Karsa Orlong

I wish I was! That's no reflection of Northern Exposure, though - great series

Yeah, The Mallorean follows on from The Belgariad. I have very fond memories of both series from when I read them in my teens/20s. There's a character in them called Silk who is still one of my all time favourites

I have no willpower whatsoever. I went into Smiths on the way home cos I noticed yesterday they had the 2nd and 3rd books in Cornwell's 'Grail Quest' trilogy and they were in great condition. So I went in to get those, then also found they had two other books I wanted in the 'buy 1 get 1 half price' deal So ... Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell Heretic by Bernard Cornwell Prince by Rory Clements Hannibal: Enemy of Rome by Ben Kane Just when I'd got my TBR list down a bit Although, to be fair, I would have bought the first three of them sooner or later anyway, it's just the Ben Kane one that was an impulse buy. I saw it the day before and liked the look of it. Oh, and none of them are science fiction, which is just wrong

I agree, The Wire especially is perfect. Shame Deadwood got cancelled, though.

Oh yeah, American Gothic was getting really good when it got cancelled! Anyone remember Tales of the Gold Monkey??

Sadly not!

Farscape and Firefly. Neither should have been cancelled in the first place!

It's not sci-fi???? Better stop reading it right now

Cancelled, unsurprisingly. http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/03/05/terra-nova-cancelled/

I finished Neal Asher's Cowl last night and this morning I started Bernard Cornwell's Harlequin.

Cowl by Neal Asher I have come to the conclusion that Neal Asher is quite mad - or, at least, his books are insane. In his hands it's science fiction with the dial turned up to 11, in a Spinal Tap stylee. He writes with real verve and drags you along for the ride, kicking and screaming If you're looking for an inventive, wild, exciting ride, he's the man for the job, just be prepared to have all your preconceptions of stuffy old sf books ripped up and thrown back in your face I have no idea how to even start describing Cowl. Most of his novels are set within his 'Polity' universe, but Cowl is that awkward beast that is the stand-alone story. Set on Earth, we first meet Polly, a 22nd century prostitute, whose friend Marjae has recently died through drug abuse. When Marjae's brother Nandru, an ex-military type, turns up blaming Polly for his sister's death, he in turn drugs Polly and implants her with an AI device. When she awakes he tells her (in her head, through the device) that some people will turn up looking for her and he will tell her what to do when that happens. Sure enough, within minutes, U-Gov agents, led by a genetically engineered super-assassin called Tack, turn up and demand to know where Nandru has left a particular item. Through the AI device, Nandru gives Polly directions and she leads the agents to a mysterious item that looks something like a thorny vambrace, called a tor. Nandru has been waiting to ambush them and, as he sets about killing the agents, a rip in the fabric of reality occurs beside the tor and reveals a vast maw which munches on Nandru. With him dead, Tack comes hunting Polly and, in desperation, she grabs the tor, which immediately (and bloodily) fixes itself to her arm. Turns out it's a time travel device, and it promptly drags her and the nearby Tack back in time. That all happens in the first 20 or 30 pages, and it gets even madder after that, as Polly and Tack get dragged into a future war between genetically enhanced breeds of super-human called Heliothanes and Umbrathanes, who are travelling back through time to finish their war by hunting down and killing the eponymous Cowl, who himself has travelled back through time, killing millions in the process, to a time and place before the birth of mankind, and ... Oh hell, just read the blimmin' thing, it's brilliant fun 8/10

Ten's a great album, but I actually prefer Vs, Yield and Vitalogy

Yield is AWESOME! Next to 'Vs' it's my favourite of theirs

I'm about 380 pages into Neal Asher's Cowl. It's frying my brain a bit but, as usual with his books, it's great fun

It occurred to me that there was one aspect of Replay that I should have mentioned - there is some sex in the book, particularly when Jeff decides to embrace the 'free love' part of the 60s. It's not particularly graphic, but I know some people don't like reading that sort of thing so thought I should mention it Decided to go with Neal Asher's Cowl next.

Wow, I hope you both enjoy it as much as I did

Replay by Ken Grimwood From the back of the book: "Jeff Winston was forty-three and trapped in a tepid marriage and a dead-end job, waiting for that time when he could be truly happy, when he died. And then he woke up and he was eighteen, with all his memories of the next twenty-five years intact. He could live his life again, avoiding the mistakes, making money from his knowledge of the future, seeking happiness. Until he dies at forty-three and wakes up back in college again ..." First off, Grimwood - what a great name! I'd never heard of him until a few weeks back, never heard of this book. To say more about the story than what's above would, I think, be to damage it beyond repair. Replay is a fantasy novel. It's the sort of fantasy novel that gives the lie to those who think the genre is just about swords, sorcery, orcs, goblins, elves, dwarves, dragons, wizards and farmboys with a destiny. Instead, it's about life, about learning to live with failure and regrets and loneliness, and love and joy and freedom, about how one word in the wrong place can change a life forever. In fact, it's how Jeff chooses to live each of his 'replays', the mistakes he makes, the triumphs he has, that makes him and all the characters from his life that we're introduced to along the way so endearing. You live through all their highs and lows with them, and marvel at the way Grimwood portrays them with subtle (and not so subtle) differences each life through. It may sound a bit like Groundhog Day but trust me: it is so much more than that. I found Replay witty, sad, scary, uplifting and heartbreaking. Every time I thought I knew what was going to happen it pulled the rug out from under my feet. It never resorts to schmaltz or is even vaguely sentimental. In fact, at times it is downright brutal, and it is constantly surprising. I loved it from start to finish - in fact I don't think it makes a single misstep. It's just a wonderful, wonderful story, brilliantly told, and its message is clear. I can't believe I hadn't heard of it before. 10/10

I've only encountered two Kindle books that I've had any problems with (the main one being 'A Dance with Dragons', which was shocking considering I bought it when it was in hardback, so it was more expensive for the Kindle, too). I get the feeling a lot of the typos occur when older books are being OCR'd for ebook release. You could always email Amazon customer services and let them know about specific examples. Do you download samples, Sue? I would always recommend downloading the sample of each and every book you're interested in so that you can see what it's like before paying for it, although that obviously doesn't help if the problem starts towards the end of the book!

I suspect she is - I know for a fact that she hates cats! And now I know I can't believe a word you say Haven't read Un Lun Dun but Perdido Street Station is fantastic. You'll no doubt despise it

I knew there was a reason I liked her

I actually loathed the programme when Ross was hosting it - I stopped watching it altogether so, yeah, I'd much rather watch Claudia and Danny, at least they're fun

Thanks Brian! I'm not feeling so bad about it now - at least it's another book off the TBR list ... ... and I've just added another one: they had an imported copy of Jack McDevitt's The Engines of God in Waterstones in Oxford Street. Total impulse buy, I know nothing about it and it wasn't on my wish list, but it sounded intriguing, so ...

Ah well, all good intentions and all that nonsense. I got my TBR list down below 90 so naturally I had to go and buy two more books to rectify that Revenger by Rory Clement (John Shakespeare series book 2) Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell (Grail Quest series book 1)

Gawd only knows what Barry Norman makes of that - he must me turning in his grave - or at least he would be if he was dead