A parody of Netflix, Bookflix is where you can find our books and more like them.


The Mystery of the Dancing Lights by Éric Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
A parody of Netflix, Bookflix is where you can find our books and more like them.
The Mystery of the Dancing Lights by Éric Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
Characters | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue
I was told the sheer quantity of characters was a little intimidating. I started to understand as I made this list. Hopefully this will help keep the characters straight.
Born 825 Post First Earthen Emigration. A prophet called the Sun-Speaker, he gets visions from the god Sol that lives in the sun. He was raised on Venus from the age of ten.
A doctor who was part of Hal’s crew. She is currently in hiding, raising the future King of Mars with her wife Sofia.
Former special forces in the Mars militia, she was dishonorably discharged for saving Hal’s life against orders. The first time she met him, she also beat the crap out of him. She is his former bodyguard.
As a child, found Hal hiding in the luggage of the royal ship. They dated as teenagers. When he was ex-communicated from the church, she broke all ties.
Princess of Venus. She was born with an immune disorder like her mother but both were healed by Hal.
King of Mars being raised in exile on Earth. He was kidnapped as a child by the Venetians.
Former assassin with the Maidens of Antichthon. Hal helped her uncover the corruption in the organzation and she joined his crew as his new bodyguard. They eventually developed feelings for each other and are now dating.
The assassin trainer from the Maidens of the Antichthon. Disgraced, she was tortured and implanted with cybernetics and sent to fight in the arena. Hal healed her and the expelled cybernetics became their own person. Currently both are in charge of the The Mederei Alpha, a former gladiator ship which is now a home for refugees.
An adventurous twenty-something archeologist and linguist. Member of the Children of the Stars.
A stern but fair life-long miliary soldier. They are the captain of the MOAS (Mother of all Suns) Warship Ennill.
Wife of Seren and ace fighter pilot. Annie is sarcastic and loyal. Member of the Children of the Stars.
The last remnants of an ancient civilization downloaded their minds into a great machine. Its power source was a sun and that sun’s consciousness merged with the people.
Plutonian who discovered the secret to eternal youth. Despite looking 18, she is a brilliant doctor and scientist.
Computer and engineering genius. Helped free Callisto from mob rule with his hacking skills. Currently the engineer on Hal’s ship, the Hey Sunny.
A Mercurian pilot. Hal served as a medic on his ship. To save his life, Hal had to leave him on a pirate ship to be tortured.
The system’s strongest telepath and precog. Former member of Hal’s crew currently living on Xanthus.
Royal instructor to the kings and queens of Mars.
Martian-Barsoonian adviser to the King and former leader of his people.
Former Black-Sun operative who went rogue. Current incarnation of the Robin Hood style character Diamond Stars and captain of the Revenge. Also a recent Sun Speaker of Sol.
Doctor on the Revenge. Boyfriend of Diamond Stars.
Younger sister of Onyx. Weapons expert and gunner on the Revenge.
Ex-soldier and mercenary. Died on the Robinson
Ex-soldier and mercenary. Bioscience expert on the Hey Sunny.
Former engineer on the Hey Sunny. Died on the Robinson.
Captain of the ISS Galahad. She’s a Feline Martian who has a strong love for her crew, knowledge, and justice.
Senior science officer of the ISS Galahad. He’s a Serpant Tyrite who values logic over emotion.
Lieutenant weapons officer of the ISS Galahad. She’s a Sapian Martian. She’s tall, muscled, and looks like she’s been in plenty of fights.
Master Sargent and communications officer of the ISS Galahad. They’re a Sapian Tyrite.
Doctor of the ISS Galahad. He’s an older Sapian Martian. His interest lies in his crew and their health above all else.
Lieutenant and pilot of the ISS Galahad. He’s Canine Arisian with plenty of years as a fighter pilot.
Head Engineer of the ISS Galahad. She’s a young Sapian Martian, the reincarnation of King Arthur, and a Sun Speaker for Sol.
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2022 film See How They Run.
The story tries really hard to be clever and referential while still respecting the genre. It’s not a spoof or an homage, but some sort of clever combination. The great thing is that it works on all levels. Everything is laid out in the intro narration and I was still pleasantly surprised.
Score: 1
The main detective characters are clichés brought to life. They’d be almost boring if it wasn’t for the quality and charm of the actors. Unfortunately, that doesn’t apply to the whole cast, which is populated by a checklist of quirky film noir characters.
Score: 0.5
The dialogue is a combination of period and modern and was a little jarring at times. It was however very clever and well thought out.
Score: 0.5
The director and cinematographer must have been big fans of Hitchcock and Anderson. It mostly worked as a mashup, but lacked originality and felt a little forced.
The music was strong but unmemorable.
