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Down By The Water
Book
Seven friends gather at a castle in the Scottish Borders. One last weekend before Georgie's wedding....
The Shoes Come First
7.0
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Jennifer Cloud leads a fairly normal life in Sunnyside, Texas until a birthday present from her...
Blazing Minds (92 KP) rated Highlander (1986) in Movies
Nov 1, 2021 (Updated Nov 3, 2021)
I remember back in 1986 when the film was released, it was fresh and the story of Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) and his journey from the time he was killed in the Scottish highlands in 1536 to the present day (1986) was one which fascinated me.
The immortal Highlander was on a journey for a fight for his life, the only way his immortality could be ended would be for his head to be removed, gruesome sounds I know, but nothing gory in this 80s movie.
In the end, “There can be only one”, a battle through time for the ultimate goal, “the prize”!
Highlander may have had four sequels, firstly the awful 2nd movie with its storyline that the “immortals” came from another planet, thankfully the “Renegade Version” was released some years later on DVD that was a much better cut of the film.
The immortal Highlander was on a journey for a fight for his life, the only way his immortality could be ended would be for his head to be removed, gruesome sounds I know, but nothing gory in this 80s movie.
In the end, “There can be only one”, a battle through time for the ultimate goal, “the prize”!
Highlander may have had four sequels, firstly the awful 2nd movie with its storyline that the “immortals” came from another planet, thankfully the “Renegade Version” was released some years later on DVD that was a much better cut of the film.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Echo of the Dead (DSI William Lorimer #19) in Books
Apr 10, 2022
This is another entertaining outing for DSI Lorimer and whilst this is the 19th in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone.
Echo of the Dead if set in the Scottish Highlands and Alex Gray does an excellent job of 'selling' the area to the reader despite the darkness of the story.
Lorimer is on a break with his friend, Daniel, when they stumble upon a body. A short time later, another body is found and Lorimer returns with his Team to investigate. Are these connected and could they be related to an historical massacre?
With a great cast of characters, this is an intriguing mystery with twists and is a great edition to the series and one that I would recommend to lovers of this genre.
Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
Echo of the Dead if set in the Scottish Highlands and Alex Gray does an excellent job of 'selling' the area to the reader despite the darkness of the story.
Lorimer is on a break with his friend, Daniel, when they stumble upon a body. A short time later, another body is found and Lorimer returns with his Team to investigate. Are these connected and could they be related to an historical massacre?
With a great cast of characters, this is an intriguing mystery with twists and is a great edition to the series and one that I would recommend to lovers of this genre.
Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
Echo of the Dead (DSI William Lorimer #19)
7.0
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After a stressful winter, DSI William Lorimer is enjoying some time away from Glasgow. He and his...
Robert Burns in Edinburgh: An Illustrated Guide to Burns' Time in Edinburgh
Jerry Brannigan, John McShane and Alexander David
Book
A reader-friendly, fully illustrated colour guide to Robert Burns' time in Edinburgh, with fresh...
James Dean Bradfield recommended Steeltown by Big Country in Music (curated)
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Tall, Dark and Wolfish (Westfield Wolves, #2) in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Rating: 3.75
Lord Benjamin, the youngest of the Westfeld brothers, is a broken werewolf. He can no longer change in the light of the full moon. Horrified at himself, he seeks out a healer—a witch, although he isn't sure he believes in them—and comes across the beautiful Elspeth Campbell. But in order to let Elspeth heal him, he has to tell her everything. And spilling his guts to a beautiful Scottish girl isn't the easiest thing in the world.
Elspeth isn't quite sure what to think of Lord Benjamin… especially when her sister witch, a seer, claims that he will take her away from them forever. She vows not to leave them, but when she meets him… she begins to have second thoughts. Falling in love with him hadn't been part of the plan.
Tall, Dark, and Wolfish was really cute. I adored Elspeth: she was a fun, stubborn, slightly sarcastic character who was strong in herself. And Benjamin… poor broken Benjamin who lost his wolf-ness. I loved their interactions and I loved their dialogue. I especially liked the interactions between Ben and Will, his brother. They're just… great.
