Timstar Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 A bit too busy to write any proper reviews at the moment, so here is just a few updates. The Sign of the Four - A.C Doyle - Overall 7/10 The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan - Overall 6/10 Empire of the Sun - J.G. Ballard - Overall 5/10 Now reading Goldfinger by Ian Fleming which is great so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan - Overall 6/10 Oh dear, you're not exactly encouraging me to return to that series . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 Plan Update: A Feast for Crows - George R. R. Martin (Song of Ice and Fire 4) The Iron Jackal - Chris Wooding (Ketty Jay 3) Randevous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time 3) Empire of the Sun - J.G. Ballard The Odyssey - Homer The Rape of Nanking- Iris Chang Double Dexter - Jeff Lindsay The Sign of Four - Arhur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes 2) Sharpe's Enemy - Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe 12) Before they Are Hanged - Joe Abercrombie The Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie (First Law 3) Hearts in Atlantic - Stephen King Beyond Lies the Wub - Philip K. Dick The Winter King - Bernard Cornwell Frankenstein - Mary Shelley Ultimate Weapon - Chris Ryan Goldfinger - Ian Fleming Prince of Thorns - Mark Lawrence Green Hills of Africa - Ernest Hemingway The Odyssey may be replaced by King of Thorns as I might be getting a nicer copy of Homer's books for Christmas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 Oh dear, you're not exactly encouraging me to return to that series . . . It's not doing much to keep me going either It has until book 5, if scores don't go above 8 I won't be reading any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 The Winter King - Bernard Cornwell Steve's just convinced me to put this on my wishlist. The Odyssey may be replaced by King of Thorns as I might be getting a nicer copy of Homer's books for Christmas Whoo to new Homer, and whoo to King of Thorns! It's my favourite of the three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 The Odyssey may be replaced by King of Thorns as I might be getting a nicer copy of Homer's books for Christmas Do tell! Is it the Barnes & Noble leatherbound edition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 A bit too busy to write any proper reviews at the moment, so here is just a few updates. The Sign of the Four - A.C Doyle - Overall 7/10 The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan - Overall 6/10 Empire of the Sun - J.G. Ballard - Overall 5/10 Now reading Goldfinger by Ian Fleming which is great so far! x Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy these reads all that much . I guess The Wheel of Time is not for everyone. I have the Sherlock Holmes book unread on my shelf. I hope your next reads will be more enjoyable , maybe read a book of which you're pretty sure you're going to like it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 Steve's just convinced me to put this on my wishlist. Whoo to new Homer, and whoo to King of Thorns! It's my favourite of the three. Well done Steve I've heard great things about it. I have reserved a copy of KoT at the library, hopefully get it soon. Do tell! Is it the Barnes & Noble leatherbound edition? I wouldn't know x Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy these reads all that much . I guess The Wheel of Time is not for everyone. I have the Sherlock Holmes book unread on my shelf. I hope your next reads will be more enjoyable , maybe read a book of which you're pretty sure you're going to like it? I guess not, but i'm still hoping I will enjoy the next couple. I enjoyed Sherlock Holmes but it wasn't as good as the first book. Empire of the Sun had some good points, it captured the youthful naivety very well, but lacked any kind of emotional response to the drastic events the boy goes through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted November 27, 2013 Author Share Posted November 27, 2013 Finished Goldfinger and really enjoyed it! Probably my favourite Bond so far. Also surprised by how true the film stayed to the book. Not completely, but more so then most of them so far....despite the lack of gadgets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted December 3, 2013 Author Share Posted December 3, 2013 The Iron Jackal - Chris Wooding Synopsis Join the crew of the Ketty Jay on their greatest adventure yet: a story of mayhem and mischief, roof-top chases and death-defying races, murderous daemons, psychopathic golems and a particularly cranky cat. The first time was to clear his name. The second time was for money. This time, Frey's in a race against the clock for the ultimate prize: to save his own life. Review I'd been looking forward to reading this for a while, I loved the second instalment, The Black Lung Captain, which is one of my favourite reads this year. And though it wasn't quite as good, it didn't disappoint. Filled with brilliant characters, sharp wit, and imaginative creatures, The Iron Jackal is pure fun! Tonnes of fantastic moments but the one that stands out the most is, what can only be, a homage to the Star Wars Pod race. We also get to see a lot more of Silo and his back story. The rest of the crew also continue to develop in amusing but realistic ways. If you enjoy the concept and you enjoyed either of the first two then you will love this as well. Highly recommended. Overall 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Nice! I have Retribution Falls on my Christmas list - it's good to know the series remains enjoyable as it goes on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 I wish they hadn't changed the cover style, these new ones are a bit generic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 I gotta ask... Your missus being a member and an avid reader... How does it go in the house of the Timstar and better half? Do you buy each other books as pressies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted December 4, 2013 Author Share Posted December 4, 2013 I gotta ask... Your missus being a member and an avid reader... How does it go in the house of the Timstar and better half? Do you buy each other books as pressies? Aww how sweet of you to ask We're doing really well at the