A Discovery of Witches series 2

Vampire Matthew and witch Diana have timewalked to Elizabethan England to find the Book of Life and escape their enemies. History brought to life is fascinating for academic Diana, but Matthew has lived this time before and that brings a lot of complications. The couple must navigate tricky politics and family issues while Diana finds a mentor to help harness her powers so they can get back to their own time. Meanwhile, back in Oxford, Marcus struggles with his new responsibilities and meets his match while dealing with multiple threats. With author Deborah Harkness as an executive producer it’s no surprise that series two remains very faithful to her All Souls trilogy. The costumes and historical detail are exquisite and the central love story is convincing, with great chemistry between Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer. The supporting cast - of mostly veteran British actors – is uniformly excellent. It ends as all good adaptations should – leaving the audience hanging out for the next series.

Tanqueray 10, Tanqueray

A small-batch version of the famous brand, Tanqueray 10 is said to be different because it uses whole citrus rather than dried peel and botanicals that round out the juniper. But the dominant flavour is almost aniseed rather than citrus. This may not be to all tastes but it at least heads off the overly sweet tendency of many botanical gins. The aniseed retains the upper hand regardless of tonic style. It’s different, unusual and almost certainly an acquired taste.

The Throne of Jade, by Naomi Novik

It takes quite a long time to actually get to China and the jade throne of the title, in this sequel to Temeraire, almost two-thirds of the book. Along the way are adventures and misadventures galore before the young dragon encounters his origins and must decide where his future lies. The Temeraire series has all the elements required for a great read – dragons, battles, culture clashes and alt history. Somehow it falls short and the story tends to drag in places. Possibly it’s because the main character, William Laurence, is not very interesting. He anchors the story as a naval officer, turned accidental aeronaut, in the early 19th century. But his character is totally reactive, serving as a foil to the almost childlike dragon and as a kind of interpreter of his times. He is a thoroughly decent and honourable man, with little light or shade. He generates goodwill in the reader, but not passionate attachment as with the feisty heroines of Novik’s other books. She does a good job depicting the developing relationship between man and beast, as Laurence comes to terms with Temeraire growing up. She throws in a teaser at the end that hints at the dragon becoming an activist, which could be tricky in the aftermath of the French Revolution with a government crackdown on dissent. It could be a girl thing, it could be a war thing, but this series just does not hold the appeal of feminist folk tales or murderous schools of magic. With many more books to come, perhaps persistence will pay off.

Temeraire, by Naomi Novik

Hornblower meets Anne McCaffrey in this tale of the Napoleonic Wars, with added dragons. On the high seas Captain William Laurence and his crew capture a French ship that contains a rare prize – a dragon egg. When it becomes clear that the egg will hatch before they can make land, one of the sailors must bond with the hatchling to prevent it going feral. But this means the bonded man must leave the navy to become an aviator – relinquishing family, friends and naval career. The aviators are an odd bunch, who do things their own way and keep very much to their own. The development of Laurence’s relationship with Temeraire and his adaptation to aviator life is interesting, if a little slow. Alt history can be tricky but Novik does a good job with the setting. Adding the aviator branch of the armed forces provides an opportunity to mix things up a bit, such as adding female captains to shake up the gender dynamics. The world and voices of the dragons are not quite as convincing, with Temeraire in particular too much of a prodigy. You might think dragons would make naval battles more exciting, but they are still battles, depicted in mind-numbing detail and strictly for enthusiasts. This is the first in a series of nine and it will be interesting to see if there is enough momentum in the story to sustain them.

Cruella (2021), directed by Craig Gillespie

Billed as an origin story of the villain from 101 Dalmatians, the film starts by building sympathy for Estella, a bullied and different child who is orphaned and winds up on the streets of London in a small gang of petty criminals. But it’s difficult to maintain that sympathy when her inner Cruella takes over and in order to defeat her nemesis, the evil Baroness, she becomes just as monstrous. It’s good to see a film with two strong female leads - Emma Stone and Emma Thompson look fabulous and ham it up to the point of bacon. There is loads of OTT action, fabulous fashion and a great soundtrack, but while it’s clever and sometimes entertaining the film is too long and, despite playing for laughs, just not very funny. It’s a struggle to cheer for a psychopath who treats her friends and allies as badly as her enemies, especially when you know she will go on to be a mass dognapper with the aim of making fur coats. Joel Fry, Mark Strong and John McCrea provide diversity and strength in support, while Bluebell the chihuahua provides most of the few laughs.