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Star Marque Rising
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The future is governed through a genetic hierarchy—superhumans at the top, humans and defects at...
Hard Science Fiction
Merissa (12129 KP) rated Fractured Moon (Aurelia Fridell #1) in Books
Apr 6, 2023 (Updated Apr 10, 2023)
I love me a Paranormal Romance book - especially when I love the way it's written, get pulled into the storyline, drool over the Alpha male and laugh out loud. All of this happened with this book.
There are loads of things that I enjoyed about this book, I could go on and on, but one of the things that I will mention is the fact that Ceithin is a bit of an ass at the start. Yes, he's attracted to Aurelia but he's with someone else. Someone else who has a superiority complex and lays into Aurelia whilst Ceithin stands by and does nothing. Not good! However, he does make up for it and quickly wormed his way under my skin, pretty much the same as he did for Aurelia. I loved her reactions to it all though - completely honest!
The storyline kept my interest although at one point I had almost forgotten that she had had 'trouble' as I was concentrating so much on their burgeoning relationship. Well developed storyline, brilliant characters and anyone who can quote a Tairen Soul line is excellent by me! Looking forward to reading Ceithin's novella and more in this series in the (hopefully) near future.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
August 25, 2016
There are loads of things that I enjoyed about this book, I could go on and on, but one of the things that I will mention is the fact that Ceithin is a bit of an ass at the start. Yes, he's attracted to Aurelia but he's with someone else. Someone else who has a superiority complex and lays into Aurelia whilst Ceithin stands by and does nothing. Not good! However, he does make up for it and quickly wormed his way under my skin, pretty much the same as he did for Aurelia. I loved her reactions to it all though - completely honest!
The storyline kept my interest although at one point I had almost forgotten that she had had 'trouble' as I was concentrating so much on their burgeoning relationship. Well developed storyline, brilliant characters and anyone who can quote a Tairen Soul line is excellent by me! Looking forward to reading Ceithin's novella and more in this series in the (hopefully) near future.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
August 25, 2016
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Jackass Forever (2022) in Movies
Feb 16, 2022
I remember Jackass when it first aired back in 2000. It was dumb, it was shocking, but most importantly, it took no time at all to get on board with the cast. The chemistry and bonds between Johnny Knoxville and co were immediately infectious, and everytime they put out a movie, it feels like a reunion with a bunch of old friends. Jackass Forever is the same in that respect, but it also relates to the only issue I had - I didn't feel overly fussed when it was initially announced that Bam Margera wasn't involved this time around, but now that JF is here, his absence is notable. This, coupled with a whole bunch of new faces, (presumably so the TV series can be relaunched in the near future with a new cast) makes for an unfamiliar Jackass experience. Well, kind of. Everything else is business as usual, and it's pretty glorious.
The opening scene is one of the most absurd skits that they've ever come up with, and the closing scene is a masterpiece of escalating chaos. Everything in between is the usual mix of silliness that we've come to know and love, and it feels like a warm hug, drenched in 15 gallons of pig jizz.
In short, if you're going to see Jackass Forever, chances are that you're already and established viewer, and as such, will most likely love it as I did. Long live Jackass.
The opening scene is one of the most absurd skits that they've ever come up with, and the closing scene is a masterpiece of escalating chaos. Everything in between is the usual mix of silliness that we've come to know and love, and it feels like a warm hug, drenched in 15 gallons of pig jizz.
In short, if you're going to see Jackass Forever, chances are that you're already and established viewer, and as such, will most likely love it as I did. Long live Jackass.
Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated My Mess Is A Bit Of A Life in Books
Mar 21, 2022
I didn’t know what to expect of this book with it being a book about someone’s journey with anxiety, but I definitely didn’t think it would be as funny as it is.
Georgia Pritchett writes little anxious anecdotes from her life beginning in nursery. They are all written with Georgia’s humour prominent throughout the book, even the heartbreaking anecdotes still have some humour sprinkled into them. Reading through them, some are completely relatable and others not so much, but all completely believable.
