Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (73)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Pete Fowler recommended The Willows by Belbury Poly in Music (curated)

 
The Willows by Belbury Poly
The Willows by Belbury Poly
2004 | Electronic
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I love Ghost Box. In a similar way to how British psych from the '60s looked back to a whimsical past and kids' fiction from the Victorian era, Ghost Box look back to a more modern past – specifically the '60s and '70s, which is when I grew up. It's an analogue sound that seems to evoke brutalist architecture, new towns and the like. You can imagine Ghost Box soundtracking a film about a new town built on a burial site. Jim [Jupp] and Julian [House, Ghost Box co-founder] come from Caldicot, which is a really spooky part of Wales. Lots of weird gothic architecture and a lot of weird local folklore and superstition. This record by the Belbury Poly [Jupp] presents someone's version of the past, a vision that's both real and ephemeral. It harks back to a time that wasn't obviously psychedelic but it's not obviously retro. Without being too rose-tinted specs about this record, it has a slight 'warm blanket' effect, while still being a little uncomfortable, if that makes sense. It's possibly a weird record for me to pick in a list of psychedelic records but it definitely does that thing of successfully imagining an alternate reality. I can imagine walking around this place."

Source
  
40x40

Merissa (12048 KP) rated Assassin's Touch (Iron Portal #1) in Books

Apr 13, 2023  
Assassin's Touch (Iron Portal #1)
Assassin's Touch (Iron Portal #1)
Laurie London | 2014 | Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
In an alternate reality exists two worlds, both at war with each other. Neyla is drawn into this war against her will when it is discovered that she has a latent Talent. Enscripted into the army, in a war full of propaganda and struggling with the mistrust of the soldiers she's supposed to be fighting with, she is injured by a soldier on her side and captured by a 'barbarian'.

Taken over into Cascadia, she soon learns that the war is different to the stories that she's been fed. Given time to spend with the citizens, she realises that she doesn't want to go back. Of course, Rickert might also play a big part in that as the attraction between the two absolutely sizzles.

This is a fantastic start to the series with wonderful world-building. The characters are all full-bodied and believable, even the ones you dislike. Thoroughly enjoyable and definitely recommended for those who want a short but hot paranormal romance read.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jun 21, 2015
  
40x40

LucyB (47 KP) rated Dark Matter in Books

Jul 23, 2017  
Dark Matter
Dark Matter
Blake Crouch | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
9
7.9 (30 Ratings)
Book Rating Watch
The pace, the style, the whole concept (0 more)
It's pretty far-fetched (though the author carries it off well) (0 more)
Mind-bending, fast-pasted, gripping to the end
Every so often, I come across an author who is so different, it blows me away. Blake Crouch is definitely one of those authors! The storyline is so completely 'way out' that I'm amazed he pulled it off, and his style of writing (short to the point of sparse) shouldn't work, but really does!

The story is about Martin, the man who has the perfect life, the perfect wife, a lovely son...but fifteen years ago, gave up his illustrious science career to have a family. Suddenly, he's kidnapped, drugged, and (wait for it), forced into an alternate reality. I can't say anymore without spoiling the plot, but what follows is a frenetic race through alternative realities to get back to the life he once knew, at any cost.

The storyline is impressive, not least because the concept is so complex, yet Crouch handles it with ease. I'd say that this is the author's greatest gift - being able to simplify and abbreviate, without dumbing down. In fact, this book is probably the best example of 'all killer, no filler' that I've ever read.

A formidable book... I'll be looking forward to reading the Wayward Pines series next!
  
40x40

Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Radio Free Albemuth in Books

Mar 2, 2018  
Radio Free Albemuth
Radio Free Albemuth
Philip K. Dick | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A lot of semi-autobiographical elements
While this is not PKD's best science fiction, the fact that much of it comes from his own experiences makes this an interesting read.

From being burgled, by what PKD believed to be an FBI covert operation, to hallucinatory visions, this posthumous book reveals much about his thought processes at the end of his life. Although this novel was written and scrapped, it was released in 1985 and has similar themes to his Valis series. In this, PKD plays a main character himself as a science fiction writer, while Nicholas Brady, a quirky record shop clerk, is his friend although he represents parts of the author himself.

In this dystopian science fiction, an alternate reality shows the US being run by a secret Communist regime despite appearing to be the opposite. Brady one day starts seeing visions in which he is controlled and he is able to communicate with an outer being who is trying to change the course of the country. His sceptic friend, PKD follows him wherever he goes only to find that there are some truths to his ravings.

It's quite a horrifying ending, and it does make you wonder how mentally stable PKD was at the end - but it definitely shows why PKD is still the master of sci-fi.