Karsa Orlong

Weird Nah, there's too much else I want to read, really. I always feel that, if I haven't read a book within a couple of years of buying it, then I probably never will

It's all gone a bit cagey, hasn't it? Having said that, I thought the Germany vs Algeria game was brilliant, and Brazil vs Chile wasn't bad either. And the extra time in last night's Belgium vs USA game was really exciting. I was disappointed USA lost - I thought they deserved to at least get to penalties. The rest of the second round games have all been a bit 'meh', though.

Netherlands probably will win if Robben keeps diving Had to laugh at him admitting he dived and then, after the resulting uproar, saying ""It's a shame because I was very honest. Maybe sometimes you are punished for honesty." If you were honest, mate, you wouldn't dive in the first place!

Yes Just because it's called The Winter King doesn't mean you have to read it in the winter Glad to hear you enjoyed The Desert Spear. My copy went to the charity shop last week, though, so I don't think I'll be reading it any time soon

http://www.booksabouttown.org.uk/ Looks like fun I think the Paddington bench is my favourite Don't know about sitting on the Triffids bench ( ), but I wonder if the Time Machine one works

New pc is up and running. It's sooooooo quiet After the noise the old one used to make, I had to put my ear against the case to make sure it was working when I first turned it on All I've done so far is get Kaspersky Internet Security up and running, then email, then downloaded Steam and iTunes, but will deal with moving my music over and re-downloading games later in the week (although, obviously, I'm quite keen to find out what the noise/heat levels of the pc are when running games). Oh, and I had to figure out some bits and pieces in Windows 8.1 Out of interest, what email client do you guys use? I used to use Windows Live Mail, but I've just started afresh on the new pc with Mozilla Thunderbird. Seems quite good so far, after ironing out some wrinkles when importing my contacts ETA: Old pc: New pc:

She's not as funny now she's gone Goth

I expect I will. I've read most of his books: the Greg Mandel trilogy, Night's Dawn, Fallen Dragon, Manhattan in Reverse, and the Commonwealth Saga. I've got Great North Road sitting on my Kindle but haven't gone anywhere near it as yet. I'm sure I'll get back to him at some point, possibly after I'm up to date with Alastair Reynolds

Only just catching up with threads, thanks to my pc problems Glad you enjoyed Judas Unchained. I didn't like it quite so much In fact, if it hadn't been so big and heavy, I probably would've thrown it across the room at certain points (but it probably would've broken stuff, so just as well I didn't ). I was such a big fan of Hamilton's books up to that point, but I've not read any more since Totally agree about Paula Myo, though

Yeah they are expensive. It's cos they're so big and heavy. If they've got to cut down half a rain forest just to print one book they're going to make you pay They do look good lined up on the shelf, though They had the sixth book, The October Horse, in the charity shop when I took in some books last week. It was only 99p, but it was so knackered I couldn't bring myself to buy it, even at that price Could be any number of things, but I'm not going to list them and tempt fate So do I! Just had an email saying my new pc is being delivered tomorrow - I hope it's not that! This'll hopefully be the last post I make on this old one

Congrats on the 100 up, Sarah

Yeah. They say these things happen in threes, right? It's worth it, I think. The maps are so much easier to read in the paperbacks. I'm glad I've got the Kindle versions too, though, as I can use those when I'm travelling and then read the paperbacks when I'm at home Oh thanks, but I'm back at work today - that's why I'm writing up my reviews

# 41 Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney 2000 - Faber & Faber paperback - 144 pages From Amazon: Composed towards the end of the first millennium, the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf is one of the great Northern epics and a classic of European literature. In his new translation, Seamus Heaney has produced a work which is both true, line by line, to the original poem, and an expression, in its language and music, of something fundamental to his own creative gift. The poem is about encountering the monstrous, defeating it, and then having to live on, physically and psychically exposed, in that exhausted aftermath. It is not hard to draw parallels between this story and the history of the twentieth century, nor can Heaney's Beowulf fail to be read partly in the light of his Northern Irish upbringing. But it also transcends such considerations, telling us psychological and spiritual truths that are permanent and liberating. Show More Show Less Thoughts: I have always wanted to read Beowulf. Well, I say always, but it probably goes back to around 1982 or '83 when I first heard Marillion's song Grendel, long before they sang about Kayleigh and 'dancing in stilletos in the snow' Since then I've seen a couple of movie adaptations and even read John Gardner's fantasy masterwork, Grendel, but somehow still never read the epic poem itself until now. It came back to my mind last year when I read The Iliad and The Odyssey, and now seemed a particularly appropriate time given a couple of books that I am about to go on and read, so . . . Seamus Heaney's is a modern prose translation of what is the oldest surviving piece of Old English epic poetry, which probably means purists will not like it but those of us who want to be able to understand a little more easily will likely love. I suppose the purists can go and read the original in the British Library. Alternatively, there is a deluxe hardback edition of this Heaney translation which presents his version and the original Old English on alternate pages. There's one page of the Old English in the paperback and it made my head hurt I guess most people know the tale of the heroic Geat warrior called Beowulf who, in the 5th century, travels to Denmark to give his aid to King Hrothgar, whose famed mead hall has been under attack from the monster, Grendel, for so many years that word has spread far and wide. Beowulf also has to battle Grendel's mother and, many years later, a dragon. It truly is epic, action-packed, blood-soaked stuff. Obviously, as this is a prose translation, it's not so much a poem anymore, but it still has a wonderful rhythm to it. It's also very easy to read and understand, whilst still seeming to grasp a feel for the time and place, and also - it seemed to me - being relevant today inasmuch as it examines what drives man to violence, about growing old basking in past glories, and about the dangers of hubris. The narrator is anonymous and often veers off into other tales as bards sing in the mead hall, or as characters relate to each other past events. Even if I lost the thread of what was being spoken of, I found the brief notes in the margin were great for a quick catch up. Beowulf is everything I expected it to be, and more. If you've seen the Zemeckis film and liked it then you probably owe it to yourself to read this (or even the newly released Tolkien translation), cos there are many differences. It doesn't overstay its welcome, and begs to be read in one sitting. Fantastic. Or epic, even. 10/10

