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Unknown Warrior - The Search for Australia's Greatest Ace
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Lest we Forget? In the case of Captain Robert Alexander (Alec) Little, Australia's greatest 'Ace',...
Day R Survival
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Can you survive in the world destroyed after a nuclear war? With radiation, hunger and diseases...
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Can you survive in the world destroyed after a nuclear war? With radiation, hunger and diseases...
Joe Danger
Games
5.0
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**“WOW. It’s simply fantastic" TouchArcade** **“Looks stunning” iGamer ** **"Immense replay...
Joseph Anton
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Listen to an exclusive Foyles podcast in which one of our greatest living novelists tells his...
Bonnie and Clyde: Dam Nation
Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall
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THE REDEMPTION OF BONNIE AND CLYDE Saving the working class from a river of greed. The year is...
series fiction alternative history Bonnie & Clyde Bonnie and Clyde
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Half a King (Shattered Sea #1) in Books
Nov 14, 2019
It seems to have been a long wait since Red Country for another book from Lord Grimdark himself, Joe Abercrombie. Not only is this the first book in a new sequence, but it is also labelled as Young Adult. I have to say I had my reservations about that since I wondered how the author of the very grim and very dark First Law books would be able to make a book suitable for young adults... it would be like Quentin Tarantino making a Disney film...
I needn't have worried. It seems all Abercrombie has done is create his usual cast of dark, mysterious, vengeful and misfit characters, set them on a bloody quest during which they can philosophise, complain and make pithy remarks to each other while hacking their enemies into pieces. It seems the only nods to being a 'Young Adult' book is that there is no sex and maybe some of the gore has been turned down a notch. The writing, the plot or the characters don't suffer from this at all.
The plot concerns Yarvi, youngest son of the king in a land where strength and ability in battle is everything. However Yarvi was born with a deformed hand and he is an embarrassment to his father and fated to join the ministry - which normally only women do - to become and adviser to a king rather than a king himself.
However destiny strikes a cruel blow when his father and older brother are both killed. Yarvi is now the king - unprepared as he is and as unpopular as he is with his subjects. He is soon betrayed and sets out on a quest for revenge.
This is pure Abercrombie from start to finish. Yarvi's journey takes him from being a king to being the lowest of the low - if not lower. He might lack the strength or ability to fight but he has wisdom, knowledge, cunning and a thirst for revenge to make up for that. From a lonely and unhappy child he becomes a leader of men - and women - and has to fight for survival across a continent to get home to take his rightful place at the throne.
The book is perhaps a little slow to start - until Yarvi is betrayed - but it is essential that this time is taken to lay the groundwork for what follows. Once it gets going the book races along with barely a stop for breath as events carry the young hero along, sometimes with some control of the situation but often just as much a bystander as the reader. There are characters aplenty - some plain mean and nasty, some friendly and amusing, some mean and nasty and amusing. As would be expected from Abercrombie nobody falls into a neat pigeonhole or trope. When deaths among Yarvi's comrades occur they are touchingly written - but with the senseless random nature of war and death writ large across their last words.
Definitely a great read, hope it will not be so long before the next in the series.
I needn't have worried. It seems all Abercrombie has done is create his usual cast of dark, mysterious, vengeful and misfit characters, set them on a bloody quest during which they can philosophise, complain and make pithy remarks to each other while hacking their enemies into pieces. It seems the only nods to being a 'Young Adult' book is that there is no sex and maybe some of the gore has been turned down a notch. The writing, the plot or the characters don't suffer from this at all.
The plot concerns Yarvi, youngest son of the king in a land where strength and ability in battle is everything. However Yarvi was born with a deformed hand and he is an embarrassment to his father and fated to join the ministry - which normally only women do - to become and adviser to a king rather than a king himself.
However destiny strikes a cruel blow when his father and older brother are both killed. Yarvi is now the king - unprepared as he is and as unpopular as he is with his subjects. He is soon betrayed and sets out on a quest for revenge.
This is pure Abercrombie from start to finish. Yarvi's journey takes him from being a king to being the lowest of the low - if not lower. He might lack the strength or ability to fight but he has wisdom, knowledge, cunning and a thirst for revenge to make up for that. From a lonely and unhappy child he becomes a leader of men - and women - and has to fight for survival across a continent to get home to take his rightful place at the throne.
