Welcome to the Many Adaptations of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

 Did y'all know that there's a musical version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring David Hasselhoff and can be found on YouTube (link here)? Well there is and it's as ridiculous as you think it is. Go check it out if you want to spend two and a half hours of your time watching a man angst about his life and commit murder while drinking a special potion that makes him look like something out of the uncanny valley (at least that's the impression the book gives). 

If you'd rather watch the twenty-two minute summary from Musical Hell on YouTube, you're welcome to do that instead.

What I find interesting about this version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde isn't it's misstep in stunt casting, but how far it deviates from the original source material.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a compact novella by Robert Louis Stevenson. The same guy who famously wrote Treasure Island. Mr. Stevenson is probably one of my favorite late Victorian writers (along with Stoker, Carroll and Doyle). His prose are, for the most part, are easy to read for modern audiences. The one exception I'm familiar with is the short story "Thrawn Janet", which is written entirely in Scots. (I internally screamed the entire time I tried to read this one.) 

Most people know of Stevenson's work. Treasure Island has had many adaptations and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has become well intertwined with horror pop culture. My first introduction to both stories was through children's media. The Muppets did fantastic adaptation of Treasure Island, while Scooby and the Gang met Jekyll and Hyde in the episode "Nowhere to Hyde". Interestingly enough, The Scooby Doo episode is actually somewhat closer to the original mechanics and motivations of the story than that musical adaptation I mentioned at the start of this post.

Don't believe me? 

I could tell you to read the book, but that takes a lot more time than you probably want to spend (though you should read the book because it is excellent). Instead, you can watch the wonderfully sarcastic summary by Overly Sarcastic Productions on YouTube (click here). 

Yes, the big twist at the end has been spoiled by pop culture. However, that's not what makes the book so interesting. It's the suspense. We know Hyde is bad news, but what evil will he do next? Will he ever be caught? And will Dr. Jekyll put an end to Hyde for good?

It's also a little more complicated than a split personality (or Dissociative Identity Disorder as is the mental illness's proper name). 

However, this fore knowledge of the main twist somewhat necessitates the changes to the plot. Most people know going in what the connection between Jekyll and Hyde is (I'm not going to outright type it out because you might be the 0.0001% of my readers who aren't familiar with the story). So, adaptions need to keep the audience interested in the story another way.

Insert the love interest(s).

The original novella has very few female characters. The two most important are a little girl and a maid - neither of these characters have a name. 

Thus adaptations love to add a lady or two - usually as a love interest (or two) - to add some drama to the plot. This has been done in a lot of movie adaptations, the previously mentioned hilarious musical, and some cartoon adaptations. The Scooby Doo episode included a maid character who is a suspect in the mystery. In Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman, their school is putting on a stage version of the story that includes a love interest.

These love dramas are not in the original story at all. The main drama starts out as a mystery that eventually leads to the questioning of human nature. The question drifts from who Mr. Hyde is and becomes what makes a person evil and can that part be carved out. Dr. Jekyll struggles with personal issues (that are left incredibly vague in the novella). 

I find that most adaptations drift from this theme to focus more on the added love drama. Which is a shame because the original theme is much more interesting.

Recently, I read a graphic novel adaptation of Stevenson's novella. Klimowski and Schejbal collaborated to create hauntingly beautiful drawings (which is the reason I brought the book in the first place). It's an extremely faithful adaptation, including characters who are typically left out such as Mr. Enfield and Dr. Lanyon. It even has one of my favorite lines ("if he be Mr. Hyde, then I shall be Mr. Seek"). However, the novella in its original state doesn't seem to take well to a visual adaptation and the narrative felt a little too streamlined.

They also made (in my opinion) the mistake of showing Dr. Jekyll's struggles...and they aren't all that shocking.

Okay, they're shocking by Victorian standards (maybe). But one of the most creepy aspects of Stevenson's original work is how vague he is about the evil being committed. The author leaves it up to the reader to fill in the gaps and that makes for a more interesting experience while reading the text. 

