Timstar
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Posts posted by Timstar
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Love that cover of Smooth Criminal
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Finished Dexter is Delicious which is probably one of my favourites so far, now about half way through NOS4R2 by Joe Hill and is already his best book yet.
I got Joyland by Stephen King and The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick today as well.
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Peter Dinklage
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Got these lovelies today
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Missed this earlier. Glad you enjoyed it, Tim. The Coldest War is so much better! I've got the short story about Gretel but haven't read it yet.
Glad to hear, I will be reading it after NOS4R2 which I will read after the short story which I will read after Dexter lol. Aim is to get them all done before holiday on 12th June.Based upon popular recommendations, I have just ordered a copy of Replay. I'm not sure when it will get here, but wanted to let you all know.
Never heard of it...
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^ But it's not the book we be wanting! (not that I've got to the end of the current ones yet!).
Same here, should still be good though!
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I am so jealous of your Q&A with Joe Hill!! Lucky!! Did you get any pics??
I read Heart-Shaped Box...but I really didn't enjoy it....put me off reading anymore Joe Hill for awhile. But I did hear great things about his new one as well...I'm going to try and get my hands on that one. Did you read 20th Century Ghosts by any chance?
I had a seat at front and centre about a metre from where he was sitting and I complete forgot to get a picture
I have just finished 20th Century Ghosts and really enjoyed some of the stories. Got it signed as well
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That's great!
So you would recommend his books? I've seen them around in the library sometimes...This was for his third novel, his first was Heart-Shaped Box which I really enjoyed. His second was Horns which I didn't enjoy as much but was still good, it has an adaptation coming out this year with Daniel Radcliffe as the lead. But from what I have heard and read of his latest, NOS4R2, it could well be his best so far.
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Very sad news about Jack Vance
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/may/30/jack-vance-dies-96-science-fiction
Only read a few of his books so far but really enjoyed them, quite a few more on my TBR pile.
A tremendously influential writer in science-fiction with a terrific signature prose.
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I really, really didn't like it at all, which was quite surprising! 1/5
That's my favorite book, oh man oh man you're in for such a treat
Oh dear, it certainly wasn't my favourite but I do remember it being quite creepy and disturbing at points.
Thanks i'll let you know how I find it.
Went to a Reading, Q&A and signing with Joe Hill last night for his new book which was great fun. Such a funny and down to earth guy, got premium seats and a few autographs
Started his new book and loving it already. -
Hope you find something better soon Laura!
Glad to report Father-in-Law has had a coronary stent and is doing well, he was discharged on Monday and is glad to be back home.
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Finished Thinner last night and started The Captain and the Enemy by Graham Greene on a whim, and actually liked what I read so far!
What did you think of Thinner? I enjoyed it with the usual King brutally that he brings.
Started reading Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay which is great so far!
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Bitter Seeds by Ian TregillisSynopsis
The year is 1939. Raybould Marsh and other members of British Intelligence have gathered to watch a damaged reel of film in a darkened room. It appears to show German troops walking through walls, bursting into flames and hurling tanks into the air from afar.
If the British are to believe their eyes, a twisted Nazi scientist has been endowing German troops with unnatural, unstoppable powers. And Raybould will be forced to resort to dark methods to hold the impending invasion at bay.
But dealing with the occult exacts a price. And that price must be paid in blood.
Review
This is a novel and author I have been excited about reading since I first heard of it last year. The concept just grabbed me straight away. It reminded me of the recent flurry of Nazi-centred B-movies (Iron Sky, Dead Snow, Nazis at the Centre of the Earth), that are generally enjoyable but such low-budget they can't achieve what they are attempting. A novel obviously won't suffer from this at as long as it's an interesting story with interesting characters, which Bitter Seeds certainly has.
After reading this I re-read Steve's review of it and basically agreed with his points. This is very much a character driven book to which the supernatural elements almost take a back seat to. The characters themselves are superb and steeped in morale ambiguity that would make George R.R. Martin proud (and i'm guessing it did given his high endorsement, although they do belong to the same New Mexico writing club...)
There were two elements I was surprised yet pleased about, the first was that despite Tregillis being an American there are no Americans in it! The majority of the book is set in war time London which Tregillis captures incredibly and clearly did his research. There's an interview with him at the end of the book in which he states he had only visited London twice before writing this and that was a long time ago. The English mannerisms and personalities are not stereotyped or clichéd, nor the Germans for that matter.