The writing was satisfactory… but the accents were great. Elspeth and her witch sisters spoke in their Scottish accents, and it was written with the accent. Although it was a little hard to read at first, you can catch onto the sound of their voices quickly, and it adds to the character.
I was pleased at the plot: at first I was wondering how Dare would stretch the limited romantic plot into a full length novel, but there were a lot of aspects and sub-plots that were woven in, making it an exciting fun story.
Although, all things considered, it was just a tad sappy. But not enough to make me put it down. I think I read it through from beginning to end in about four hours.
Content/recommendation: some language, some sex. Ages 18+
Lord Benjamin, the youngest of the Westfeld brothers, is a broken werewolf. He can no longer change in the light of the full moon. Horrified at himself, he seeks out a healer—a witch, although he isn't sure he believes in them—and comes across the beautiful Elspeth Campbell. But in order to let Elspeth heal him, he has to tell her everything. And spilling his guts to a beautiful Scottish girl isn't the easiest thing in the world.
Elspeth isn't quite sure what to think of Lord Benjamin… especially when her sister witch, a seer, claims that he will take her away from them forever. She vows not to leave them, but when she meets him… she begins to have second thoughts. Falling in love with him hadn't been part of the plan.
Tall, Dark, and Wolfish was really cute. I adored Elspeth: she was a fun, stubborn, slightly sarcastic character who was strong in herself. And Benjamin… poor broken Benjamin who lost his wolf-ness. I loved their interactions and I loved their dialogue. I especially liked the interactions between Ben and Will, his brother. They're just… great.
The writing was satisfactory… but the accents were great. Elspeth and her witch sisters spoke in their Scottish accents, and it was written with the accent. Although it was a little hard to read at first, you can catch onto the sound of their voices quickly, and it adds to the character.
I was pleased at the plot: at first I was wondering how Dare would stretch the limited romantic plot into a full length novel, but there were a lot of aspects and sub-plots that were woven in, making it an exciting fun story.
Although, all things considered, it was just a tad sappy. But not enough to make me put it down. I think I read it through from beginning to end in about four hours.
Content/recommendation: some language, some sex. Ages 18+
Hazel (1853 KP) rated On the Origin of Findo Gask in Books
Dec 14, 2018
<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.</i>
“Sick, twisted, blasphemous, wrong and very, very funny.” That is how this book, <i>On the Origin of Findo Gask</i> by David McCreight, is described on the back cover. But how accurate is it? “Blasphemous”? Most definitely. “Very, very funny”? Not so much. Although it is obvious that there is an attempt a humour, it is too “sick” and “twisted” for it to be anywhere near hilarious.
Findo Gask is a rather unattractive sixteen-year-old living in the Scottish Highlands. The narrative, recounted from his point of view, alternates between present day and an account of past events. Findo was once a child prodigy until he began questioning religion openly in church. In order to get back at the Christians, who thought he was possessed by demons, he establishes the Darwin Terrorist Organisation along with Cousin Dan. This, however, eventually gets rather out of hand. Now Findo is living with his Gran and his Mum is in hospital with a mysterious illness. He also believes he has sold the universe.
The fact that Findo is a stereotypical, Scottish, working class teenager makes the amount of bad language almost acceptable; although, to tell the complete truth, it did border on excessive.
At first there did not seem to be much of a plot, but once the past and present join up it is possible to connect all the events included in the story, which results in a considerably explosive ending.
As everyone’s take on humour is different there will undoubtedly be people who love this book. It would not be fair to deliberately put people off from reading <i>On the Origin of Findo Gask</i>, yet at the same time it is not recommended for the easily offended readers, particularly those with strict religious principles and a dislike for foul language.
