Added Time: Surviving Cancer, Death Threats and the Premier League
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Television has taken us inside the Premier League, into the lives of its players and managers, as...
Alexander I: The Tsar Who Defeated Napoleon
Marie-Pierre Rey and Susan Emanuel
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Alexander I was a ruler with high aspirations for the people of Russia. Cosseted as a young grand...
The Dollar Trap: How the U.S. Dollar Tightened its Grip on Global Finance
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The U.S. dollar's dominance seems under threat. The near collapse of the U.S. financial system in...
The Novice (Summoner Book 1)
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Demons, magic and epic adventure - introducing the first book in the New York Times bestselling...
young adult fantasy magic fiction magic
The Rilke Alphabet
Ulrich Baer and Andrew Hamilton
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The enduring power of Rainer Maria Rilke's poetry rests with his claim that all we need for a better...
Making an Elephant
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FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LAST ORDERS AND MOTHERING SUNDAY, and reissued for the first time in...
Ross (3284 KP) rated The Shattered Realm of Ardor Benn in Books
Mar 12, 2021
The second Ardor Benn book is another epic tale of the ruse artist taking on the royal family. The first book saw Ard's efforts depose the current king and save the dragon race (and hence the world). Sadly, the replacement royalty is no better and the Great Chain is now scattered into different, warring islands. Ard finds himself embroiled in a plot to unearth the conspiracy that the new king's dead nephew, and the rightful heir, is not actually dead.
There is also an interesting new subplot where we see a university professor tasked with discovering new Grit types (the world's magic system, whereby different materials once digested and fired by a dragon produce different magical results). This angle, like the industrial/medical revolution is surprisingly thrilling, with additional intrigue as the results become the interests of some unsavoury characters.
Ard and Raek are once again superb and quickly put together a plot to infiltrate a secret criminal underworld and discover the whereabouts of the true king. The secrecy and plotting, and use of the world's magic makes for some excellent exciting passages.
There are the usual twists and turns along the way, as the security measures in place in the secret society make it hard for Ard to progress too quickly.
As with the first book, the true nature of this strange world is unveiled a little more over the course of the book in spectacular fashion.
A wonderful fun read.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2398 KP) rated 21st Birthday in Books
Jun 2, 2021
Usually with this series, I complain about the characters having plotlines that rarely if ever intersect. Here, I was thrilled to see that the characters, including Claire and Yuki, are working together on one case, and they all get their moments to shine. While the characters are a bit thin, we did like them all and care enough to keep reading. The plot is compelling with twists that intrigue. However, the authors can’t land it. I get what we are supposed to think happened, but in the rush to wrap things up after the final twist, we don’t get a major plot point from earlier in the book explained. Meanwhile, the editing was sloppy, including students at a high school being in class on a Saturday, missing days, and Lindsay being in two places at once near the end of the book. This reads more like a first draft that needed an editor to help polish it up instead of a finished novel.
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated High and Low (1963) in Movies
Jan 28, 2021
It plays like two films for the price of one, the first a claustrophobic mood piece with a staged feel, reminding me of Hitchcock’s Rope, and the second a frantic chase movie where the forensic evidence is picked apart in intricate detail, like a less graphic Seven. The print on BFI is not great, so it actually feels older than it is. It is also pretty long at 143 minutes, and feels like it takes an age to get going. Therefore, although some moments and key images have stayed with me, I can’t honestly say I felt gripped or tense in any way. The stakes didn’t feel as high as I would have hoped for, and tonally it is a little uneven. In conclusion, it has much to offer and details in isolation are very impressive, but for me it was something of a let down.
Game of Thrones - A Telltale Games Series
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****Episode 1: Iron From Ice is now FREE**** ***BEST VALUE - Get additional episodes in Game of...