Karsa Orlong

I saw that a while ago, thought it was very good. I thought they should've got Mantel and Weir in the same room so they could have a fight I did find myself agreeing with everything Susannah Lipscomb said, though - no idea why . . . Started watching Supernatural again (it's all Noll's fault . . . ), up to ep 9x04. "Ding dong, bitches"

Sounds like the sort of thing that happens when you're talking to someone who's got you on a speaker

They're not looking too bad! I still have an empty shelf at the moment. The O'Brian books, all twenty-one of them, actually take up less space than the ten Malazan books The last few Aubrey/Maturin books are the only paperbacks I've bought since before November, I think. I love the Kindle Voyage so much that I'm reading on there pretty much all the time, so shelf space isn't an issue for the time being I honestly haven't looked into it, as I don't want to know, or accidentally spoil myself, on what happens. I did briefly flick through the last, sadly unfinished book, and it includes his handwritten drafts of some chapters of the next book, but that's as far as I'm prepared to look into it at the moment, really - I didn't read any of it

Yeah, the cover art is very evocative. Kind of mad, cos I'm actually reading the Kindle editions (having the built-in dictionary is a Godsend with these books ) and it's enhanced my enjoyment so much, but the result is that I now love them so much I have to actually own the physical copies. Have to, no choice

The Thirteen Gun Salute (Aubrey/Maturin Book #13) by Patrick O'Brian 1989 - Harper ebook - 365 pages Will Napoleon Bonaparte form an alliance with the Malay princes of the South China Sea? Not if Jack Aubrey can help it. Conveying a diplomatic mission to the Sultan's court, Aubrey and company must also contend with orangutans, typhoons, and a squadron of wily French envoys. Note: This book begins shortly after the events of The Letter of Marque. I liked: There's a shipwreck - it is brilliant. You can really feel the frustration and dwindling hope as a typhoon approaches. An extended sequence where Stephen treks to a mountain-top Buddhist temple in the depths of a jungle, where he - for once - has the time to indulge his passion for animals and plants, driven by his desire to see an orangutan for the first time. It's a wonderful change of pace, completely involving and brings the world around him alive. In some ways the plot is similar to the fourth book, The Mauritius Command, which also involved the transporting of an envoy. It's a sign of how much O'Brian's writing had developed over the intervening books that this one is even better, and that all of the characters are fleshed out so beautifully. The envoys - Fox in this book and Stanhope in the other - are worlds apart in terms of characterisation and motivation. The political shenanigans, where the book could potentially get bogged down, are described with such wit that they're a joy. There's something that happens regarding an ongoing plot about a couple of traitors that is a complete shock. Didn't see it coming at all but it's at once amusing (in the almost off-hand manner in which O'Brian throws it out there) and gross. I disliked: Running out of ways to say how much I love these books. I noted in my comments on The Letter of Marque that the essay at the end, Jack Aubrey's Ships, was excellent and I wished it had been included earlier in the series . . . Well, it was! I noticed last night that it was also included in The Mauritius Command To be fair (to me!), it's a while since I read that one The essay at the end of this book, Black, Choleric & Married by Patrick O'Brian himself, was also included earlier, in The Fortune of War. Shame they didn't ensure the essays were unique to each book. The Thirteen Gun Salute, apparently, begins a plot arc that lasts for five novels. There's also a lot here that reaches back into the past, too, and it's one of those books that exhibits all the series' best qualities. It's O'Brian on top form. It's funny, exciting, enthralling, and a hell of a lot happens in it. Do I really need to say I loved it? Memorable Quotes:

Just watched that. Excellent stuff. Also, Continuum 3x01

Don't worry about it In other news, I completed my 'Aubrey/Maturin' collection today:

Crikey, I can't multi-task as well

Damn, I was planning to go rat-arsed every day Janet! You're talking about the fish and not the Rush

Much excitement here, now I've got tickets for Rush's 40th Anniversary Tour So here's one that was recorded 40 years ago this year

No, nothing at all. Oh, go on - read Desolation Island at least Well, I seem to have come into possession of tickets to see Rush in Calgary and Vancouver, so it looks like I'm going to Canada in July

*sighs* Ahhh, those were the days I was planning to really get stuck in to XCOM: Enemy Within this afternoon, but then I - typically - got side-tracked by (and suddenly addicted to) Shadowrun Dragonfall (Director's Cut). Similar turn-based combat to XCOM but surrounded by a full-blown RPG. It's rather good so far

After not playing it for about two years me and a friend were playing some XCOM online, so I decided to go back and finally finish the XCOM: Enemy Unknown campaign, which I did, and have now started XCOM: Enemy Within. They could never replace the original two X-COM games in my affections (especially Terror from the Deep), but they are as good an update as I could have hoped for.