The graphic novel decided to just show their readers this "evil" and I didn't find it all that "evil". If they had left it vague, my imagination would have definitely come up with something a lot worse (especially with the creepy charcoal drawings to go off of). Instead they chose something pretty generic - even for the Victorian standards of the time. 

Which brings me back to why any adaptations of this novella need to have some narrative changes to keep the reader interested. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a very internally driven narrative. It's a fight between the good and evil within a person rather than an external one. Any visual medium has to add an external drama element to draw out the story.

The original novella on its own is really good and I do recommend y'all check it out if you haven't yet. If you have read the novella, let me know what you think of it. Also let me know if you enjoyed Mr. Hasselhoff on Broadway. I can assure you that I was entertained. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Welcome to the Perceived Passage of Time

 I admit that I've been a little MIA the past month. I swear I have a good reason, but since I don't have to share the details of my life online, I'm not going to explain myself.

Okay - maybe I'll explain myself a smidge. 

I lost track of time. So complain in my comments section.

As I've gotten older, I've realized how precious a resource time is. Much like the money I earn (and then spend), I have to budget my time. I may want to go to bed after midnight, but if I have an 8:00AM meeting, I'm going to be regretting that time I didn't spend sleeping.

Yesterday, I felt like I had all the time I needed this weekend to get everything I wanted to done. I took my time cleaning parts of my apartment and took a very long walk around the neighborhood. Today, as I write this blog post, I notice that I do not in fact have as much time as I wanted. I'm behind on the amount of cleaning and writing I'd hoped to do.

I still did a lot of stuff. My apartment is relatively clean, I was able to take some time to socialize, and I even managed a lovely 1-hour nap (nap time becomes cool again sometime in college - no lies). However, I didn't get all the chores I wanted to done and the only thing I've written is this blog post (which you are now reading).

Where did the time go? Why did it slip through my fingers like ocean waves?

Why is it that the moments I want to hold onto most, fly away the quickest?

I know there's a term for this phenomena, but I'm too lazy lacking the time to look it up. However, I've heard plenty of people complain about how quickly time flies. I've listened to people older (and occasionally wiser) than me inform me that time speeds up as you age.

But how? Physics has taught me that time is a fixed unit...unless relativity is involved. Did I gain so much mass that I'm able to perceive time differently from when I was a child. Or is this a psychological phenomenon connected to the Fibonacci sequence of age? When I'm two years old, half my live happened in one year. So I feel like a year is forever. As a six year old, a month seemed forever because one month was 1% of my life experience? Now a month is less than 0.3% of my life and seems to go by like a NASCAR loop.

I first began to note the passage of time, after my friend's 13th birthday party. I distinctly remember the party - only because I fell asleep first and was the first person to wake up in the morning (boy do I miss being able to do that - my college years really messed up my sleep schedule). I also distinctly remember thinking about the party a week later and wondering why it felt like time had passed so fast. 

Then another week passed...and another.

Suddenly, it was a whole month from my friend's birthday party and I felt like I was feeling time go by. It was a disorienting feeling - one I still get when I want to revisit a very specific memory (usually happy, usually very detailed). 

The best way I can describe the feeling of time passing is trying to stay very still while also being pulled by an invisible force hard enough that I can feel my body losing the battle to stay planted in one spot. The closest examples I could give are feeling a powerful tide going out to see or being on one of those UFO carnival rides - you feel the force moving you, but are stuck against the wall.

I don't know if anyone else has felt this. Most people I've spoken to talk about blinking and suddenly time has leapt forward - your little baby is a sassy preteen. I don't have kids. I blinked and went from living in Maryland to New Jersey. Another blink, and I'm back in my home state of Virginia. I'm curious where this next blink finds me, but I'm also weary. 

