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David McK (3764 KP) rated Unruly: A History of England's Kings and Queens in Books

Sep 29, 2024 (Updated Sep 29, 2024)  
Unruly: A History of England's Kings and Queens
Unruly: A History of England's Kings and Queens
David Mitchell | 2023
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
David Mitchell, the comedian.

NOT David Mitchell, the author of "Cloud Atlas" (never read it).

I know the comedian best from his involvement in various TV panel gameshows, most noticeably BBCs "Would I Lie To You?", as well as as from the sitcom "Upstart Crow", where he plays William Shakespeare.

In all cases, his persona is of an uptight, repressed, middle aged man.

So I had a good idea what to expect of this, especially as I knew the audiobook was narrated by none other then he himself - indeed, the only reason I picked up the ebook version over the audiobook version is simply because the ebook was on sale (plus I find I can read faster than I listen).

Billed as 'Horrible Histories for Grownups' (as an aside, anyone remember the Horrible Histories with the links by Stephen Fry?), this is actually both quite entertaining and educational, with Mitchell taking it chapter about to tell the story of England's various Kings and Queens, from their earliest days and right up until the reign of Elizabeth I.

OK, the humour may be a bit, ummm, ribald (and sweary) in certain places, but if you go in knowing what to expect (as I did) ...
  
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Ross (3284 KP) rated Sword of Destiny in Books

Jul 26, 2018  
Sword of Destiny
Sword of Destiny
Andrzej Sapkowski, David French | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.2 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a largely well-written set of Witcher short stories, which start to piece together some of the stories in the Last Wish with the main books (which I have yet to read!).
While this time there is no over-arching story linking them together this is to the book's credit. I got annoyed with the Last Wish/Season of Storms's clumsy attempt to sew together a number of different stories - like those old episodes of a sitcom that was just a hashing together of different flashbacks. Though it does mean you could struggle with the chronology, but I think assuming the stories are after the Season of Storms is a safe bet.
All of the stories are reasonably exciting, but Sapkowski does have a tendency to start these stories with the Witcher's triumph over another creature, and focus on the aftermath - sometimes you long for the thrill of the preceding hunt.
The final story, which I feel is the main link into the first book, includes a number of sections where the Witcher is hallucinating. The segue between these isn't always clear, and while this adds to the atmosphere and feel of the Witcher being drugged, it does leave you a little confused at times (though this passes briefly).
A good set of stories and a decent translation with few clunky parts.
I would recommend these are read after the main books (i.e. in published order) - while I haven't read those, I have probably taken some characters/stories for granted and not appreciated how they feed in to the overall canon of Witcher works (without googling for spoilers).