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Battle Warship: Naval Empire
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Enter a post-apocalyptic world engulfed by the ocean and thriving with pirate activity. Command the...
ISAN - International Sensory Assassin Network
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THE WORLD HAS CHANGED. SCIENTISTS WARNED IT WOULD HAPPEN. Meteors devastated the Earth. World...
Shattered World
7.7
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Shattered World, the exciting sequel to Broken World, follows a group of survivors as they struggle...
Post Apocalyptic Apocalypse Dystopia Dystopian Zombies
Merissa (12051 KP) rated When the Glow Lights the Woods in Books
Jan 5, 2023
A sweet story where magic can happen.
WHEN THE GLOW LIGHTS THE WOODS is set in a post-apocalyptic world divided in two by a wall. We start off on the rural side with Kite. He contributes to the community by helping out on their farm and being a teacher. This year it is his turn to go to the other side of the Wall and meet those who live there. He is worried as he has been told they are robots and he doesn't want to be assimilated.
When he gets there, he realises just how different things are. Everything seems shiny and new but no one will meet his eyes, apart from one angry-seeming young man called Manu. Kite and Manu learn about each other and try to bring both sides together in time for a seasonal HEA for all.
This was a gentle story of opposites. Both sides thought they were doing the right thing to prevent war, but both sides had something the other needed. I would have liked to have known a little more about the world itself, and what happened to the Elders. I loved the slow romance between Manu and Kite, the lost love between Mal and Nellak, and how each person who went over had their own experiences.
A sweet story where magic can happen. Definitely recommended by me.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
When he gets there, he realises just how different things are. Everything seems shiny and new but no one will meet his eyes, apart from one angry-seeming young man called Manu. Kite and Manu learn about each other and try to bring both sides together in time for a seasonal HEA for all.
This was a gentle story of opposites. Both sides thought they were doing the right thing to prevent war, but both sides had something the other needed. I would have liked to have known a little more about the world itself, and what happened to the Elders. I loved the slow romance between Manu and Kite, the lost love between Mal and Nellak, and how each person who went over had their own experiences.
A sweet story where magic can happen. Definitely recommended by me.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Under the Blue in Books
Jul 7, 2024
131 of 220
Book
Under the Blue
By Oana Aristide
⭐️⭐️⭐️
A road trip beneath clear blue skies and a blazing sun: a reclusive artist is forced to abandon his home and follow two young sisters across a post-pandemic Europe in search of a safe place. Is this the end of the world?
Meanwhile two computer scientists have been educating their baby in a remote location. Their baby is called Talos, and he is an advanced AI program. Every week they feed him data, starting from the beginning of written history, era by era, and ask him to predict what will happen next to the human race. At the same time they're involved in an increasingly fraught philosophical debate about why human life is sacred and why the purpose for which he was built - to predict threats to human life to help us avoid them - is a worthwhile and ethical pursuit.
These two strands come together in a way that is always suspenseful, surprising and intellectually provocative: this is an extraordinarily prescient and vital work of fiction - an apocalyptic road novel to frighten and thrill.
This was a case of don’t judge a book by its cover I wasn’t expecting much from it to be honest. But I actually liked it. We follow two different stories that some how come together in the end one of 3 people trying to escape the pandemic and nuclear fall out and then 2 scientists developing an AI. While I liked it the ending left me feeling a bit flat! But it is worth a read.
Book
Under the Blue
By Oana Aristide
⭐️⭐️⭐️
A road trip beneath clear blue skies and a blazing sun: a reclusive artist is forced to abandon his home and follow two young sisters across a post-pandemic Europe in search of a safe place. Is this the end of the world?
Meanwhile two computer scientists have been educating their baby in a remote location. Their baby is called Talos, and he is an advanced AI program. Every week they feed him data, starting from the beginning of written history, era by era, and ask him to predict what will happen next to the human race. At the same time they're involved in an increasingly fraught philosophical debate about why human life is sacred and why the purpose for which he was built - to predict threats to human life to help us avoid them - is a worthwhile and ethical pursuit.
These two strands come together in a way that is always suspenseful, surprising and intellectually provocative: this is an extraordinarily prescient and vital work of fiction - an apocalyptic road novel to frighten and thrill.
This was a case of don’t judge a book by its cover I wasn’t expecting much from it to be honest. But I actually liked it. We follow two different stories that some how come together in the end one of 3 people trying to escape the pandemic and nuclear fall out and then 2 scientists developing an AI. While I liked it the ending left me feeling a bit flat! But it is worth a read.