I don't want time to slip by too fast, yet it seems to be. In another ten years, a month will be roughly 0.2% of my lived life. More events will have happened, more milestones met. A lot can change in ten years, and just as much can stay the same. I rarely noticed my growth spurts as a little kid, but my relatives who rarely saw me certainly did. 

I've started having that realization too. The kids I babysat as a teen are graduating high-school and college. Some have even become parents themselves. My youngest first cousin is in university and my oldest second cousin once removed is in high-school (I missed out on his whole childhood). Places in my head exist as they did years ago, not as they do today because I haven't been there in so long. When I picture my grandparent's house, it's forever yellow, though the family that lives there now painted it brown.

Time is not a constant. Our perception of time changes with age. For some of us it's a blink. For others, it's a pull that we notice while trying to live in a moment - until that moment is a new one.

I am excited for the future. I enjoy reviewing the past, though I'm sad I can't return to those moments. I love being in the present, even if I sometimes start to mourn the moment because I know how quickly it's over.

Time is a currency. Time is a constant. Time changes with speed and mass. Humans can't control time anymore than we can control the weather.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to False Spring

 Last week was the solar equinox. 

Spring has "officially" begun in the Northern Hemisphere.

I celebrated the changing of the seasons by spending time outside and planting my balcony garden. I'm hoping to have some tiny tomatoes, lots of herbs, green beans, lettuce, and strawberries. I also included flowers to attract pollinators like butterflies and bees. 

And this weekend I had to bring everything in because Mother Nature decided it needed to go below freezing most of this weekend.

Thanks climate change.

Yes, changing climate is part of this annoyingly inconsistent weather patterns we've been experiencing. It's more of a thorn in my side than a tried and true problem. 

To save my garden from a late frost, all I had to do was move all of the pots inside my apartment. Sure they get less light, but they'll stay warm and eventually go back outside without any problems. It's an inconvenience to move everything, but it's not that difficult of a thing for me to do.

I have a solution for this last hold out of winter. 

But what if I couldn't move my garden? What if I had already planted it right into the ground instead of pots?

Well, a quick Google search would help me find tips to protect my garden from the late frost. There are loads of tips and tricks to protect plants from a sudden frost as it's become an issue to have a short warm spell followed by a cold snap. At worst, I have to replant my garden.

But what if it wasn't a garden? What if I had planted a whole field of crops that I depended on to harvest at the end of the season and I couldn't replant the crops? What if it wasn't just cold snaps I needed to worry about, but extreme heat or droughts? What if there was a biblical event that wiped out everything my livelihood depends on?

Why am I even thinking about these things if all I have going for me is a tiny balcony garden?

My garden is a hobby. I don't depend on it for financial needs or food. It's something nice to have that occupies my time and occasionally lets me add some extra flares to my meals. 

However, the food that I don't personally grow, I get at the store or farmer's market. If I buy my food from the store, that food might come from anywhere in the world. The food's journey from it's origin point to my dinner plate is long and has a lot of points of interest that can add to the costs I spend at checkout. These added points might be customs fees, fuel for transportation, storage costs, and enough money to pay every person who's labor went into growing, packaging, and transporting the food. Each point adds an extra layer to the price you pay at checkout...and then tax is added.

Of course, I might be able to cut out some of the costs and points of interest by getting my food directly from the farmers. Especially since each step in the process to get the food from the grocery store from other countries contributes to higher inflation. There's also less risk of food spoiling on a long journey than to buy it locally.

Except, I'm not hear to argue the virtues of where to buy your apples. 

And boy don't these apples look good!

I'm more pointing out how a cold snap might affect my ability to buy apples from my local farmer. Depending on the circumstances, the price of apples may go up, there might be shortages, or both scenarios might occur. The worst case is that there are no apples and the farm has to close down because they can't pay their bills. That adds to the overall decrease supply of apples that can be bought overall which further drives up price if demand doesn't change.

But importing food should help with supply right? Surely if we can't grow our food locally, we can still find sources to help with supply?

Yes, but there are risks. 

