Timstar

I remember enjoying Control Point but loving Fortress Frontier same as you. Great review, I have the third and fourth books and have been meaning to start them for ages but too many others keep getting in the way. What's next?

I've had nothing but awful service from John Lewis so this doesn't surprise me. They didn't offer me money off though! Hope you get a new one sorted soon.

Yeah that's right, very much a case of 'go here and talk to this person, now go there and talk to that person, now go back to the first person again' Also I played on Xbox and it was clearly designed for PC.

Great review! I've been curious about these for a while. I played the 2nd Witcher game but never really got into it which is strange because it is the sort of game I love, I think I found it a bit too slow. I do have have Blood of Elves on my wishlist though...

Don't read any more fantasy until you've read LOTR! Definitely nothing strenuous in there. But as far as I am aware it is only the first book that is criticised and there are over 20 I believe . Will be interesting to see what you make of it

Gone Girl. Enjoyed it but didn't think it was as good as everyone was making out.

The Sword of Shannara - Terry Brooks Synopsis Long ago, the world of the Four Lands was torn apart by the wars of ancient Evil. But in the Vale, the half-human, half-elfin Shea Ohmsford now lives in peace - until the mysterious, forbidding figure of the druid Allanon appears, to reveal that the supposedly long dead Warlock Lord lives again. Shea must embark upon the elemental quest to find the only weapon powerful enough to keep the creatures of darkness at bay: the fabled Sword of Shannara. Review If the synopsis sounds a bit familar, it should, The Sword of Shannara has been long criticised as a plagarised Lord of the Rings. This initially put me off and because of which the book has been sat on my shelf for over 6 years. But then one day I just fancied some good old fashioned high fantasy and so I went in with low expectations and determined not to let the direct rip-offs similarities to LOTR put me off, especially as I have heard they get better from book two and Brook's finds his own story to tell. For starters it wasn't as 'plagarised' as I was expecting, don't get me wrong there are some laughably obvious rip-offs such as the mysterious black 'Skull-Bearers' right-hand minions of the Warlock Lord that strike fear in the heart of any who oppose it as well as many other examples. But it didn't read like LOTR at all, it read more like David Eddings, and I think if it was released today it would be classified as a YA book. Other aspects enforcing the idea it was aimed at a younger audience include too many 'convinient' occurences that helps out the group or individual in peril such as "They are enemies of the Warlock Lord, lets tie them up and take them with us on a long slow journey that surely won't be halted by their apt comrades" or the omnipotent elfstones that just seem to do what ever is required at the time they are needed. Despite these aspects the story is actually quite enjoyable, or maybe it is because of these aspects. The characterisation wasn't as good as Eddings and the world just felt a little boring with the landscape mostly serving as obstactles to be avoided rather than immersed in. It was also a bit too long, at 650 pages it was dragged out unnecessarily. This isn't a book I would recommend to fantasy newcomers but if you're looking for something very mindless and a bit of fun it's worth a go. I don't regret reading it and I will at least finish this trilogy. Overall 7/10 N.B. Although part of a trilogy it clearly wasn't originally intended to be and can be read stand-alone as it is fully concluded.

Thanks for the plug! Great review, I really should read more Matheson as I have loved both the books of his I've read.

Haha sounds awful, I'm impressed you lasted that long.

Maybe if you're bored To be honest I would always recommend The Painted Man but probably tell people not to bother with the sequels unless they really want to. But you should check out the Novella's, they can be read independently and are good fun. Really was! I'd say TST has turned the series around and is now heading back towards the track... but it hasn't quite made it there yet.

Normal thrones are boring, you can't strike fear into your mystical kingdom with a normal throne. In other book news I have finished reading Sourcery by Terry Pratchett which was good but I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous two Rincewind novels. 7/10 Also completed The Pickwick Papers by Dickens, written in episodic form allowed for quick dipping in and out of, many of which were good fun but many also overly long and boring. The writing, as with all Dickens is a treat, but this is my least favourite so far. 7/10 Finished Mr Mercedes last week, The first crime book by Stephen King which was very tense and a real page-turner. Great seeing the story from both the detective and criminals points-of-view. 8/10 Also been reading a lot of graphic novels lately, currently working my way through Sandman by Neil Gaiman and Y: The Last Man by Brian Vaughn. The latter of which is brilliant!

