Archives for reviews - Page 21
Author Interview – Kasey Riley
Kasey Riley, author Kasey Riley is the subject of this week's author interview. Kasey Riley writes mysteries with an element of romance and a dash of comedy based on the world of endurance riding. So if you like your horses (and dogs) with a good yarn then this is the sort of thing you might like to read. Kasey Riley Interviewed How long have you been writing for and what made you start writing? I’ve been writing since 2012 – novels. All of my life I’ve been writing something, essays, newsletters, articles; so it didn’t just happen overnight. One day I was reading a book that used my sport as a backdrop and I could not believe how the author slaughtered the sport and massacred the camaraderie of those who participate. I never finished that book; I put it down and…
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Book Review – Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Having already read Divergent and Insurgent I put Allegiant on pre order for when it came out in paperback. It arrived a few weeks ago along with The Annihilation Score. I'd intended to wait until I'd read some of the ARCs I'd been sent before reading Allegiant, however I couldn't quite resist knowing how the trilogy ended. The whole trilogy is like an onion, there are more layers beneath this one and it can make you cry. Mainly it made me cry because the world building looked poor, and then Roth revealed this as another layer which can only be peeled back when you spot its flaws. Spoilers If you haven't read the books then some of this review might spoil them. (more…)
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Book Review – Dark Eden by Chris Beckett
Dark Eden by Chris Beckett My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is an interesting book in many ways, linguistically, sociology and the convincing alien world it is set on. The premise is that the main characters are the descendants of two people stranded on an alien planet. The Family (as they refer to themself) are waiting for the day when the rescue mission will come to take them all to Earth. The world is the familiar story book jungle with a strange alien weirdness to it. For a start the sky is dark and the trees and animals luminesce. The typical body plan is six legs and very large eyes, as one might expect on a dark planet. Metal is known but unavailable to the Family, they only have primitive technology despite folklore of the advanced tech. The family…
Edinburgh Zoo
Lucy and I went to Edinburgh Zoo with my brothers and their kids yesterday. It was a pretty good day out despite the torrential downpour that soaked us at four ish. The highlight was the Pandas, although we only saw the male panda. Tian Tian, the female panda was hiding somewhere in the enclosure. Seeing the pandas was well organised, with timed slots and efficient queuing. We were also lucky to be in the indoor viewing room, which meant that we were very close indeed. Our day started with the meerkats just inside the entrance. The zoo has a fairly new enclosure and there are a number of baby meerkats in the group. This greatly excited Lucy as she loves baby animals and also they kept running around which made her run back and forth to follow them around the…
Book Review – Behind the Lines by Russell Miller
Behind the Lines: The Oral History of Special Operations in World War II by Russell Miller My rating: 4 of 5 stars A very interesting collection of first hand accounts by those involved with the Special Operations Executive or the OSS special operations during WW2. The book is split into chapters covering broad themes or areas of operation. Maquisards (Resistance fighters) in the Haute-Savoie département in August 1944. Third and fourth from the left are two SOE officers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Almostall of the book is in the direct quotation from the various special operationspersonnel. There is a broad range of people interviewed for the book, most of them only appear to have been used in one section, although a couple may have been used more than once. This shows the attitudes they had to the work and the people that…