The chapters are extremely short, some only a paragraph or two long. And while it might annoy some people, I loved this style as it showed that we were onto the next little anecdote and was quite easy to follow. But for me, with the chapters being short it just meant that I wanted to carry on reading… “just one more chapter” turned into the whole book!
I read this in an afternoon because it was such an easy and pleasant read (despite the subjects touched upon not being pleasant) and it was nice to read about the life that Georgia has had and the accomplishments despite her being a woman in a man’s world.
I will be recommending this to anyone that will listen, and will probably pick it up again at some point in the near future.
Thank you to Pigeonhole and Georgia Pritchett for the chance to read this page turner!
Georgia Pritchett writes little anxious anecdotes from her life beginning in nursery. They are all written with Georgia’s humour prominent throughout the book, even the heartbreaking anecdotes still have some humour sprinkled into them. Reading through them, some are completely relatable and others not so much, but all completely believable.
The chapters are extremely short, some only a paragraph or two long. And while it might annoy some people, I loved this style as it showed that we were onto the next little anecdote and was quite easy to follow. But for me, with the chapters being short it just meant that I wanted to carry on reading… “just one more chapter” turned into the whole book!
I read this in an afternoon because it was such an easy and pleasant read (despite the subjects touched upon not being pleasant) and it was nice to read about the life that Georgia has had and the accomplishments despite her being a woman in a man’s world.
I will be recommending this to anyone that will listen, and will probably pick it up again at some point in the near future.
Thank you to Pigeonhole and Georgia Pritchett for the chance to read this page turner!
Storm Radar with NOAA Weather
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Weather like you’ve never seen before with the Storm Radar app for iOS! Full screen interactive...
Awix (3310 KP) rated Logan (2017) in Movies
Feb 10, 2018 (Updated Feb 10, 2018)
Cover Granny's eyes and ears
The question we must ask ourselves here is: does adding graphic gory violence and F-bombs by the cartload really transform a reasonably formulaic X-men franchise movie into something qualitatively different? Because it seems to me that if you were to make a PG-rated edit of Logan it would not feel that much different from many of the other films in the series. Well, perhaps I exaggerate just a bit, because the film does have a downbeat mood quite unusual for this genre, and the focus on the fragility of its characters does give the actors a lot to work with (though Hugh Jackman is, quite predictably, acted off the screen by Patrick Stewart).
Plot as follows: the year is 2030, or thereabouts, and all is not well for mutantkind, inasmuch as they seem to have died out. A knocking-on-a-bit Wolverine is working as a limo driver and trying to keep a low profile while caring for a frail Charles Xavier, but the appearance of a young mutant girl forces the duo to reassess their priorities.
Maybe the problem is that the first trailer for this film - the one with the Johnny Cash soundtrack - promised something genuinely powerful and melancholic. The song isn't in the movie and neither, really, is the power and melancholy. The movie seems to be trying to tell the story of a conflicted man steeped in violence who tries to find redemption at the end of his life, but Jackman's Wolverine has always been so much of a teddy bear - his 'darkness' and 'edginess' have always felt like corporate branding - that this doesn't really work.
Still, the film is well-assembled and its vision of a dystopian near-future America is both engaging and consisting. The film's willingness to simply not worry about franchise continuity is also kind of refreshing. With the future of the X-franchise apparently somewhat up in the air, this is at the very least a superior entry to mark the departure of at least one of its mainstays.
Plot as follows: the year is 2030, or thereabouts, and all is not well for mutantkind, inasmuch as they seem to have died out. A knocking-on-a-bit Wolverine is working as a limo driver and trying to keep a low profile while caring for a frail Charles Xavier, but the appearance of a young mutant girl forces the duo to reassess their priorities.
Maybe the problem is that the first trailer for this film - the one with the Johnny Cash soundtrack - promised something genuinely powerful and melancholic. The song isn't in the movie and neither, really, is the power and melancholy. The movie seems to be trying to tell the story of a conflicted man steeped in violence who tries to find redemption at the end of his life, but Jackman's Wolverine has always been so much of a teddy bear - his 'darkness' and 'edginess' have always felt like corporate branding - that this doesn't really work.
