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An amuse-bouche of a novella, Eboni Dunbar’s Stone & Steel follows the path of General Aaliyah as she comes to grips with the fact that her queen may not be up to the task of ruling. The general finds that Queen Odessa, who is both lover and friend may have betrayed her ideals & the trust of the city. What follows is a quick tale of revenge and redemption that quickly grows on you as it rolls along.
To be honest, it took me a second to get into this novella. The first thirty pages or so were a bit rough. The names felt plucked from a random R&B name generator. There were obvious allusions to Avatar (Last Airbender not blue people) and the speech patterns threw me off. There were common cultural idioms mixed in which made it difficult to tell if they were intentional or an oversight. But as General Aaliyah left the border and enters Titus, the story and the writing both pick up considerably. It almost made me question whether the choppy writing toward the beginning was a conscious, intentional, rhetorical move to mirror Aaliyah’s own insecurities and issues with coming home.
This was a quick tale, and there were points where it came together too smoothly for my tastes, but to be fair I’ve been reading grimdarks lately so it could be that I’ve become a bit jaded when puzzle pieces fit together too seamlessly. If you’ve been drinking black Kenyan coffee, hot chocolate is going to taste shockingly sweet.
Once you get into page forty or so, you can see the author hit their stride and push some really good imagery and angst into the pages. I thought Stone & Steel did a good job at grabbing an interesting theme while simultaneously pushing and pairing it down to under a hundred pages. The McGuffin count was negligible and the deus ex machinas were minimal. Some of the plot points merged at the end in a way that seemed very convenient, but by the end of the book, I was on a fun ride that allowed me to immerse myself into the narrative without being jarred loose by any expedient plot points.
I can’t help but wonder if some of the more raw parts were because of the straitjacket-level restrictions crafting a novella puts on writers. I wonder what would have happened if the author had another two-hundred pages to play with and how that could have bent or possibly broken the story. I will say this: at the end of the day I was curious as to what would happen next – and isn’t it the job of a writer? To keep a reader wanting more?
RATING 3/5
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The post Stone and Steel: Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
An amuse-bouche of a novella, Eboni Dunbar’s Stone & Steel follows the path of General Aaliyah as she comes to grips with the fact that her queen may not be up to the task of ruling. The general finds that Queen Odessa, who is both lover and friend may have betrayed her ideals & the trust of the city. What follows is a quick tale of revenge and redemption that quickly grows on you as it rolls along.
To be honest, it took me a second to get into this novella. The first thirty pages or so were a bit rough. The names felt plucked from a random R&B name generator. There were obvious allusions to Avatar (Last Airbender not blue people) and the speech patterns threw me off. There were common cultural idioms mixed in which made it difficult to tell if they were intentional or an oversight. But as General Aaliyah left the border and enters Titus, the story and the writing both pick up considerably. It almost made me question whether the choppy writing toward the beginning was a conscious, intentional, rhetorical move to mirror Aaliyah’s own insecurities and issues with coming home.
This was a quick tale, and there were points where it came together too smoothly for my tastes, but to be fair I’ve been reading grimdarks lately so it could be that I’ve become a bit jaded when puzzle pieces fit together too seamlessly. If you’ve been drinking black Kenyan coffee, hot chocolate is going to taste shockingly sweet.
Once you get into page forty or so, you can see the author hit their stride and push some really good imagery and angst into the pages. I thought Stone & Steel did a good job at grabbing an interesting theme while simultaneously pushing and pairing it down to under a hundred pages. The McGuffin count was negligible and the deus ex machinas were minimal. Some of the plot points merged at the end in a way that seemed very convenient, but by the end of the book, I was on a fun ride that allowed me to immerse myself into the narrative without being jarred loose by any expedient plot points.
I can’t help but wonder if some of the more raw parts were because of the straitjacket-level restrictions crafting a novella puts on writers. I wonder what would have happened if the author had another two-hundred pages to play with and how that could have bent or possibly broken the story. I will say this: at the end of the day I was curious as to what would happen next – and isn’t it the job of a writer? To keep a reader wanting more?
RATING 3/5
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Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The post Stone and Steel: Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Source: Kevin Winter / Getty
Meek Mill and the mother of his newborn son Milan Harris, founder of clothing line Milan Di Rouge, have officially broken up. The “Going Bad” rapper announced on social media that he and Harris have decided to part ways just two months after she gave birth to their son.
“We me and Milano decided to remain friends and build our child as separate parents … we still have mad love for each other but we both came to a understanding! -meek-,” he wrote on Twitter.
He added on Instagram that there are no hard feelings between him and Harris, they just decided to call it quits and co-parent harmoniously.
“[Milan Harris] no fall out either just moving forward! Still love! This for protection so social media work think we moving wrong.”
He also tweeted that in the last year many of his relationships changed but didn’t go into details.
“I made a lot of paper last year everything got different with a lot people I helped so I gotta revaluate myself! It will happen to anybody with success & power grow, stay strong and move forward!
