Category: Reviews

Peter Moffat is the creator of the BBC series SILK, which I thoroughly enojyed. So much so, in fact, that I went looking for his other work on CRIMINAL JUSTICE. I had to start with series two, as it was all I could find in the shops, and I now have series one on order.

Series two is a compelling journey through the UK penal system, as we follow Juliet Miller (played by Maxine Peake) once she is convicted of killing her husband, the lauded barrister, Joe Miller (Mathew Macfadyen). Juliet had been the victim of extreme psychological abuse. However, her silence and composed manner is interpreted as calculated cold-heartedness, and people in the legal system soon begin to take sides. Juliet’s soliciter, Jacki Woolf (Sophie Okonedo), recognises the signs of the abuse straight away, and devotes herself to trying to get Juliet off her murder charge. But others are just as keen to see her locked away forever.

Moffat is extremely adept at placing his characters in idealogically difficult situations. And not just the protagonists! Many of the secondary characters face fascinating dilemmas that spin out of the central conflict. The relationship between Juliet’s solicitor and barrister (both women), the relationship between the two Detective Inspectors (who are philosopically opposed)  and the Detective Sergeant (who is married to one of them) on the case, are as interesting and taut as the whole central question of what will happen to Juliet? Another layer is the deep exploration of a mother’s bond with her child, as Juliet gives birth in prison, while dealing with the fact her thirteen year old daughter now hates her.

Though the story moves slowly, the eventual breakdown of Juliet’s barriers so that she finally is able to tell her side of the story is both painful and heartwrenching. Maxine Peake is a tour de force in the role, and she is supported by some highly skilled actors (MacFadyen, Okonedo, and a brilliant job by Alice Sykes as Juliet’s teenage daughter).

If you’re in the mood for action and thrills, this is not for you, but if you want to be engrossed and exposed to the harsh hand life can deal – then pick up the DVD. I recommend it.

Below is an interview with Peter Moffat, which is worth watching if you want some insight into how a fine storyteller thinks. And for those of you who have enjoyed SILK, you will recognise certain characters that resonate between it and Criminal Justice – particularly the character of SAUL the law clerk who is reincarnated as Billy Lamb.

Reviewed by Jamie Marriage

It’s a challenge to compress action and story into short fiction; but Downside Girls by Jaine Fenn has both in spades.

A collection of four stories, Downside Girls carries the narrative of four separate female protagonists living very different lives that are somehow intertwined by the Angels that soar above them all. Not Angels in the traditional sense – there are no feathered wings to be found, nor are they embodiments of peace.  In Fenn’s Cyberpunk dystopia, Angels are young women enhanced with lethal weaponry used as a form of corruption control overseen by the citizens of the City for removing public figures when the public has had enough of their abuse.

The first three tales are heavily linked in their content and atmosphere. Each is concerned with the actions of the Angels and their relationship to the city, either primarily in the case of the Collateral Damage, or in a secondary capacity as with Death on Elsewhere Street and Angel Dust. Violence pervades these initial tales, each drop of blood spilt, a vital scratch of the pen in making this world whole. The other element that binds these first three pieces together is the feeling of survival; the characters are real in their emotions  and their relationship to the world around them. This new Earth is as dangerous and cunning as the old one, and as a result the fight for survival is just as vicious.

The fourth tale is very different from the rest; which is odd in itself because it takes place in the same world, with the same
overall influences, but at the same time inhabits a completely different emotional state.

This fourth piece, The Three Temptations of Larnia Mier, is a haunting gaze into the mind of a woman placing faith above all aspects of a world that has already passed her by, even if that means giving up the one thing that she treasures.

Downside Girls is a great little book that can be read straight through in a couple of hours, or paced over one tale at a time. Whichever way it’s tackled, Fenn has produced a collection well worth picking up.

BIO:

Jaine Fenn is a British science fiction author. Fenn studied Linguistics and Astronomy at the University of Hertfordshire, where she became the president of PSiFA from 1984-1985.

Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Alice in Wonderland #1 Released January 25th Artwork by Artgerm, Eric Basaldua and Nei Ruffino.  32 pages

Paperback: 168 pages
Publisher: Zenescope (January 22, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1937068668

Decades ago, a girl named Alice was sacrificed into the horror-filled realm of Wonderland but her terrifying and awe-inspiring experiences there have been shrouded in mystery. The one thing known is that her time spent in a world full of insanity left her a broken adult. However, her courageous will to survive is what ultimately saved humanity. Now the story of Alice’s visit into Wonderland is fully revealed and the truth of the terror will be told in full! From Raven Gregory, Ralph Tedesco and Joe Brusha, the same minds behind Grimm Fairy Tales and Return To Wonderland comes the newest series that Zenescope fans have been waiting for. What every Zenescope fan has been waiting for is finally here! Follow Zenescope back down the rabbit hole and find a world of madness like you have never seen before!

In a dark twist to an already unusual story, this graphic novel tells a story of a young  Alice who is coaxed into the Real of Dreams by her grandparents. Alice has become a slave to the evil and grotesque Jabberwocky. In Vol 1 we see Alice as a young woman who with some help, escapes the Jabberwocky and has several encounters with the people/creatures of Wonderland. The Chesire Cat is chasing after her to return her to her master and Alice is stuck in a land of terror.

Throughout the story we get flashbacks of how Alice came to be in Wonderland and what is happening in the real world. As she travels through Wonderland, and encounters different people, she soon comes to realise that she has to conquer the Jabberwocky to ever really be free of him.

As with all comics, this one was a very fast paced adventure, introduced to us with a Grimm twist. There is no down-time as Alice is in a race for her life.

With full colored  pages, a more risque, adult version of Alice and horrific landscape, this comic is a view into a twisted and terrifying side of Wonderland. Most of the storytelling is done through the art work and visuals to accentuate the creep-factor of the characters and lands she travels through. (There are no fluffy white bunnies or flowers in this version!) It has a good balance between dialogue/story telling and really focuses on the artwork to reveal the  majority of the story.