Karsa Orlong

Yeah, season 2 and the first half of season 3 particularly was excellent

Double yep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP58U_R3gK0 Can't believe it's 30 years next month since it was released

The first episode of Midwinter of the Spirit. It's a while since I read the book but, from what I can remember, it's a pretty decent adaptation so far. No idea why they started with the second book in the series, though

^^ BSG gets better. Much, much better. It hasn't been renewed yet, so chances are that's the end. I think they wrapped it up pretty well. ETA: I thought that final sequence was wonderful

The Strain 2x05. No idea why I'm still watching this - apart from to see HP's Filch wielding a sword and chopping off vampire heads

As first weeks go I didn't think it was too bad. Nice to see Anton actually dancing for once - he might actually make it to December this time. Purely on first impressions, it's between Peter, Georgia and Helen. Judging by the audience reaction, I suspect Peter will win it even if his ballroom turns out to be shite Oh yes, please do away with the 'comedy' training footage, and someone please throw custard pies at the judges when they 'dance' on

I've put it aside, just wasn't enjoying it, hated the main character. All the 'yays' and 'boos' and such were irritating me too much. I may come back to it at a later date. Started A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan instead. So far, wonderful stuff

I've been trying to read The Martian the past couple of days but I'm not enjoying it, really don't like the narrative voice. Don't know whether to push on with it or put it aside and read something else

No, it wasn't me - not unless I've put on weight, grown a beard, and walk around looking vague constipated all the time Anyway, he was far too young for a Rush fan - he should be middle-aged and losing his hair, unless the beard was compensating for an unseen bald spot The questions were so easy! Even I could've won that one Yeah, I've seen Troy. I quite like it If you want to read a novel about the Trojan War, though, don't start with King of Ithaca - go for Gemmell's Troy trilogy, starting with Lord of the Silver Bow - it's bloody marvellous

King of Ithaca (Adventures of Odysseus Book 1) by Glyn Iliffe 2008 - Pan ebook - 382 pages Greece is a country in turmoil, divided by feuding kingdoms desiring wealth, power and revenge. When Eperitus, a young exiled soldier, comes to the aid of a group of warriors in battle, little does he know that it will be the start of an incredible adventure. For he is about to join the charismatic Odysseus, Prince of Ithaca, on a vital quest to save his homeland. I've been meaning to read this book for a few years, looked at the paperback in Waterstone's a few times - when there used to be a branch just down the road from the office - but it was a bit knackered and I wanted one that was in good condition, so I ended up not buying it. In the meantime there seemed to be question marks over whether the series was going to continue after book four, for various reasons. Last week, after a conversation about fiction based on The Iliad over on SFF Chronicles where I asked if anyone else had read it - and nobody had - I looked up Glyn Iliffe again and saw, on his FB page that a fifth book is nearing completion, which surprised and excited me, so I finally decided to take the plunge. King of Ithaca is the first in a series called 'The Adventures of Odysseus', and you can tell that Iliffe is settling in for the long haul. I'm pretty certain that, by the fourth book, Odysseus will not even have started his long journey home after the siege of Troy. I've no idea how many books Iliffe is aiming for but it could be of Cornwell/O'Brian proportions . . . This is effectively 'Odysseus: the Early Years'. Here he is a prince and his father, Laertes, is under threat from rebellion. Laertes is reluctant to hand power to his as yet unproven son, fearful that the islanders will not follow his boy and that the rebellion may succeed as a result. Meanwhile, in Sparta, Agamemnon is trying to persuade King Tyndareus to bring the many Greek nations together, finally, by proposing a war against Troy. Agamemnon suggests that Tyndareus should offer the hand of his stepdaughter, Helen, in marriage to the one of them who can prove his worth, thereby giving him an excuse to summon all the leaders under one roof as suitors. When the invitation reaches Ithaca it is agreed that Odysseus will go to Sparta. Nobody believes he will win Helen's hand, but he may be able to gain allies to help against the uprising against his father. Along the way, Iliffe begins to set-up many of the threads that will fuel later events, including a prophecy, a certain bow, and someone called Penelope. The story is told, mainly, from the point of view of Eperitus but occasionally also from that of other characters, including Odysseus. Iliffe's style has a Gemmell/Iggulden flavour to it, though not yet on the level of either of those authors. Being his first novel, I thought the writing was functional for the most part, but effective. The story is told with a good sense of pace and I never found it boring. The characters could perhaps be better - they are a little flat and, as I always feel, an injection of humour between them would help immeasurably. The easiest comparison here is to David Gemmell's Troy trilogy, where his version of Odysseus leaps off the page in a brilliant, thrilling and charming way. Here Odysseus, whilst likeable, brave and noble, didn't really come alive in the same way Gemmell achieved. This is something I hope Iliffe has developed in the subsequent books. Unlike Gemmell, however, Iliffe chooses to keep the involvement of the gods and mythical creatures. This gives the story the feel of Jason and the Argonauts at times, I thought, and I really liked this aspect of it. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's an easy read, a good old-fashioned adventure story as the series title implies, and - if approached as such - fulfills its goals with ease. A little work on the characters, coupled with the crunching action scenes, and this series could be a winner.