“Sick, twisted, blasphemous, wrong and very, very funny.” That is how this book, <i>On the Origin of Findo Gask</i> by David McCreight, is described on the back cover. But how accurate is it? “Blasphemous”? Most definitely. “Very, very funny”? Not so much. Although it is obvious that there is an attempt a humour, it is too “sick” and “twisted” for it to be anywhere near hilarious.
Findo Gask is a rather unattractive sixteen-year-old living in the Scottish Highlands. The narrative, recounted from his point of view, alternates between present day and an account of past events. Findo was once a child prodigy until he began questioning religion openly in church. In order to get back at the Christians, who thought he was possessed by demons, he establishes the Darwin Terrorist Organisation along with Cousin Dan. This, however, eventually gets rather out of hand. Now Findo is living with his Gran and his Mum is in hospital with a mysterious illness. He also believes he has sold the universe.
The fact that Findo is a stereotypical, Scottish, working class teenager makes the amount of bad language almost acceptable; although, to tell the complete truth, it did border on excessive.
At first there did not seem to be much of a plot, but once the past and present join up it is possible to connect all the events included in the story, which results in a considerably explosive ending.
As everyone’s take on humour is different there will undoubtedly be people who love this book. It would not be fair to deliberately put people off from reading <i>On the Origin of Findo Gask</i>, yet at the same time it is not recommended for the easily offended readers, particularly those with strict religious principles and a dislike for foul language.
Kelly (279 KP) rated Outlaw King (2018) in Movies
Dec 16, 2018
Clear passion to retell the story (1 more)
Excellent battle scene
Watchable
After seeing an advert for the Outlaw King, I was excited to watch the movie. Despite this I found that the film missed my expectations, and I found that it became almost boring in places.
The writers of the outlaw king had a clear passion to retell the story of Robert Bruce and his fight to regain the Scottish crown from the English in the early Plantagenet period. To the best of my knowledge, the story was told as accurately as possible, however this did mean that there were a lot of scenes centred around the politics of Roberts plight. The slower scenes were unbalanced with the battle scenes which meant that the pace of the story dipped many times during the film - I have to confess it took me three attempts to watch it in full as a result of this.
As the writers tried to cram too much into such a short film, I found that the movie had a bit of an identity crisis - was this an action, romance or political film? Had the writers focused on just one area, I believe the movie would have been a lot more watchable, instead the movie felt overloaded.
The acting in general was okay, and reasonably well cast, except for the relationship between Robert Bruce and his wife. I struggled to believe the romance between the two actors. Although this is ultimately my opinion, I struggled to believe that what was ultimately an arranged marriage between the two, could rest in the two characters falling for each other as quickly as the film portrayed.
In general, the film is watchable, although it is not one I would go to as a first choice. There are some good parts of the film, for example the relationship between Robert and his men, and the final battle scene. The film also teaches us about part of Scottish history that tends to be overlooked by many schools during history lessons.
The writers of the outlaw king had a clear passion to retell the story of Robert Bruce and his fight to regain the Scottish crown from the English in the early Plantagenet period. To the best of my knowledge, the story was told as accurately as possible, however this did mean that there were a lot of scenes centred around the politics of Roberts plight. The slower scenes were unbalanced with the battle scenes which meant that the pace of the story dipped many times during the film - I have to confess it took me three attempts to watch it in full as a result of this.
As the writers tried to cram too much into such a short film, I found that the movie had a bit of an identity crisis - was this an action, romance or political film? Had the writers focused on just one area, I believe the movie would have been a lot more watchable, instead the movie felt overloaded.
The acting in general was okay, and reasonably well cast, except for the relationship between Robert Bruce and his wife. I struggled to believe the romance between the two actors. Although this is ultimately my opinion, I struggled to believe that what was ultimately an arranged marriage between the two, could rest in the two characters falling for each other as quickly as the film portrayed.
In general, the film is watchable, although it is not one I would go to as a first choice. There are some good parts of the film, for example the relationship between Robert and his men, and the final battle scene. The film also teaches us about part of Scottish history that tends to be overlooked by many schools during history lessons.