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    iQuran

    iQuran

    Reference and Education

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    ** iPray for Mac OS X is OUT ** ******************************************** ** NEWS ** ** iQuran...

The time is now. Humanity has deciphered an alien message that basically says, "we're dead, bad things are coming for you, take our technology and get the hell out." Of course, the message arrived in 1945, so we're a little behind. Faster Than Light marries the hard science fiction of The Martian, 2010, and Gravity with the idealism of the original Star Trek. I love it. It's a very grounded series, with realistic characters doing realistic things.

The story comes in small 2 or 3 issues arcs, so the adventure of the week is easily digestible, but somehow it still feels choppy. Like in one instance an entire mission wasn't there, and we just got the end of it, but it didn't link up with anything else. Theres a nifty gimmick, where a free downloadable app can be used in conjunction with the comic. Scan pages and get access to the alien encyclopedia, Captains logs, a translation matrix for the alien dialogue, etc. (This may be the cause of the stories choppiness, as there may simply be pieces I'm missing out on.)

Unfortunately, some of the art isn't as up to par as the story telling, which can make it difficult to tell crew members apart, which causes the story to suffer. But overall this is definitely a title to keep an eye on, looking forward to Volume 2...
  
The Bletchley Circle  - Season 2
The Bletchley Circle - Season 2
2014 | Drama
Strong female lead (0 more)
This continues on from the first series of The Bletchley Circle, following for friends and former colleagues after WWII.
This series is split in two. In the first part, one of their fellow former colleagues is accused of murder. Can these ladies unravel the truth and prove her innocence? In the second part, as the ladies caused a few headaches for the military in uncovering their secrets and shady ways they find they have lost their security clearances so some of the women are no longer able to carry on with their jobs such as translation work. So they have to give other avenues to make money and it winds one of them up in a very sticky situation.
As before, I really warmed to the characters and was genuinely sad when one moved on to another life. I grew to love these women; I felt they were almost my friends and I actually cared for them and their outcomes.
You could feel the suspense of them closing in on the truth but realising time was running out. It really kept me gripped until the end.
I do love how they made being intelligent cool by being steps ahead of the police but also in forming such bonds with one another.
We could learn a thing or two from these ladies and their bravery.
  
BIO HAZARD: The True Story Behind BIO HAZARD
BIO HAZARD: The True Story Behind BIO HAZARD
Hiroyuki Ariga | 1997 | Horror
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Story (2 more)
Background Information
Interview with Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil Designer)
Hard to find (0 more)
A fascinating book from a horror and gaming perspective.
A fun, fascinating book that gives a great deal of information regarding what happened in the Resident Evil/Biohazard series before the first game.

The "Trevor's Letters" section of the book provides a haunting, yet not overly revealing backstory about the notorious mansion's design, but it succeeds in preserving the mystery of what lies ahead, while providing gamers with some subtle game hints.

The main section of the book, "Resident Evil: The Beginning", is a light novel by Hiroyuki Ariga, providing a brief prequel to the game that leads straight into the game itself. Well written and thoroughly enjoyable!

The final section is an interview with Shinji Mikami, the designer of the game, where he talks about his inspirations and previous games. A superb insight into how the game was made, mainly providing details on game design and the games soundtrack (or lack thereof). A smart and funny interview with a man that gamers have a lot to thank for!

The main problem with the book is that it was only released to the Japanese market, but thanks to the wonder of the internet, there is a translation available so we can all enjoy it!
  
A Nearly Normal Family
A Nearly Normal Family
M.T. Edvardsson | 2019 | Mystery, Thriller
7
8.8 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
A pretty good read
I don't read a lot of legal/courtroom stories and even less so-called Scandi-Noir type books but, for some reason, the blurb caught me and drew me in and, overall, I was pretty satisfied with "A Nearly Normal Family".

The book centres around a seemingly perfect family (they are anything but!) and is separated into three sections each told from the perspective of a family member following the arrest of the daughter for the murder of a man; each of these sections provided insight into each of the characters and a different take on the situation they find themselves in. What it also did was make this a slow burner with the tension mounting gradually towards the great ending which I found very satisfying.

I did have a couple of problems with this book though; one being that I couldn't connect with any of the main characters and struggled to empathise with any of them, the other being that I think there were times when things seem to have got lost in translation which made the story not flow quite as well as I was expecting.

Overall though a pretty good read and definitely worth the time I invested in reading it.

Thanks go to the good people of Pan Macmillan via NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.
  
    Pepi Doctor

    Pepi Doctor

    Education and Games

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    Is your kid afraid of the doctors? What about dentists? Try a little help from a child-friendly PEPI...

    Learn French Quick

    Learn French Quick

    Education and Reference

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    Learn French Quick is a flashcard program for French vocabulary that teaches you *efficiently*. ...