Film and Book Reviews for 2002

Films released in 2002

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets directed by Chris Columbus
The boy wizard begins his second term at Hogwarts.
Star Trek: Nemesis directed by Stuart Baird
Jean-Luc Picard faces an ambitious captain with a troubled past. Can he overcome this to bring peace to the Romulan Empire, or will it all end in flames?
Reign of Fire directed by Rob Bowman
A 20th century dragon movie.
Minority Report directed by Steven Spielberg
In this adaptation of a short story by Philip K. Dick, criminals are caught before they even have a chance to break the law.
Equilibrium directed by Kurt Wimmer
In the future human emotions are considered the root of all evil, so they have been banned.
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones directed by George Lucas
Anakin and Amidala: the other use for lightsabers explained.
Impostor directed by Gary Fleder
A scientist builds a devastating weapon to use against aliens, but he is accused of being a replicant assassin in this adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story.
The Time Machine directed by Simon Wells
An adaptation of the novel by H.G. Wells.
Queen of the Damned directed by Michael Rymer
Other vampires turn in their graves as Lestat becomes a rock star.
Deadly Species directed by Daniel Springen
A team of academics find horrors waiting for them in the Florida Everglades when they search for a lost tribe.
Solaris directed by Steven Soderbergh
A psychiatrist is summoned to a space station whose occupants are losing their sanity.

Books published in 2002

Shadows and Light by Anne Bishop
In the second book in the Tir Alainn trilogy, who will save the witches?
Lost In A Good Book by Jasper Fforde
Literary detective Thursday has to work out why the world is about to end in a blob of pink goo, and rescue her new husband, who has been eradicated from time.The second in the Thursday Next series.
Living Dead In Dallas by Charlaine Harris
Sookie is in the middle of investigating a murder when she is sent to Dallas to help a group of vampires find one of their own. The second novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series.
The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb
FitzChivalry Farseer has a lot of secrets to keep in the second volume of The Tawny Man trilogy.
Evolution by Stephen Baxter
This is the epic story of the primates, as they evolve from tiny mammals into the humans who would shape and dominate the world, and beyond.
The Novice by Trudi Canavan
The second book in the Black Magician Trilogy.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Coraline Jones is bored when she moves into a creepy old house full of odd old people, until she finds a hidden passage leading to a place where she can get all the attention she wants, if only she will pay the price.
The Longest Way Home by Robert Silverberg
A young aristocrat learns the truth about his society as he attempts to get home.
Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
In the near future, someone has invented a cure for autism. But is this really a good thing for the last autistics?
Across The Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
After the people of his village are slaughtered, a young man escapes with the help of a mysterious lord. He learns that he has strange gifts, but he will need lots of tricks to navigate his new world of assassins and revenge.
The Science of Harry Potter : How Magic Really Works by Roger Highfield
The facts behind the fantasy world of the boy wizard.
Kil'n People by David Brin
Disposable bodies: what every smart, fashionable professional should have.
A Sorcerers Treason (Isavalta Trilogy) by Sarah Zettel
An outcast lighthouse keeper takes on a new role in a different world in Sarah Zettel's first fantasy novel.
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
In the first episode of the Inheritance series a farm boy discovers an egg that will change his future.
The Usurper's Crown by Sarah Zettel
The second novel in the Isavalta series is a prequel which takes the daughter of a fishing family into a realm of magic, treachery and scheming royals.
Light by M. John Harrison
Taking place in the future and at the turn of the millennium, this novel features aliens, spacecraft and cats of many colours.
Vitals by Greg Bear
Who wouldn't want to live forever?
The Meq by Steve Cash
In this historical fantasy a boy tries to discover more about his mysterious race of childlike people, the Meq.
The Holy Blood by Charles Covington
What if you could clone the DNA of Jesus?
The Visitor by Sheri S. Tepper
Armageddon has come and gone, but has it left Earth with magic and demons?

Unreviewed books

Fables: Legends In Exile by Bill Willingham, Lan Medina, Steve Leialoha, and Craig Hamilton
New York is full of legendary characters hiding in plain sight. When a flat is found full of blood, Snow White and a wolf detective set out to discover who is responsible. A graphic novel.

The Years Of Rice And Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
In the middle ages plague wiped out most of the people in western Europe. This is the story of history as it might have been if oriental civilisations had shaped it.

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
The fourth book in the Dresden Files.

City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman
A young man undergoing chemotherapy is transported to sixteenth century Bellezza, a canal city ruled by a Duchessa in a parallel world full of intrigue. The first book in the Stravaganza series.

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial Of Human Nature by Steven Pinker
An analysis of the nature versus nurture debate.

Thraxas And The Dance Of Death by Martin Scott
An overweight, alcoholic investigator goes looking for a stolen magic jewel. But he keeps finding corpses instead of clues. The sixth Thraxas book.

Elfsorrow by James Barclay
The land of Balaia is afflicted by war and misery. After intruders attack the elves at their secret temple a plague is released that threatens to wipe the elves out. Book one of Legends of the Raven.

Unreviewed films

28 Days Later directed by Danny Boyle
A man wakes up from a coma to find the UK overtaken by a highly contagious zombie virus.

Blade II directed by Guillermo Del Toro
The vampire hunter teams up with his enemies to take on a new kind of vampire.

Carrie directed by David Carson
A young girl with an extremely religious mother gets bullied at school, but her classmates are unaware of her telekinetic abilities. An adaptation of a Stephen King novel.