We've seen during the pandemic the problems associated with supply chain issues. Ports were overflowing with cargo that wasn't being unloaded because people weren't able to work. This lead to shortages at the grocery store and eventual higher prices. We're also dealing with higher fuel costs which is also going to drive up prices.

Oh, and now there's a war going on in one of the highest grain producing countries in the world.

All of these things are going to cause food shortages. Add in our good friend climate change and suddenly crops that were once easy to grow in a specific location, can't anymore. In my home state of Virginia, we've been having issues growing tomatoes since the early 2010s because of the changing climate. Will states famous for their tomatoes like New Jersey start having these same issues in the 2020s? 2030s?

The simple solution might be to have farmers change to crops that better suit the new climate.

Except that's not really that simple. We're seeing weather events that are unprecedented, heat waves and droughts that can take out the hardiest of plants - even the ones we're genetically modifying to account for these climate changes (humans have been messing with plant and animal genetics since we started farming - why do you think corn has a husk). 

If crops fail, people starve because demand for food doesn't go away. People need to eat to survive. 

This leads into many other topics (such as human migration, new diseases, and other catastrophes) that I don't have the time (or mental capacity) to get into. 

Needless to say, climate change is here. We have to adapt. I might be annoyed that I had to move all my plants inside because of a sudden cold snap (that are coming later and later into what should be considered Spring), but this annoyance is also tied to a deep fear that one day we might not be able to keep up the food supply with demand.

What will we eat then?

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Until next week. 

Welcome to Banned Books

The past two weeks have been... a lot. Work has kept me busy and prevented me from doom scrolling as much as I normally would. I am keeping informed of the many, many situations going on around the world right now. However, there's very little I can do to directly impact things as they stand. Spending all my time online reading every new news bulletin that pops up is detrimental to my mental health. 

So, instead, I spend my time reading books.

Some of these books are digital, most are paperbacks won in GoodReads competitions. 

I've spent so much time reading early this year, that I'm (currently) four books ahead of my reading goal for the year. (Let's see if this momentum continues through the rest of 2022). I'm not super picky about genre - I'll even read romance under the right circumstances (sadly I just don't like most romance tropes). Cozy mysteries have long been my go to genre and my family likes to pass them around like candy on Halloween. I'm also fond of poetry, episodic fantasy, and horror. 

I've even made a point to read more non-fiction (usually business or science related) books.

Occasionally, I mix in a "classic" book. Last year I had a lot of fun reading "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and "The Hound of the Baskervilles" along with my annual reread of "Alice in Wonderland". Sometimes I agree with the book's status as a classic (like "Treasure Island" or "A Christmas Carol"), other times I wonder why they are considered classics (sorry "Great Gatsby"). 

This year, I think I'll try to include some "banned" books as well.

Why would I want to include "banned" or "challenged" books? Mostly to see for myself what the fuss is about. 

I've actually read quite a few books that have been "banned" - usually at school. In fact one of those books I read in twelfth grade English class has been cycling in the news again because my newly elected state's governor ran on a campaign to ban it.

 "Beloved" was one of those books that I was either not mature enough to understand or the literary prowess went completely over my head. That doesn't mean that I disliked the book or felt uncomfortable by it (no, this book was very uncomfortable for MANY reasons). I mean that I didn't fully get or appreciate it. I maintain that if I had been introduced to "Beloved" as a horror novel, I would have enjoyed the book a lot more (it's still uncomfortable and at times disturbing, but a seventeen/eighteen year old can handle the material just fine).

This call to ban "Beloved" and a few other titles I was familiar with, got me curious as to how many banned books I'd actually read. 

Unfortunately, I haven't found a reliable list of banned books. The lists usually include books that have been banned throughout different years or decades for one reason or another. Sometimes the books are only banned in one state or county, but easily obtained in book stores. 

So I picked the list Business Insider shared from The American Library Association (ALA) which list the top 21 books challenged in 2021. On this list of 21 books, I'd read 4.5 (as long as we count the one series of books listed as "one" book, otherwise its 10.5). 

