Karsa Orlong

Castle 6x05

You actually counted? Blimey So glad you enjoyed it - it's an awesome book I think you commented on my review of The Invisible Man a few months ago, especially when I said there was too much slapstick in it for me. It's not my favourite of his - so you'll probably love it Get yourself The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau, though - they are both fantastic Cos you're not here Cos you're not heeeeeeeeeeere Love it I haven't bothered with the new version, though. Gary Barlow instead of Justin Hayward?? Seriously????

That'll go down well on SFF Chronicles

Oh yeah, that and the bit where: Nails were bitten during that bit. Or at least they would've been if I hadn't been holding the book open It's great, the first season particularly. It's got that typical HBO slow-burn, takes it's time for the first few episodes and then suddenly you're hooked

Just so long as he doesn't do a chick flick next . . . Thing is, I think he does build tension really well, too, even in scenes like the one in Red Country where they're negotiating around the camp fire (although it would have been even better with some Blazing Saddles farting going on ), and there were even a couple of scenes in this one that rivalled the scene in the cabin in The Heroes, which is still one of the scariest scenes I've read in a fantasy novel Jolly good! I shall head over there and vote http://www.hbo.com/deadwood

You should start with The Blade Itself, Devi, which is the first book in his 'First Law' trilogy

Thanks! Yeah, see that's pretty much what I thought - if you're not a fan of the genre you won't get as much out of it, you just won't. But I guess he must have known that would be the case, and I'm glad he didn't compromise on his vision in order to satisfy everyone. Selfish, I know, but there you go! I do think his books are more about the characters than anything else. The stories themselves are all pretty straightforward and the depth comes through the characters and their relationships instead. Plus he writes some of the best action scenes: the ones in Red Country took my breath away at times, they are so exciting and terrifying, too. And the scene during the storm is so vivid. Real 'big screen' writing, if you like Maybe you could watch Deadwood before you re-read Red Country. Seriously - assuming you haven't seen it before, of course

Thanks Indeed, although to be fair I reckon you could have started with any of his last three books and ended up doing the same I'd probably go for The Heroes, as it's the one that really got me into him, but I have to say I rate his last three books just about equally I'm going to have to do a full re-read of all his books next year, I think.

Posted some thoughts on Red Country here

Thanks! It's this label some people are giving to the grittier, darker books in the fantasy genre, where there's lots of violence and moral ambiguity, and Joe's been saddled with it, among others.

I have to conclude that Craig is a liar. He's always saying that they have to eliminate the person they think performs worst in the dance-off, and base their decision only on the dance-off, yet he still picked Fiona to stay. Even with my uneducated eyes I could see that she went wrong several times Thought Susanna & Kevin (from Grimsby)'s paso was awesome! But they couldn't let her keep the high score for just one week, could they?

Book #67: Red Country by Joe Abercrombie

Conan the Barbarian (2011)

That's cruelty to animals! At least get her to read A Storm of Swords instead

*cough* Alex Lifeson *cough*

Yeah, I do. Thanks for the link. I read that one earlier this year (review) and it was very good. Well worth it at that price, if you're at all interested, although you might want to read The Bones of Avalon first (only £2.99 on Kindle at the mo).

*sigh* You always have to lower the tone, don't you?

I might try some Dick next I read that one a couple of years ago, too - a real oddity, and mercifully short, I thought. I should add that my reason for reducing the Elric score to an 8 was that I felt the short stories were better than the novel, Stormbringer, which had a couple of slow patches in it. ETA: That, plus I started Abercrombie, which puts most other fantasy books immediately in their proper place

Or She Dies is currently £1.99 on Kindle. Might have to give it a go at that price

I find him very false. He's more concerned with pulling stupid faces and spouting his little catchphrases than with actually saying anything constructive. And, as blunt as Craig can be, it annoys me when Goodman starts shouting over the top of his comments. Just do us a favour and shut up Len! I think you're right about Natalie, if she's well enough to continue right through to the end - I can't see the judges voting her out in a dance off, unless she really messes up, or one of the others becomes that good. Patrick's last two dances have been great. Such a shame about the slip up at the end of the routine on Saturday.

Zero Dark Thirty

It's pretty grim and pretty dark. I thought about it some more, compared it to some of my other scores, and knocked it down to an 8, which is still great.

Book #66: Elric by Michael Moorcock From Amazon: Elric of Melniboné is the haunted, treacherous and doomed albino sorcerer-prince. An introspective weakling in thrall to his black-bladed, soul-eating sword, Stormbringer, he is yet a hero whose bloody adventures and wanderings through brooding, desolate lands leads inexorably to his decisive intervention in the war between the forces of Law and Chaos. This volume brings together The Stealer of Souls and Stormbringer, the first two published books of Elric's adventures, and confirms Michael Moorcock's place as one of the most important fantasy writers of our time. Thoughts: I've somehow unintentionally continued with my journey back to read through some of the stories that created the sword and sorcery genre. Apparently, Michael Moorcock created Elric of Melniboné as a response to - and reversal of - the cliches found in many The Lord of the Rings copycats, and as a direct antithesis of Robert E. Howard's Conan. Elric is a brilliant anti-hero, allied to Chaos (much of Moorcock's work, apparently, centres on the balance between Law and Chaos), wielding a god-wrought sword of pure evil called Stormbringer, which eats the souls of its victims. More than that, Elric - an albino and weak since birth - draws his strength from the blade and with each life it takes the stronger he gets. Unfortunately, the sword has a mind of its own, howling as it does its work, and often controlling Elric's arm, with tragic consequences. This symbiotic relationship is central to the tales. There are six stories in this edition; five short stories and one novel: The Dreaming City While the Gods Laugh The Stealer of Souls Kings in Darkness The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams Stormbringer Remarkably, Moorcock wrote most of this in the early 60s, when he was between the ages of 21 and 23. What I really liked about these stories is the continuity. Whereas the Conan stories are all standalone, can can be read in any order and don't require any previous knowledge of the character, there is a definite flow to these stories, beginning as Elric, who has been through a self-imposed exile from Melniboné, returns to take revenge upon his cousin Yyrkoon and, in so doing, reveals his treacherous side, and carrying on the tale through to a brilliant and fitting conclusion in Stormbringer, which is mooted by some to have the best ending in fantasy fiction (and it is pretty damn good!). He is a character with issues that take the stories in directions I didn't entirely expect. I'm not sure why I avoided reading Moorcock for so long. Maybe it was the tacky covers of his books, that gave the impression it was pure pulp. These stories are far from that. His writing is excellent, his stories inventive, and his characters memorable. There's even an excellent map. He went on to write many other Elric stories but, by all accounts, these are the best, and I can see why they are regarded as classics. I'll definitely be reading more of his books. "Bound by hell-forged chains and fate-haunted circumstance," Elric says early on in the book. "Well, then - let it be thus so - and men will have cause to tremble and flee when they hear the names of Elric of Melniboné and Stormbringer, his sword. We are two of a kind - produced by an age which has deserted us. Let us give this age cause to hate us!" 8/10

I'm sure it's the abridged version. Just wait till Peter Jackson gets hold of it