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated The Jesus Man in Books
May 16, 2018
The Jesus Man by Keith Anthony Baird is a tough book for me to rate, if I’m being honest. It’s part of why, despite completing it last week, I’ve taken so long to write up my review. The book isn’t an easy read by any means, especially with its vast amounts of purple prose. It does, however, have a uniquely intriguing plot.
One of the major deciding factors for me when I read a book is its ability to make me feel emotion. I want a connection with the characters, even if it’s a seething hatred that I feel in the depths of my heart. With The Jesus Man, I felt loathing and disdain, but nothing beyond that. I felt disconnected, for the most part. The characters seemed to me as if they were in limbo between fully and halfway developed.
In regards to plot, Baird does an excellent job. As a horror fan, I end up reading a lot of apocalyptic books. Most of the time, the cause is a viral outbreak of zombies. It’s a cliché we deal with far too often and it’s been beaten to death time and time again. Baird goes an entirely new route, with the dredges of Hell returning to claim what should be theirs. Described as the Fallen, we know these creatures as the angels cast from Heaven in the wake of God’s love for mankind stoking rebellion among them. It’s an interesting take on the world’s post-nuclear was end and I feel that Baird did a wonderful job in this area of his book.
I do have to take a moment to appreciate one beautiful perk to Baird’s ornate writing style: his depiction of gory acts is absolutely stunning. I’m a sucker for splatterpunk, so this served as a nice treat for me. While his characters felt lacking to me (which I discovered was the author’s intent post-read), his vivid descriptions (even if heavy-handed) are breathtaking and nightmare invoking.
I’ve danced between a two and four for this book several times, so ultimately I’m going to go with a three. While I loved the concept, the difficulty of reading this book made it hard for me to enjoy.
I would like to thank the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
One of the major deciding factors for me when I read a book is its ability to make me feel emotion. I want a connection with the characters, even if it’s a seething hatred that I feel in the depths of my heart. With The Jesus Man, I felt loathing and disdain, but nothing beyond that. I felt disconnected, for the most part. The characters seemed to me as if they were in limbo between fully and halfway developed.
In regards to plot, Baird does an excellent job. As a horror fan, I end up reading a lot of apocalyptic books. Most of the time, the cause is a viral outbreak of zombies. It’s a cliché we deal with far too often and it’s been beaten to death time and time again. Baird goes an entirely new route, with the dredges of Hell returning to claim what should be theirs. Described as the Fallen, we know these creatures as the angels cast from Heaven in the wake of God’s love for mankind stoking rebellion among them. It’s an interesting take on the world’s post-nuclear was end and I feel that Baird did a wonderful job in this area of his book.
I do have to take a moment to appreciate one beautiful perk to Baird’s ornate writing style: his depiction of gory acts is absolutely stunning. I’m a sucker for splatterpunk, so this served as a nice treat for me. While his characters felt lacking to me (which I discovered was the author’s intent post-read), his vivid descriptions (even if heavy-handed) are breathtaking and nightmare invoking.
I’ve danced between a two and four for this book several times, so ultimately I’m going to go with a three. While I loved the concept, the difficulty of reading this book made it hard for me to enjoy.
I would like to thank the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Marylegs (44 KP) rated Station Eleven in Books
Aug 14, 2019
Station Eleven follows a number of characters affected by the disintegration of modern civilisation and society caused by a mutated flu virus which wipes out around 99% of the world wide population. Flitting back over a series of timelines, including the start of the pandemic to focus on the lives these characters had before the virus, what happened to them after this virus became apparent and beginning the destruction of the lives they knew. The story also skips into the future to see how their lives changed and how they had to adapt to their changing world. There are a number of characters to follow and as the book progresses links form between some of them, but this is not the focus of the story.
I won’t go overly into details about the characters it is best to discover them yourselves. I was pleasantly surprised by how good this book was. Receiving it as an advanced review, I didn’t really know much about the story other than it being based in a post-apocalyptic world. Upon receiving the book I was slightly put off by the blurb stating it was following a group of traveling actors and musicians and that it was trying to show how art still had a place in this post civilisation world. But don’t let this put you off, I’m glad I didn’t. Whilst the story uses the actors and musicians in this ‘Traveling Symphony’ as a point to allow cross country movement and show that some people as trying to survive but also to enrich other people’s lives, that wasn’t really what gripped me. It was the relationships this characters had made, the stories about how they used to live and what they had been forced to do in this changing world that kept me turning pages.
