Da Vinci's Demons, Season 2, Episode 8: The Fall From Heaven

Riario and Leo are in a prison – the same cell we saw from the pilot – being all angsty and thoughtful. Riario recaps his past for us, brought up in a monastery and recruited by the pope to do terrible things – things that make him all sad and tortured.

Ima drops in to say she’s totally not loving it but they’re going to sacrifice Leo and Riario because then the gods will be happy and give them the Leafy Book (and maybe Leo’s mother) since there’s still puzzles left in the Indiana Jones Vault. But hey, she has some new bling for him while he gets sacrificed. Leo asks that Zoroaster and Nico be spared – but they weren’t up for sacrifice anyway; they get to spend their days serving (skinning carcasses) and Leo gives them a cryptic message  which Zoroaster interprets from their… colourful history as meaning to leave – without Leo.

Zoroaster begins his plan – and Nico gives him away. Zoroaster is shocked – what has Riario done to Nico. Then Nico kills the guard who grabbed Zoroaster (clearly not focusing on Nico) – Riario taught young Nico to survive. The rest of the coded message involves the big vats of, apparently fat, tat the camera focused on earlier. By setting them on fire, Zoroaster intends to create a diversion.

Leo and Riario are taken out to be sacrificed, a ritual happens in the background while Riario and Leo talk about fatalism and hearing Leo’s mother and things that are really really irrelevant when you’re about to be killed. As Riario is about to be sacrificed, Leo stabs his guard with his nifty knew bling and then grabs a sword from Ima (one of theirs) and holds it to the high priest’s throat. Leo makes a big speech (translated by Ima) about how they’ve survived the Vault and need to return or their gods will be vengeful (why they should believe Leo’s take on what will piss off their gods rather than Ima and the High Priest is a mystery).

Then the fat explodes. Leo and Riario runs, Leo grabbing his key/Lucrezia’s ring back off Ima. They meet up with Nico and Zoroaster and their plan is to flee up the mountain back into the Vault, of course.

They run through the Vault, chased by Ima and the guards. Leo locks the door behind them, crushing one of the Incan guards in the doorway. Leo leaves Zoroaster and Nico with plans to make parachutes (yes yes he does) and goes to find his mother. Leo geniuses open the Vault while Ima cries that the book belongs to her people who will die without its help.

Inside is a little golden bust which speaks with his mother’s recorded voice.

….

…

.

Ok, let’s just run with this, little gold robots with speakers, why not? Leo takes it out – wow that looks really cheap. You can virtually see the plastic. Riario is very upset by the lack of a Leafy Book, Leo is very upset by the lack of his mother (Leo, if your mother had been locked in a vault for several years, you wouldn’t want to see her).

The plastic toy-pretending-to-be-metal explains she had to move the book and the only way Leo can find the book is if he stops looking for her. Anything further is interrupted by an uncannily aimed arrow that breaks it. They run to the convenient huge drop off and Ima begs Leo not to take the book from her people – he tells her there was no book and they jump off the mountain.

They land in the rain forest and Riario breaks his leg – a compound fracture. Leo and Zoroaster don’t decide to leave him to his fate despite Zoroaster’s very sensible suggestion

Fangs for the Fantasy Podcast Cancelled

It's another Monday, but this week there won't be a podcast. Circumstances beyond our control (but quite possibly involving the dreaded were-moose) have made it quite quite impossible. This means, alas, you will have to wait a week to hear Renee lament about her precious precious mermaids and Sparky expressing his vehement opinions of Queen of the Damned.

Our next books of the week are listed below for reference purposes

5th May - 12th May: The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice

12th May - 19th May: Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly

19th May - 26th May: Banishing the Dark by Jenn Bennet

26th May - 2nd June: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

2nd June - 9th June: The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice

9th June - 16th June: Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

16th June - 23rd June: Shattered by Kevin Hearne


We hope to see you all next week at the usual time

Orphan Black, Season 2, Episode 4: Governed as It Were by Chance

Sarah woozily comes back to consciousness, Daniel not being so lucky, and the guy who rammed them in the truck was Cal. Quick thinking there Cal. He helps her out of the car and suggests police – which she vetoes. But there’s already a police car racing towards them. Sarah looks like she’s ready to confront them – completely with Daniel’s gun – but the car races by. Cal brings her back to reality and she wipes the gun off (the gun that killed the cop) and puts it back in the car with Daniel. Plan B is to hide the car with convenient lying underbrush so Sarah can get a head start.

