impressed by a short story I liked.
The book is eight novella length stories previously separately published. The quality of the prose is apparent at the start of the book as the character of Fate is setup and her journey to a fantasy land explained. The author generates eight mythic fairy tales at the start of east story, these contain a problem that has to be resolved or fixed. In the first half, they are generally fun and a romp to get through. But as the tales accumulate, bringing characters from past episodes forward, it becomes darker and heavier in tone. Soon romance becomes a major theme of the story and things become too serious.
The inherent problem with this form is that as a single (400 page) novel it lacks a narrative that can reach a conflict and resolution in the final act. Staying with lots of characters just makes things confusing and the ending not as rewarding as it could be.
It may have been better to read each episode separately over a longer period of time. It would also have helped if the stories were more self-contained. Still, this is an experienced author with sufficient skills to write compelling novels.
Callsign: Queen (Zelda Baker)
(Chesspocalypse #2)
by Jeremy Robinson and David Wood (2011)
At the beginning of her search for Rook, a missing Chess Team member, Zelda Baker, Callsign: Queen, is redirected to Pripyat, Ukraine, a ghost town on the radioactive outskirts of Chernobyl. Intel indicates that splinter cell of Manifold Genetics—a ruthless corporation dismantled by Chess Team—may be operating in the area. Tasked with confirming the existence of a Manifold facility, Queen begins a recon sweep of the abandoned town in search of clues, but soon finds herself fighting for her life. Something sinister lurks beneath the decaying, surreal remnants of Pripyat’s never-used amusement park, and it rises up to greet Queen.
This is the shortest of the Callsign books so far (at 30,000 words). It’s just as good as the others I have read. Zelda dispatches everything in her path to take down the opposition. Another fun, if brutal read.
Callsign: King II – Underworld (Chesspocalypse #4)
by Jeremy Robinson & Sean Ellis (2011)
Strange things have always happened in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona… Bizarre lights, reports of cave entrances that appear and then vanish, hundreds of mysterious disappearances…and rumors of monstrous creatures that inhabit a labyrinthine underworld.
When a terrifying accident on an Arizona highway leads to a military exclusion zone and a cover-up of staggering proportions, Jack Sigler—Callsign: King, field leader of the elite and ultra-secret covert Chess Team—joined by his closest friend, archaeologist George Pierce, sets out into the desert, intent on discovering the truth.
This follows Jack Sigler from episode 1: Callsign King. Here he takes on subterranean monsters, weird science and an assassin.
Like the first in the series, the pacing is fast and furious, talk is minimal and plenty of action. There is a rather absurd premise of “free’ energy that provides the basis for the story. But not to worry, Jack will overcome everything with a measure of experience and plenty of luck. Keep ‘em coming Mr Robinson !!!
Callsign: King (Jack Sigler)
(Chesspocalypse #1)
by Jeremy Robinson with Sean Ellis (2011)
The fabled Elephant Graveyard has been discovered. It contains enough ivory to make Ethiopia a wealthy nation. But the cave contains more than physical riches-it also holds the means to control the world. Fifteen scientists enter the cave. Only one leaves.
Jack Sigler, Callsign: King (field leader of the covert, black ops Chess Team) receives a cryptic text from Sara Fogg, his girlfriend and CDC “disease detective”. A catastrophic disease has been reported in Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley, but Fogg suspects something more is going on. Her suspicion is confirmed when King’s arrival in Africa is met by a high speed assassination attempt.
This is the first is a series of eight shorter novels (40,000-60,000 words) with the team from previous longer novels. The shorter length really helps the story, it’s got good pace and avoids the multiple plot story-lines of the previous stories. Recommended.