It usually is

Oh lord, I know that feeling! I went for so long without having a pizza that it made me feel ill when I next had one. I hardly ever have cheese now, so it's a real shock to the system when I eat something like that. The last few times I've been in Pizza Express I've had either a Caesar salad or a tuna salad instead of pizza

Well you know what they say - never judge a book by its cover Oh, wait . . . it's not a book is it?

Oh yeah, it was/is brilliant. So was Sparkle in the Rain

In a weird book-type reference, I went out for a meal with some family friends last night and we went to a restaurant at Denham Aerodrome - and it's called Biggles Slightly odd choice of name for the place, given it's a Spanish/Portuguese restaurant Lovely food and great, friendly service.

Crikey, we're almost polar opposites on this one Shame you didn't enjoy it - as you say, maybe Bradbury just isn't for you. Oh go on, give it a go! For another point of view

"Hopefully Harper Lee's 2nd book will actually include information on how to kill a ****ing mockingbird"

True Detective (Nathan Heller Book #1) by Max Allan Collins 1983 - Harper ebook - 481 pages In the mob-choked Chicago of 1932, Mayor Cermak aims to scrub up Chicago’s rancid reputation for the World’s Fair, and that daunting task comes down to the youngest plainclothes cop in town, Nathan Heller of the pickpocket detail. When the Mayor’s “Hoodlum Squad” brings Heller along on a raid with no instructions but to keep his mouth shut and his gun handy, he finds himself an unwitting, unwilling part of an assassination attempt on Al Capone’s successor, Frank Nitti. Soon, he’s smack in the middle of a power struggle between the mob and the mayor, and it’s up to the young detective to upend a potentially nation-shaking political assassination in Miami Beach. In Collins’ eruptive and evocative large-landscape historical thriller, readers consort with the likes of “Dutch” Reagan, George Raft, and FDR himself, as the author weaves the intricate history of the Chicago’s Century of Progress with a classic noir mystery. Rich in riveting plot turns, including a beautiful female client and a heartbreaking romance, True Detective is one of the most highly entertaining and unlikely coming-of-age stories ever written. I liked: The writing style - it's very evocative of film noir. I could almost hear Humphrey Bogart's laconic drawl. I really liked the way real-life people and events were woven into the story - Heller meets the likes of Eliot Ness, boxer Barney Ross, mobster Frank Nitti and, naturally, Al Capone himself - although this did cause some negative aspects (see below). The sense of time and place. Since visiting Chicago I've read a few novels set there and this one brings to life the last days of prohibition really well. I didn't see the final twist coming at all. Maybe I should have, but I didn't, and I really liked that. I disliked: It's a bit too long for the amount of story involved. Said story is quite thin because, due to its nature, it's just an excuse to move from one actual historical event to another. This is also a problem with all the real-life people involved - there are almost too many, and it leaves Collins's own characters a little superficial, imo - which also meant that . . . I didn't believe the 'heartbreaking romance' at all. There's a jarring and unnecessary change from past tense to present tense at one stage and, after reading that section, I have no idea why he did it. As there's so much real history involved there are quite a lot of wordy info dumps - Collins likes showing off his research. I was in the mood for a complete change of pace and, for the most part, this did the job. I picked it up a couple of months back for 99p on the Kindle, so it was a good deal. What I didn't know at the time was that it is yet another 'first book in a series' in which there are currently nineteen books Much as I enjoyed it, I'm not sure that I'll go on to read any more. Memorable Quotes: Talking about one of his fellow detective, who is corrupt: Ouch and . . .