Liberty and Culture Vol. 25, No. 1 Fall 2006 Five for frightening Inside Prometheus: Prometheus Award The Keep: The Graphic Novel By F. Paul Wilson, Art by Matthew Smith winners’ remarks; IDW, 2005/2006, Issues 1-5, $3.99 ea; WorldCon Report; Trade paperback $19.99 Reviews of fiction by Reviewed by Anders Monsen Gary Bennett, Keith Brooke, David Louis Edelman, The fourth incarnation of F. Paul Wilson’s 1980 horror Naomi Novik, novel, The Keep, appeared in five comic book format in- Ian MacDonald, stallments before being bound into trade paperback edition Chris Roberson; in August, 2006. Counting the novel, the other two ways you David Lloyd’s Kickback; can experience the story is through a feature film (VHS) and Movie review: a board game, although Wilson himself has disparaged the V for Vendetta film version of his novel, and labored for years to bring a new and truer version to the screen. What happens when Wilson writes his own visual script and finds an artist capable and willing to remain loyal to novel, yet also felt deliberately over-stylized. With The Keep: the story? First, to reduce a 332-page novel packed with The Graphic Novel, the roles are almost reversed; the stark ideas about power and mankind’s self-inflicted horrors sketches illuminate the pain of the characters (especially mixed with alien designs upon humanity into 110 pages Glaeken and Magda’s father), and the depth of Rasalom’s of sketches and brief dialog requires some sacrifices. A evil to a much greater degree than the novel. The Nazis, graphic novel cannot always convey the same frisson and on the other hand, seem almost like caricatures; an evil story as a cinematic presentation. Light, color, shading, man, the brutes, and the resigned yet honorable soldier. music, character nuances and depth are unique to film. As evidenced from the cover art reprinted above, Matthew Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s recent adaptation Smith’s artwork stands out as dark and brooding. The in- of Sin City stuck closely to the artist’s rendering of the f original. The movie transcended the pages of the graphic —Continued on page 10 Prometheus Volume 25, Number 1, 2006 Remember, remember, the story to render V for Vendetta take Evey with him. She awakens in V’s The newsletter of the Directed by James McTeigue strange world, and finds herself drawn Libertarian Futurist Society Starring Natalie Portman, Hugo to him yet also repulsed by his violence. Weaving, Stephen Rea; When she assists him in killing a bishop, Editor Warner, July 2006 (DVD) she tries to flee and is instead captured Anders Monsen Reviewed by David Wayland and tortured. Evey’s mental journey as a result of this torture contains also the Contributors In a recent interview on Forbidden Fred Curtis Moulton best scenes in the movie, as she reads William H. Stoddard Planet’s web site, David Lloyd, co-creator the tale of Valerie, a victim of the state’s Kent Van Cleave of the graphic novel V for Vendetta, imprisonment and torture for her simple David Wayland remarked generously that the people crime of being a lesbian. behind the movie version had the pre- In the interrogation and following rogative to make any changes they liked scenes Portman shows her strongest mo- as they had bought the film rights. Judging ments as an actor. It’s a sad testament to the movie on its own, independent from the intellectual poverty of cinema and Letters and Submissions: the original source, falls into the realm of cinematic coverage in the press that more Anders Monsen damn near impossible, and probably no attention focused on Portman’s shaving 501 Abiso Ave single critical review (especially those who her head for this scene than the ideas San Antonio, TX 78209 favorably considered the political aspects) behind the movie. Those ideas also fail [email protected] eluded that gauntlet. The moment the to shine through, for movies are not so producers and actors got up on stage in much about ideas as they are about visual Subscriptions & Advertisements Berlin and announced the movie would Libertarian Futurist Society stimulation and display. 