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99 POP - Carros Particulares
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The most popular Brazilian transportation app has launched a new product! With 99POP, you can go...
Organize:Pro
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Organize:Pro is the project and task manager for freelancers, project managers and professional...
Barbie Magical Fashion
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Budge Studios™ presents Barbie™ Magical Fashion, where you can transform into a princess,...
Lee's Tools for Milwaukee Electric
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Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp Power Tools – FUEL Cordless Power Tools, Applicator, Diamond Coring...
Spider Solitaire: Card Game
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The classic Spider Solitaire card game you played on Windows™ is now available to play on your...
Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and Survival
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In this brave and beautiful memoir, written with the raw honesty and devastating openness of The...
Bernard Cornwell, as an author, is perhaps better know/more associated with historical fiction as a genre.
Yet I was aware he had also written a couple of other, more contemporaneous set, novels and mainly concerned with sailing.
I had never read any of those until recently (they held little appeal), when I came across Sea Lord on offer on Kindle, and decided to pick it up. I did feel it was not as good as his more 'usual' sort of novel; not as good as the Sharpe books or those of The Last Kingdom, for example.
So I wasn't really on the look out for any more of his so-called 'sailing thrillers'.
Having said that, when I came across this one - which I have since learnt was the first of his sailing thriller novels - also on sale, I never-the-less thought I would give this style of work another chance.
As before, I found that - while an enjoyable enough read - this does NOT live up to the standards set by the likes of the aforementioned Sharpe or Uhtred novels.
This is set in the I-assume-then-present 1980s, and follows Falklands hero Nick Sandman who, as the novel starts, is in hospital after having his spine shattered by a bullet. Whilst there, he makes himself a promise that, once better, he will sail his beloved boat Sycorax to the other side of the world, but finds that this will be easier said than done once he discharges himself from the hospital and finds that his ex-wife has sold his berth to TV personality Tony Bannister and left the boat to rot, who - in exchange for his help in refitting Sycorax - want Sandman to help navigate his own boat Wildtrack to victory in an ocean race. The rest of the novel then deals with the fallout from this devils bargain, especially as Bannister has powerful enemies of his own ...
So, yeah, enjoyable enough but not Cornwell's best.
Yet I was aware he had also written a couple of other, more contemporaneous set, novels and mainly concerned with sailing.
I had never read any of those until recently (they held little appeal), when I came across Sea Lord on offer on Kindle, and decided to pick it up. I did feel it was not as good as his more 'usual' sort of novel; not as good as the Sharpe books or those of The Last Kingdom, for example.
So I wasn't really on the look out for any more of his so-called 'sailing thrillers'.
Having said that, when I came across this one - which I have since learnt was the first of his sailing thriller novels - also on sale, I never-the-less thought I would give this style of work another chance.
As before, I found that - while an enjoyable enough read - this does NOT live up to the standards set by the likes of the aforementioned Sharpe or Uhtred novels.
This is set in the I-assume-then-present 1980s, and follows Falklands hero Nick Sandman who, as the novel starts, is in hospital after having his spine shattered by a bullet. Whilst there, he makes himself a promise that, once better, he will sail his beloved boat Sycorax to the other side of the world, but finds that this will be easier said than done once he discharges himself from the hospital and finds that his ex-wife has sold his berth to TV personality Tony Bannister and left the boat to rot, who - in exchange for his help in refitting Sycorax - want Sandman to help navigate his own boat Wildtrack to victory in an ocean race. The rest of the novel then deals with the fallout from this devils bargain, especially as Bannister has powerful enemies of his own ...
So, yeah, enjoyable enough but not Cornwell's best.
ClareR (5950 KP) rated Creature: A Novel of Mary Shelley and Frankenstein in Books
Aug 27, 2025
This book tells the story of Mary Shelley, how she ran away with the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, in order to live the life that she wanted to live, free of the constraints of society and hopefully live up to her perception of her mother’s standards. Instead, it felt as though she was dragged around Europe by her (eventual) husband, everything at his whim, paying for freedom from society with the deaths of 4 of her 5 children.