moment, Kate is in the midst of her Masters degree which means she has no time for any of her own reading, which is why she has been absent of late. Funds are a bit short at the moment so we haven't being buying each other presents lately but i'm sure there will be plently of books for Christmas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Aww how sweet of you to ask We're doing really well at the moment, Kate is in the midst of her Masters degree which means she has no time for any of her own reading, which is why she has been absent of late. Ah yes, she's gotta be head deep in study mode, and no recreational reading Good luck to her on it, she'll be thrilled when it's over and she can read whatever she likes again Funds are a bit short at the moment so we haven't being buying each other presents lately but i'm sure there will be plently of books for Christmas That's good to hear, an Xmas without a few bookish pressies is not recommendable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelley.s Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 (edited) Fab review, so tempted to add it to mount tbr About Retribution Falls, Karsa I believe you didn I rate it much? I was planning on reading that one too however I got mixed reviews and was slightly put off? Edited December 5, 2013 by shelley.s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Fab review, so tempted to add it to mount tbh About Retribution Falls, Karsa I believe you didn I rate it much? I was planning on reading that one too however I got mixed reviews and was slightly put off? No, I did like it. Can't remember what I said about it, but it would've been a 7 or 8 out of 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelley.s Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) I believe it was "Retribution Falls is okay. It's kind of like Firefly, but with planes instead of spaceships. I didn't find it so compelling that I needed to go out and buy the sequel, though :shrug:" Edited December 5, 2013 by shelley.s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 I believe it was "Retribution Falls is okay. It's kind of like Firefly, but with planes instead of spaceships. I didn't find it so compelling that I needed to go out and buy the sequel, though :shrug:" There you go And I haven't bought the sequel, so I was right Can't believe you went and looked that up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelley.s Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Hahaha but surely you must be more tempted by the reviews now? Timstar did you think the sequels were better than Retribution falls? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) Hahaha but surely you must be more tempted by the reviews now? Timstar did you think the sequels were better than Retribution falls? I preferred them! Edited December 5, 2013 by Timstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Hahaha but surely you must be more tempted by the reviews now? Tbh, not really - there's too much else I want to read first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted December 6, 2013 Author Share Posted December 6, 2013 The Winter King - Bernard Cornwell Synopsis In the dark ages, a legendary warrior struggles to unite Britain . . . Uther, the High King of Britain, has died, leaving the infant Mordred as his only heir. His uncle, the loyal and gifted warlord Arthur, now rules as caretaker for a country which has fallen into chaos - threats emerge from within the British kingdoms while vicious Saxon armies stand ready to invade. As he struggles to unite Britain and hold back the Saxon enemy, Arthur is embroiled in a doomed romance with beautiful Guinevere. Will the old-world magic of Merlin be enough to turn the tide of war in his favour. Review To-date I have read over 20 Bernard Cornwell's including 15 of the Sharpe books, as well as the Grail trilogy and a number of others. Over these books I have certainly noticed a distinct style, an easy-to-read, fun and somewhat lighthearted style. However, if I hadn't known this was a BC book, I wouldn't have recognised it, it is head-and-shoulders above everything else I have read of his. The Arthurian legend is fairly well known, or at least the clichés we always hear about; Knights and the round table, medieval castles and armour, the holy grail etc. However, as BC points out in the afterword, very little is known about Arthur, not even whether he existed or not. But he goes on to say that if he did exist it certainly wouldn't have been in the crusades or medieval period, it would have been in the dark ages. So BC has stripped away all the mythical non-sense and grounded in firmly in the 5th Century, this means that knights didn't exist, castles weren't grand and made of stone, and there is no lady-of-the-lake and wizards. There is still plenty of content related to Arthur though, Merlin is present but as a wise druid, Guinevere is his preistess, Galahad and Lancelot are fellow warriors. As it is set in the Dark ages we also get invading Irish and Saxons, warring clans, competing religions and multiple kings. BC even goes back to what most of the areas were called 1500 years ago including Ynys Wydryn (Isle of Avalon, Glastonbury) As I said before, the best thing I found was the quality of writing, it is simply brilliant! Can't wait to read more. Overall 10/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 (edited) Great review, Tim! Makes me want to read it all over again ETA: I just looked, and it's two years to the day, and almost exactly to the minute, since I posted my review of it. How bizarre Edited December 6, 2013 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted December 6, 2013 Author Share Posted December 6, 2013 Great review, Tim! Makes me want to read it all over again ETA: I just looked, and it's two years to the day, and almost exactly to the minute, since I posted my review of it. How bizarre That is strange! wish I had posted it a few minutes earlier now I also thought the action was notably different, his battles scenes, whilst great, tend to give more of an overview as well as the personal view of the character, TWK battles felt a lot more gritty and close up, you could feel every slash and shield charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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