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David McK (3425 KP) rated I am Number Four (Lorien Legacies #1) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
In the early-00s (well, 2001 - 2011), there was a TV show called 'Smallville' aka - and unofficially - also known as 'Superman: The Teenage Years', in which a large part of the early runs were to do with Clark Kent discovering his powers.
Now, take the same basic idea - that of an alien developing powers on Earth, and change it slightly so that there's nine of them, all teenagers growing up seperately, all refugees from a planet that has itself been invaded/destroyed by *other* aliens and most with their own flesh-and-blood protector with them, and you more or less have the plot for this.
I'd seen the movie a while back and, while it wasn't great, I still thought I would give the source material a shot.
It's not great either.
I don't know whether it the insipid romance between the central characters of John and Sarah, the clunky dialogue or the fact that the writer seems to follow a 'tell, don't show' method of writing (instead of the opposite), but this just did not do it for me at all :-(
Now, take the same basic idea - that of an alien developing powers on Earth, and change it slightly so that there's nine of them, all teenagers growing up seperately, all refugees from a planet that has itself been invaded/destroyed by *other* aliens and most with their own flesh-and-blood protector with them, and you more or less have the plot for this.
I'd seen the movie a while back and, while it wasn't great, I still thought I would give the source material a shot.
It's not great either.
I don't know whether it the insipid romance between the central characters of John and Sarah, the clunky dialogue or the fact that the writer seems to follow a 'tell, don't show' method of writing (instead of the opposite), but this just did not do it for me at all :-(
David McK (3425 KP) rated Victorious (The Lost Fleet, #6) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
The final book in Jack Campbell (the pen name of John Hemry)'s <i>The Lost Fleet</i> series, <i>Victorious</i> sees 'Black Jack' Geary returning to where the series started: back to the Syndic's Home System. While the last 5 books in the series ahve all dealt with the long retreat home (even if the Alliance Fleet never believed it was, or called it as such, and which ended in the finale of <i>The Lost Fleet: Relentless</i>), this sees that fleet go on the offensive in a bid to end the century-old war.
Without giving anything away (or, at least, any more than the blurb on my edition does!), the previously hinted-at alien forces on the far side of the Syndic space also have a role to play in this novel, leading plenty of space for that to be developed in the planned next series of books: <i>The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier</i>. I may just be convinced to pick those up ...
Without giving anything away (or, at least, any more than the blurb on my edition does!), the previously hinted-at alien forces on the far side of the Syndic space also have a role to play in this novel, leading plenty of space for that to be developed in the planned next series of books: <i>The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier</i>. I may just be convinced to pick those up ...
Deborah (162 KP) rated Florence Grace in Books
Dec 21, 2018
I hadn't read Tracy Rees' previous novel, but thought that this sounded interesting and worth giving a go - so I did!
It's well written, but without being too highbrow or difficult to read - in fact I got through it in just a couple of days!
Plot wise it did remind me a little of Mansfield Park to start with - with the poor cousin being taken into the richer household which if alien in its ways and she is expected to be grateful - there's even an unpleasant aunt, two female cousins who think rather too well of themselves and a crush on a cousin! The book is set in the Victorian period, goes down other paths and Florence/Florrie is rather more forthright than Fanny Price!
There are some twists and turns in the plot, but nothing melodramatic and the book keeps it's air of realism.
The ending I felt was perhaps a little too neatly tied up and a touch anti-climactic, but overall it was an easy read and a book that I definitely enjoyed.
It's well written, but without being too highbrow or difficult to read - in fact I got through it in just a couple of days!
Plot wise it did remind me a little of Mansfield Park to start with - with the poor cousin being taken into the richer household which if alien in its ways and she is expected to be grateful - there's even an unpleasant aunt, two female cousins who think rather too well of themselves and a crush on a cousin! The book is set in the Victorian period, goes down other paths and Florence/Florrie is rather more forthright than Fanny Price!
There are some twists and turns in the plot, but nothing melodramatic and the book keeps it's air of realism.