Sarah’s still trying to keep Cal out of everything but he’s pretty sure he’s involved now. He takes her to his secondary abandoned cabin he likes to keep for randomness – complete with a camper all ready for going on the run; none of it in his name. My this guy is conveniently equipped. On the run they go, with Sarah using Daniel’s phone to delay Rachel (yes but they can also track with that phone).

She uses skype to contact Cosima who is still watching Jennifer’s video diary. Sarah shows Cosima the Project Leda picture and Cosima tells us all about the mythology behind Leda (Zeus getting his swan sex on with Leda) and she notes the soldier in the background of the picture. Cosima promises to check it out before coughing in a worrying fashion. Sarah also asks Cal to look after Kira while she heads back into town which is probably not a good idea. But she makes her goodbyes to Kira (and gets a paper angel) and Cal.

And Daniel is still alive. Damn it why won’t you die already!

Mrs. S is back! And she’s talking to creepy Benjamin who assures her that he totally didn’t know about the betrayal – she calmly replies that she knows. Or he would be dead (but more politely). She wants to see someone called Carlton who has recently arrived from London.

She drops in a club to see him, guessing that he’d be “where you can get a pint and a pair of tits”, and he grabs her by the neck – being Mrs. S she puts a blade to his groin. They seem to be friendly and this is just their way of saying hello. Very very very friendly indeed

At the Prolethean farm, Grace is still not the biggest fan of Helena. Helena’s still a little zonked by the sedative and suspicious about what they did and their odd wedding-like-ritual last episode. She pulls away when Henrick tries to touch her face. She’s also wearing what looks an awful lot like a wedding ring.

Art is still stalking around the Proletheans taking pictures which doesn’t bother Henrick but does bother Bonnie (his wife?). Grace finally takes matters into her own hands and decides to suffocate her new cult sister, Helena. Yes, well, that goes as well as you could expect. After disposing of Grace (dead or unconscious) Helena is out and sneaking out in her big white wedding gown. She finds a medical room where she remembers what happened after the “wedding” – she had eggs harvested. This rather enrages Helena – and she’s always kinda enraged – and she runs (after grabbing a sharp thing). Her escape photographed by Art. He doesn’t stop her – but is quick to stop Mark and his posse of Proletheans and ask if they have permits for all those guns they’re carrying chasing down a running woman in a wedding dress.

New Releases 11th May - 18th May

What follows is a list of books which will be released between May 11 - May 17.  It can be tough  keeping up with ongoing stories and often, we miss the latest new release, unless the book/series is the beneficiary of a big round of publicity . That is why we are committed to sharing with you books that are the first in their series every week.  Please check out the list and let us know what books you are interested in checking out and why.

Bloodwitch (The Maeve’ra Trilogy #1) by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

A gripping tale about loyalty, power, and the quest for freedom

Vance Ehecatl was raised with every luxury he could imagine in a beautiful greenhouse within the powerful empire of Midnight. Vampires are the only guardians Vance has ever known since he was abandoned by his shapeshifter family as a baby quetzal, and he is grateful to them for generously providing for all of his needs. When an act of violence forces Vance from his sheltered home, he is startled to meet Malachi Obsidian, a fellow shapeshifter with conflicting ideas about Midnight and its leader, Mistress Jeshickah.

Malachi claims Vance is a bloodwitch, who Jeshickah and her trainers, Jaguar and Taro, are trying to control. Vance doesn't know anything about the rare and destructive magic Malachi says he possesses, and he can't believe Jeshickah would use it to hurt others. But when his friends begin falling ill, Vance starts to realize his perfect world may not be as flawless as it seems. Now Vance must decide who to trust-the vampires he's always relied upon, or the shapeshifters who despise them.

Hot Lead, Cold Iron by Ari Marmell

Hot Lead, Cold Iron is the first novel in a brand-new fantasy detective series that will appeal to fans of Rivers of London and The Dresden Files

Chicago, 1932. Mick Oberon may look like just another private detective, but beneath the fedora and the overcoat, he's got pointy ears and he's packing a wand.

