Category Archives: article
Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 9 of 10: Deathly Hallows 2
This soundtrack is more about cycles than themes, though — I counted at least three of them. I approve of that style of orchestration — giving the major climactic sequence of the film its own series of specific themes and … Continue reading
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged alexandre desplat, deathly hallows, harry potter, james horner, soundtrack, star trek
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Book Review: “H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education” by Mark Walden
So far, I’ve given H.I.V.E. a lot of grief over its use of genre conventions, but I hope I’ve done it good-naturedly enough to keep you from being put off the book. I mean, it’s YA; it’s sort of YA’s … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, nonfiction, review, superhero, writing, ya
Tagged h.i.v.e., harry potter, higher institute of villainous education, mark walden, percy jackson, review, starfleet academy, super-villain, the magicians, trope, ya
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Soundproof #12 : Escape Pod
My review of Lev Grossman’s “The Magician King” has been reprinted in this month’s Soundproof Escape Pod. Soundproof #12 : Escape Pod
Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 8 of 10: Deathly Hallows 1
Overall I was very pleased with Desplat’s soundtrack for the first half of Deathly Hallows. I was leery at first, but the studio really came through with a good choice for the film’s score, and I was quite looking forward … Continue reading
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged alexandre desplat, deathly hallows, harry potter, nobuo uematsu, review, soundtrack
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Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 7 of 10: The Half-Blood Prince
Overall, I think the Half-Blood Prince soundtrack was by far the better of Hooper’s two outings into the Potterverse. While I didn’t like the film almost at all — I’d put Deathly Hallows 1 at the bottom of the list, … Continue reading
Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 6 of 10: The Order of the Phoenix
Overall, I think Nicholas Hooper is a talented composer, and I found several tracks I was able to enjoy as singular pieces of music. However, I thought the soundtrack of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was a … Continue reading
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged harry potter, nicholas hooper, order of the phoenix, professor umbridge, review, soundtrack
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Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 5 of 10: The Goblet of Fire
Doyle’s strength with this soundtrack was to create a series of cues and themes — the “Family Guy” theme, the music and mood he used for the Voldemort sequences, the waltzes and love themes — that feels, for the first … Continue reading
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged familiy guy, goblet of fire, harry potter, patrick doyle, review, soundtrack, weird sisters
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Book Review: “The Magician King” by Lev Grossman
I enjoyed reading the book, and there were a lot of clever and funny things to keep me interested until I got to the next plot point. And, unlike the first book, The Magician King clearly sets up another sequel. … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged lev grossman, review, the magician king, the magicians, trope
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Soundproof #11 : Escape Pod
My review of Philippa Ballantine’s “Spectyr” was reprinted in this month’s Soundproof Escape Pod. Soundproof #11 : Escape Pod
Book Review: Fade to Black by Josh Pryor
I imagine that it can be difficult to sell big-idea hard-science-fiction books. How do you elevator-pitch a story about the virus that may have been the catalyst to turn humanity from people living in caves to the society we know … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, horror, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged antarctica, fade to black, josh pryor, review
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Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 4 of 10: The Prisoner of Azkaban
While the Prisoner of Azkaban soundtrack isn’t my overall favorite of the entire series, I definitely mark it as my favorite of the John Williams scores. I think it was Prisoner that really showed us how the music of Harry … Continue reading
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged harry potter, john williams, prisoner of azkaban, review, soundtrack, the inner light
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Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 3 of 10: The Chamber of Secrets
While Chamber is a darker film, as noted before, the soundtrack is still a bit too juvenile to really pass on the feeling of peril. Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 3 of 10: The Chamber … Continue reading
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged chamber of secrets, harry potter, john williams, review, soundtrack, william ross
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Music and Magic: the Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective, Part 2 of 10: The Sorcerer’s Stone
From the article: Overall, I think that the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone soundtrack will forever live on in our hearts because it gave us “Hedwig’s Theme”. However, in terms of soundtracks, I’d say it’s only average. A new … Continue reading
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged harry potter, hedwig's theme, john williams, music, review, sorcerer's tone, soundtrack
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Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 1 of 10: Introduction
While listening to the Deathly Hallows Part 2 soundtrack, I thought that it might be time to take a look back at the adventure of Harry Potter’s cinematic journey by listening to the soundtracks independent of the films. I pitched … Continue reading
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged deathly hallows, harry potter, john williams, music, review, soundtrack
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Book Review: “Spectyr” by Philippa Ballantine
As I said in my review of Geist, Philippa Ballantine’s writing is well-paced, not overly laden with exposition (a major flaw in several fantasy novels I’ve read), and tends to leave tropes for readers to trip over. Book Review: “Spectyr” … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged fantasy, geist, philippa ballantine, review, spectyr, trope
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Soundproof #10 : Escape Pod
My review of Lavie Tidhar’s “Osama” was reprinted in this month’s Soundproof Escape Pod. Soundproof #10 : Escape Pod
Book Review: “Osama” by Lavie Tidhar
It’s been about ten years since Al Qaeda operatives flew jets into three U.S. buildings (and were thwarted before they could hit a fourth). In that time we’ve all suffered the effects, which is to say: a couple of wars, … Continue reading
Posted in alternate history, book, escape pod, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged lavie tidhar, osama, review
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The Medzilla Report for July 2011
The first half of 2011 closed out with several small layoffs and a slight reduction in new jobs created in health care, and although only one major domestic job cut was announced in June, there was plenty of troubling employment … Continue reading
Book Review: “Pirates” by Nobilis Reed
Nobilis Reed is a good writer — he really gets into his characters’ heads, which is all the more difficult when the story is told via first-person-limited perspective. I just felt that the first 50-60 percent of the book didn’t … Continue reading
Posted in book, erotica, escape pod, nonfiction, review, sci-fi, writing
Tagged adult, deep space nine, erotica, nobilis reed, pirates, review, sci-fi, scouts
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Soundproof #9
My review of China Mieville’s “Embassytown” has been reprinted in this month’s Soundproof Escape Pod. Soundproof #9
Josh Roseman: Writer, Voice Guy, Dad, Human 