After much debate (and some requests) I have signed up with crowdfunding service Patreon to better support future blogging efforts. You can find my Patreon page here and more information after the jump.
The Wertzone
SF&F In Print & On Screen
Saturday, 16 January 2077
Support The Wertzone on Patreon
After much debate (and some requests) I have signed up with crowdfunding service Patreon to better support future blogging efforts. You can find my Patreon page here and more information after the jump.
Sunday, 13 April 2025
RIP Jean Marsh
News has sadly broken that the British actress and producer Jean Marsh has passed away at the age of 90. She is best-known as the creator and star of the classic British TV series Upstairs, Downstairs (a rare UK show which was a big hit in the USA), and for playing the role of Doctor Who companion Sara Kingdom.
Marsh was born in Stoke Newington, London in 1934. Growing up during World War II, she showed an aptitude for acting, singing and dance, especially ballet. She attended theatre school and trained hard for an acting career, with her parents' blessing. She made her screen debut at 18 in the British TV movie The Infinite Shoeblack (1952). She made numerous appearances on British screens and stages through the 1950s before going to the United States in 1959 to star in a John Gielgud play on Broadway, a fresh take on Much Ado About Nothing. Whilst in the States she appeared in some American TV episodes, including an episode of The Twilight Zone. In 1963 she played Octavia in the Elizabeth Taylor version of Cleopatra.
In 1965 she was cast in the role of Princess Joanna, the sister of King Richard the Lionheart, in the Doctor Who serial The Crusade. She impressed the production team with her performance so much they invited her back later that year to play Sara Kingdom. Although she only appears in one story, The Daleks' Masterplan, that story (made up of twelve episodes) is the single longest Doctor Who story ever made (the 1986 season was made up of a single fourteen-episode serial, but in reality that was four separate stories presented under a single title with a linking device). Her nine-episode run was longer than that of previous companion Katarina. Sara Kingdom was an unusual companion, being a futuristic, 41st Century special forces operative introduced by killing the Doctor's ally Brett Vyon (Nicholas Courtney), having been tricked into thinking he's a traitor. The Doctor convinces Sara of his good intentions and recruits her into helping in his battle against the Daleks. In a shocking move, Sara is brutally killed in the final episode when the Daleks' "Time Destructor" is activated and ages her to death (the Doctor is caught in the blast but survives due to his much greater lifespan, though fanon would later suggest it contributed to his first regeneration the following season).
As one of only three companions in the show's history to be definitively killed off, Sara would occasionally be mentioned in later stories, even in the comeback era, as an example of when the Doctor gets things wrong.
In 1989 she returned to Doctor Who to play the role of the evil "sorceress" Morgaine; she was reunited with Nicholas Courtney, now playing his traditional Doctor Who role of Brigadier Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart of UNIT. Courtney greeted her by saying, "We've both been in Doctor Who before and you killed me!" Marsh later had a cameo on the show's 50th anniversary special An Adventure in Space and Time about the real-life genesis of the show.
In 1970-71 Marsh worked with fellow actress Eileen Atkins on creating a new TV project, with the idea of focusing on the lives of a posh family in a period drama and their lower-class servants. Upstairs, Downstairs launched in 1971 and was an immediate, huge hit. The show ran for five seasons and 68 episodes. It aired in the USA as part of the PBS Masterpiece Theatre slot and became a critical and commercial success, a huge rarity for a UK show. The show won eight Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe, as well as two BAFTAs and a Peabody. Marsh created and produced the show, and also starred as Rose Buck, the head maid of the house.
In 2010 the show was relaunched as a sequel and ran for two seasons and nine episodes, with Marsh reprising her role. However, the show was overshadowed by the launch of Downton Abbey on an opposing channel, which went on to be a much bigger success with a very similar premise. Marsh reflected on the situation: "It might be a coincidence, and I might be the Queen of Belgium!" Marsh had previously worked with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellows on Julian Fellows Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder.
In 1991 she co-created the television series The House of Eliott, about fashion designers in the 1920s. It was a big success for the BBC, running for three seasons and 34 episodes, though it is probably more fondly remembered for the long-running French & Saunders comedy skit mocking the show, House of Idiot (in the final instalment, the entire cast turns up and berate the pair for their irreverence). Marsh created the show and contributed ideas, but declined to appear.
Marsh had numerous other roles of interest; her other primary genre contribution was probably playing Queen Bavmorda, the main villain of the 1988 movie Willow. She briefly reprised her role in the 2022 TV sequel series. She also played the role of Mombi in Return to Oz (1985), as well appearing in Jane Eyre (1970) and The Eagle Has Landed (1976). Her TV roles were vastly more numerous, appearing in both British and American shows including Danger Man, The Saint, I Spy, Adam Adamant Lives!, Department S, UFO, The Persuaders!, The Waltons, Hawaii Five-O, The Love Boat, Murder She Wrote, The Tomorrow People, Holby City and Sense & Sensibility.