Ok, I may be a little harsh here. Mortality rates in infants were abysmal at this point in history, but I’m. Still not a Shelley/ Byron fan 🤷🏼♀️
If it sounds as though I’m being negative, I actually loved this book. The writing is wonderfully descriptive, the perspectives swapping between Mary and (and this is what really makes this novel stand out)the Creature from the novel, Frankenstein. His life plays out at the same time as Mary’s, he grows up with her from childhood, always nearby, I’m sure she could have seen him from the corner of her eye. His life is as tragic as hers.
Reading this novel, I was standing beside Mary and her Creature, experiencing their lives with them, which was pretty hard-going at times. To experience such loss and keep going really shows Mary’s strength of character.
Mary’s life was adventurous, uncertain, unconventional, rich in experience, and pretty frustrating at times - thanks to Shelley and Byron!
This took me longer than it possibly could have to read. I kept going through the footnotes, googling, reading some of Shelley’s and Byron’s poetry - this book took over my reading entirely!
Now, where did I put my copy of Frankenstein? I might just have to reread…
I received an ARC of this book for free, and I’m reading this review voluntarily (and why wouldn’t I?!). Many thanks to the publishers, BookSirens and Amy Weldon.
Ok, I may be a little harsh here. Mortality rates in infants were abysmal at this point in history, but I’m. Still not a Shelley/ Byron fan 🤷🏼♀️
If it sounds as though I’m being negative, I actually loved this book. The writing is wonderfully descriptive, the perspectives swapping between Mary and (and this is what really makes this novel stand out)the Creature from the novel, Frankenstein. His life plays out at the same time as Mary’s, he grows up with her from childhood, always nearby, I’m sure she could have seen him from the corner of her eye. His life is as tragic as hers.
Reading this novel, I was standing beside Mary and her Creature, experiencing their lives with them, which was pretty hard-going at times. To experience such loss and keep going really shows Mary’s strength of character.
Mary’s life was adventurous, uncertain, unconventional, rich in experience, and pretty frustrating at times - thanks to Shelley and Byron!
This took me longer than it possibly could have to read. I kept going through the footnotes, googling, reading some of Shelley’s and Byron’s poetry - this book took over my reading entirely!
Now, where did I put my copy of Frankenstein? I might just have to reread…
I received an ARC of this book for free, and I’m reading this review voluntarily (and why wouldn’t I?!). Many thanks to the publishers, BookSirens and Amy Weldon.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Raid 2 (2014) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
In 2011, and independent action film from Indonesia arrived with little to no fanfare and soon became an international sensation. From writer-director Gareth Evans, and featuring a cast of unknown performers, “The Raid” set new standards for cop dramas. From the dark and dangerous criminal underworld in which the film takes place to the brutal and jaw-dropping highly choreographed fight scenes the film was hard to ignore.
Thanks in large part to DVD, the film gained a larger audience thanks to word-of-mouth and now the second in a planned trilogy has been released which ups the action to new levels of hyper connectivity and ultraviolent action.
The Raid 2: Berendal” takes place shortly after the events the first film where officer Rama (Iko Uwais), learns that his exploits in surviving the first film have only increased the danger facing him and his family as the corruption he exposed has made him a target with much more dangerous criminals higher up the food chain. Although he barely survived the events of the first film, Rama agrees to go undercover in a brutal prison in order to keep his family safe and get close to a key individual whose father is one of the biggest crime lords in the region.
His amazing combat skills are tested early and often in prison yet Rama is able to achieve this objective and becomes trusted associate in the crime syndicate following his release thanks to the contacts he made during his incarceration.
Unfortunately for Rama a power struggle is enfolding between son and father as the ambitious son is eager to take a larger slice of his father’s empire even if it means declaring war on the rival families. The film spends a good part of its first hour introducing the characters and setting the tables for the final hour as it intersperses a few fast and brutal fight sequences between.