The ending I felt was perhaps a little too neatly tied up and a touch anti-climactic, but overall it was an easy read and a book that I definitely enjoyed.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Event Horizon (1997) in Movies
Dec 17, 2018
A classic
Pretty much everyone I know within my similar generation absolutely loves this film, even one me and my brother both agree on, which is unusual.
This is still one of the best and scariest sci-fi horror films I’ve seen since this was originally released. It’s dark, ominous and full of blood and gore. The effects at the time were very good, although admittedly they haven’t aged as well watching it back now and some of the CGI especially looks a bit dodgy. It has a fantastic cast, it’s one of my all time favourite Sam Neill films and you can’t really go wrong with Jason Isaacs and Sean Pertwee either. The plot is fairly straight forward but very creepy, and this will always be the film that spawned the pencil through paper wormhole explanation (sorry Interstellar).
This film isn’t perfect by any means and has sadly not aged as well as it should, but for me it’s still one of my favourites and a true classic sci-fi horror, not far off the likes of Alien etc.
This is still one of the best and scariest sci-fi horror films I’ve seen since this was originally released. It’s dark, ominous and full of blood and gore. The effects at the time were very good, although admittedly they haven’t aged as well watching it back now and some of the CGI especially looks a bit dodgy. It has a fantastic cast, it’s one of my all time favourite Sam Neill films and you can’t really go wrong with Jason Isaacs and Sean Pertwee either. The plot is fairly straight forward but very creepy, and this will always be the film that spawned the pencil through paper wormhole explanation (sorry Interstellar).
This film isn’t perfect by any means and has sadly not aged as well as it should, but for me it’s still one of my favourites and a true classic sci-fi horror, not far off the likes of Alien etc.
Glenn Donnelly (12 KP) rated Last Podcast On The Left in Podcasts
Dec 3, 2019
Reliable (4 more)
Humourous
Interesting
Fun group of guys making the podcast feel more inviting
Live shows that you can go to
Some may not enjoy the type of humour (2 more)
Can go off track slightly
Multiple voices speak at once
Any true crime enthusiast will love this podcast!
Three guys Marcus Parks, Henry Zebrowski and Ben Kissle all sit and talk about the grizzly stories of some of the scariest true crime and serial killer s of the past, they also discuss real life ghost stories and alleged alien abductions/sightings trying to stay netureal and using only sources for their episodes. All episodes are told alongside great humour and whilst going off track slightly sometimes it is always kept interesting. I want to state the bad points are not my view in particular and just feedback I have heard from other fans that I think are relevant.
Personally this is one of my favourite podcasts and I enjoy their whole network of shows which include wizard and the bruiser, abe lincolns top hat, kinda fun, page 7 and more
Personally this is one of my favourite podcasts and I enjoy their whole network of shows which include wizard and the bruiser, abe lincolns top hat, kinda fun, page 7 and more
Awix (3310 KP) rated Break of Dark in Books
Aug 2, 2019
I must have been 12 or 13 when I first read this, and back then part of the fun came from the sense that these actually felt like adult stories, for all the book is advertised as being basically YA fiction: quite apart from the substantial quantities of profanity and sex, many the characters aren't typical YA identification figures: middle-aged seaside policemen, earnest young vicars, suburban couples, and so on. These are still hugely readable and satisfying stories even now many decades later.
But what are they about? Well, there are two stories of ghosts (a haunted Wellington bomber during the second world war, and a rather stranger tale of an unwitting medium), two of very atypical alien visitations (a cautionary tale of a young hitch-hiker, and a blackly comic one concerning a spate of peculiar crimes in a small resort town), and one of an inner-city vicar who stumbles onto something very creepy in the crypt of his church. All of them are engagingly and skilfully written, and immaculately paced. Good reads for all ages.
But what are they about? Well, there are two stories of ghosts (a haunted Wellington bomber during the second world war, and a rather stranger tale of an unwitting medium), two of very atypical alien visitations (a cautionary tale of a young hitch-hiker, and a blackly comic one concerning a spate of peculiar crimes in a small resort town), and one of an inner-city vicar who stumbles onto something very creepy in the crypt of his church. All of them are engagingly and skilfully written, and immaculately paced. Good reads for all ages.
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