High Towers and Miracle Mops

Earlier in the week, I finished listening to From a High Tower, by Mercedes Lackey - her tenth Elemental Masters book.  I shall start by saying that I really enjoyed it - it was fun, exciting, had good characters and an interesting setting.  This series does feel a bit 'paint by numbers' now, though - there wasn't anything particularly original in it, and it felt a bit episodic.  The main antagonist was only in it at the very beginning and then for the climax at the very end, and all the stuff in the middle was very fluffy and amusing, but structurally didn't really hold the plot together.  Still, I like the world, and there was a lot of good background detail here, which made it feel well realised.  I don't expect these books to be high art, but they do make good commute listening.


Today, I finally got around to watching Joy.  I really enjoyed the other films involving these people (Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle) so I was quite excited about this one.  But then the reviews weren't great and I wasn't overly motivated to head to the cinema to see it.  I wasn't keen on the first half at all - the tone was very odd and it didn't feel like a real story.  But once Bradley Cooper arrived (and not *just* because he arrived!), it settled down into more what I had been expecting, and the second half was pretty good.  I don't think it's going to set the world on fire, but it was an interesting story, with good performances.