I went back to Wheel of Time — planning to follow the story this time. It’s the kind of television I should like.

Sadly — It’s no Game of Thrones.

Mixed reviews.

The main character that appealed to me is Daniel Henney as al’Lan Mandragoran, Moiraine’s Warder and companion. A nuanced prerformance.

Casting seems a bit uninspired. Interactions between characters not convincing.

Actually, Abdul Salis as Eamon Valda is a very believable bad guy.

And Loial portrayed by Hammed Animashaun is charming.

BUT … production values are surprisingly poor at times.  The wolf attack in episode 5 was like bad TV from the 1970s. 

This was one of the most expensive TV series of all time. Yet many of the special effects look fake.

The battle / birthing scene at the beginning of episode 7 is EPIC, however. Worthy of the film 300.

I’ll probably watch season 2. I hear it gets better.

The scenery is fantastic. Czech Republic, Slovenia, and South Africa are locations.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Unless you are a Star Trek nut, I can’t recommend the book Redshirts.

It did win the 2013 Hugo Award, so SciFi fans do like it.

As usual with Scalzi, the plot is ingenious.

In a TV series like Star Trek — called the Intrepid — the fictional universe is actually real. Characters from the TV show travel back in time (like Star Trek) and try to get the show cancelled.

Once there, they meet their actor doubles and realize that they are exact doppelgängers.

It’s complicated.

This book didn’t win me over in any way.

Of course a “redshirt” is a stock character in fiction who dies soon after being introduced. The term originates from the original Star Trek (NBC, 1966–69) in which the red-shirted security personnel frequently die during episodes.

A big fan of the Joe Pickett novels by C.J. Box, I ASSuMEd I’d enjoy another of his series based on a rogue, a brilliant cop named Cody Hoyt, an alcoholic.

But for me they are too blood thirsty and violent.

I didn’t like either Hoyt or his protege, Cassie Dewell.

Back of Beyond is the first book. It’s set in Yellowstone National Park.

#2 is The Highway, somehow astonishingly connected to the bloodbath in Yellowstone.

Serial killers are picking up prostitutes at long haul trucking service stations.

Somebody liked the book. ABC turned it into a big budget TV show. It’s already had 3 seasons as I post. Mixed reviews.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I’d never heard of Keigo Higashino before randomly trying this novel.

Devotion of Suspect X is fantastic.

Turns out almost twenty of his books have been turned into films and TV series. But not all have been translated to English.

The pacing is slower than a typical American or British whodunnit.

But mathematician Tetsuya Ishigami and Manabu Yukawa, a physicist who often consults with the police, are two of the best fictional characters I’ve read in a long time.

I highly recommend it.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer of the Chinese TV adaptation on YouTube.

The Lincoln Lawyer is attorney Mickey Haller, half-brother of Michael Connelly’s mainstay character Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch.

I like the Mickey Haller character, but not as much as Bosch himself.

They appear together in some novels.

Matthew McConaughey played Haller in the excellent 2011 movie adaptation.

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is Mickey in the 2022 TV adaptation. MUCH different than McConaughey.

My favourite in the TV show is Becki Newton as Lorna Crain, Haller’s 2nd wife and office manager.

I also like Krista Warner as Hayley, Mickey’s teenage daughter. She’s very natural and believable.

Though reviews have been mixed, I quite enjoyed the acting and the plot lines.

The ending is strong. I’m confident season 2 will get the green light.

I’ve never been much of a fan of courtroom procedurals. BUT both this series and the book I was reading — Full Disclosure by Beverley McLachlin — both have cases with tunnel vision. The police assumed from the beginning that husband killed wife.

Hooked on the book series by C.J. Box, I felt obliged to try the TV adaptation.

83% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Successful enough to be renewed for a second season.

Michael Dorman is well cast as Joe Pickett.

I was surprised to see “outlaw falconer” Nate Romanowski as a Black man. Nate’s personality is a little different in the TV adaptation, as well.

In the book Nate’s a lean, tall, angular predator — with a blonde ponytail.

He’s everyone’s favourite character.

For me the show is a bit slow. The pace of the books is more engaging.

And there are too many flashbacks, for me typically a sign of weak storytelling.

But the TV show is well done. I do recommend it for fans of the Joe Pickett books.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

This TV series is on Paramount+.

I was able to watch it via Apple TV free for a week. Then cancelled my subscription.