Media Review – West World

Directed by Jonathan Nolan

There is honestly not a more wonderfully fun pairing than old world cowboys and new world sci-fi, and West World brings it in spades. Set in the near distant future, West World is a wild west themed adventure park where all the hosts are androids. Guests to the park are encouraged to live their wildest fantasies, including falling in love with or even shooting dead the park hosts. But something is going horribly wrong, because the staff are noticing that some of the hosts aren’t acting right. Things start going pear shaped as an upgrade in the hosts allows them to recall their previous experiences, previous deaths, and previous programming. And at the heart of it all is a mystery: a maze that, if solved, might change everything. What I loved most about this series was clever little details scattered through that always leave you feeling a little off kilter so to remind yourself that West World is just a game. The soundtrack often features a player piano doing renditions of modern tracks by artists like Radiohead, the Rolling Stones, and Amy Winehouse. And there are moments throughout where you’re not quite sure if you’re looking at a human or an android – especially when the androids start to remember and make their own decisions. It’s a smart series with a brilliant cast and a fourth season on the way.

To see ‘Westworld’ on our online catalogue, click here.

Series Review – Whisper & Weapon Duology

By Lynette Noni

What happens when the girl who chooses not to speak because she believes she is a monster, changes her mind? To be honest I didn’t have high expectations going in, I thought it was going to be yet another Hunger Games/Divergent type of thing. The books: Whisper & Weapon are an excellent and original young adult duology. There are plenty of action scenes, lots of secrets, a good number of conspiracies and more twists and turns than you can poke a stick at. This author grew up and lives in Australia so it is nice to see an Australian setting. I really enjoyed this book and I certainly didn’t see all the twists coming.

To see the Whisper series and Lynette’s other books on our online catalogue, click here.