650 Castro St. Suite 120-433 stick close to the key points of the book, In those terms, V for Vendetta de- Mountain View, CA 94041 attention focused on this elusive task. Few livers action and intensity. Despite one [email protected] movies remain faithful to the books on minor Matrix moment near the end, which they are based; perhaps this is an with spinning knives and slo-mo effects, LFS Online: impossibility. And yet, to give the movie the sight of the mask on the screen is http://www.lfs.org its proper due, I intend in this review to quite powerful. Hugo Weaving performs focus solely on the cinematic aspects of superbly as the man behind the mask. His Basic Membership: $25/yr. ($30 int'l) V for Vendetta, and whether it succeeds face never revealed, he still manages to Full Membership: $50/yr. or fails on those merits. invoke the right emotions and sympathy Sponsors: $100/yr. The movie opens as Evey Hammond, for V using intonation, perfectly timed Benefactors: $200/yr. played by Natalie Portman, a young pro- Subscriptions: $20/yr. ($25 int'l) tilts of his head, clothing and other props, All memberships include one-year fessional working in a menial position at and other body language. subscriptions to Prometheus. a TV station, prepares apprehensively for While the film failed to supply the same a night out. Evey exists in a grim world, emotional intensity than say, Serenity, Classified ads: 50 cents/word, 10 per- with curfews, jackbooted police thugs it’s an enjoyable action movie with a few cent off for multiple insertions. Display who haul people off to jail or worse, and barbs at totalitarian states thrown in for ad rates available. All checks payable to when she’s confronted out after curfew, effect. Don’t watch it expecting to see the the Libertarian Futurist Society she is almost raped by policemen. Enter graphic novel on the screen. Rather, this stage left an alliterative man in a mask, is an entertaining and very watchable who casually dispenses with her assail- movie based on that book. Prometheus © 2006 the Libertarian Fu- ants, and then invites her to watch with turist Society. The LFS retains a non- him as a significant government building exclusive license to republish accepted explodes while he claims credit. Errata articles on its Web site; all other rights V takes over a TV station to broad- revert to the contributor. Letters and cast his message to the public, hinting The Summer 2006 issue of reviews are welcome. Bylined articles at something big one year away, on the Prometheus listed the version are strictly the opinion of the writer and 5th of November. As the police arrive do not necessarily reflect the opinion number as Vol. 24, No. 3. The of the LFS members. to arrest Evey, whom they tracked from the earlier incident, they surprise V. In actual version number for that the subsequent melee V is forced to issue is Vol. 24, No. 4. Page 2 Volume 25, Number 1, 2006 Prometheus BOOK REVIEWS Novik’s handling of the period details seems generally sound, His Majesty’s Dragon, Throne of Jade, though she has a few slips, such as having a British savant’s and Black Powder War treatise on dragons measure their body mass in metric tons By Naomi Novik (Del Rey, 2006) (a French innovation that the British didn’t adopt until much Reviewed by William H. Stoddard later) or transliterating a Chinese prince’s name in the pinyin system worked out by scholars in the 20th century. More im- A lot of science fiction has looked back to the fleets of the portantly, much of her narrative has the spirit of the era. One Napoleonic era for inspiration. “Horatio Hornblower in space” of the key points in a subplot in the first volume, for example, themes have appeared in series from classic Star Trek to Da- is Captain Laurence’s realizing that his own perception of the vid Weber’s Honor Harrington novels. In these three books, moral significance of another character’s actions was in error, Naomi Novik expresses the same interest in a different way: and that by acting on that perception he has put himself in a her fantastic premise is not interstellar travel, but the existence false position that he must correct—this is exactly the sort of of dragons, while her setting is the actual Napoleonic era. She plot that Jane Austen’s novels, written and set in that period, shows us a world where dragons have fought in human wars often presented. since the First Crusade, and in the novels’ historical present Over the course of the novels, a larger theme comes into are now fighting on both sides in the Napoleonic Wars. Her view: the ethics and politics of the relationship between hu- human hero, Captain William Laurence, and his dragon, mans and dragons. The British and other Europeans treat Temeraire, serve in Great Britain’s Aerial Corps, keeping the dragons as valuable but dangerous animals, capable of speech British Empire safe from the French. but not of reason or self-awareness, and needing to be kept Dragons usually mark a work as fantasy, but the spirit in under control. During the second volume, Captain Laurence which Novik approaches them is often closer to science fic- encounters the very different customs of the Chinese Empire, tion.