Timstar

It's my Wife's birthday today, baked a cake for the first time ever!

Yeah lol, I watched that once and found it so annoying and patronising, he seems to think it is a kids show or something lol.

Started The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett as well as the non-fiction Isaac Asimov's Guide to Earth and Space. Both are good so far

I enjoyed the season but I didn't really like the ending... wasn't conclusive enough, especially after dragging the season out to 16 episodes.

Yeah fair enough, think I gave it a 9 as well...

Now I know too!

Great review! Glad you liked it (though I knew you would ) I agree with everything you said. It is perfect as a stand alone book but I am glad there are more, assuming the standard is kept up of course. I loved their banter, and the interlude technique works very well to get you caring about the characters. Very clever and well-thought out plot. Why not a 10?

Will do. On-going Series update: Number of books read out of total number in series (So far) Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin - 3 of 5 The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan - 1 of 15 Codex Alera - Jim Butcher - 1 of 6 The Dark Tower - Stephen King - 7 of 8 Gentlemen Bas***ds - Scott Lynch - 1 of 2 James Bond - Ian Fleming - 6 of 14 Sharpe - Bernard Cornwell - 10 of 20 Hookton Series - Bernard Cornwell - 3 of 4 Ketty Jay - Chris Wooding - 1 of 3 Phoenix Conspiracy - Richard Sanders - 2 of 3 Demon Cycle - Peter V. Brett - 1 of 3 Dexter - Jeff Lindsay - 4 of 6 Rats - James Herbert - 2 of 3 Dying Earth - Jack Vance - 2 of 4 Sherlock Holmes - Arthur C. Doyle - 1 of 9 I should really finish some of these of before starting more...

Retribution Falls - Chris Wooding Synopsis Frey is the captain of the Ketty Jay, leader of a small and highly dysfunctional band of layabouts. An inveterate womaniser and rogue, he and his gang make a living on the wrong side of the law, avoiding the heavily armed flying frigates of the Coalition Navy. With their trio of ragged fighter craft, they run contraband, rob airships and generally make a nuisance of themselves. So a hot tip on a cargo freighter loaded with valuables seems like a great prospect for an easy heist and a fast buck. Until the heist goes wrong, and the freighter explodes. Suddenly Frey isn't just a nuisance anymore - he's public enemy number one, with the Coalition Navy on his tail and contractors hired to take him down. It's going to take all his criminal talents to prove he's not the criminal they think he is . . . Review This was exactly what I was expecting and exactly what I needed after the annoyance of The Wise Man's Fear. A good, enjoyable, light-hearted escapism story that doesn't get bogged down under it's own weight. I recall earlier in this thread that I was looking for a book or series along the same lines as the brilliant TV show Firefly, and I happened to be reading this along side yet another Firefly re-watch and the similarities were very apparent. I don't know Wooding's inspiration for Ketty Jay but others have also made the comparison. This is by no means a bad thing though! It leans more towards the fantasy side then Sci-fi like Firefly. I thoroughly enjoyed it, the story moves a good pace, occasionally broken up to tell the characters back story, all of whom are great and interesting individuals. Simply good fun, looking forward to reading more Overall 8/10

It's ok, captures the essence of the American post-war era nicely, but there is no real purpose for his travelling or writing about his travelling so it seems a bit redundant. Enjoyable journey though.

It's great Frankie! You gotta keep up

That's weird I just started reading this today!

Dexter - Series 3

Sometimes the opposite happens and you get used to the narrator. I haven't listened to loads but so far it is about 50/50 for ones i've enjoyed and ones I haven't, the ones I haven't have only been down to the narrator.

Yeah they are not for everyone, I have also found that other peoples reviews of the narrator are not very helpful so I always listen to a sample first and I can usually tell within the first few minutes whether I will like them or not.

That's terrible news

First teaser trailer for Under the Dome looking forward to it.

Not bad for a series starter... of sorts

This is simply amazing! http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130331.html

Yeah I noticed the similarities with what you said about The Way of Kings, life definitely is too short. I will have ago at Stormlight at some point but will keep in mind it's length and stop if it's no good. Now started Retribution Falls, the first in the Ketty Jay series which seems to be exactly what I needed after The Wise Man's Fear. Great fun

Finally gave up on the Kingkiller chronicles, it annoyed me a lot. The first half of A Wise Man's Fear was ok, not a lot of was happening but it seemed to be leading somewhere. Then he just ups and leaves the town and all his friends to start a completely different life... for no apparent reason, starts a job there then ups and leaves that to carry out a side mission which is fine but then just runs away again afterwards never going back to any of the previous places. I got to about 600 pages before I realised how bored I was but I was determined to finish it, convincing myself that something will pay off soon. But no, nothing, got to around 800 pages with still nothing and started skipping pages to see if anything happens, nope. Finally gave up and chucked the book across the room after 870 or so. Massive waste of time, I have no idea what other people see in it, every time something interesting starts to happen it just leads to nothing, time and time again. The characterisation is terrible, other then the main character, Kvothe, none of them are significant characters that you care about, and as soon as it looks like a character is starting to be important they are never mentioned again! It is sooo slow, with so much pointless filler, whole chapters devoted to mindless babble between characters, that is neither interesting, witty or relevant The main problem I had though was that Kvothe has no reason to do anything he does, he has no drive or purpose, no quest to complete, no evil to beat or good to save. Which means I have no drive or purpose to keep reading. He is just trying to learn absolutely everything there is to learn in the most arrogant way possible, and become rich doing it. Speaking of money, far, far, far too much emphasis is placed on it. Everything he does or can't do is spelt out in terms of how much money it will cost him or how much he could earn if he did this or that and no matter what he does why does he never, ever have any! The writing isn't great, it doesn't grab you or make you want to keep reading at all, everything is spelt out. The magic system is stupidly complicated to the point that no one bothers to learn it except Kvothe of course, but then never uses it as it serves no purpose. The world building is non-existent, I wouldn't describe it as a high fantasy at all, in-fact I would recommend it for people for don't like high-fantasy... and have a LOT of spare time. I will be interested to see what others on here make of it, although most reviews on Amazon say the opposite of me I have found a few people who think the same which is encouraging. Overall -

The Wife said I'm not allowed any more... probably next time though

Went into town today... was inevitiable that I came back with a few books. Before They Are Hanged (Signed) and Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie The Player of Games - Iain M. Banks Kraken - China Miéville The latter two are based on recommendations from here. Also narrowly avoided: Chasm City - Alastair Reynolds Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurty

Pyrrhic (pir-ik) adj - Achieved at excessive cost, usually outweighing the benefits. also liked: Hagiography n - biography of a saint or someone deemed saintly.

I have a feeling they will be sticking in mine as well!