Harris and the Philly native didn’t speak to much publicly on their relationship. It wasn’t confirmed that they were an actual item until Harris was pregnant. She unveiled a baby bump at her fashion show in December 2019 but it was unknown if the father was Meek Mill and if they were truly an item. After getting into a heated back-and-forth with his ex-girlfriend Nicki Minaj on social media, he confirmed that he was expecting a child in a now deleted tweet.
“My girl is with me pregnant watching me tweet about my ex is very clownish … Ima exit,” he wrote.
Harris gave birth to Meek’s third son on his birthday, May 6.
“Milano dropped me off a king on my birthday! #thebestgift,” he wrote on Twitter.
Howdy, AFROnerdists! Check out the latest Grindhouse installment of Afronerd Radio "steam engine" via our new and different platform, BTalk 100. Join your friendly (coronavirus free) neighborhood broadcasters as they discuss the following issues: well the Comic Con@Home SDCC panels are in full swing and we have our first impressions:
President Trump's "top cop," Attorney General, William Barr has quite a bit of criticism for Hollywood studios who are continuing to do business with China in spite of their notorious human rights violations and censorship guidelines (oh and he name drops Marvel for good measure); popular actor, Michael B Jordan (Black Panther, Creed) launches a new diversity initiative adroitly entitled, #ChangeHollywood ; Marvel/Hulu's Helstrom trailer just hit the cyberwebs:
It appears that the once popular and necessary gaming channel, G4 is marking its return in 2021; if time permits, hopefully we'll be able to address some of the topics we failed to highlight during this past Wednesday's Mid Week show; 2020 continues to be unrelenting with more iconic deaths-noted actor, John Saxon (Nightmare on Elm Street, Enter the Dragon), legendary NYC TV host, Regis Philbin and Fleetwood Mac founder/blues guitarist, Peter Green; Justice League actor, Ray Fisher appears to be doubling down on his recent accusations of abusive/unprofessional behavior concerning filmmaker, Joss Whedon; Dburt is actually invested in a Verzuz battle between hip hop gods, Rakim and Big Daddy Kane (and then there's that Usher vs Chris Brown talk as well); And lastly, our thoughts about the more "fleshed out" Lovecraft Country trailer.
"I don't believe it--even here--forty thousand kilometers from Earth---and the first thing I see is a giant alien white man with an attitude"-Adam Brashear aka Blue Marvel
Oh...and maybe we can squeeze in our impressions of Beyonce's controversial Black is King trailer....there's always some controversy, allegedly.
Call LIVE at 508-645-0100. AFTER CLICKING ON THE HIGHLIGHTED LINK, GO DIRECTLY TO AFRONERD RADIO!!!
or This link below.....
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Collecting props from the greatest sci-fi and horror films from Hollywood history has become quite a pastime for wealthier nerds. Now, they will have a new chance to expand their collections. Fans will be able to bid on over 850 unique and original items, made available to bidders in one of the world’s largest live auctions of horror film and TV memorabilia. The auction is being held by The Prop Store of Los Angeles and London. You can place an online bid from anywhere in the world, by phone or in person.
The Prop Store
In a statement, the Prop Store’s Brandon Alinger said “Horror-themed collectibles are always some of the most sought-after and explosive lots in our auctions. The horror fan community knows what they want when it comes to titles like Gremlins, Hannibal and Ghostbusters, all of which are represented in the auction this August. We are very excited to be offering original pieces from iconic horror franchises together with 870 props and costumes at Prop Store’s Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction on August 26th and August 27th”
You can check out some of these one-of-a-kind items that will soon be available to own down below:
1/4-scale Queen Model Miniature Puppet from Aliens (1986) est: $50,000 – 70,000 (£40,000 – 56,000)
The Prop Store
Evil Ash (Bruce Campbell) Cable-Controlled Puppet from Army of Darkness (1992) est: $8,000 – 10,000 (£6,300 – 7,900)
The Prop Store
Slimer Maquette Display from Ghostbusters II (1989) est: $3,000 – 5,000 (£2,400 – 3,900)
The Prop Store
Velociraptor Stop-Motion Puppets Display from Jurassic Park (1993) est: $40,000 – 60,000 (£31,800 – 47,700)
The Prop Store
Tyrannosaurus Rex Stop-Motion Puppet and Jeep Model Miniature Display from Jurassic Park (1993) est: $30,000 – 50,000 (£23,800 – 39,700)
The Prop Store
Green Gremlin Puppet Display from Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) est: $4,000 – 6,000 (£3,200 – 4,800)
The Prop Store
Servo-Operated George Mogwai Puppet from Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) est:$12,000 – 16,000 (£9,500 – 12,700)
The Prop Store
Animatronic Tartutic Creature Head Display from Lady in the Water (2006) est: $3,000 – 5,000 (£2,400 – 3,900)
The Prop Store
Other items on auction include Wesley Snipes’ sword from Blade II and Blade: Trinity, as well as clothing worn by the characters of Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling in Hannibal. Registration is now open at www.propstore.com/liveauction. Online proxy bids can be submitted starting on Monday July 27th 2020.
Featured Image: The Prop Store
The post Here’s Your Chance to Snag ALIENS and GHOSTBUSTERS Props appeared first on Nerdist.