Book 2=Book 1

It's sad when authors you like disappoint you. I am a fan of Mercedes Lackey (she's not the best writer ever, but her stories are fun and she's prolific). I love the Valdemar series and am happy with several of her other series. I read one of the Elemental Masters books, Serpent's Shadow, and while I was a little annoyed that the female main character gets cursed, falls into a coma-like state and has to be rescued by her love interest, I was satisfied with the end of the book.

On to the next book in Elemental Masters, Gates of Sleep. Big surprise here, it's a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The female main character succumbs to a curse, falls into a coma-like state, and her love interest has to rescue her. It's almost exactly like the previous book! Granted, in this one the love-interest just gives Marina the opportunity to fight back and defeat her enemy, but it's still way too similar to the previous book. I feel cheated. If they were this similar in plot but from other worlds I could live with it, but this felt like a bad rehash.

What made the second book even more annoying is the professed love of the heroine and hero who had only spoken a handful of times. At least in Serpent's Shadow we get to see the relationship between the heroine and hero progress and actually believe they developed feelings for each other.

I'm saddened by this knock-off because I love the premise of this world. I'm going to read one more book in this series, and if it's another rehash of the sleeping beauty plot I'm going to wash my hands of the whole series, and probably of Lackey for a while.

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I did a little research since I wrote the above and discovered a few things. Apparently, Serpent's Shadow is a retelling of Snow White, and all of the Elemental Masters books are retellings of fairy tells. I am now a little less annoyed, but I still wish Lacky had done more to differentiate these books. I am also less hesitant about reading another book in this series.

Middleman is the American Doctor Who

Previously I speculated about a tie-in special with Doctor Who and The Middleman. I have since watched all the episodes of The Middleman I could find and I am convinced that Middleman is the American Doctor Who. Well...I guess he's more like Captain Jack since his secret headquarters is a building and they don't leave the planet, but it's still in the Whoniverse. Let's examine the evidence:

• Knowledgeable man of mystery with odd phrases and sense of humor
• Attractive and competent sidekick/companion
• Deals with aliens and words of weird creatures
• Family and friends do not know what companion really does
• Fun, odd and impossible gadgets
• Focus on witty dialogue and character-based story telling
• Family-friendly

Now I really think a Doctor Who/Middleman crossover would be a blast. It will never happen, but it would be so much fun :)

I'm kind of sad I didn't find out about Middleman sooner. I had cable this summer and could have watched the show if I had known of its existence. ~sigh~ Now I just have to hope the show comes back for a second season.

Middleman and Doctor Who tie-in special

I spent my lunch hour reading about the tv show The Middleman. It's about a young female artist named Wendy who helps the Middleman fight aliens, monsters and assorted weirdos. While I haven't been able to watch said show yet (but I will watch at least the pilot when I get home tonight), I have been enjoying thinking of tie-in episodes. Fighting aliens and monsters of course made me think of Doctor Who. So here's my idea for a fabulous Middleman/Doctor Who tie-in:

Ideally, it would be one of the special longer episode showing in 2009. The companion-less Doctor stumbles upon the Middleman while tracking down an alien on earth. (Ooo, new idea. Have the alien he's tracking down be the Middleman's tech lady, Ida. I think she's an alien. Must watch show.) They defeat the bad guy together. The Doctor is impressed by the skills of Wendy and tries to poach her from the Middleman. (Wouldn't that be a novelty for the new Doctor Who series, a female companion who already has experience with aliens when the Doctor meets her.)

Here is where my thoughts divide. I can't decide if Wendy and Middleman should go on one adventure with the Doctor, and then go home to protect earth as is their duty, or just Wendy should go and then come back, or if Wendy should reject the Doctor's offer entirely.

I'll have a better idea once I watch a few episodes of The Middleman.

Dancing as the Doctor and Rose

One of my favorite shows is So You Think You Can Dance. I absolutely adored the routine Mark and Chelsie did to Bleeding Love. It was aired soon after I finished watching the second season of Doctor Who for the first time. This video totally makes me think of the Doctor and Rose, both because of the appearance of the dancers and the story told in the routine. Check it out and tell me if you agree.

Why I'm really going to miss Donna Noble

Let's put aside the WAY Donna left Doctor Who for a minute and just talk about how much I'm going to miss her. This is ironic since I initially hated Donna. I thought she was annoying and incredibly immature. But she changed. Oh my, did she change, and in the process of changing Donna became someone that I am really going to miss. Yes, Catherine Tate is brilliant and funny, but there's more to it for me.

On a superficial basis, I'm going to miss having a beautiful, full-figured woman as a main character. Other than Allison Dubois on Medium, can anyone name a female lead who has some healthy curves?

There are many shows in television with central male and female main characters, and just about every one of them has some sort of sexual tension or will they/wont they hook up happening. One of the reasons I loved the last season of Doctor Who was while there was a male and female lead, the question of romance wasn't there and the writers were able to explore the realms of friendship in ways other shows don't get to.