That half book I read was "A Handmaid's Tale" which I tried reading the summer between Freshmen and Sophomore year for summer homework because it was an iconic feminist work, but was so disturbed by it that I just couldn't finish it. That doesn't mean it should be banned, just that I couldn't finish it. Instead, I ended up reading "The Bluest Eye" which is also on the list for 2021. It's also disturbing in some places.

However, the fact that a book is disturbing shouldn't mean that it ends up on a banned list. Sometimes we need to read disturbing material to learn empathy, understand history, and change the future. I didn't like "A Handmaid's Tale", but I did like "The Bluest Eye". I (for the life of me) didn't understand "Beloved" at age seventeen. Maybe if I read it over a decade later, I finally will. 

In recent years, a lot of banned or challenged books have focused on issues of race, gender, and sexual orientation. This seems to reflect what's going on politically in certain states whom I'm most disappointed in. The books I'm not seeing on these lists are the ones that actually advocate for harming others (none of those books will be listed in this blog post).

If you're wondering whether or not I believe in banning books, you've come to the wrong blog post. Yes, there are some books that I find hateful and would not recommend reading. There are also books that are just poorly written and probably shouldn't have gotten passed the editor.

It's not my place to say whether or not these books should be banned.

Because I sometimes find that once you "ban" something or restrict access to it, people (particularly kids who love defying authority figures) will find some way to get their hands on it any way. I'm definitely more interested in "Captain Underpants" now that I know it's been challenged so many times than when it first saw copies of it.

How many "banned" books have you guys read? Any on the 2021 list? Are you interested in reading any of these "banned" books? I know there are other lists out there that have different books on them (and some of those books I've also read), so don't feel limited by the list I've used for this post. 

I think I'm most interested in reading "George" by Alex Gino, "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas (it's been on my to read list for a while), and "A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo" by Jill Twiss, illustrated by EG Keller which was commissioned by Jon Oliver.

If you enjoyed this blog post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Until next week. 

Welcome to Machiavelli

A few years ago, I picked up a copy of Machiavelli's The Prince. In popular culture, Machiavelli is seen as one of history's most controversial political figures who wrote things like "it is better to be feared rather than love". Most of this perception comes from analysis done on his most famous work: The Prince. 

However, if you read any of his other work or understand the circumstances that lead him to write The Prince in the first place, you'll find that Machiavelli wasn't the tyrannical power mad ruler people usually associate with his name. He was actually a realist. A realist who loved his home city-state of Florence.  

Machiavelli's most famous work, The Prince, was actually written after he'd been tortured and exiled by a new government that steamrolled in to conquer his beloved republic. It was essentially a very long cover letter telling the new ruler "hey, I actually know what I'm doing and can help you out." 

Unfortunately, (like so many written cover letters by job seekers) the guy Machiavelli wrote The Prince for likely never read it. Though the Vatican did and they promptly banned it - which naturally meant that everyone wanted to read it. 

This is perfect example of how banning a book can backfire.

If you want a brief summary on Machiavelli, I recommend checking out The Overly Sarcastic Productions video on YouTube (click here). Their video was what actually got me interested in reading The Prince in the first place. Prior to their synopsis, my only knowledge of him was through pop culture and his (evil) portrayal in the Immortal Diaries of Nicolas Flamel series. 

My take on The Prince was that I needed to know more Italian pre-renaissance history to understand what was going on and that Machiavelli could be a sarcastic realist to the extreme.

Now, this was my take on the job application that would end of up in the garbage bin. Other people have read The Prince and taken it quite literally or as a way to navigate the worst of humanity.

Stacy Vanek Smith, a reporter from NPR, had her own take on The Prince. One that heavily leaned on the idea that Machiavelli was a realist who genuinely understood how good and bad people can be. She recently released her book: Machiavelli for Women: Defend your Worth, Grow your Ambition, and Win the Workplace. It's a modern take on Machiavelli, adapted for the work place. Princes are now bosses and co-workers fighting for a spot beyond middle management. 