The Skull Throne - Peter V. Brett Synopsis The Skull Throne of Krasia stands empty. Built from the skulls of fallen generals and demon princes, it is a seat of honour and ancient, powerful magic, keeping the demon corelings at bay. From atop the throne, Ahmann Jardir was meant to conquer the known world, forging its isolated peoples into a unified army to rise up and end the demon war once and for all. But Arlen Bales, the Painted Man, stood against this course, challenging Jardir to a duel he could not in honour refuse. Rather than risk defeat, Arlen cast them both from a precipice, leaving the world without a saviour, and opening a struggle for succession that threatens to tear the Free Cities of Thesa apart. Review I was in two minds about continuing on with this series after the abysmal previous entry, The Daylight War. But I do love the overall premise and reading the novella, The Messenger's Legacy, set between TDW and TST, rekindled my interest and I decided to just go for it hoping the only way was up. TDW ended on a cliff-hanger and TST picks up right afterwards and hits the ground running with a remarkable improvement in the pacing. Unfortunately this doesn't last for very long and Brett quickly sinks back into his familar sins of long-winded sections that follow characters we simply don't care about whilst the best ones are neglected completely. It does begin to feel like the demons aren't really a threat anymore with everyone mostly ignoring them or fighting with warded anything. It's not all bad though, we do get some fantastic action scenes and the daylight war actually begins this time! Plus we do get to see a fairly awesome new kind of demon. There isn't much more to say without giving away spoilers, but if enjoyed TDW you will love this, if like me, you have stuck with the series so far then give it a go, you can't be more disappointed then you were previously. But it still falls far short of the fantastic debut novel, The Painted Man. The series so far: The Painted Man - 9/10 The Desert Spear - 6/10 The Daylight War - 5/10 The Skull Throne - 7/10

Fab review! I read it last year and enjoyed it but felt it dragged on a little bit too much. I guess you re-read it in time for the series as well which aired last night?

I have still yet to read any Miéville but I did get The City & The City in a kindle deal not too long ago. Glad you liked it!

Glad you loved War of the Worlds, it is a great book. Though to date it is still the only Wells book I have read, really want to read some more.

Finished Mr Mercedes by Stephen King, very enjoyable, a real page turner, especially towards the end.

That is what everyone else says but I don't struggle at all. Though to be fair I do read in a lot of different formats which helps, including non-fiction, e-books, audio and graphic novels as well as short stories which I would never stop half-way through meaning I wouldn't need to keep remember what happened last.

I wish I only had 4! I think I'm up to about 10 now Paul Kearney is an author I have been meaning to try out for a while, maybe one day

I loved the first story as well, The Priest's Tale, it was certainly the most memorable and told in such a way it keeps you glued to the page. Quite possibly my favourite too! It wasn't the best story but I did love the writing style of 'The Poet's Tale' I don't think you'll be disappointed! I am eager to read the follow up.

I have finished Hyperion by Dan Simmons which I really enjoyed. It is a SF told in the same style as The Canterbury Tales with each character relating a different story revolving in some way around the mysterious and deadly being known as the Shrike. The stories are written in a format that portrays the characters profession such as Scholar, Poet, Soldier etc... which means they are all very different from each other, with some being better than others. Overall 9/10 I also read Dexter's Final Cut, the last in the series and I couldn't believe how bad it was. The author changed Dexter into a highly unlikable character that didn't see the very obvious plot twist coming and leaves us with a worse ending than the show (which I didn't think was possible). Very glad it is the last. Overall 5/10

Reading The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett and hoping to start Mr Mercedes soon.

Conn Iggulden's 5 part 'Conqueror' series about Genghis and Kublai Khan is 0.99p each on Kindle today. Well worth the price.

Glad they continue to impress, only 4 left now! I just bought Master and Commander for £1.99 on Kindle.

Avengers: Age of Ultron. Similar to the first one, great fight scenes, cracking one liners and too much CGI. Enjoyable but lacks any real heart.

Great question! Without thinking too much about it and in no pariticular order: The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas The Stand - Stephen King The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien A Song of Ice and Fire - GRR Martin Gentlemen B*stards - Scott Lynch Tales of the Ketty Jay - Chris Wooding IT - Stephen King Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck Red Country - Joe Abercrombie Moby Dick - Herman Melville