Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (2845)

Content

David McK (3562 KP) rated Hearts of Stone in Books

Feb 9, 2022

Hearts of Stone

Simon Scarrow | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry

5.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Not quite what the blurb makes out

Whilst I do associate Simon Scarrow with the genre of historical fiction, these tend to be set further back in history: mainly around the time of the Roman Empire; there or thereabouts.

Until recently, I've tended to avoid his few works that are more contemporary in nature, only recently (towards the end of last year) reading Blackout as I felt they were 'too close' (if that makes sense) for comfort for me in that there are still people alive who lived through the setting.

I must admit, I did quite enjoy Blackout so thought I would also give this a go, due to the roughly the same (WW2) setting.

This novel flits back and forth between then and 'now' (of 2013), as the descendants of the main 1940s settings character start to discover more about their ancestors - in particular, as history teacher Anna uncovers the story of her maternal grandmother Eleni, who participated in the Greek resistance on the island of Lefkas during 1943.

The whole had-a-German-friend in 1939 thing almost seems incidental to the story (he's not), until roughly about the final third.

And yes, I did pick up on the arguments in favour of teaching history (a subject I did, mostly, enjoy in school) passages.

Kudos

Mint Julep Murder

Carolyn Hart

7.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

One of America's most beloved mystery writers, Carolyn G. Hart, the Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity...

David McK (3562 KP) rated The Last Roman: Absolution (Last Roman #3) in Books

May 27, 2023

The finale to B.K. Greenwood's 'The Last Roman' trilogy, bringing to a close (?) the story of the immortals Marcus, Isabella and Thomas first started in Exile, and continued in Abyss.

AS before, this is a mix of Highlander meets Jason Bourne (as I read a advert put it), jumping between the 'then' (pieces of the last 2000 years of history) and 'now', as Doyle and Thomas get nearer and nearer to triggering their end-game of the Apocalypse.

Yes, that Apocalypse.

So we've moved even further away from the initial set-up, more and more into the territory that came into prominence towards the end of Exile and more into the realms of the Supernatural (is that even the right word for it?).

Not, I want to make it clear, that that is any way a detriment to the work - I just want to be clear, from the outset, that that is the type of work you will be reading.

I did find this to be better than Abyss, but maybe not quite as good as Exile. I've also hear (read) that there are prequels stories - and, with a range of 2000 years, quite a scope of history for those to be set in - so, while I may read those I'm currently unsure whether I would purchase them or utilise Kindle Unlimited (if they are on that).

Kudos

Details

Leoncavallo: Mattinata / Wien, Wien, Nur Du Allein / Amapola / O Sole Mio (with Jos�arreras / Pl�do Domingo / Luciano Pavarotti / Orchestra Del Teatro Dell'Opera Di Roma / Orchestra Del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Zubin Mehta) by The Three Tenors

(0 Ratings)

Track

Andy K (10823 KP) rated Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) in Movies

Oct 7, 2018

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

1992 | Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi

7.6

(31 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Another Coppola classic!

Coppola's take on the classic Dracula story is to use the book as the source! So many of the other adaptations, including the 1931 classic, changed or combined characters, rather than stay true to the source material.

So many of his decisions were great when making the film including firing his original visual effects team and hiring his son, Roman Coppola to take a more "traditional" route when setting up the film's look through "old school" techniques instead of the modern day approach the original team wanted. The result was very unique, almost "cheapish" looking, but the way the filmmaker wanted it to look.

There has been much written over the years about Keanu Reeves' role in the film and how he felt out of place with the rest of the remarkable cast. In retrospect, he may have been miscast, but I have grown to enjoy his performance over years. The performances of Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins (fresh off his cannibalistic Oscar win) certainly carry the film. Oldman almost makes the character of Dracula a sympathetic one. You almost want to root for him to be successful instead of damning him back to hell as the master vampire.

Overall, one of my top 3 vampire flicks of all time and a consistent rewatch. Just purchased on 4K which made the look and fell, colors and darkness of the film as fresh as ever. Highly recommended.