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ClareR (6129 KP) rated North Woods in Books

Dec 12, 2023  
North Woods
North Woods
Daniel Mason | 2023 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Flipping heck, I’ve read some good historical fiction lately! North Woods by Daniel Mason is one such book. Multiple points in history, narrative voices and styles all linked by place. Absolutely marvellous!

I don’t think I actually want to say too much about all the different characters in this book, except to say that it spans from a Puritan colony to the present day, all linked by the North Woods. It’s a gorgeous novel that had my heart in my mouth at several points and made me wish that I could see this place with my own eyes. The love of the landscape and nature shines through this gorgeous novel.

And, well, the end of this novel is the real tour de force. Utterly beautiful. A book of the year for me, that’s for certain.
  
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
2011 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Caesar. Home.
A surprisingly good prequel/re-imagining/reboot of the seminal Charlton Heston starring sci-fi flick, with this being set in more contemporary time and with it tracing the origins of the smart Apes/the beginning of the decline of man.

Basically, don't mess with nature.

I have to say, the end credits - tracing the virus - also hits differently now (in 2023) than it did on release (in 2011), after the world has been through a global pandemic.

Anyway, Andy Serkis interpretation of Caesar is really the star of the show, with able support from his surrogate 'father' Will Rodman (James Franco), the scientist who first developed a drug that he hopes will cure Alzheimer's but which leads to super intelligence in the chimps exposed to it.
  
Meet Me at the Surface
Meet Me at the Surface
Jodie Matthews | 2024 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
When Merryn returns to Bodmin Moor for her ex-girlfriends memorial, she starts to wonder if there’s a more sinister reason for her mother and aunt asking her to return. Well, there is.

Merryn’s family live on the outskirts of the village, in a house that seems to have a mind of its own. Her mother and aunt have a close relationship with nature and folklore, which brings us on to a big secret that has been kept from Merryn and will be revealed with devastating effect.

This isn’t a full on horror story, in that it’s not full of blood and guts (well, I say that…), but it is really unnerving. There’s something bubbling away under the surface that makes Merryn (and me!!) feel really uncomfortable. It was great writing.
Recommended
  
Uzumaki (3-in-1, Deluxe Edition): Includes Vols. 1, 2 & 3: Vols. 1, 2 & 3
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Wonderfully written and illustrated (0 more)
Story line is strange and can be difficult to follow the timeline (0 more)
Nightmare fuel in it’s purest form
Spirals exist everywhere in nature: in the shells of snails, the petals of a flower, the swirling clouds of a hurricane, even the shape of whole galaxies. Why this shape continues to show up over and over again in nature is still a bit of a mystery. For the most part spirals are viewed as aesthetically pleasing, appealing to humanity throughout the centuries.

What makes Uzumaki so brilliant is that it takes something so abstract and transforms it into pure nightmare fuel, utterly corrupting one of nature's most beautiful shapes: the spiral. When I had first started reading this comic I was skeptical, how could a geometic shape be scary? There is nothing inherently sinister about a shape, just as there is nothing all that unusual about the town.

Uzumaki challenged my perception of horror in it’s twisting narrative, starting slow as the madness began to spread, spiraling out like a flower in bloom. As the story reached a fever pitch, it quickly descends, like a whirlpool sucking everything underneath it’s surface. Pure genius.


The art is also a wonder in itself, with extremely detailed drawings depicting some of the best examples of body horror that I’ve ever seen. While this is of course up for debate, many fans and critics have chosen Uzumaki as Ito’s magnum opus, and after reading a couple of his other comics I would have to agree. Uzumaki is one of the best works of horror I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I highly recommend this for any fan of horror, but especially for fans of the works of H.P. Lovecraft, whose books greatly influenced Ito in his creation of the series.