Jean Marsh had a minor stroke in 2011, which she recovered quickly from but did limit the roles she chose to take on. Towards the end of her life she was diagnosed with dementia. She passed away at her home in London.
Jean Marsh was an extremely-respected British actress and producer. Her performances were always memorable and powerful, and co-creating two hit TV shows is a very impressive achievement, not to mention "blatantly inspiring" one of the biggest TV shows of all time. She will be missed.
Saturday, 12 April 2025
Mighty board game series COMMAND & COLORS licences STAR WARS
Iconic fantasy cartographer Karen Wynn Fonstad's maps are looking for a new home.
NO LIFE FORSAKEN, the new MALAZAN novel from Steven Erikson, gets cover and release date
A goddess awakens to a new world, only to find that some things never change.Amidst the ashes of a failed rebellion in Seven Cities, new embers are flaring to life.There are furrowed brows at the beleaguered Malazan Legion headquarters in G’danisban for it would appear that yet another bloody clash with the revived cult of the Apocalyptic is coming to a head.Seeking to crush the uprising before it ignites the entire subcontinent, Fist Arenfall has only a few dozen squads of marines at his disposal, and many of those are already dispersed - endeavouring to stamp out multiple brush-fires of dissent. But his soldiers are exhausted, worn down by the grind of a simmering insurrection and the last thing Arenfall needs is the arrival of the new Adjunct, fresh from the capital and the Emperor's side.The man's mission may be to lend support to Arenfall’s efforts . . . or stick a knife in his back. 'Twas ever thus, of course. That a popular commander should inevitably be seen as a threat to the Emperor - such is the fatal nature of imperial Malazan politics.And what of the gods? Well, as recent history has proved, their solution to any mortal mess is to make it even messier. In other words, it's just another tumultuous day in the chequered history of the Malazan Empire.
Wednesday, 9 April 2025
First trailer for MURDERBOT adaptation released
Sunday, 6 April 2025
Atomfall
Sunday, 30 March 2025
Tactical Breach Wizards
A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
Tiffany Aching has begun her apprenticeship as a witch, working for Miss Tick, who has one soul but two bodies. After a dull start to her work, they are accosted by a hiver, a formless spirit which can possess living bodies, driving them to acts of malice. Tiffany has to fight for her body and soul, but fortunately has a group of surprisingly capable allies: the diminutive, oft-drunk Nac Mac Feegle, and the formidably competent Granny Weatherwax.
A Hat Full of Sky is the thirty-second Discworld novel and the second (of an eventual five) to focus on the character of Tiffany Aching. Originally published in 2004, Terry Pratchett had decided to write a series of Discworld books aimed at younger readers. Amusingly, due to Pratchett's utter refusal to talk down to children, he doesn't entirely seem to know how to do this, so has knocked off the occasional double entendre from his writing and shaved off about 100 pages from his average page count but otherwise carried on as normal.
As a result, A Hat Full of Sky feels like vintage Pratchett, just more focused (no bad thing; some Discworld books tend to circle the drain a few times before finding their point, which is not the case here). The cast is much smaller than normal, the scope more intimate, bordering on the claustrophobic. Given the nature of the story is very internal, this feels appropriate.
The main story, ostensibly, is about Tiffany getting possessed and "turned bad," although Pratchett seems to be ahead on the curve on how this could have been tedious. Tiffany only spends a small amount of time possessed by the hiver, with most of the book revolving around events before and after. Pratchett is often less interested in the most obvious route to humour or action, and more interested in causes and results. Pratchett is also a very human writer, so here his focus is more on the impact caused by events on Tiffany's character and even feeling empathy for the hiver, the "monster" of the story.
That's not to say the book isn't funny. Pratchett's skill at wordplay and minor-but-amusing worldbuilding details (some of them drawing on real-life folklore, as the afterword attests) remains undimmed. He also spends a bit more time making the Nac Mac Feegle a deeper and more interesting culture. Them showing up drunk, head-butting a badger and yelling "crivens!" can only get you so far, so here a more thorough exploration of Rob Anybody's character and the motivations of his new queen - who finds the tribe's allegiance to Tiffany bemusing - adds more depth to a group previously only known for knockabout comedy value.
Pratchett also deploys Granny Weatherwax with restraint, though she has more page-time than in The Wee Free Men. One of Discworld's most iconic, formidable and impressive protagonists, it would be easy for Granny to take over the narrative and deal with Tiffany's problems for her in five minutes, so Pratchett is good at using her tactically during the book's finale, so as not to outshine our actual protagonist. Tiffany herself develops nicely here, the traditional "why am I not being taught actual magic on Day One of learning to be a witch?" storyline being quickly displaced by a more thoughtful, intelligent examination of responsibility, empathy and consequences.
A Hat Full of Sky (****) is Pratchett at his most focused and disciplined here, delivering a smart, tight story. It's not the most expansive Discworld story and some may prefer the more widescreen/deranged antics of, say, the City Watch in Ankh-Morpork, but it's a very solid read.