The second element was how intelligent it felt given the subject, British Warlocks vs Nazi Psychics sounds more like a teenage comic book. But if you didn't know much about the Nazis and WWII you might struggle with some of this as the historical events in which it is centred around are not explained in their events or significance, it is taken as read that the reader knows enough to keep up. This I found very refreshing and I think it allowed him to get on with the characters and alternative history.
I had a feeling I would like this and yet I enjoyed it for unexpected reasons which was a nice surprise. I am very impressed by this debut novel and can't wait to read The Coldest War which has just been ordered.
Overall 9/10
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Finished Bitter Seeds today and really enjoyed it! I bought The Coldest War as well as this, not sure if you'd seen it or not?
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I'm very curious to see what their top 101 books are, and to see if karsa or Tim have read this title.
I haven't seen it before, I often look at lists online which is bad enough.
Books like that are never great for the wishlist/TBR though.
Exactly.
Would be interesting to see what the top ten are though.
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Started Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis.
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I haven't been around lately as I went blind in one eye. The hospital have said it's an enlarged optic nerve and I have to wait and see how much sight I will get back. Fortunately I'm now over the worst of the headaches and I'm not going to let only having one working eye stop me from reading!
That's horrible! I really hope you get your full vision back. Well done for staying optimistic
Glad to report My Father-in-Law is doing really well, The Doctor's are not sure what happened, he had a very high troponin level which means it was a heart attack but it hasn't affected his heart function in anyway. They think the attack may have cleared any blockages
He needs to go to Oxford for an Angiogram just to make sure but we're very relieved.Thanks for all the good wishes, I will pass them on
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Sorry, I had already left (I don't live in Cambs) when you posted this so I didn't see it. I enjoyed it even if the weather could have been warmer, how about you, have a good time?
I only managed to stay a couple of hours, my father-in-law had a heart attack so we had to rush back to MK, luckily I was sober enough to drive and he is doing ok now.
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I shall be attending this soiree today with a few work mates, I hope the weather holds up, don't want any rain.
Cool when are you heading there?
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It's the Cambridge Beer festival this week, so... goodbye til Monday!
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Dredd, not as bad as I was expecting to be honest! It doesn't try to be any more than it is. Although somehow it has more slow-motion than a Zack Snyder film.
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It wraps up the story nicely, but I am interested to read a couple more, certainly works as a stand alone book
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Ender's Game -Orson Scott CardSynopsis
Ender Wiggin is Battle School's latest recruit. His teachers reckon he could become a great leader. And they need one. A vast alien force is headed for Earth, its mission: the annihilation of all human life. Ender could be our only hope. But first he must survive the most brutal military training program in the galaxy...
Review
I know I say this a lot but I didn't know what to expect with this book. I tend to look up and learn about a book, decide I want it, see it and buy or borrow it then by the time I get round to reading it I have forgotten what it was about. I also rarely read blurbs, simply because I forget beforehand. So I can't really say it wasn't what I was expecting... so I'll say it wasn't what I had anticipated.
The story follows closely with the life of Ender Wiggin, seen from inside his mind as he is abruptly taken from his home and put into battle school, in a space station, at the age of 6. He has been specially selected and as such he his subjected to, almost cruelly, daily tasks of increasing difficultly. Ender excels way beyond his class mates and we see his skills develop as they the school try to think of more challenges for him.
Most of the training occurs in the form of battles between two teams, in zero gravity with 'stun' guns that freeze and immobilise whoever is hit. Using this idea Card creates many ingenious tactics for Ender to use that obviously required to not only understand zero gravity physics but also fully understand his own creation.
Apart from a few chapters focusing on his Brother and Sister back on Earth the book is centred around Ender and as such allows the reader to be fully absorbed in the character, feeling sympathy for his constant trials, feeling the love for his friends and annoyance (or indifference) at his enemies.
A great sci-fi that finds the rare working combination of ideas and characters that should appeal to old and new sci-fi fans a like.
Overall 9/10
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Yeah me too! It was the picture for the audio book and I had to pick that one for the review as well
Steve's Bookshelf 2013
in Past Book Logs
Posted
Great review, shame you didn't like it as much as you wanted to, do you think you will read the others?