Timstar

Fab reviews, I've been really wanting to re-visit some Abercrombie books but... the TBR pile!! I'm looking forward to his short stories, I think I've only read one from that collection, the final story which was in the Rogues anthology which I am still making my way through.

I think I managed to get half-way through book 4 before giving up, I couldn't believe when people said it only got worse and slower!

I abandoned it about half-way through, didn't care for any of the characters. But clearly you've taken Steve's advice and 'Not worried about it' Hope you enjoy it! Great review of The Final Empire. I enjoyed the first one the most but still loved the second two. There are specific scenes from the TFE still stuck in my mind, I read it about 4 years ago though, so really want to re-read

I'd recommend A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, a fun light-hearted space adventure. It was self-published last year and snapped up by Hodder this year. I'm listening to the audio book of Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson and it is quite hard work for little reward so far, I would probably have given up if I was reading it normally, far too much hypothetical statistical analysis but there are some interesting ideas, plus some of it is set at Bletchley Park which I love. Didn't think too much of Redshirts but I'm not a Star Trek fan, would like to give his Old Man's War series a go at some point. I would also concur with The Forever War, it's a great read but don't bother with the sequels. Glad you enjoyed Rivers of London, it sounds quite Gaiman-esque...

I can't seem to not do it these days. To be fair I would only have 1 or 2 standard prose novels on going. The others would be short stories, non-fiction, graphic novels or audio books, usually between 7 and 10 at any one time My favourites so far have been: Preacher, Y: The Last Man, Wolverine: Origin and some Batman's such as The Killing Joke and Year One. But my absolute favourite which I just finished is Alex + Ada, a heart warming love story set in the future with some profound issues raised: It's only 3 volumes (I so wish it was longer!) and has superb art. I would highly recommend to everyone, even those who don't normally read graphic novels. Glad you're enjoying it, it does have a lot of great reviews. I've looked at some of the others but they don't interest me as much.

Awesome! I've read Abercrombie, Sanderson and Morgan. Gonna try and read a Baxter and Aaronovitch at least before then. Oh I've just noticed my total books read this year so far is 72, which means I'm already beating the 71 for the whole of 2014 Also read over 50 graphic novels which i've really been getting into lately, especially the non-Marvel/DC stuff.

Just over half way through at the moment, some really great stories, some I haven't bothered to finish. I got it for 99p on Kindle but I hear it is £2 in paperback at Sainsbury's at the moment. Definitely worth that. Not for ages but yeah, great film. Definitely gonna read more Welsh.

Haven't got any reviews in me at the moment but I have finished a few books lately: Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov - 7/10 Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks - 9/10 Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh - 9/10 Conqueror by Conn Iggulden - 8/10 Currently reading: Rogues - Anthology Republic of Thieves - Scott Lynch Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson Four Past Midnight - Stephen King To War with Wellington - Peter Snow

I started that last year but abandoned it about 3/4 in. I can't really remember why, but it wasn't due to the 'she' thing, that was probably the most interesting aspect. I think the story just didn't grab me at all.

Can't say I have ever paid any attention to Warhammer 40,000 or anything similar. It's a slippery slope until you find yourself painting model figurines in a dingy basement on a Saturday afternoon ... though I may be stereotyping a bit

You better run!!

Yes me too! I would prefer if they went to Manchester the day after... just in case

I bought that a few months ago but haven't got around to it yet, it looks great though. I hope your new supervisor isn't too bad

Well there is the exact same thing in Manchester the day before... http://www.gollancz.co.uk/gollancz-festival-waterstones-deansgate-events/

Oh yeah, I can see how that can be mistaken.. It's a good line-up but it's not THAT good

Just booked my ticket to the Gollancz festival at Waterstones in Oct. Has a great line-up: Ben Aaronovitch; Joe Abercrombie; Stephen Baxter; Aliette de Bodard; Adam Dalton; Joanne Harris; Alex Lamb; Elizabeth May; Ian McDonald; Simon Morden; Richard Morgan; Sarah Pinborough; Al Robertson; Justina Robson; Brandon Sanderson; Gavin Smith; Mark Stay; Tricia Sullivan; Tom Toner and more.

Likewise BTW I was just accused of looking at dodgy websites at work as they could see the tab heading on your blog, so I hope you're happy!

Yeah, I think they did well with what they had... but they really didn't have a lot

Filth. Absolutely brilliant! As hilarious and moving as it is shocking and outrageous. James McAvoy is superb. Not for the easily offended though.

Just send it in the post! *whistles*

I added HMS Ulysses to my wishlist I'm pretty sure I read The Dark Crusader about 8 or 9 years ago, don't remember much about it about from something to do with a rocket...

You've been saying that for five years They are nice and they all match really well. The pictures are taken from paintings of battles relating to the war. Though I actually prefer the new style of covers they have released:

Fantastic review! I have Malice on my Kindle. Do you know when the fourth book is due to come out? I will probably start the series nearer then.

The Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell Synopsis Following the escapades of the Essex-born, green-jacketed, hard-nosed, orphan Richard Sharpe and his faithful companion; the larger-than-life, overally pious Irish killing machine Patrick Harper, throughout the Penninsula war. Review At 22 books and approximately 8,000 pages it is no wonder the Sharpe series has taken me around 5 years to complete but I will have a fondness for them that will last at least another 50 years. The first book written, Sharpe's Eagle, was released in 1981; set in 1809 at the height of the Peninsula war it sees Sharpe and Harper fighting at the battle of Talavera where he captures a much coveted French golden eagle (Napoleon's emblem). This was also the first Sharpe book I read and absolutely loved it, the vivid depictions of battle had me completely engrossed and the characterisation was top-notch. I didn't hesitate to buy the rest of the series. Cornwell went on to write eleven more over the next ten years, (including a Sharpe's Rifles, set before Sharpe's Eagle) finishing off the Napoleonic wars with Sharpe's Waterloo before one final installment, Sharpe's Devil that sees him face-to-face with Bonaparte himself. No more were seen for a few years but after the emergence of the TV series starring Sean Bean, Cornwell decided to go back and write some more. Fitting them in and around the existing storyline, most were set in Portugal or Spain but Cornwell also penned a 'prequel trilogy' of sorts, set in India as well as a naval setting in Sharpe's Trafalgar and the one-off Sharpe's Prey set in Copenhagen. With the exception of Sharpe's Eagle, these 'non-Pennisula' novels were my favourite, possibly because they stand-out more from the rest (which tend to all merge into one) with different settings and different foes, rather than an increase in quality. Here are all my ratings with the subsequent years they were released: Sharpe's Tiger 1997 9 Sharpe's Triumph 1998 9 Sharpe's Fortress 1999 8 Sharpe's Trafalgar 2000 8 Sharpe's Prey 2001 9 Sharpe's Rifles 1988 7 Sharpe's Havoc 2003 8 Sharpe's Eagle 1981 10 Sharpe's Gold 1981 9 Sharpe's Escape 2004 8 Sharpe's Fury 2007 7 Sharpe's Battle 1995 8 Sharpe's Company 1982 9 Sharpe's Sword 1983 8 Sharpe's Skirmish 1999 8 Sharpe's Enemy 1984 8 Sharpe's Honour 1985 8 Sharpe's Regiment 1986 8 Sharpe's Siege 1987 9 Sharpe's Revenge 1989 9 Sharpe's Waterloo 1990 8 Sharpe's Devil 1992 9 Sharpe's Eagle was the only book I gave a 10/10 to, but the more I think about it the more I think it is just because it was the first one I read and as they are all written in a similar style it is hard to enjoy any of them as much as the first time. I believe if and when I re-read them, Sharpe's Eagle won't live up to the pedestal I have placed it on. But Sharpe and Harper will always have a fond place in my heart, and Sharpe's Eagle was were it began for me. Overall: 9/10 A note on reading order: Every book is written to be a stand-alone, which is good as it makes every novel a potential starting point but it does mean we are introduced to the same characters and same concepts again and again. My order (and the order I would recommend) was to read the first book written first (always the best introduction in my opinion) then go back and read them all in chronological order. This was a good method but not necessarily the best. This way you get a great introduction to the characters and then get a great chronological view of the Napoleonic wars but it can be quite jarring as you are often skipping ahead or backwards decades in terms of when they were written. You could read them in the order they were released, this will give a nice flow to the development of the characters but could cause confusion as to which section of the war you are reading and therefore disrupt the overall narrative. You could of course read them in which ever order you like, my only suggestion would be to read the three Indian novels together and in the correct order as these are the closest linked of them all, and finish with Sharpe's Devil as it is set 5 years after the rest of the series and has a nice conclusion. I think if I went back and read them all again I would start with Sharpe's Rifles (the first Peninisula War novel) and read 6 or 7 in chronological order from there then go back and read the novels set before the war and then finish off with the rest. This would simply give you a break from all books set in the Peninsula War as they all start to merge into one after a while and I can't remember what specific ones were about. A note on the TV series: I hadn't watched any of the series before starting the first book but I have since watched them all. I would say they are good fun and capture some of the essence of the novels but not enough to do them justice. The budgets were far too small to convey the scope of the battles and they are mostly PG certificate (Suitable for all with parental guidance) meaning they couldn't portray the horrors of war often seen to a realistic degree in the books. Worth watching just don't expect Cornwell's vivid depictions to come across well. But Sean Bean and Daragh O'Malley are brilliant as the respective Sharpe and Harper.

I thought The Evolutionary Void was the weakest of the trilogy as well, but still a great read. I am waiting til the sequel comes out before reading The Abyss Beyond Dreams, same as you.