Karsa Orlong Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 It was adapted for the screen by Matheson but named The Incredible Shrinking Man and starred Charlton Heston. Actually, Charlton Heston was in The Omega Man, which was an adaptation of I Am Legend The Incredible Shrinking Man starred Grant Williams, and it's an absolutely brilliant film, far, far better than any of the filmed versions of I Am Legend. I think it's probably where I got my arachnophobia from It used to be on tv a lot, but I haven't seen it for years. Would love to see it again I tried to find my copy of The Shrinking Man a few weeks back when Richard Matheson passed away, but I couldn't find it Your brilliant review has got me wanting to re-read it. Must be 30+ years since I read it, so I'm really looking forward to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 Actually, Charlton Heston was in The Omega Man, which was an adaptation of I Am Legend The Incredible Shrinking Man starred Grant Williams, and it's an absolutely brilliant film, far, far better than any of the filmed versions of I Am Legend. I think it's probably where I got my arachnophobia from It used to be on tv a lot, but I haven't seen it for years. Would love to see it again Oh yeah of course, I knew that! I haven't seen but it doesn't take a lot to beat any of the I Am Legend films I tried to find my copy of The Shrinking Man a few weeks back when Richard Matheson passed away, but I couldn't find it Your brilliant review has got me wanting to re-read it. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Oh yeah of course, I knew that! I haven't seen but it doesn't take a lot to beat any of the I Am Legend films True, but this one is a genuine classic. I just ordered the dvd - it's only a fiver on Amazon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 As I read your review, I'm pretty sure I remember reading it some years ago, it certainly sounds familiar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted August 4, 2013 Author Share Posted August 4, 2013 (edited) Synopsis Humanity has thirty days to prepare for the next demon attack, but one month is scarcely enough time to train a village to defend themselves, let alone an entire continent caught in the throes of civil war. Arlen Bales understands the coreling threat better than anyone. Born ordinary, the demon plague has shaped him into a weapon so powerful he has been given the unwanted title of saviour, and attracted the attention of deadly enemies both above and below ground. Unlike Arlen, Ahmann Jardir embraces the title of Deliverer. His strength resides not only in the legendary relics he carries, but also in the magic wielded by his first wife, Inevera, a cunning and powerful priestess whose allegiance even Jardir cannot be certain of. Once Arlen and Jardir were like brothers. Now they are the bitterest of rivals. As humanity’s enemies prepare, the only two men capable of defeating them are divided against each other by the most deadly demons of all: those that lurk in the human heart. Review I have just finished The Daylight War, the third book in the Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett. I swear I remember this originally planned as a trilogy, but after finishing it I thought he can't leave it there, so I checked online and apparently it's now planned as a quintet! Maybe I was mistaken but either way that's definitely what I always thought it was. It very much suffered from the same issue I had with The Desert Spear: it's too long, needlessly so as well. I think Brett tried to be too comprehensive with the plot; we don't need to know every single detail in every character's life and we definitely don't need to see the same events from every character's view point. There were some really good bits, especially the action scenes which are vivid and gripping and really bring the magic system to life. But there are many more dull scenes, these are mainly the 'Krasian' scenes, that is, the tribes in the desert with which we spent the first third of the The Desert Spear. I believe that whole side to the story would have been better left as a mystery, and only seeing them when the main characters from the heroes homeland interact with them. Maybe filling in some gaps with a short story or an interlude but not for hundreds of pages! The Krasian tribes are funtamentally unlikable, barbaric warriors who treat civillans and women worse than animals, using them literally as breeding stock. During these scenes Brett repeatedly goes over the same events and repeatedly explains the Krasian customs to try and justify their actions. This was another reason I didn't want to read about them and ending up glossing over most of these bits. Again I may be mistaken but I could swear the language that the hero, Arlen, and his friends use has changed for this book. They start using this slang that would go very nicely with a farmer's accent with sentences like: "There 'ent nothin' to it" and the always popular "I 'ent the bleedin' deliverer, jus' tryin' to kill demons is all" It was very distracting, and seemed very out of character for them. About halfway through I had to stop and pick up another book where I knew something would happen, this was 1356 by Bernard Cornwell, which is half as long and has as much action in the first 100 pages as the whole of The Daylight War. If the book had been half the length I would have enjoyed it a lot more. But 800 pages with very little occurring is simply tedious. Overall 6/10 Oh and... ...there is no bloody Daylight War! Edited August 4, 2013 by Timstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 "There 'ent nothin' to it" and the always popular "I 'ent the bleedin' deliverer, jus' tryin' to kill demons is all" Didn't they talk like that in the first book? I'm sure I remember ''ent' cropping up a lot Think I'll be giving this one a miss, or leaving it alone for a long time. I had heard bad things about it elsewhere, too. Shame, cos a friend bought me the hardback for my birthday, but I can't even summon the will to read The Desert Spear as it is. Thanks for the review Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted August 5, 2013 Author Share Posted August 5, 2013 Didn't they talk like that in the first book? I'm sure I remember ''ent' cropping up a lot Maybe they did, I just seemed to notice it a lot more this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Maybe they did, I just seemed to notice it a lot more this time. I think it's because I tried to listen to the audiobook of the first one recently that I remember it. It was very annoying, especially with the guy who was reading it doing it in silly voices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 The Shrinking Man - Richard Matheson Scariest. Cover. Ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Agreed Janet, I wouldn't be able to own that cover! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 I don't know... It kinda looks like the spider is an alien spaceship camouflaged as a spider and the little, itty bitty man is stepping off it to do some serious ... mayhem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted August 9, 2013 Author Share Posted August 9, 2013 (edited) I don't know... It kinda looks like the spider is an alien spaceship camouflaged as a spider and the little, itty bitty man is stepping off it to do some serious ... mayhem? Lol, that's one way to look at it. I finished 1356 by Bernard Cornwell, didn't think it was as good the trilogy that it follows, especially in the characterisation. But still good fun like always. Overall 7/10 I also finally completed On The Road by Jack Kerouac, it is on my list of 50 books to read before you die but I have no idea why, I could of died quite happily never having read that. There are a couple of interesting scenes and characters but it moves on so fast they are instantly forgotten about. The book has no aim and the characters have no motivation except to achieve as little as possible (apart from travelling and sleeping with girls of course). I know it is largely autobiographical but I just couldn't get on with Kerouac writing style, very short sentences with no explanations and no emotions... more of a shorthanded travel diary. Overall 4/10 I've almost finished The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King and for my next classic I have started Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Edited August 9, 2013 by Timstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I also finally completed On The Road by Jack Kerouac, it is on my list of 50 books to read before you die but I have no idea why, I could of died quite happily never having read that. Interesting. It's one of those books that has always been touted as a must-read classic. I've had it on my wishlist forever and it's been one of those books that I keep thinking 'I must read that one day', but maybe I won't bother. Goodness knows, I have enough books on my wishlist that I'm far more keen about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 It is part of the sci-fi masterworks collection so it is kinda a classic of the genre. It was adapted for the screen by Matheson but named The Incredible Shrinking Man and starred Charlton Heston. I also believe many of the re-printed editions were renamed that as well after the film was a success. Huh. I never knew what this book was about, but I guess I should have made the connection between it and the movie, which I saw (and loved) for the first time a year or two ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted August 13, 2013 Author Share Posted August 13, 2013 (edited) Interesting. It's one of those books that has always been touted as a must-read classic. I've had it on my wishlist forever and it's been one of those books that I keep thinking 'I must read that one day', but maybe I won't bother. Goodness knows, I have enough books on my wishlist that I'm far more keen about. Yeah it always has been, maybe I missed something fundamental I'd say that Americans may get more out of it than me but who knows. I saw the film as well which is fairly similar in style and other then some beautiful scenery (which isn't described in the book) it was basically the same as the book. Huh. I never knew what this book was about, but I guess I should have made the connection between it and the movie, which I saw (and loved) for the first time a year or two ago. I still need to see it, if it's anything like the book then I know it will be good Finished listening to the David Copperfield Audio book. It was cracking good listen, witty and charming and so well performed. I've not read many Dickens but I would certainly recommend this to people. Overall 8/10 Started reading The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, a book i've really been looking forward to starting for a while. Great so far! Tried to start The Talisman audio book by Stephen King, but the narration by Frank Muller is awful! He goes quiet and almost whispers the last word of every sentence, you can hear his breathing as well, it's horrible. So I started Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson which is better by far. Edited August 13, 2013 by Timstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Tried to start The Talisman audio book by Stephen King *cough* and Peter Straub *cough* It's a great book, shame about the narration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 *cough* and Peter Straub *cough* Yeah of course! The audio book just stated it as King It's weird cause it's the same narrator as Moby Dick and the narration in that is a big part of why I loved it so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Yeah of course! The audio book just stated it as King That's terrible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Yeah of course! The audio book just stated it as King Wow, what an outrageous thing to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Sorry to hear you didn't like The Daylight War. It's nice to read your thoughts on it though. I hope you like Red Mars, I read the Dutch translation in the library years ago and really liked it. Recently I bought the book in English so I could re-read it in its original language. I look forward to see your thoughts on this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted August 20, 2013 Author Share Posted August 20, 2013 I hope you like Red Mars, I read the Dutch translation in the library years ago and really liked it. Recently I bought the book in English so I could re-read it in its original language. I look forward to see your thoughts on this one! Thanks, I am about half way through now, it is pretty good, very scientific as well which always gets more points from me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Excellent ! I love that too . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Got to have some science in your science fiction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 I've heard great things about the Mars trilogy. Glad to hear you're enjoying it, and I look forward to your review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted August 20, 2013 Author Share Posted August 20, 2013 (edited) Got to have some science in your science fiction You know what I mean! The science is accurate (or as accurate as can be at the time of writing) and is integral to the story and characters. I've heard great things about the Mars trilogy. Glad to hear you're enjoying it, and I look forward to your review. Thanks, I only listen to my audio books at work and I have some time off soon so will be a couple of weeks. Edited August 20, 2013 by Timstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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