Timstar

I found it on Netflix and am now half way through the series. It doesn't begin to do the book justice. At 8 hours for the whole series there is still loads cut out, and it seems to be mainly the motivation of the characters, I understand their motivations after reading the book but if you hadn't read it it wouldn't make much sense. They have also added random scenes and pieces of extra story for no apparent reason. It has also been 'toned' down a lot in terms of the violence which is understandable for TV I guess but it loses all its shock value and makes you love the good characters and hate the bad ones. It is still interesting seeing it bought to life though. So I will watch the rest of it. You certainly wouldn't be missing much. Probably just one for the die hard King fans.

Some great books as always. Gallipoli Sniper sounds interesting, i'm always on the lookout for good WWI and II books. I really enjoyed World War Z, much more than the film, hope you do to!

Really been meaning to start some Gemmell, will do soon

I've read a few Gaiman, (The Graveyard book, Coraline, Odd and the Frost Giants, Stardust, Neverwhere) and have the rest on my TBR pile, except Ocean at the End of the Lane. They're so imaginative and enjoyable. I've heard American Gods is his best so i'm looking forward to that. Has anyone read his graphic novel 'Sandman'? Supposed to be good but I wasn't keen on the illustration style.

Finished the excellent Milkweed trilogy by Ian Tregillis, now started The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson.

Good luck, hope you enjoy it! I finished The Pillars of the Earth audio book by Ken Follett and narrated by John Lee, at over 40 hours long it is a brilliant, epic historical fiction. The scale and scope are incredible, the whole story is very well thought out with genuinely horrible moments that almost made me feel sick. There was clearly a lot of research gone into it, especially on 12th century cathedrals and churches. I have been meaning for a while to get into some other historical books and I will definitely be reading/listening to more Follett. Overall 10/10 I also read Joyland by Stephen King, which isn't much longer then some of his short stories. It is enjoyable but nothing ground breaking compared to his last few novels. A carnival-based whodunit story King-style. Not quite up to his usual standard, especially the characters as they don't have a chance to develop over the mere 200 pages. Overall 6/10

My favourite moment also! Though I would say that Up is my favourite pixar film with Wall-e being a close second.

Orange is the New Black despite the awful name it's actually quite good!

Yeah I noticed! I try to vary mine but no where near as much as you do.

Good stuff, lots to look forward to. If anyone can make a decent YA novel it's Abercrombie!

Caught up on your book log Brian, Some interesting books and great reviews. Glad you liked Of Mice and Men, it's one of my favourites.

Finished Joyland by Stephen King, quite good but not up to his usual standard. Now starting Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis.

Great line! Shame it was no good, at least that's not another series to add to your pile though.

I hope so! I'm sure she would have preferred to stay secret for at least a few books and see if she can become successful again, as an adult writer this time, then no one would have doubts of her talent.

Finished The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan, now started Joyland by Stephen King

I have no qualms about authors releasing under a pseudonym, and I have nothing against J.K Rowling but call me a cynic, I find it a bit suspicious that before the book had only sold 1,500 copies when it was 'accidentally' released that it was her. I just hope people can look past things like that and judge the book by its own merit.

Love Silk!

The Black Lung Captain - Chris Wooding Synopsis Darian Frey is down on his luck. He can barely keep his squabbling crew fed and his rickety aircraft in the sky. Even the simplest robberies seem to go wrong. It's getting so a man can't make a dishonest living any more. Enter Captain Grist. He'sheard about a crashed aircraft laden with the treasures of a lost civilisation, and he needs Frey's help to get it. There's only one problem. The craft is lying in the trackless heart of a remote island,populated by giant beasts and subhuman monsters. Dangerous, yes. Suicidal, perhaps. Still, Frey's never let common sense get in the way of a fortune before. But there's something other than treasure on board that aircraft. Something that a lot of important people would kill for. And it's going to take all of Frey's considerable skill at lying, cheating and stealing if he wants to get his hands on it... Strap yourself in for another tale of adventure and debauchery, pilots and pirates, golems and daemons, double-crosses and double-double-crosses. The crew of the Ketty Jay are back! Review I loved this book, from the first page to the last. It is simply tremendous fun and superbly written, it would have me laughing out loud on one page and on the next I would be on the edge of my seat desperate to read on. It had me almost in tears at the funeral of a character who had never even been in the book! The characters, introduced in the first book, are now expanded on and we see their relationships develop in a very real and believable way. My favourite was the mutual animosity between the fighter pilot 'Hawkins' and 'Slag' the ships cat, and we see it from both their point of views. Every character has their own distinct personality without conforming to stereotypes. The story has perfect pacing, never boring and never going over the top, Wooding remembers to bring it back to the characters as they are the heart and soul. I cannot think of a single thing I didn't enjoy about it. Blurring the lines between Fantasy and Science Fiction, The Black Lung Captain is a triumph that will appeal to everyone. I cannot wait to read more Wooding! Overall 10/10

I was the same before I started it, but I was persuaded into it and have since been persuaded to stick with it. Hope it's worth it in the end!

I'd say Sharpe's Eagle, it's the first one he wrote and my personal favourite.

Thanks, it did feel like an achievement!

Glad your still liking the series! I'm sure you've told me before but have you ever read any of the Sharpe series? They sound very similar but not sure about the style of writing.

The Great Hunt - Robert Jordan Synopsis The Wheel of Time continues with this second instalment. It is a race against time to recover the stolen Horn of Valere and mystical Dagger which is linked to the fate of our hero's friend, Mat. But the elusive Padan Fain is not to be hunted so lightly. Review Still not sure whether I actually liked this book or not, I certainly enjoyed some aspects of it, especially the final quarter where things actually start to happen, but getting there was very tedious. The first 200 pages, nothing happens at all, I was very close to giving up. Almost every single conversation went the same way... Aes Sadai - "Rand, you are the Dragon Reborn, you must fight the dark one and save the world" Rand - "No I'm not, I'm just a Shepard" Aes Sadai - "It is your destiny" Rand - "But I don't want it to be!" Aes Sadai - "... tough s**t" It got very old and boring very fast and made the main character quite unlike-able. They eventual set out on a quest with some purpose and the book finds its direction. But the characters are still terrible and poorly written. They all seem to have this bland, stoic way of speaking that comes across as very two dimensional, there is no meaningful interactions that leads to character development and dyanamics. The only way I was able to get through the first 500 pages was by picking up another book, The Black Lung Captain, and switching to it after reading 50 pages of TGH and almost giving up on life. The final quarter was actually pretty good and it started to feel how a high fantasy book should feel, building up to a powerful climax that leaves you holding your breath. It took me almost two weeks to read the first 500 pages then I read the final 250 in a day which I think is pretty good testament to how much the book actually changes in the latter third. Some good editing down to 400 or so pages would of made the novel so much more readable. I will keep reading the series for now, I just wish the books were due to get shorter but it appears TGH is one of the shortest Up to page 500 the highest rating I would of given TGH is a 4/10. But the ending certainly pushed it up. Overall 7/10

The Bourne Identity, the book was so slow and mostly boring. Can't speak for the sequels as I haven't read them.

I can understand some people not getting along with the style of the book, but I quite liked how the series of first hand accounts help to build up the story piece by piece. Glad i'm not the only one! 'cause it seems to be quite popular