Still, the film is well-assembled and its vision of a dystopian near-future America is both engaging and consisting. The film's willingness to simply not worry about franchise continuity is also kind of refreshing. With the future of the X-franchise apparently somewhat up in the air, this is at the very least a superior entry to mark the departure of at least one of its mainstays.
BookblogbyCari (345 KP) rated Rule of One in Books
Sep 23, 2018
Book review by Cari Mayhew. Rating 9/10.
With every chapter having its own climax, this YA dystopian novel is set to be a bestseller!
I had the opportunity to read this before its official release date thanks to Amazon First Reads. It’s set in the future in the USA. The country is deemed overpopulated, and the country follows the Rule of One, which is that couples can only have one child. Everyone has identity microchips implanted into their wrists, and rations of food are obtained from 3D printers.
Ava and Mira are hiding a secret. They are identical twins, who’ve been taking turns each day to live as one person. One day they are found out and they’re forced to go on the run! They had been well practised in pretending to be one person, but they were ill prepared to handle being discovered.
The plot is fraught with tension and there’s trouble at every turn. They leave with little more than a map and a name, and face plenty of obstacles along the way.
They eventually hear rumours of a resistance, and people who can help them, and they are given new identities. But, in turn, they are asked to help the cause directly. Meanwhile their father is taken into custody and tortured. At this point, the twins no longer see eye to eye.
Some scenes are a little cliché, but the fast pace more than makes up for it.
The blurb in the description says that it’s set in the near future. Technology-wise it could be, but not in terms of the USA becoming so over populated that it would need such a rule, although this was recently the case in China.
I loved this book - as I said, each chapter has its own climax, which makes it quite the page-turner! IMO, it’s exactly as a dystopian thriller should be – a tense but light read and not all dreary. I have already ordered the sequel, which is due to be released in 2019 – I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here!
For more book news and reviews, check out bookblogbycari.com
With every chapter having its own climax, this YA dystopian novel is set to be a bestseller!
I had the opportunity to read this before its official release date thanks to Amazon First Reads. It’s set in the future in the USA. The country is deemed overpopulated, and the country follows the Rule of One, which is that couples can only have one child. Everyone has identity microchips implanted into their wrists, and rations of food are obtained from 3D printers.
Ava and Mira are hiding a secret. They are identical twins, who’ve been taking turns each day to live as one person. One day they are found out and they’re forced to go on the run! They had been well practised in pretending to be one person, but they were ill prepared to handle being discovered.
The plot is fraught with tension and there’s trouble at every turn. They leave with little more than a map and a name, and face plenty of obstacles along the way.
They eventually hear rumours of a resistance, and people who can help them, and they are given new identities. But, in turn, they are asked to help the cause directly. Meanwhile their father is taken into custody and tortured. At this point, the twins no longer see eye to eye.
Some scenes are a little cliché, but the fast pace more than makes up for it.
The blurb in the description says that it’s set in the near future. Technology-wise it could be, but not in terms of the USA becoming so over populated that it would need such a rule, although this was recently the case in China.
I loved this book - as I said, each chapter has its own climax, which makes it quite the page-turner! IMO, it’s exactly as a dystopian thriller should be – a tense but light read and not all dreary. I have already ordered the sequel, which is due to be released in 2019 – I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here!
For more book news and reviews, check out bookblogbycari.com
Gnomon: A Novel
Book
Near-future Britain is not just a nation under surveillance but one built on it: a radical...
Science fiction
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated The Jekyll Revelation in Books
May 15, 2018
When I first laid eyes upon Robert Masello’s The Jekyll Revelation, I felt excitement. What could be better than combining Jekyll and Hyde with Jack the Ripper? In theory, nothing. Unless it’s this book. With an agonizingly slow advancement of plot and painfully dull characters, The Jekyll Revelation felt like a waste of my time. Thank god there was an audiobook accompaniment, or I wouldn’t have finished it.