Overall, I thought the book was good for workplace advice, but lacked enough Machiavelli to satisfy me. However, I will concede that she found a lot of great parallels between Machiavelli's observations on princes and the work place. When she incorporated Machiavelli in her analysis and advice, I thought it was spot on.

It also helped me revaluate some of my reading of The Prince. 

I admit that 15th and 16th century Italian history is not something I am an expert in. I know the great artistic masters like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Rafael (the guys the Teenage Ninja Turtles are named for). I am also aware that Italy was a mishmash of city states that wouldn't be united for at least another few centuries. Oh, and Pope Alexander VI had kids - one of which, Cesare Borgia, is heavily referenced in The Prince because he conquered the Republic of San Marino in 1503. Popes aren't supposed to have kids and their family dynamic was super messed up.

Smith's book added even more historical context around the Italian political climate of 15th and 16th centuries that Machiavelli lived through. Machiavelli had to be a realist when your entire life could be flipped in an instant. Italian republics rose and fell at the same rate Italian Princes did - often and with little stability. He wanted what was best for his home, Florence.

Machiavelli wasn't evil. He was a smart man hoping to do right by his home. In some ways he succeeded. People still read The Prince - though it is often taken out of context.

Smith's book shows that not all conquerors are found on the battlefield. I think she succeeded in writing a modern workplace take on The Prince and has a great understanding of Machiavelli. There are many things we want in this work, but we can't have any of them without taking a hard look at reality.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Welcome to Social Art Time

It seems the best way for me to branch out of my bubble and make new friends, is to use the website Meetup.com. For those of you unfamiliar with the site (and, no, this is not an ad - no one pays me to write blog posts), it’s a place for people to find groups filled with people that have a similar interest. I started using the website in New Jersey - which is how I found a hiking group and my writers group.

Now that the pandemic appears to be winding down, I feel more comfortable meeting new people who share my interests. Last summer, I joined a group that does a lot of hikes and walks in my area. It was outside and there was less stress about masks. Since it’s currently winter, they’ve gone on hiatus until it starts warming up again.

However, I’ve been getting bored spending most of my time at home and somewhat socially isolated. Zoom is a great way for me to still interact with my friends I no longer live close to, but it doesn’t get me out of the house. I needed a new location with other humans.

Queue me finding an art group.

I mean I am an artist no?

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this group. The original location was a local coffee shop, but the RSVPs grew too large for the space and the organizers changed the locations to the local library. It was a really nice space that had enough room for all the people who came (more than 30). Some people had sketchbook, others watercolor paints, and a few borrowed a pencil and paper from their neighbors. Most people had their phone out looking at references to help them draw. 

I had my tablet and stylus - working on some digital blackout poetry (which I’m not sure what to do with yet). 

An example of my blackout poetry that is not digital.

Part of the time I was at the table, I was lost in my drawing. Completely absorbed. Conversation would go on around me and I didn’t feel a need to engage with anyone. There was no pressure.

Other times I would jump in with the conversation. No one shut down my opinion or said that my art wasn’t “real art”. It was fun and easy going.

A few people would get up and wander around, looking at what everyone was working on. I never stood up to walk around (unusual for me as I love pacing and moving). I didn’t mind when someone looked over my shoulder. I didn’t feel judged. It was more like being in a gallery with someone looking at a masterpiece while it was being created.

Granted I can’t speak for the other people there, but I didn’t hear anyone raise an objection.

Actually, most of the artists were excited to share what they were working on (myself included). There was a general sense of fun. A few people said they came because they wanted to get back into drawing, or sketching, or painting.

The time I spent with the art group was relaxing, stress free, and a positive social interaction. I was surprised by how quickly timed passed.

