Archives for reviews - Page 14
Warlords of Llantatis by Dominic Green [Book Review]
Warlords of Llantatis by Dominic Green My rating: 5 of 5 stars The author emailed to ask me to review this, unusually I bought the book rather than accepting a freebie. There were two reason for this, one was that the reviews were really good, and the other was that it was only 99p for the kindle version. I'm pleased to report that it lived up to the promise in the reviews. Warlords of Llantatis At first sight this looks like a fantasy, but it's definitely science fiction. Set a couple of decades in the future most of the action takes place in a virtual game world. There are very brief interludes of real world that contrast the player life with that of their characters. The story is a combination of a detective mystery and also a heroic quest. Inside…
Ghostbusters new movie review
Logo used by the "Ghostbusters" in the film (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Alexander and I went to see the new Ghostbusters movie the other week. It was a very civilised experience in the Reigate Everyman cinema. It even featured bespoke sundaes made in glass jars. The best bit was definitely the movie though. New Ghostbusters or Original? The new movie is most definitely not a remake of the original. It takes the same basic premise and brings it firmly into the 21st century. The movie itself is pretty straightforward, we get what we expect, in that there's a bit of action and some spectacular effects. However the case is an all female group, which I think makes it a better movie, for social reasons as much as how it gives a new angle to make fun. The team are all slightly social outcasts,…
Last Words by Jackson Lear [Book Review]
Last Words by Jackson Lear My rating: 5 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this. It starts off as a holiday diary of a 23 year old British back-packer making his way around Europe. The tension builds gradually from inconvenience and annoyance into the full blown horror of a zombie apocalypse. It felt much more real and plausible to me than most of the zombie books I've read, with one exception. Last Words Mark spends most of his time running away and trying vainly to get home. He travels with a small group of friends, who gradually get split up for one reason or another. He travels through Spain, over to Morocco, into a civil war torn Algeria and then to Tunisia. Through this he relies on others to speak or translate or help. Mark is just a normal guy…
The Nightmare Stacks by Charlie Stross [Book Review]
The Nightmare Stacks by Charles Stross My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Nightmare Stacks is another turn in the Laundry series, which has moved firmly away from following Bob Howard to being about the world that Bob inhabits. The main point of view in the Nightmare Stacks is Alex, one of the vampires from The Rhesus Chart. We also see some from Cassie's point of view (a new character) and Pinky & Brains return and play a strong supporting part in the story. We also see Pete the Vicar as Alex's mentor. The Nightmare Stacks Alex is not a cynical snarky commentator. Instead we have a primary character that is focussed on work and lacking some of the social skills, especially in dealing with the opposite sex, that are more commonplace. Alex is getting used to the changes of being…
Staked by Kevin Hearne [Book Review]
Staked by Kevin Hearne My rating: 4 of 5 stars I'm a fan of the Iron Druid. So much so that I pre-ordered Staked in paperback. All the previous ones I've read as catch up on my Kindle. However Kevin Hearne has made my pre-order on sight list (along with Ben Aaronovitch, Terry Pratchett, Iain Banks and Charles Stross). Staked Staked is the eighth full novel, and I've lost count of the novellas. The paperback version also has Prelude to War in the back of it, which is handy because Staked makes more sense when you've read Prelude to War. Just in case you've not read any Iron Druid, it's a very sensible urban fantasy series set in the modern day. I say sensible because the universe isn't too strange. You can imagine it coexisting with the world we…