Oberon's used to solving supernatural crimes, but the latest one's extra weird. A mobster's daughter was kidnapped sixteen years ago, replaced with a changeling, and Mick's been hired to find the real child. The trail's gone cold, but what there is leads Sideways, to the world of the Fae, where the Seelie Court rules. And Mick's not really welcome in the Seelie Court any more. He'll have to wade through Fae politics and mob power struggles to find the kidnapper – and of course it's the last person he expected.

Salem, Season 1, Episode 3: In Vain

Anne wakes after some very troubled dreams – she gets up and washes her face to help wake up  and her eyes are black from edge to edge. This is not a good sign; but when she wipes her face they go back to normal. And the really creepy doll that Mary made and snuck into her room moves

That’s it, I’m out of there. People vomiting nails, men with frogs in their stomachs and a whole population of people who think most of their menfolk don’t masturbate I can handle – but creepy Chucky dolls? Hell no!

Isaac drags the body of the hanged innocent Bridgette out of the town to be disposed of with crowds gathered and shouting – some angry at her death some more righteous. Tituba disagrees with the whole spectacle of taking the body through the centre of time and Mary chews Cotton out for just standing their silently rather than speaking to the crowd and trying to comfort them – he is a reverend after all. He tries but everyone ignores him except John who joins him to accusing him of hanging innocents.

They both run to the sound of Anne yelling in the orphanage; without Bridgette thieves tried to ransack it. John chases off the thieves and lets Hale and Cotton know they’re the ones at fault – as does Anne, Hale’s daughter.

As John takes Anne home she asks what happens to Bridgette’s body – and he tells her, no sugar coating. For which she thanks him.

Magistrate Hale yet again tries to stop Mary, the Grand Rite and the witch panic she’s inciting and he’s quite annoyed that she doesn’t respect his opinion more. She’s equally pissed at him questioning her – and that he still hasn’t ferreted out who was spying on their Sabbat. To find out, Hale goes to see the Seer who confirms that Isaac was the one who saw them – but there was someone else with him.

John followed Hale and enters the Seer’s hut when Hale leaves; he finds it empty except for taxidermy – which comes to life when he turns his back. And since one of the animals is a wolf that’s a little worrying. It attacks him and Hale pulls him to safety. John protests that dead animals came to life but Hale dismisses it, Petrus (the Seer) is just far too normal, honest, now back off or else.

George Sibley tries to stick his fingers down his throat to remove the frog – it doesn’t work and Mary leaves him in his own vomit for the day. Which is when Isaac arrives to compliment Mary on how saintly she is for caring so for her sick husband. She has a bond with Isaac over their shared experiences when he was branded (and when Abby, the woman Isaac loved, ran away – who Isaac still thinks about), the night she lost her child.

As he walks away, Isaac is grabbed and a sack put over his head. He is taken to the place where unhallowed bodies are left to rot. Hale and another witch – one in rags who doesn’t seem to live in town – use magic (nasty, messy magic) to question Isaac about seeing the Sabbat. Isaac insists he was alone. Afterwards Hale plants evidence of witchcraft on him and sends him back to town spelled – though the outcast witch argues (saying “Mary” so I assume he wants them to consult Mary) which enrages Hale.

Grimm, Season 3, Episode 21: Inheritance

“’No,’ said the king. ‘I had rather die

Than place you in such great danger

As you must meet with in your journey.”

It’s dinner time chez Grimm and everyone is in full wedding planning mode (Juliette is a wedding machine and no-one gets Nick’s sense of humour). Truble is fitting in, though not use to eating at table or people waiting for her to join them (Nick also acknowledges to Monroe that Juliette is a saint and most women would have left him).  She’s adapting a little slowly but Rosalie compliments her on how well she’s done – and Truble reveals she never expected to live this long

Which is the cue for an ominous shadowy figure to stare at the house while Truble all but licks her plate. We also get some info from Rosalie and Monroe about growing up Wesen – since you don’t know as a child, apparently, but rely on family to guide you. Truble gives them her revelation story which is pretty harsh.

