February 5th 2023 Battlefield Earth is a classic piece of pulp science fiction where the bad guys are either capitalist, greedy business beings or priests, the good guys are so good that the main character is even called ‘Goodboy’ and the good guys not only win; they totally defeat the bad guys by using theirContinue reading “Battlefield Earth – not quite as bad as the film”
Category Archives: book review
Shards of Earth; a stunningly well sculpted piece of SciFi
Shards of Earth is a beautifully sculpted (and yes that is an intentional pun for those who have read it) piece of science fiction which manages to blend the technical depth of ‘hard’ science fiction with the character driven fast space of space opera. I will say from the outset that this is an excellentContinue reading “Shards of Earth; a stunningly well sculpted piece of SciFi”
Otherland, the book which broke me
So after hundreds if not thousands of books I have been defeated. Otherland by Tad Williams is the first book I simply gave up on as it had no redeeming features. It is long winded, dull and after nearly twenty percent of it I had no real idea on the plot, connection to any ofContinue reading “Otherland, the book which broke me”
Red Tides by Marc Turner – a disappointing end to a series with potential
Red tides brings the Chronicles of the Exile series to an end in a way which is disenchanting and, despite being a decent book, feels very much like the author had lost interest by the end. As before I have not paid for this book and have instead checked it out from the local library. Continue reading “Red Tides by Marc Turner – a disappointing end to a series with potential”
Dragon Hunters by Marc Turner
Dragon Hunters is proof that you can have a sword and sorcery novel containing dragons, scheming and politicking and still make it entertaining without needing to resort to Game of Thrones levels of sex and graphic violence. It was a damned good book and my only real criticism was that some of the character arcsContinue reading “Dragon Hunters by Marc Turner”
Good omens – book review
Good Omens is a classic piece of comedic fiction which is witty, subtle and often down right hilarious; but it is a little shot on actual plot, character development and I highly doubt any publisher would touch it today. So, confession time. This is the first time I have read any book by Terry Pratchett. Continue reading “Good omens – book review”
When the Heavens Fall review
When the Heavens Fall (written by Marc Turner) is an enjoyable fast paced sword and sorcery novel with some intriguing characters and concepts, but it falls short of being great due to its absence of character development, exposition and world building. I’ve mentioned on other blogs recently how I have found it extremely difficult toContinue reading “When the Heavens Fall review”
Ghost Warriors by Gav Thorpe
Ghost Warriors is a novel which is as ephemeral as its title and whilst having a lot of potential; it fails to solidify in enough places to really grab the reader or to live up to its promise. Despite all its flaws though it is worth reading as one of the small number of AeldariContinue reading “Ghost Warriors by Gav Thorpe”
Babel – as emotionless as the Empire it portrays
So I will be completely honest. Of late, I have avoided buying pretty much any new books in the sci fi and fantasy genres for the simple reason that they have become unsubtle social justice commentaries with the allegorical subtlety of a brick falling down the stairs. The current trend towards revisionist views and applyingContinue reading “Babel – as emotionless as the Empire it portrays”
SAO progressive vol 8 – crashing into the wall
As long time followers of this blog will know I am a huge fan of Sword Art Online but I have felt recently that things seem to be running out of steam a bit. The last book of the Unital Ring arc was, in my opinion, a lot of filler and added nothing and theContinue reading “SAO progressive vol 8 – crashing into the wall”
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