The book is perhaps a little slow to start - until Yarvi is betrayed - but it is essential that this time is taken to lay the groundwork for what follows. Once it gets going the book races along with barely a stop for breath as events carry the young hero along, sometimes with some control of the situation but often just as much a bystander as the reader. There are characters aplenty - some plain mean and nasty, some friendly and amusing, some mean and nasty and amusing. As would be expected from Abercrombie nobody falls into a neat pigeonhole or trope. When deaths among Yarvi's comrades occur they are touchingly written - but with the senseless random nature of war and death writ large across their last words.
Definitely a great read, hope it will not be so long before the next in the series.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Skull Throne in Books
Nov 25, 2019
The fourth installment of Brett's impressive Demonwar books takes up exactly where the last book, The Daylight War, finished. With Jardir and Arlen last seen falling from a high cliff during a fight to the death, each side must manage without their Deliverer to battle the threat from the demons - and each other.
With Jardir gone, Inevera and Abban face a struggle for survival as his sons try to position themselves so they can take the Skull Throne and continue the daylight war against the Thesans seeking to unite all of mankind against the demon threat by force and subjugation.
Meanwhile the leaders of Hollow County are embroiled in political intrigue over the failure of the Duke of Angiers to produce an heir and questions about the rise of the Hollow as a power that could rival the Duke. Any actions by either side now could put the whole fate of the world at risk.
This is undoubtedly the best in the series to so far. All the characters and plot strands from the previous books are woven into a taut tale that drives forward with each page. Where previous installments have been mostly dialogue, this book moves neatly from one set piece to another, from battles against demons to assassination attempts stirred by old rivalries this books has it all.
Once again it is the characters that drive the book; without Brett's fine eye for detail the reader wouldn't care so much about the characters and it's a rare trick that the reader is able to support characters on both sides of the conflicts and arguments.
The momentum builds throughout to a final few chapters that are simply jaw dropping in terms of storyline, pace and scope. The next installment simply cannot come fast enough.
I'm also glad I read the UK hardback edition with the fantastic picture of Rojer looking very mean on the cover. From being my least favourite character he is definitely the stand out in this book.
Entirely recommended. It's a big book (the story ended on page 737) but well worth the read. However if you have not read the previous books in the series you will need to start at The Painted Man as previous knowledge of the characters and situations is assumed. But you will not regret it, Brett's world of demons is one of the best fantasy concepts out there.
Rated: Violent scenes and some sexual references
With Jardir gone, Inevera and Abban face a struggle for survival as his sons try to position themselves so they can take the Skull Throne and continue the daylight war against the Thesans seeking to unite all of mankind against the demon threat by force and subjugation.
Meanwhile the leaders of Hollow County are embroiled in political intrigue over the failure of the Duke of Angiers to produce an heir and questions about the rise of the Hollow as a power that could rival the Duke. Any actions by either side now could put the whole fate of the world at risk.
This is undoubtedly the best in the series to so far. All the characters and plot strands from the previous books are woven into a taut tale that drives forward with each page. Where previous installments have been mostly dialogue, this book moves neatly from one set piece to another, from battles against demons to assassination attempts stirred by old rivalries this books has it all.
Once again it is the characters that drive the book; without Brett's fine eye for detail the reader wouldn't care so much about the characters and it's a rare trick that the reader is able to support characters on both sides of the conflicts and arguments.
The momentum builds throughout to a final few chapters that are simply jaw dropping in terms of storyline, pace and scope. The next installment simply cannot come fast enough.
I'm also glad I read the UK hardback edition with the fantastic picture of Rojer looking very mean on the cover. From being my least favourite character he is definitely the stand out in this book.
Entirely recommended. It's a big book (the story ended on page 737) but well worth the read. However if you have not read the previous books in the series you will need to start at The Painted Man as previous knowledge of the characters and situations is assumed. But you will not regret it, Brett's world of demons is one of the best fantasy concepts out there.
Rated: Violent scenes and some sexual references
Watchman (19 KP) rated Bumblebee (2018) in Movies
Jan 5, 2019 (Updated Jan 9, 2019)
Great soundtrack (2 more)
Central performance
Exciting action
Worthy of a positive buzz!
With Michael Bay handing over the directing reins after 5 movies, this franchise looked to be heading to the scrap yard. Convoluted and overlong, the franchise had become bloated and boring.