The shadowy figure outside calls, but doesn’t leave any information, he seems to be just confirming Nick’s identity. The camera focuses on his Pennsylvania number plate so I assume it’s relevant. He goes to a hotel where he is clearly being watched. In his hotel room he joins his elderly father who tells him (apparently for the umpteenth time) how vitally important it is he meets Nick. Son doesn’t seem quite so enamoured of the idea. When there’s a knock at the door the old man doesn’t want him to open it but the son is not taking him seriously – so is jumped by the Wesen.

The old man’s pretty handy with a sword, though, and stabs the Wesen (a Hundjaeger) through the chest. The old man tries to tell all this (and the Verrat tattoo) to his son who doesn’t understand and thinks his dad has lost his mind. The old man does manage to convince his son they have to run. They get out before the other Verrat arrive. They break and enter an abandoned building to stay the night. Poor son is very very confused. After a rough night, the old man tears a page from his own Grimm manual and tells his son to show it to Nick.

He gets Truble – who recognises the sketch

Juliette tries to bond with Truble, we get more little incidents from Truble’s past and showing the knight chess piece she carries. She’s afraid to get used to the life with Nick and Juliette

And poor Juliette is having a mini-wedding meltdown with everything to juggle. She has terrible stress and an awful sense of foreboding, despite Monroe’s reassurances.

Adalind and Renard are all tense and agitated, she’s not happy in the hotel room and keeps trying to push him for information – and she has a cut on her hand. A very neat one (for spell casting or potions?) They go to bed and when Renard wakes up, Adalind is fiddling with spell components and asking when Juliette gets into work with her clinic. Renard is suspicious and has Wu watch her.

Vampire Diaries, Season 5, Episode 21: Promised Land

Elena and Stefan have been kidnapped by Travellers because they were too busy love triangle arguing than actually handling shit and now Damon is dealing with this the way he deals with everything – torturing people. Caroline also drops in so they can exposition everything.

Stefan and Elena are both being drained by the Travellers but some helpful person frees Stefan and despite both of them being hardly able to walk, they manage to escape. Travellers, I’m not impressed. They top up their blood with “squirrel slaughter” (Elena’s not a fan) and call Damon, not for rescue but so he can hunt down and kill Markos since he has a huge bucket of doppleganger blood and can do all kinds of mischief with it. Stefan and Elena begin the long walk home, frustrated by the fact they’re so low on blood their vampire mojo is failing (to prove this, Stefan tries and fails to blur for Elena’s amusement – also lots of angst. Lots and lots of angst).

And Damon gets stabbed. That’s Enzo’s way of getting Damon’s attention and reminding us, through Bonnie, that Damon promised to find a way to bring him back. And he’s driving Bonnie up the wall until he gets his way – and wasting perfectly good booze (well, insofar as American booze can be perfectly good). Hey, Enzo, this is Mystic Falls, people drink booze instead of water – you can’t be wasting it. Damon’s plan is for Enzo to latch on to whatever spell Liv is planning to cast to save Bonnie from the Other Side collapse – Bonnie disagrees but no-one listens to her.

Live and Luke have a meet and greet where the coven they belong to is really pissed (this is the coven that thinks stopping the Travellers getting the dopplegangers is major important but has only sent 2 young witches to deal with it) and is blaming Luke for Elena and Stefan’s blithering foolishness – and sending unpleasant migraines to make their point. Last option is to kill Elena and Stefan.

See, I’d have made it the first option.

Random cameo from Pam, who is possessed by the Traveller, Karl who gets a vial of doppleganger blood from the postman (you can get ANYTHING off amazon or ebay) then stabs Pam’s husband in the neck for completely failing to realise his wife has been colonised by a total stranger. Also he’s Black and lacks any useful woo-woo so he was never going to live long on this show.

Stefan and Elena are still annoying and are now saying how wonderful Caroline is, they get a ride. Not because of Elena’s breasts (which she deploys to aid hitchhiking) but because it’s Maria, the Traveller wife of Traveller Julian and she’s the one who freed them. Because she thinks I haven’t suffered enough, it seems.

She wants Julian – in Tyler’s body (she says Tyler is gone). She wants to leave with him to spend his last moments with her. Yes, last moments, because the spell will strip Tyler of his vampireness and then kill him.

