Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (5000)

Content

David McK (3632 KP) rated The Blooding (Matthew Hawkwood, #5) in Books

Jan 30, 2019

The most recent book (at the time of writing) in [a:James McGee|223959|James McGee|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1389430491p2/223959.jpg] Matthew Hawkwood series, this is primarily set during the 'forgotten war' of 1812 between Great Britain and the fledgling USA, with Hawkwood newly arrived in the country while trying to get home to London from his escapades in France in the previous novel ([b:Rebellion|11254850|Seeds of Rebellion (Beyonders, #2)|Brandon Mull|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388247992s/11254850.jpg|16181497]).

I say mostly as, for approximately the first half, the novel actually flits back and forth - almost chapter about - between current events and those of Hawkwood's childhood (also in the States).

I also have to say that, as the series has progressed, it has seemingly moved further and further away from it's original Bow Street Runner in the Regency period: moving closer, perhaps, in mold (IMO) to the classic Sharpe stories of Bernard Cornwell, and - as a consequence - becoming in danger of losing it's own flavour that originally made it stand out.

Having said that, however, this - I felt - was an improvement on the previous book, which I personally struggled somewhat to connect with.

Kudos

David McK (3632 KP) rated Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 4: End of Games in Books

Jan 30, 2019

The final entry in Kieron Gillen's 'Darth Vader' run of comics set in the period between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, I have to say that the series as a whole (I felt) ended more with a sputter than with a bang.

Starting off impresively, I think it peaked at around about the time of the cross-over comic [b:Vader Down|27247275|Vader Down|Jason Aaron|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462909901s/27247275.jpg|47296344], and never really hit the same levels again - I think, for me, part of the problem may be that I was never really all that sold on the new characters of Dr Aphra or the killer droids Triple-Zer and Beetee introduced as part of the ongoing arc through the previous entries.

I did think, momentarily, that the ending of this would rescue the series as a whole (with Vader showing just why he was so feared, and being such a bad-ass), but then the rug was pulled out from under me with the actual ending - and not in a good way.

Still, at least I can now say I've finished the series!

Kudos

Deborah (162 KP) rated The River of No Return in Books

Dec 21, 2018

At nearly 600 pages, this isn't a short read (although the font is quite large.....) and although, after a slowish start, I did really get into the book, the ending left me feeling disappointed - not enough to give 4 starts this time. The right ingredients are all there, it's just that this is a pretty long book and at the end of it we got very little explanation or resolution of story threads. It was more like Part One of a larger novel than book one of a series because so little is resolved at the end of this, so it doesn't really work as a standalone novel.

My more usual reading matter tends towards historical fiction/mystery/romance, do maybe this was why I was happier once we were back in the Georgian period than in the modern, or maybe it just took a while to get going. We are nearly a third into the book before the big jump back in time takes place, so maybe it wasn't just a feeling. A lot of the stuff beforehand is trying to explain and set up the plot rather than just let it happen.

Kudos

Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated The Fury (1978) in Movies

Mar 3, 2020 (Updated Mar 5, 2020)

The Fury (1978)

1978 | Drama, Horror, Mystery

6.3

(4 Ratings)

Movie Rating

In the last of this list we skip forward 16 years and some 25 film credits. Not that there wasn’t any work of quality in that period, but because the edge that existed in the younger man had undoubtedly waned, with Douglas often miscast or out of his depth. Aged 62 he stumbles upon a role in a psychological horror movie that is quintessentially 70s. The reason I believe this is the last movie of real note he made is that it was a committed performance that returned him to the idea of being an angry underdog. Essentially a thriller, Douglas revels in the fear and anguish of a father pushed to the edge of his abilities to save his son. Even though he would go on to make many more films, you feel the last of his real fire was given to this role. It also proves to me that despite a lifetime of activity the real grist of his career lasted only 16 years: 1946 – 1962. The rest was a man who knew cinema better than anyone, but couldn’t always outrun his own type-casting.