Score: 0.5
This movie was a mystery lover’s good time. All the adults loved it, but the kids found it slow and talky. I will re-watch this one.
Score: 1
An excellent homage/comedy to the mystery genre, Christie in particular, and a fun movie. Its odd directorial choices are held together by the impressive acting from the leads.
Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5
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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 1985 film Clue.
The story is fun, fast, and witty. Part of that is necessity to cover the dangling threads of story. As a mystery, it’s severely lacking. As a comedy, it’s pure gold.
I was happy to see they didn’t automatically paint the supposed gay character as evil. If anything, he was the least evil of the group. However, the “real” ending having him say he was going home to his wife sucked, although I know they had to do it for ratings reasons.
Score: 0.5
Using the Clue board game names with their own special zany character traits. Each is just silly enough to be likeable and murderous enough not to be.
The characters are quite boring, but the impressive actors manage to make them interesting.
Score: 0.5
This has more banter, quips, and witty dialogue than an entire season of some sitcoms. Some are good, some are bad, and a lot of them fall flat, but the sheer quantity ensures that there’s something for everyone.
Score: 0.5
The cinematography walks the line between camp and brilliance in the best possible way. The set is exquisite and the costumes are fantastic.
The music is simple but perfectly well used. Lots of nods to other mysteries and spy films.
Score: 1
This movie isn’t going to make you think super hard and it’s not so dumb it seems smart, it’s somewhere in the middle. Combined with the amazing cast and wonderful jokes, it’s a fun movie to watch. Everyone was enthralled except the 3 year old who was bored. The 6 year old did say she wished there was more time to try and guess the murderer.
Score: 1
Fast and funny this is a classic homage to the game and mystery films in general. It’s not a good mystery, but the comedy and the cinematography more than make up for it.
Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5
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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
It follows the same structure as Knives Out, in which the first half of the movie plays out like a traditional mystery and then it rewinds and shows us more from another point of view. The layers are excellent and even though I guessed the murderer before we saw a murder, I still very much enjoyed it.
Score: 1
The vapid archetypes of the main characters makes me sad at how many real life examples of them there are. They are played perfectly. Janelle Monáe is fabulous.
Score: 1
Daniel Craig’s accent is much more consistent in this movie and his aphorisms are subdued. My biggest complaint about the dialogue would have been how utterly filled with bullshit all the speeches by the main “disruptors” are. But that is a feature showing their characters and works despite grating on me.
Score: 1
The locations, costumes, camerawork, and editing are superb and visually stunning. This is the first non animated or superhero movie I wish could have seen on the big screen.
The music, both score and diegetic music, is picked perfectly to accentuate the story.
Score: 1
I love mysteries. My favourite being And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, which this movie borrows a lot from. It didn’t feel derivative, but more like an homage.
The 6 and 3 year olds didn’t like it, but the rest of the family did.
Score: 1
The movie’s plot is just like it’s namesake, lots of layers, pretty, and fairly clear what’s inside. A brilliant take on both modern life and the mystery genre.
Final Score: 5 Stars out of 5*
*A 5 star review doesn’t mean the movie was perfect nor that it is perfect for everyone but it is a movie I believe is as close to perfect as possible.
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Enola Holmes 2.
With less set up needed then the first one (Enola Homes Movie Review), there’s more room for the story, characters, and world to breathe and grow.
I liked the mystery and all its twists and turns.
Score: 1
The characters are consistant with the first movie and mostly keep the same cast. There’s no Mycroft, but that’s a good thing, letting Sherlock and Enola grow as siblings. I have to say that I adore this version of Sherlock. He’s warm, kind, but still jaded, manic, and brilliant.
Enola is clever, charismatic, and soooooo young. It’s great to see that the writers didn’t just copy-paste a younger Sherlock.
At first I was a little annoyed at the inclusion of Moriarty, but it was done so well and acted amazingly.
Score: 1
The dialogue is witty, quick, and loaded with multiple meanings and references.
Score: 1
Everything is bigger in this one, the fights are more dramatic, the dancing more impressive, and the camera work is excellent.
The music was extremely well-placed and beautiful.
Score: 1
I love both action and mystery when they are well done and this was extremely well done. Lots of twists and turns, lots of great characters, and some great historical elements.
Score: 1
Surpassing the first by virtue of wasting less time on setup and more on the actual mysteries. Henry Cavill is a splendid broody Holmes and Millie Bobby Brown is both believable and delightful in the role. If you enjoy a good mystery and can enjoy a new Sherlock, this is a great choice.
Final Score: 5 Stars out of 5*
*A 5 star review doesn’t mean the movie was perfect nor that it is perfect for everyone but it is a movie I believe is as close to perfect as possible.
No mysteries to solve at Comic Con Holiday Edition 2019! Velma got a chance to hang out with the TARDIS.