Damon has the stooges (Tyler and Jeremy) drag in the “husks” of all the Travellers from the cave (my idea – admittedly mind involved axe murder). Caroline and Damon snark back and forth for a while, ending with Caroline telling Damon to not torture Julian/Tyler because “she doesn’t abandon the people she cares about”. A direct hit that woman! Though it has to be said until very very recently she was quite happy for Damon and Elena to break up. Caroline checks with Julian who confirms that Markos wants to remove all witch magic – including daylight rings and vampirism.

Magic City: Recent Spells Anthology

Street Wizard by Simon R Green; Paranormal Romance by Christopher Barzak; Grand Central Park by Delia Sharman; Spellcaster  2.0 by Jonathon Maberry; Wallamellon by Nisi Shawl; -30- by Caitlin R Kiernan; Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs; Stone Man by Nancy Kress; In the Stacks by Scott Lynch; A Voice Like a Hole by Catherynne M Valente; The Arcane Art of Misdirection by Carrie Vaughn; The Thief of Precious Things by A. C. Wise; The Land of Heart’s Desire by Holly Black; Snake Charmer by Amanda Downum; The Slaughtered Lamb by Elizabeth Bear; The Woman Who Walked with Dogs by Mary Rosenblum; Words by Angela Slatter; Dog Boys by Charles de Lint; Alchemy by Lucy Sussex, Curses by Jim Butcher, De La Tierra by Emma Bull, Stray Magic by Diana Peterfreund; Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor; Pearlywhite by Marc Laidlaw & John Shirley

The first thing I’d advise on reading this book is not to read it like I did – in one sitting. You get a big bumper 24 stories in this book – and 24 stories in one stretch where none of them are connected directly made for a long read. And I don’t think they were well connected – “magic” and “city” are particularly specific enough themes, especially in the Urban Fantasy genre, to make an anthology out of. Especially if you’re going to throw “fae” in there as well

I think the first story, Street Wizard by Simon R Green is definitely the story I want to turn into a full book or series. Just the idea of low level magical functionaries patrolling London and trying to keep all kinds of magical chaos under control, all with a heavy taste of grittiness, fascinates me. It’s really well written and an intriguing concept. I would really love to see an entire series based around this concept.

I also really liked Wallamellon by Nisi Shawl bringing in elements of a Yoruba or Yoruba derived religion (I don’t know which one, exactly, but they worship Yamaya) as well as a very strong look at race and race relations. It has some excellently compelling characters, a really powerful feel and atmosphere of the story as well as the strength and maturity of protagonist. It was definitely an excellent story

Both The Thief of Precious Things by A. C. Wise and A Voice Like a Hole by A.C Wise were powerful stories. Both were the most beautifully written, The Thief of Precious Things created a stark, impactful setting with almost abstract, alien characters in a truly different dystopia. While A Voice Like a Hole was pretty savage in its language, painting a picture of bleakness and despair really vividly and with an incredible description of broken, beautiful singing I’ve come across.

Alchemy by Lucy Sussex was the most intriguing story, taking place in Ancient Bablyon. There was a real sense of research, I felt the author either really knew their stuff or had spent a long time hitting the books (this assessment, of course, comes from someone whose knowledge of Ancient Babylon would not cover a reasonably large beer bottle). There was an excellent sense of time and place, a really fascinating main character – and an ending and process that went completely against what I would have expected. I particularly liked the different definition of “black magic”.

               

Curses by Jim Butcher, Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs and The Arcane Art of Misdirection by Carrie Vaughn were all part of larger series (Curses also appeared in Side Jobs. Nnedi Okorafor’s Kabu Kabu also appeared in, unsurprisingly, Kabu Kabu). In one of those twists, I thought Curses, a fun story about Harry Dresden and the cursed Cubs, far more amusing and entertaining – but that Seeing Eye, a story of a witch and a werewolf facing a coven of dark practitioners was more useful.                 Didn’t add anything particularly to Harry’s story, same as The Arcane Art of Misdirection didn’t add an awful lot to the Kitty Norville world, while Seeing Eye added some very solid world building to Patricia Brigg’s world.