Karsa Orlong

Well you should tell her that any 'disasters' Brian Cox is talking about are millions of years in the future I do find that he makes it quite easy to understand, though, which is great. If it wasn't for the fact that I live in a city, Stargazing Live would've had me out buying a telescope without a second thought! I think it's me with the weird tastes, not you, don't worry! Something I've always been bizarrely proud of Sorry for the hijack, Kylie!

I've always thought this. I don't mind her, but they should've given the film programme to Mark Kermode, imo.

I saw Winkleman and her mate ripping the movie of Red Dog to pieces on Film 2012 last week. Shame!

You need to watch more Brian Cox Thanks Poppy So, seeing as our views on books we've both read seem to be polar opposites, should I assume that'll be the case with this one as well?

I read the first one a couple of years ago. It was okay. I still have the next two on the shelf unread, which means I wasn't overly impressed, I guess, but I do intend to read them. I did post these in my book thread but, seeing as I'm posting here anyway, these are my shelves: The books are two deep on the shelves in the second picture (the Liveship ones are hidden at the back ).

Yeah, it's good fun. I don't feel any compulsion to see every single episode, but it's easy to dip in and out of and still enjoy it. Season 2's just started on Five on Friday nights

Ditto with Serenity - good call Chrissy. Firefly was quickly becoming Whedon's best series, imo, before it was so rudely cancelled. By coincidence, last night I watched Castle (starring Nathan Fillion) and Homeland (starring Morena Baccarin) so I really should've remembered Serenity!

I absolutely hate giving up on books - it makes me feel like I've failed in some way - but I got 150 pages into Silverthorn and put it back on the shelf. I wasn't getting into it at all, and life's too short to spend time reading something I'm not enjoying. I think if I'd read it straight after reading Magician I probably would've liked it more, but it's so 'fantasy-by-numbers' it was just washing over me without any meaning or effect. Yes, I confess: I am a fantasy snob So I've started Ken Grimwood's Replay this morning

Sorry, that made me laugh I understand this feeling completely! Up until 3 or 4 years ago I wasn't using my spare time to read much at all - since then it's become pretty much all I do! Happy reading Abby

Dear Kylie, please can you read this one immediately and tell me what it's like?

Tremors is brilliant! One of my favourite films, just a wonderful tribute to old school monster movies - and with a brain, too As I always tell me boss: I plan ahead. That way, I don't do anything right now Heathen

Yes, undoubtedly. Unfortunately it also contributed to me not liking the film, but I doubt they care!

Hope you enjoy it, Chrissy, I quite liked it

It's a good word! I started Feist's Silverthorn this morning. Don't really know why, as it wasn't even on my radar when I finished The Wine of Angels. I guess it's because it had been sitting on the shelf for so long. I read Magician a few years back and enjoyed it at the time, but my tastes in fantasy have moved on from the kings/queens/elves/dwarves/goblins generic fantasy tropes, so I'm finding this one a bit lame at the moment. Hopefully I'll get more into it, but I do prefer my fantasy a bit grittier these days <<insert snooty expression>>

That's interesting, pickle - the daughter was probably the character I liked the most in this one - does she get worse?

I wish they'd hurry up and move on from this blimmin' farm.

Yeah, I think the problem with Blair Witch was the hype. If I'd known nothing about it and caught it late night on tv by chance it probably would've scared the hell out of me. As it was, I watched it expecting to be terrified and just ended up being a bit bored.

Started Raymond E Feist's Silverthorn this morning. Derivative drivel, but it's been on the shelf for years so I thought I'd better get it over and done with I take mine unofficially. Nobody seems to notice the difference, which is worrying

The Wine of Angels by Phil Rickman "'Gappy old grin, eyes like grey holes ... these very branches. Look up, Janey...' It looks like a paradise parish: cobbled streets, black and white timber-framed houses. But, even before she moves in, Merrily Watkins, the new priest, has witnessed an ugly death. Soon she'll be involved in a bitter dispute over a play about a 17th century vicar accused of witchcraft ... a story which certain old families would rather remained obscure. Welcome to Ledwardine, steeped in cider and secrecy. And, as Merrily and her teenage daughter, Jane, discover, a village where horrific murder is a tradition spanning centuries." I've only read one of Rickman's other novels, The Bones of Avalon, which was a historical novel, quite different from this one. Even though the village of Ledwardine's local history is a huge factor in this book the setting is contemporary and I did notice that Rickman's writing style was quite different and made for a quicker read. I think this was largely down to the main characters being very likeable, especially Jane, Lol and Gomer. Merrily, too - although, for a priest, she does come across as something of a blaspheming, chain-smoking neurotic, which I think was intentional, as she has turned to religion as a way of dealing with the death of her cheating, embezzling crook of a husband. Also, the first thing she witnesses in Ledwardine is an old man blowing his own head off with a shotgun, so it's got to have an effect, right? The novel moves along at quite a pace. This is surprising, because the first half is largely scene-setting. There's a tantalising supernatural element to the mystery of Ledwardine, and particularly its orchard, which always seems to loom in the background, almost like one of those creepy woods you used to see in old black and white horror movies. One local, an older lady called Lucy, says that the old guy's suicide, which took place in the orchard, has offended the spirits there, and Merrily's daughter Jane has a drunken out-of-body experience there which leads her to befriend Lucy and start to believe what the old lady's saying. Merrily, meanwhile, gets caught up in a local wrangle over a festival and a playwright's wish to stage a production in the church about a 17th century priest who was persecuted and hung (in the orchard, no less) for supposedly being a witch. All the while she's having nightmares involving her dead husband and ghostly goings-on in the vicarage into which she and Jane have moved. It's how Rickman orchestrated these - and other - subplots, introduces a large cast of supporting characters, most of whom are suspicious or unpleasant on one level or another, and brings them all together that I found really entertaining. I think the book is probably about 150 pages too long, but the end is quite exciting, the characters well developed, and it left me wanting to spend more time with them. I'm hoping that, now all the scene-setting has been done, the next book will be even better. 90p well spent, I think! 8/10

I don't know if I disliked it as much as you, but it certainly wasn't great. James Cameron seems to be getting a monopoly, what with Avatar and Titanic. I have to say, I really hated Terminator 2 as well. I loved the first film, loathed everything about the second one, from Arnie being a 'good' terminator, to his useless catchphrases, to the thumbs up at the end, and the kid playing John Connor ... aaaaaaaaaargh! But then Cameron did make one of my all time faves (Aliens) so maybe I should cut him slack ... Er, nope, can't do it!

Hi Weave, great reviews - very intrigued by more Richard Matheson books, as I've only read the one (you know which one!). Re The Governor - I'm guessing this character hasn't appeared in the tv series yet?

I read the first Hunger Games book and have never had the inclination to read another one. Not my cup of tea.

How Titanic won Best Picture ahead of LA Confidential is beyond me