Less Action, More Plot
353640
Up to this point, Hellsing has just been all about hardcore action and violence. However, these episodes move away from the mood of the last couple of episodes.
Order 07 (A): Alucard runs has a great duel with Paladin Alexander. Nuff said.
Order 08 (B-): Victoria learns more about vampires and the chips.
Order 09 (B): Integra becomes attacked by a vampire and Alucard meets a new enemy with a huge gun.
However, if you only love Hellsing for the action, the first episode alone is worth the price. Alexander and Alucard really go at it in this episode twice as much as their first fight. Those who want some questions answered on Hellsing will enjoy the last two episodes, more or less. Thats not to say that their isn't any action in the last two episode. The last episode has Walter fights Victoria, Alucard fights Incognito and Integra fights a vampire (well, tries to).
The extras are pretty scarce this time. We've got a second textless ending, which is the one featuring Alucard's new gun, as well as some conceptual art and some Japanese art covers (piled on top of each other).
Overall, these episodes have a mixed mood. I can't really say they are like the last two volumes, but they are essential to this series.
1110026
These books are good, but they are full of TV story-structure and off screen action. Many side-characters are added, subtracted, and developed off-page, and the main story is condensed and split up into 7 books, each slightly more expensive than the next. If constant, out of nowhere cliff-hangers don't bug you at the end of your stories, and abrupt endings to scenes are alright with you then you're good to go. But the constant need of the author to skip to the action began to wear on me by "book" 4. Overall I'm happy to have read it, smut is decent and the characters are likable, but the story feels hollow and needed more flesh.
4182355
Too much action, not enough story.  Skip it!

ignore this fourteen words. one two three four five six seven eight. more words required.
533384
This series is well written, however, the plot is rather thin and characters are too simplified.
2284515
Not nearly as action packed as the first, but nonetheless a fun read.
592187
Good plot, character development goes in interesting directions, seemed to be less adventure than the first book, and far too much insight into the main character's thoughts and feelings and opinions. While those are nice, in general, the author infuses the character's opinion, or a sarcastic remark, after nearly every line of dialog from another character. It was predictable and distracting from the action and conversation.
2431502
not enough action.  to much painting the sunset in each scene.
930896
Key worked hard on characters and story with this one, sadly sacrificing the action that has been a hallmark of the series. there is a big battle and a lot of tension, but it all gets kind of bunched up at about the two-thirds mark. there are a lot of loose ends that need to get tied up, weighing down the end of the book.

it comes together okay, but ONLY okay. too bad, really
2550719
2 1/2 stars-
Synopsis 3 stars
Character development 3 stars
Plot 2 stars
Subplots 1 1/2
211254
More action than substance with the obligatory sex scenes interspersed - good for "Low Stress" entertainment
3418598
It is a action movie . So that means there is more action than story line which is what I want in a action movie.
4585895
This series had to end the way it did, with the glorious appearing,  but as usual, the autors failed to get us there in a quick fashion.  The story had very little action, except for the decimaion of the enemy which was anything but action packed.  What was left of the main characters (maybe two of the main 12 in the series)had ver little to say except, "Rayford was happy" then "Mac was happy", then "Chang was happy"  I found myself skipping pages full of Bible text which was far too overwhelming for a non-christian who loved the series for action, and good story telling (see books 1-6, not 7-12).  I also noticed that in the last few books, Carpathia, who was an interesting character, became a shadow of his former self, and not a superhuman as he was in earlier books.  On the whole, I am glad that I read this series,but it easily could have been done in 6 or 7 books.  Now I see there is a sequel and prequel?  I doubt that I can sit through two more of these novels.
1240876
Aside from a few slow chapters, this had some of the same action-packed excitement as the first. However, there were some issues that greatly cut down my enjoyment of it.

We step aside for a moment from the quest of Lyra to introduce Will, son of a lost explorer. He stumbles into another world after killing a thief, and there meets Lyra, journeying from her world. They team up to discover the secrets of Dust and the Subtle Knife, what Lyra's uncle is trying to do, the purpose of the mysterious angels, and what the witches helping them want out of all this. In the meantime, Lee Scoresby looks for a shaman and passage to Lyra's new world.

"Filler" sums the plot up. There are moments that spice it up, but some of the action comes from vague sources of danger, and many pages are taken up by self-reflection rather than action. (Let's be honest, angst gets old.) One of the central characters, Lord Asriel, is almost entirely ignored, and without Lyra's search for him, the book is directionless. When Lyra very quickly changes from the firebrand scamp into a meek lady around Will, her character was almost ruined.

I do like seeing a fantasy story that takes place partially in our world. While it's nothing like Gaiman's urban fantasies, Pullman does make for a healthy mixture of science and fantasy, something many modern fantasy writers don't even try to cope with. There should have been some kind of explanation for how Will's hole appeared, though.

There were a few points, though, where the narrative just derailed into author tracts. When the kids mentioned the hot weather and started talking about the Greenhouse Effect, out of nowhere, all suspension of disbelief was shattered. But much worse was the speech of Lord Asriel in his rare appearance: God is evil because his followers commit crimes and it's his mission to kill him; the way it goes on and everyone immediately supports his goal reminded me of John Galt's epic speech. Equating fallible and corrupt humans with clear understanding of the will of God, and ignoring all of the millennia of argument about this (Luther, Leibniz, etc), so that Pullman appears to be more of a febrile five-year-old more interested in pushing his atheism than telling a good story. The only Church presence in the book is the very cruel and oily Mrs. Coulter, and the cardinals who condone her actions. His efforts to vilify the Church seem one-sided and mean-spirited enough to turn me off from the book, even as an atheist myself.

It is an exciting book, and at several points I felt very sad over events. But I can't read it again, with the switch to a complete black and white, Church Evil Heroes Good morality, all of the complexity of the original is gone.
2775318
Characters are pretty good, some of the action is not bad.  Plotting is very weak, since the basic premise makes no sense:  If she can really dream accurately of the future she could fund both herself and her clandestine anti-surveillance organization all by herself.  If the surveillance is s pervasive, how come none of them are caught doing forbidden things out n the open.
1528041
There is too much detail on air planes that slows the character and plot development. A bit more balance between characters and airplanes is needed.
1331207
The books in this series are intriguing principally in terms of plot. Action, rather than detail drives the events. Character development is decent, but descriptive elements to embellish both plot and character are lacking.

For example, in the introduction of the turtle-like race, there is little physical description available beyond that they are large, long-lived, and generally turtle-like. This may be an intentional facet of the authors' writing styles, however, it is to be noted in the descriptions of places and people as well.

Apart from visual elements, sounds are not fully described either--guns go "boom" ...

The novels are quite appropriate as far as reading level goes for younger audiences, but the content is such that an older teen audience is recommended. Sexual situations are not described in detail, but a post-modern ambivalence toward sexual issues is prevalent.
3341738
Slow going and re-used scenes make this movie a bit less entertaining, even as a sic-fi.  Don Wilson's martial arts and fighting sequences were more entertaining than  the story plot.