I would recommend this book, and I would probably re-read again and possibly try some of the authors other works. The author wrote beautifully and it never felt pretentious or like they were trying to over moralise things. If like me, you like a good end of the world, dystopian story but want something different from the general, zombies, vampires and hunger games type read, give this ago. It may surprise you, like it did me.
I won’t go overly into details about the characters it is best to discover them yourselves. I was pleasantly surprised by how good this book was. Receiving it as an advanced review, I didn’t really know much about the story other than it being based in a post-apocalyptic world. Upon receiving the book I was slightly put off by the blurb stating it was following a group of traveling actors and musicians and that it was trying to show how art still had a place in this post civilisation world. But don’t let this put you off, I’m glad I didn’t. Whilst the story uses the actors and musicians in this ‘Traveling Symphony’ as a point to allow cross country movement and show that some people as trying to survive but also to enrich other people’s lives, that wasn’t really what gripped me. It was the relationships this characters had made, the stories about how they used to live and what they had been forced to do in this changing world that kept me turning pages.
I would recommend this book, and I would probably re-read again and possibly try some of the authors other works. The author wrote beautifully and it never felt pretentious or like they were trying to over moralise things. If like me, you like a good end of the world, dystopian story but want something different from the general, zombies, vampires and hunger games type read, give this ago. It may surprise you, like it did me.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated The Walking Dead - Season 3 in TV
Aug 16, 2019 (Updated Oct 25, 2019)
Contains spoilers, click to show
The third season of The Walking Dead is fairly up and down.
It's not as consistent as the first two for sure.
It's still pretty decent television however.
There's a large Shane shaped hole left after the finale of season 2 - filled by none other than The Governor. He's a piece of work for sure.
I enjoyed The Governor throughout season 3, although a lot of my friends who are fans of the comic protest that he's a far cry from the source material. As someone who is yet to catch up with the comic series, this wasn't a problem for me. He's played with aplomb by David Morrissey, who's obviously having a great time. On the surface, he's a nice guy, who's trying to help his people thrive in a post apocalyptic world - but there's certainly something sinister underneath.
We're also given back Merle, which is great because Michael Rooker. No other reason needed!
After a very brief appearance at the end of season 2, we also get a lot of fan favourite Michonne here, one of my favourite characters in the whole show, played by Danai Gurira.
As in the first two seasons, the cast are pretty great all round. No complaints from me in that respect.
It's the story which takes a bit of a hit. The majority of the season is set in a Prison, and the Governor's story is pretty slow burning as he grows to hate Rick. Some of the episodes feel like filler, with some really strong episodes dotted throughout (the fourth episode in particular is a blinder)
This is an issue that becomes more obvious as the series draw on but at this point isn't severe enough to make a huge impact.
It's still good, gory, bleak, fun? I guess?
#Justice4HershelsFoot
It's not as consistent as the first two for sure.
It's still pretty decent television however.
There's a large Shane shaped hole left after the finale of season 2 - filled by none other than The Governor. He's a piece of work for sure.
I enjoyed The Governor throughout season 3, although a lot of my friends who are fans of the comic protest that he's a far cry from the source material. As someone who is yet to catch up with the comic series, this wasn't a problem for me. He's played with aplomb by David Morrissey, who's obviously having a great time. On the surface, he's a nice guy, who's trying to help his people thrive in a post apocalyptic world - but there's certainly something sinister underneath.
We're also given back Merle, which is great because Michael Rooker. No other reason needed!
After a very brief appearance at the end of season 2, we also get a lot of fan favourite Michonne here, one of my favourite characters in the whole show, played by Danai Gurira.
As in the first two seasons, the cast are pretty great all round. No complaints from me in that respect.
It's the story which takes a bit of a hit. The majority of the season is set in a Prison, and the Governor's story is pretty slow burning as he grows to hate Rick. Some of the episodes feel like filler, with some really strong episodes dotted throughout (the fourth episode in particular is a blinder)
This is an issue that becomes more obvious as the series draw on but at this point isn't severe enough to make a huge impact.
It's still good, gory, bleak, fun? I guess?
#Justice4HershelsFoot
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Road (2009) in Movies
Aug 8, 2019
“The Road” takes us on the post-apocalyptic story of the man, played by Viggo Morganson and the boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a father and son doing their best to get along in a world which is no longer suitable for humanity. Constantly teaching his son survival skills and doing his best not to focus on his lost love the man attempts to explain the essence of humanity to his boy who has never known a better world. Add in the ever-present threat of cannibals and you have the film adaptation of this best selling book.