Step in everyones favourite Autobot, Travis Knight behind the camera (re: the brill Kubo and the two strings), a timeshift to the 80s, and some genuine heart, and there's suddenly 'more than meets the eye' to Transformers again.
With Spielberg on producing duties, there's an ET, ShortCircuit, feel about a young girl (the ever excellent Hailee Steinfeld) trying to cope with the aftermath of the death of her dad, and finding a way with our Bombus from out of space.
After a thrilling action set up involving B-127 (our robot hero) being sent to Earth to form a base for the Autobots, and with 2 Decepticons in hot pursuit, a particually nasty fight ensues (resulting in bumblebees lost voicebox) leaving him battered and bruised, and we settle into what is essentially a heartfelt story of a mourning girl on her birthday and her newly discovered robot. Whilst this could have become cloying, it's handled with a real love of the material, and placing it in the 80s, gives it a great throwback feel (we even have the mean girls at school, a 'Higher Love' song montage, and some fantastic coastal vistas)
The support cast is ok, whilst John Cena flexes his comedic muscle as a soldier on the hunt of our hero.
The action is realised with real excitement, there are plenty of 'I remember those' moments, and the soundtrack wins through. But the real winner is the bond between Charlie and Bumblebee, which is more emotive than a rebel teen and a junkyard VW has any right to be.
Enjoyable and highly recommended. Roll on Bumblebee. You deserve the buzz.
Step in everyones favourite Autobot, Travis Knight behind the camera (re: the brill Kubo and the two strings), a timeshift to the 80s, and some genuine heart, and there's suddenly 'more than meets the eye' to Transformers again.
With Spielberg on producing duties, there's an ET, ShortCircuit, feel about a young girl (the ever excellent Hailee Steinfeld) trying to cope with the aftermath of the death of her dad, and finding a way with our Bombus from out of space.
After a thrilling action set up involving B-127 (our robot hero) being sent to Earth to form a base for the Autobots, and with 2 Decepticons in hot pursuit, a particually nasty fight ensues (resulting in bumblebees lost voicebox) leaving him battered and bruised, and we settle into what is essentially a heartfelt story of a mourning girl on her birthday and her newly discovered robot. Whilst this could have become cloying, it's handled with a real love of the material, and placing it in the 80s, gives it a great throwback feel (we even have the mean girls at school, a 'Higher Love' song montage, and some fantastic coastal vistas)
The support cast is ok, whilst John Cena flexes his comedic muscle as a soldier on the hunt of our hero.
The action is realised with real excitement, there are plenty of 'I remember those' moments, and the soundtrack wins through. But the real winner is the bond between Charlie and Bumblebee, which is more emotive than a rebel teen and a junkyard VW has any right to be.
Enjoyable and highly recommended. Roll on Bumblebee. You deserve the buzz.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated World Without End in Books
Feb 4, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
World Without End takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two centuries after the townspeople finished building the exquisite Gothic cathedral that was at the heart of The Pillars of the Earth. The cathedral and the priory are again at the center of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge, but this sequel stands on its own. This time the men and women of an extraordinary cast of characters find themselves at a crossroads of new ideas—about medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. In a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, the intrigue and tension quickly reach a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race—the Black Death.
Back to Kingsbridge., Following the lives of the children from pillars of the earth. I loved this book so much even more than the first! Ken Follett has a way of dragging you into this world and just making you believe it's now and you seeing it all unfold. Caris is inspirational watching her fight her way through to be exactly who he wants be and letting noone stand in her way despite what they try and do! Gwenda has fought for absolutely everything in her life, her man , her work her children. Ralph is just absolutely vile never have I read about a character I despise more! Well philmore comes bloody close. So many lives to follow and lose yourself in. Highly recommended these books are just brilliant!!
Kingsbridge survives the plague so what's next??
The cathedral is still the centre of it all
Back to Kingsbridge., Following the lives of the children from pillars of the earth. I loved this book so much even more than the first! Ken Follett has a way of dragging you into this world and just making you believe it's now and you seeing it all unfold. Caris is inspirational watching her fight her way through to be exactly who he wants be and letting noone stand in her way despite what they try and do! Gwenda has fought for absolutely everything in her life, her man , her work her children. Ralph is just absolutely vile never have I read about a character I despise more! Well philmore comes bloody close. So many lives to follow and lose yourself in. Highly recommended these books are just brilliant!!
Kingsbridge survives the plague so what's next??
The cathedral is still the centre of it all