R.S. Belcher

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borg’s Best of 2019–The Best Books of the Year

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes, TV — Leave a comment

December 30, 2019

Our borg Best of 2019 list continues today with the Best Books of 2019. If you missed them, check out our review of the Best Movies of 2019 here, the Kick-Ass Heroines of 2019 here, the Best in Television 2019 here, and the Best Comics of 2019 here.

We reviewed more than 100 books that we recommended to our readers this year, and some even made it onto our favorites shelf. We don’t print reviews of books that we read and don’t recommend, so this shortlist reflects only this year’s cream of the crop.

So let’s get going. Here are our selections for this year:

Best Read, Best Fantasy Read, Best New Edition of Previous Published Work, Best Translated Work – A Hero Born: Legends of the Condor Heroes 1 by Jin Yong, translated by Anna Holmwood (St. Martin’s Press). The first book in one of the most read books of all time finally makes its way to the U.S. after its premiere in Great Britain. Readers will learn why George Lucas pulled its concepts for his Skywalker saga, and why generations of Chinese fans of fantasy of flocked to its heroes and villains. Honorable mention for Best Fantasy Read: A Labyrinth of Scions and Sorcery by Curtis Craddock (Tor Books), The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz (Algonquin Young Readers).

Best New Novel, Best Horror Novel, Best Historical Novel, Best Mystery Novel – The Cthulhu Casebooks: Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils by James Lovegrove (Titan Books). A truly literary work combining a smart Holmesian adventure and the dark mind of H.P. Lovecraft. Readers will love Lovegrove’s approach, Holmes and Watson’s journey, and all the creepy surprises.

Best Sci-Fi Novel, Best Thriller – The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson (HarperCollins). Wilson successfully conjured the spirit of Michael Crichton for this smart, creepy, and oddly current sci-fi sequel to The Andromeda Strain. A cast of characters just like Crichton would have put together, and a must-read.

Best Franchise Tie-In Novel – Firefly: Magnificent Nine by James Lovegrove (Titan Books). One of the best authors around crafts a worthy story to expand the Firefly canon and give fans their own new movie of sorts for the franchise. Runner-up: Alien: Prototype by Tim Waggoner (Titan Books). Honorable Mention: Death of the Planet of the Apes by Andrew E.C. Gaska (Titan Books).

Best Retro Read – Mike Hammer: Murder, My Love, by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (Titan Books). Collins continues to bring Spillane’s characters to life with thrilling prose and all the best pieces of noir drama and action. Honorable mention: Brothers Keepers by Donald E. Westlake (Hard Case Crime).

Best Genre Non-Fiction – Industrial Light & Magic Presents: Making of Solo: A Star Wars Story by Rob Bredow (Harry N. Abrams). Bredow’s unique access to the production made for a rare opportunity in any production to see details of the filmmaking process. Every movie should have such a great deep dive behind the scenes. Honorable mention: The Making of Alien by J.W. Rinzler (Titan Books).

There’s much more of our selections for 2019’s Best in Print to go…

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Book review–A London mission awaits in Men in Black: International, the novelization

Filed under: Comics & Books, Movies, Sci-Fi Café — Leave a comment

July 27, 2019

Review by C.J. Bunce

A stroll through the spy units in movies like the 007s of James Bond, the Kingsmen of Kingsman: The Secret Service, the spies of Mission: Impossible, the dueling and partnering international agents of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and even the heroine of Atomic Blonde all provide an avenue for fans of the spy genre to see how an actor could also portray a spy of another franchise. An example of this is Pierce Brosnan’s run on Remington Steele as prep for his destined role as James Bond. How would Colin Firth look as a Bond, or Charlize Theron? A similar comparison can be found in the new film, Men in Black: International, and its new novelization by author R.S Belcher.

How would Chris Hemsworth, formerly Captain Kirk’s dad in the first Star Trek reboot movie, but now engrained in the psyche of moviegoers everywhere forever as Thor, especially after his character change-up in Thor: Ragnarok, which tweaked the character with the humor that the actor seems to infuse into his other films and public appearances. As Men in Black’s London division Agent H, Hemsworth is this character–they are indistinguishable. It makes sense–it’s how good casting works–but it will be impossible to read the character and not think of the actor’s persona, charm, and smile as you read it. You may try, but the character of H seems to be one that only Hemsworth could play. Not so much directly written for Tessa Thompson is the new Agent M. The character is a solidly conceived rookie in a wild, fun, and faithful follow-on for the Men in Black franchise. But even with roles in Veronica Mars, Heroes, Creed, and Valkyrie in the Marvel movies, she doesn’t have that same star power–yet. But the novelization is quite a vehicle for that Hemsworth persona, and his fans will love the book as much as they loved the film. How would Hemsworth appear in an Ian Fleming novel? You’ll find out here in this new novel of the British spy genre.

Credit is due to the underlying screenplay written by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, but the novelization of Men in Black: International also has some of the finest alien supporting characters of the series, and the story is every bit as consistently full of fun and futuristic science fiction as the first and third movies (far surpassing the second entry in the franchise). The alien Pawn character Pawny is right up there with Michael Stuhlbarg’s Griffin. Pawny is lovable and loyal, a bit like Dobby from the Harry Potter movies.

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