# 40 Fortune's Favourites (Masters of Rome III) by Colleen McCullough 1991 - Arrow paperback - 1,056 pages From Amazon: The third novel in the epic Masters of Rome series. Fortune's Favourites witnesses the power, mastery and cunning of two enigmatic rulers of Rome - Sulla, returning from exile, and the 22-year-old Pompey, who designates himself Magnus 'the Great'. And in the background is the young soldier, Caesar, who begins to show the expert qualities that will one day culminate in him becoming an unparalleled leader of ancient Rome. And at the heart of this sumptuous tale is the unforgettable story of Spartacus and his doomed slave revolt - the true story, as no modern reader has ever before encountered it. Thoughts: This, the third of McCullough’s ‘Masters of Rome’ series, covers the period 83 B.C. to 71 B.C. It concentrates largely on three characters: Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar. Sulla is now aged and disease-ridden, but he has a vision of the Roman Republic as he feels it should be, and sets about dismantling much of what Gaius Marius did before him. Pompey’s a brash, arrogant upstart who gives himself the cognomen ‘Magnus’, which means ‘The Great’. He feels he can conquer – and is entitled to – all, which leads to a couple of quite amusing falls from grace but also to some horrific defeats. Caesar, here seen from his teens to his mid-20s, is very, very clever, and has learned a lot about war from Gaius Marius. He’s also icy cold, craves affection from his mother (who doesn’t give it), and is a philanderer. I found these last three aspects of his character quite interesting, because I worried that McCullough was going to deify him too much. She doesn’t – quite – but she does walk a razor’s edge in that regard. Beyond Sulla’s reforms (which, at times, did find my eyes glazing over a bit - whereas these parts were lively in the previous novels, here there was law after law being passed and it all tended to blend together) the novel covers Rome’s problems with Sertorius in Spain, Mithridates of Pontus, and a certain gladiator. Also, particularly brilliant, is Caesar’s encounter with pirates (an episode that I recall reading about in another novel – Conn Iggulden’s, maybe – but much better here). This one took me quite a while to read, largely due to the wall-to-wall football of the World Cup, almost as largely due to being on leave and having lots of jobs to do around the house and garden, and almost as largely again due to my pc deciding to die and the hours spent trying to sort it out (and yet more hours researching and ordering a new one). Hence this comparatively brief review. I even had to write some notes when I finished it, cos I couldn't come straight on here and post a review All this didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book and, for large parts, I found it completely spellbinding, but it did mean I read it in much smaller chunks than I normally would have. I do think it’s very much a ‘middle’ novel in a series, a means of getting characters from one place to another to set up the main events to follow. Kind of like The Two Towers without the walking, talking trees. Or The Empire Strikes Back with Yoda playing the part of Sulla. Damn, now there’s an image I’m not going to be able to shake According to McCullough’s afterword, this is the last of the novels that will involve the grand sweep of history which, I think, is kind of a shame (because she does it so brilliantly), but is also quite exciting (because we all know what’s to come). 9/10

Nice! Should've known that, seeing as I was only looking for it a couple of weeks ago

Here's the other Opeth track. Hearing lots of Yes, ELP, King Crimson influences in this one . . . http://vimeo.com/97444251

Another great song!

I really, really hope so! The other track I heard off it was pretty good, too. It's a great song! Have you heard the full version? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDsMpOM4uAU

So do I! It would be nice to be able to use it for more than half an hour without it crashing . . . It's one of these, with one of these

What's the Penguin Classic, Tim? I can't make it out.

It wasn't too bad really. It's a long time since I've recorded stuff to keep, cos I very rarely re-watch things these days. Most of the stuff I lost I got back off on-demand or watched on Sky Go. It was only the Super Saturday highlights from the Olympics that I'm feeling a bit sad to lose, but then I do have a lot of it on the blu-ray so it's not all bad - just missing the interviews, really. I'm a couple of eps behind but yeah, it's fantastic Also watching season 1 of Vikings, which is brilliant And, for some reason, I'm still watching 24: Live Another Day, which is rubbish

I'll hopefully get a proper look at it next week when my new pc arrives - the one I currently have is being a bit moody at the moment

Get ready for a long wait . . .

Sorry to hear about the migraines, Sarah