The echoed use of color takes the viewer directly into the unnamed devastation that riddles the world of our two heroes. Moreover, the small sounds from the creeks of not quite abandoned buildings to the harrowing screams of cannibal victims make the world of “the Road” wholly engrossing. Maybe that is the problem.
Riddled with themes of devastation, survival, faith, and family, “The Road” is a piece of cinema significantly different from anything else. With all that said I am not sure this was a horrific and arduous journey one needs to go through.
After I first saw it I didn’t like “The Road”, and I couldn’t figure out who would want to watch this film. Too mature for many audiences and appearing to lack the complication to appeal to intellectual film crowd, it took a few days for me to develop the merit of the film. Now, I can’t stop thinking about the string of moments presented as powerful small scenes that compose “The Road” even though I wish I could.
If you have read the book, then “The Road” delivers a vivid understanding of the story, but before paying to see the film I ask you, is that a story you really want to experience on screen?
The echoed use of color takes the viewer directly into the unnamed devastation that riddles the world of our two heroes. Moreover, the small sounds from the creeks of not quite abandoned buildings to the harrowing screams of cannibal victims make the world of “the Road” wholly engrossing. Maybe that is the problem.
Riddled with themes of devastation, survival, faith, and family, “The Road” is a piece of cinema significantly different from anything else. With all that said I am not sure this was a horrific and arduous journey one needs to go through.
After I first saw it I didn’t like “The Road”, and I couldn’t figure out who would want to watch this film. Too mature for many audiences and appearing to lack the complication to appeal to intellectual film crowd, it took a few days for me to develop the merit of the film. Now, I can’t stop thinking about the string of moments presented as powerful small scenes that compose “The Road” even though I wish I could.
If you have read the book, then “The Road” delivers a vivid understanding of the story, but before paying to see the film I ask you, is that a story you really want to experience on screen?
Russell Evans (179 KP) rated Gaslands Refuelled in Tabletop Games
Feb 23, 2020
Super cheap miniatures game (3 more)
Easy to get into
Fun rules
Unlimited modelling options
No official pre-made pre-painted miniatures (1 more)
Print off your own templates or buy from 3rd parties
A brilliantly written and illustrated book for a tabletop game of post-apocalyptic racing – fast cars with big guns – Mad Max in miniature.
It’s tons of fun and easy to play the basics straight away. After that, there is more depth to the rules to explore and building teams to keep things interesting and have long term playability. To get started, you can use templates copied and printed from the book and normal dice, or like I have done, you can get plenty of third-party companies selling templates, scenery and ‘skid’ dice.
One of the main reasons I picked this game up, apart from the raving reviews I’d seen online, was the DIY modelling aspect of the game. As a long time mini-gamer of things like Warhammer and Star Wars FFG, I’m used to my miniatures burning a big hole in my pocket. Re-modelling and repainting HotWheels cars (Super cheap – a couple of quid vs about £30 for a Star Wars ship) is the best part of this game for me, you can use standard cars if you want to, but there are no official pre-made pre-painted ‘cars’ which may be a negative, if you’re not into modelling.
Fun is the main priority and my favourite rule is that if a rule is unclear, you choose whichever option results in the most carnage for all concerned … This is ‘The Rule of Carnage’.
Highly recommended – if you want a different mini game that’s fun and won’t break the bank, check this out!
It’s tons of fun and easy to play the basics straight away. After that, there is more depth to the rules to explore and building teams to keep things interesting and have long term playability. To get started, you can use templates copied and printed from the book and normal dice, or like I have done, you can get plenty of third-party companies selling templates, scenery and ‘skid’ dice.
One of the main reasons I picked this game up, apart from the raving reviews I’d seen online, was the DIY modelling aspect of the game. As a long time mini-gamer of things like Warhammer and Star Wars FFG, I’m used to my miniatures burning a big hole in my pocket. Re-modelling and repainting HotWheels cars (Super cheap – a couple of quid vs about £30 for a Star Wars ship) is the best part of this game for me, you can use standard cars if you want to, but there are no official pre-made pre-painted ‘cars’ which may be a negative, if you’re not into modelling.
Fun is the main priority and my favourite rule is that if a rule is unclear, you choose whichever option results in the most carnage for all concerned … This is ‘The Rule of Carnage’.
Highly recommended – if you want a different mini game that’s fun and won’t break the bank, check this out!
