Reviews

"Thrice Upon a Time"

(Spoiler-Free) Synopsis: Shinji, Asuka, and Rei are welcomed into a sleepy little village of survivors from the Near Third Impact, an event Shinji inadvertently caused. Having failed to redeem himself for his mistake, Shinji is at first unresponsive to the kindness given to him. But soon after settling in, it becomes clear that the world needs him once more in the fight between WILLE and Nerv, a fight to decide the outcome of the human race itself. Will the machinations of Gendo Ikari come to fruition? Will the Instrumentality Project be a success, or will it be stopped before it starts? It's the final showdown and the final Evangelions are prepped for action!

SPOILER-FREE SYNOPSIS: It's Universal Century 105, 12 years after Char's Rebellion. The Federation continues to devour resources on the Earth, but are opposed by a group called Mafty that assassinates Federation leaders. Their leader is Mafty Navue Erin, who unbeknownst to most is really Hathaway Noa, the son of Federal Forces hero Bright Noa. After him is the Federal Force's Circe unit, led by Kenneth Sleg, a determined and tenacious officer dedicated to stomping out Mafty and its influence. Hathway must find a way to cloak his activities as he seeks to change the world.

To wrap up 2018 I wanted to share a something I've been working on over the past year, my list of top Sci-Fi novels (slash series where applicable).

First off, let me state that this list is a terrible, awful, no good, bad idea. No matter what order I would put these in there will always be someone who disagrees. That's totally okay, there are parts of this list that I may disagree with myself depending what lenses I'm looking through. There's so much going on in the science fiction genre that trying to compare and sort by best is like trying to compare apples and oranges. How do you compare ground breaking works that introduced new concepts well ahead of any real world implementation against enjoyable, albeit unimaginative, military sci-fi serials? What about series with four plus novels that dip and rise in quality depending on what's going on? Or even works elevated beyond written form by fantastic audio book narration? The short answer is you can't, not realistically at least.

SPOILER-FREE SYNOPSIS: In the year 2045, sustainable warfare has made an even wider gap between the haves and the have-nots in certain areas of the world. Motoko Kusanagi, Batou, and other former Section 9 members are now GHOST, a PMC that cleans up messes in the U.S., but have found themselves entangled in a bigger plot. So-called "post-humans" threaten the world order, and Section 9 is revived in Japan, at the behest of the newest Prime Minister. But is the Prime Minister just a puppet for the American government? And is there more to these post-humans than just superhuman monsters? The gang's all back to brain dive into a brand new series by Kenji Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki!

Episode 24, "My Friend"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Peace has returned to the Free Planets Alliance. However, Yang Wen-li has his doubts as to the nation he's saved, and its leader, Job Trunicht. Yang is surprised when he hears Imperial Admiral Merkatz has defected, and plans to take him at his word. Trunicht and his inner circle discuss what to do with a reluctant Yang, but he has no fear and leaves it be for the moment. Reinhard, now recognized as a duke, and de facto in charge of the Empire, visits Siegfried Kircheis' grave on Odin, while Yang visits the graves of Jean-Robert Lapp and Jessica Edwards on  Heinessen. But meanwhile, on Earth, the cult of Terra waits to see if their machinations pay off.

Episode 23, "Farewell to the Days of Old"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Reinhard is presented with the war prisoners at Geiersburg. Farenheit is brought into his fold. Ansbach makes an attempt on Reinhard's life, but misses, and fatally injures Kircheis in the struggle, then commits suicide. Reinhard is devestated by the loss of his dear friend, seeing and talking to nobody for several days. Oberstein contacts Annerose in an attempt to stir his superior from his seclusion, which works. Meanwhile, Minister of State, Lichtenlade, is taken into custody to prevent his schemes into stopping Reinhard's rise to power.

Episode 22, "The Fall of Goldenbaum"

*****SPOILERS*****

Episode 21, "Victory For Who's Sake?"

*****SPOILERS*****

Episode 20, "Tragedy"

*****SPOILERS*****

Episode 19, "The Battle of the Doria Starzone"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis:  After taking control of the rebel-controlled planet Shamploo, the Yang Fleet engages the 11th Fleet in the Doria Starzone. Yang repeatedly requests their surrender, but Admiral Legrange is stubborn, and their fleet is eventually all but wiped out. Legrange shoots himself instead of surrendering and the battle is over. Yang accepts National Salvation Council spy Bagdash's genuine offer to work for him now that the 11th Fleet is defeated, but Julian doesn't trust him. On Heinessen, Jessica Edwards organizes a massive protest against the coup which is violently put down by the military.