I probably will join the group again. One of the organizers wants to have outdoor art events and possibly organize trips to the museums in DC. I like the casual nature of this group and hope I make some fun new friends.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y’all like hearing from me.

Welcome to a Book of Many References

 No, I'm not talking about Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentleman (the graphic novels not the movie).

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned I was reading a book called Persephone's Station by Stina Leicht. I recently finished it with a 5 star (it was actually 4.5 stars, but I rounded up since you can't leave a 0.5 on GoodReads) rating. 

I wont this book from a GoodReads giveaway and was very excited to check out the slightly over 500 page novel that is described as a mash up of Casablanca meetings The Magnificent Seven - though I would say that that reviewer missed the more obvious Seven Samurai comparison. 

It also takes place in space.

The first thing I want to note about this novel is that it is very female and very queer. All of the main characters are either women or non-binary. There are several prominent lesbian or bisexual characters and the main character lives next to a gay couple. There is representation for everyone in this story.

And yes, the story is very racial diverse as well.

The main plot revolves around three point of view characters. 

The first is Rosie, a non-binary character who owns Monk's Bar and may or may not be the head of a mafia. There's a lot more to Rosie than first meets the eye. For starters, they've been helping to hide a highly advanced civilization on the colonized world they live on. They are basically the Rick character from Casablanca.

Next, is Angel. An ex-marine with a past. She can't return home, so she's found a place for herself working for Rosie. Her team is quickly framed for the assassination of a high ranking corporate vice president and need to take a dangerous job while laying low. Angel and her crew are the Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai piece of this story. She even has a ship called Kurosawa (the director of Seven Samurai). 

Finally, we have Kennedy Liu. She's a highly advance Artificial Intelligence (AI) that's been programed to have empathy and has a human body. This isn't a spoiler, we learn this right off the bat. She also has AI sisters who don't have a body, but she can "talk to" when connected to their world's version of the Internet. I found her to be the least interesting of the three main characters and wasn't sure of her point to the plot until the very end.

There's also a point of view chapter with a person named Paulie - one of the native sentient people known as the Emissaries hiding on the planet the majority of the story takes place on. She's more of a secondary character and is the opening point of view chapter.

Though not a point of view character, but still important is our antagonist/villain, Vissia. Vissia is behind the assassination Angel's team is blamed for, the person trying to wipe out the Emissaries, and the person behind the murder of Kennedy Liu's creator (I'm going to also not count this as a spoiler because its a given early in the story). She also has a connection to Rosie - who is actively working to stop Vissia's hostile take over.

All in all - Vissia is bad news.

The story kick's off when Angel's team is hired by Rosie to assassinate the head of another crime family. The back and forth here is reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes and Star Wars with the former being directly called out in text (and an appearance by someone called Mrs. Hudson). Angel's team pull off the assassination, but uh oh, someone else was also killed during the deed. Rosie takes the opportunity to hire Angel and team to protect the Emissaries before Vissia shows up with a squad of mercenaries to destroy one of their cities (Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven references away). Meanwhile, Rosie takes the opportunity to end Vissia's plans.

Oh, and Kennedy Liu is looking for another sentient AI system and gets mixed up in the excitement. 

It's not that complicated of a plot with each event flowing into the next in a way that makes sense in-universe. I found it a thrilling read - though slow early on. The world building is fantastic and I really want to read more stories from it. There's a lot of background stuff (and a few characters) I haven't touched on that I want to have information on. 

What got me to knock off that half a point though was the ending. It felt a little rushed and though it made sense in-universe, seemed anti-climatic - almost an afterthought compared to the middle part of the story. There seemed to be more focus on the references rather than neatly tying the plot together in a way that feels satisfying.

This is very much a space opera fantasy. I do recommend it and hope to read more from the author. It's got great representation and world building. There's a lot of fun references and Easter eggs if you're looking for them, but they can be distracting in the early part of the book. And the final third of the book isn't nearly as good as it's setup. 

If you pick up a copy, let me know what you think.  

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.