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Ready Or Not

Alex Lake

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Ready or not…here I come Alice and Tom Sark seem to have it all. The perfect marriage, the...

Goemon (2009)

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Movie

Based on a Japanese folk legend that echoes the tale of Robin Hood, this ninja thriller follows the...

Blazing Minds (92 KP) rated RoboCop (2014) in Movies

Nov 2, 2021 (Updated Nov 3, 2021)

RoboCop (2014)

2014 | Action, Sci-Fi

5.7

(19 Ratings)

Movie Rating

The 80s were a great time for movies and in particular a very violent and at some times black humoured movie from director Paul Verhoeven, yes folks, I'm talking about the original RoboCop.

It's the film that a lot of us still love today, with its story of a good cop (Peter Weller) who is murdered by criminals, in possibly one of the most gruesome cop killings in a movie in the 80s, who is then pieced back together as an unstoppable crime-fighting cyborg, who is tormented by the memory of his death and in turn goes out for revenge.

Kudos

David McK (3652 KP) rated Sharpe's Mission (1996) in Movies

Dec 8, 2022

Sharpe's Mission.

This, I believe, is the only Sean Bean led Sharpe made-for-TV movie NOT to be based on a Sharpe novel by Bernard Cornwell, even although it is written well enough that it very well could have been!

As with all of the Sharpe stories, you know pretty much what to expect: Sharpe is sent on a dangerous mission (here, to blow up a French ammunition supply during the closing stages of the Peninsular War), and ends up fighting just as much against those in authority on his own side as against the French ...

Kudos

Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Guns of the Dawn in Books

Nov 14, 2019

Guns of the Dawn

Adrian Tchaikovsky | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

A couple of years a go I was involved in a Twitter conversation about strong female characters in fantasy. The conclusion what that they were there but not very common. This book addresses this by adding another in the shape of Emily Marshwic.

Born into a priviliged family, she is nothing but practical, sparring with the local governor whom she blames for the suicide of her father. Then war breaks out with a neighbouring country and as the fighting drags on, taking the men of the Marshwic household, Emily ends up joining the army to do her bit. The war is brutal and through her experiences Emily finds out unexpected things about not only herself but those around her.

This story is entirely driven by character, not only of Emily but of all of those she meets and this is where Tchaikovsky shines, conjuring up a host of main and supporting cast, all of whom are three dimensional and painted in shades of light and shadow, even those whose lives are destined to be cut short. Emily herself is the central pillar of the book and is more than capable of that task.

The descriptions of the war - both of the frantic, muddled fighting and the times in between - is spot on, showing the futility of it all but also why the sides feel they must fight on. The plot is far from predictable and takes sudden turns onto new territory just as the reader becomes comfortable with the current situation.

The world is well drawn. This is definitely fantasy in style and there are magic users in the shape of the flame wielding Warlocks, but the main fighting is with muskets and flintlock pistols and it is clear that the war is driving technology on.

The only problem with this book? It is stand alone. I would definitely read more stories about Emily and will now be searching out Tchaikovsky's epic Shadows of the Apt series for future reading.

Advisory: Voilent scenes of battle and some sexual violence and references