The final 45 min. the film are essentially one extended fight scene after another that is utterly captivating to watch and despite it’s at times graphic brutality, impossible to look away from. Like the previous film, the speed, precision, originality, and choreography of the fight sequences are truly unique and have set new standards for martial arts films to follow.
While the film is presented in the native Indonesian language with English subtitles, it is very easy to get drawn into the dark and deadly world in which the characters find themselves. Uwais proves that he’s more than just a skilled screen fighter as he infuses Rama with the complexity of the man driven by duty yet utterly devoted to keeping his wife and newborn son safe even when the cost puts him in constant danger and forces him to be away from them for long periods of time.
Evans keeps the action flowing and time and time again aside from the clever way that he introduces what would only be disposal characters by giving them unique and at times charming quirks and characteristics, produces action sequences that leave you wondering how they were able to film them and what kind of person would think up such sequences. My wife commented to me that her blood pressure my surely have been rising from the relentless pacing and nonstop action and tension of the film and the constant barrage of action scenes that while brutal never become repetitive or gratuitous.
The film will not be for everyone as the action is quite brutal and times graphic however the free-form choreography that made the original so memorable has been taken to new levels in the sequel which keeps the action fresh as much as the story and characters keep you riveted during the non-action segments of the film .
All I could say the film is not one for the masses I can easily say this is one of the more enjoyable and better films of the year to date and is one that should not be missed especially if you’re a fan of police dramas or action films.
http://sknr.net/2014/04/11/the-raid-2-berendal/
Thanks in large part to DVD, the film gained a larger audience thanks to word-of-mouth and now the second in a planned trilogy has been released which ups the action to new levels of hyper connectivity and ultraviolent action.
The Raid 2: Berendal” takes place shortly after the events the first film where officer Rama (Iko Uwais), learns that his exploits in surviving the first film have only increased the danger facing him and his family as the corruption he exposed has made him a target with much more dangerous criminals higher up the food chain. Although he barely survived the events of the first film, Rama agrees to go undercover in a brutal prison in order to keep his family safe and get close to a key individual whose father is one of the biggest crime lords in the region.
His amazing combat skills are tested early and often in prison yet Rama is able to achieve this objective and becomes trusted associate in the crime syndicate following his release thanks to the contacts he made during his incarceration.
Unfortunately for Rama a power struggle is enfolding between son and father as the ambitious son is eager to take a larger slice of his father’s empire even if it means declaring war on the rival families. The film spends a good part of its first hour introducing the characters and setting the tables for the final hour as it intersperses a few fast and brutal fight sequences between.
The final 45 min. the film are essentially one extended fight scene after another that is utterly captivating to watch and despite it’s at times graphic brutality, impossible to look away from. Like the previous film, the speed, precision, originality, and choreography of the fight sequences are truly unique and have set new standards for martial arts films to follow.
While the film is presented in the native Indonesian language with English subtitles, it is very easy to get drawn into the dark and deadly world in which the characters find themselves. Uwais proves that he’s more than just a skilled screen fighter as he infuses Rama with the complexity of the man driven by duty yet utterly devoted to keeping his wife and newborn son safe even when the cost puts him in constant danger and forces him to be away from them for long periods of time.
Evans keeps the action flowing and time and time again aside from the clever way that he introduces what would only be disposal characters by giving them unique and at times charming quirks and characteristics, produces action sequences that leave you wondering how they were able to film them and what kind of person would think up such sequences. My wife commented to me that her blood pressure my surely have been rising from the relentless pacing and nonstop action and tension of the film and the constant barrage of action scenes that while brutal never become repetitive or gratuitous.
The film will not be for everyone as the action is quite brutal and times graphic however the free-form choreography that made the original so memorable has been taken to new levels in the sequel which keeps the action fresh as much as the story and characters keep you riveted during the non-action segments of the film .
All I could say the film is not one for the masses I can easily say this is one of the more enjoyable and better films of the year to date and is one that should not be missed especially if you’re a fan of police dramas or action films.
http://sknr.net/2014/04/11/the-raid-2-berendal/