It's a good album. Some crazy people were saying it's better than Maiden's, so I had to get it

I've had the first six of Camilleri's Montalbano books sitting on my Kindle for ages. Must get around to them

Fear the Walking Dead 1x04 - and just as I was about to chuck it in something interesting finally happens. Curses! The Twilight Zone 1x04

The House of Shattered Wings looks really intriguing. Why is it so expensive, though?

Just seen that there's a three-part adaptation of Phil Rickman's Midwinter of the Spirit (his second 'Merrily Watkins' book) starting on ITV tonight. I quite like the books, so I'll give it a go

Damn, I was hoping it was going to be about Himmler's love of Mars bars

The film's good but the uncut version that was shown as a tv mini-series in the '80s is much better: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0001NIYUO?keywords=das%20boot&qid=1443015825&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2 They cut about an hour and a half out of it for the version that was released as a movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Boot#Versions

Must admit, I gave up on Sleepy Hollow half way through the second season. I really liked it at first but I thought Nicole Beharie's acting in the second season was appalling - it was like she was phoning it in from half a world away Castle 7x18 - the obligatory Ryan episode for the season Aquarius 1x06 - still quite liking this, mainly for Duchovny's performance - he's good at playing a-holes Fear the Walking Dead 1x03 I thought the characters couldn't possibly get any dumber. I was wrong

Only in as much as not a lot in the book made any sense Maybe they thought it was so confusing that nobody would notice I love the way one of the reviewers says 'I would suggest that this second book should not be started without reading the 1st' obviously not realising they'd read the third book second

I was just considering buying the next Rajaniemi book on Kindle so I went on Amazon. They have The Causal Angel listed as Book #2. I was just about to click on 'buy' when I thought 'That's weird, I could've sworn that The Fractal Prince was next'. Sure enough, it seems Amazon have numbered the Kindle editions incorrectly

So Rothfuss claimed he had the whole trilogy written before the first book was even published, but now he's expanded the scope so much he's saying to expect the third book 'some time before 2025' I'm so glad I didn't start on this series and end up with another ASoI&F on my hands. Do you think he and GRRM are related by any chance? Or is it just a beard thing?

Ray Donovan 3x10. This isn't going to end well . . .

Ooh, some exciting choices there

It certainly makes sense in regards to Perhonen, cos she's shaped like a butterfly and has lots of them flying around inside Mieli, I'm not so sure - although it could be something that's revealed in the other books I thought you might be I generally like books that don't rely on info dumps and let me figure things out for myself (see Erikson, Watts, Bakker, even O'Brian to a degree) but this one jumped over that line with both feet and didn't look back