The Jekyll Revelation goes back and forth in time, alternating between present day California where Rafe and Heidi (who vanishes halfway through the story, along with the repercussions for Rafe’s actions) patrol the desert and the past, where Robert Louis Stevenson, only just now writing his famed The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is slowly dying from consumption. The latter portions are told in first person, as it is the recounting of Stevenson’s fictional life by journal. Many of these chapters could be removed and the book would be the same.
I guess it could be said that my biggest quarrel with this book is its slow progression. It isn’t until the final quarter of the novel that anything picks up, and by then the present is damn near irrelevant. Sure, there’s some loose ends that get tied up in the present, but it just feels hollow and empty.
Overall, I didn’t like this book. Fellow members of the #spookyfriendsbookclub seem to also have given it up, with only one member still reading it. I likely won’t be including Masello in future votes.
The Jekyll Revelation goes back and forth in time, alternating between present day California where Rafe and Heidi (who vanishes halfway through the story, along with the repercussions for Rafe’s actions) patrol the desert and the past, where Robert Louis Stevenson, only just now writing his famed The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is slowly dying from consumption. The latter portions are told in first person, as it is the recounting of Stevenson’s fictional life by journal. Many of these chapters could be removed and the book would be the same.
I guess it could be said that my biggest quarrel with this book is its slow progression. It isn’t until the final quarter of the novel that anything picks up, and by then the present is damn near irrelevant. Sure, there’s some loose ends that get tied up in the present, but it just feels hollow and empty.
Overall, I didn’t like this book. Fellow members of the #spookyfriendsbookclub seem to also have given it up, with only one member still reading it. I likely won’t be including Masello in future votes.
BadgerMuffin (48 KP) rated Judge Dredd in Tabletop Games
Jun 3, 2019
Judge Judge Dredd? Sure, I'll do that.
Unfortunately I've only played this game for about an hour, and yet it's something I intend on spending a lot more time on in the near future.
The Judge Dredd RPG is simple, but adds things many RPG's don't have. For example, say you were trying to investigate someone's emails, you would add together your computer dice (2d6) and your investigation dice (1d6) rolling for a total of 3d6. This is a nifty feature which totally makes sense and means you really think about who does what in your games.
Now I do have a problem with Sci Fi games. Namely you can do almost anything, nothing stops you but the laws of physics. This can really derail a game. If you play with the right group then this isn't a problem, but finding those players can be hard.
On the outside of the DM's screen it contains a list of crimes and what their punishment is, which is rather useful as a player. They also contain many useful stats for vehicles.
The paper quality this book is printed on is ~130gsm and as such has a good feel to it.
I personally would look to buy it, but maybe not at full price. They are releasing new expansions and as such this many change with time. But currently I'd look to spend maybe a maximum of £35 on this book.
TL;DR
-Expansive book and screen
-Fun to Play
-Cool Mechanics
-Maybe wait until it's on sale.
The Judge Dredd RPG is simple, but adds things many RPG's don't have. For example, say you were trying to investigate someone's emails, you would add together your computer dice (2d6) and your investigation dice (1d6) rolling for a total of 3d6. This is a nifty feature which totally makes sense and means you really think about who does what in your games.
Now I do have a problem with Sci Fi games. Namely you can do almost anything, nothing stops you but the laws of physics. This can really derail a game. If you play with the right group then this isn't a problem, but finding those players can be hard.
On the outside of the DM's screen it contains a list of crimes and what their punishment is, which is rather useful as a player. They also contain many useful stats for vehicles.
The paper quality this book is printed on is ~130gsm and as such has a good feel to it.
I personally would look to buy it, but maybe not at full price. They are releasing new expansions and as such this many change with time. But currently I'd look to spend maybe a maximum of £35 on this book.
TL;DR
-Expansive book and screen
-Fun to Play
-Cool Mechanics
-Maybe wait until it's on sale.