Archive for the 'Books' Category

Airman

12/07/2008

I’m not sure what it is that appeals to me about earlier flight, when people flew things made of wood and paper and filled with explosive gas. I’ve previously reviewed Airborn and Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel, both of which I loved, and which are about adventures in airships. I’m also a fan of [...]

Making Money

30/06/2008

Another great book from Pratchett, not quite as good as Going Postal, the first book featuring Moist von Lipwig, but with more than enough laughs, action, manipulations and outmanoeuvring to keep Pratchett fans happy.
Moist is getting bored now he has turned the Post Office into an efficient machine, his stamps have started a whole new [...]

The Dreaming Void

29/06/2008

Hamilton is another author I have read regularly and generally been pleased with his epic storylines and interesting views on how he sees humanity in the future. The Void trilogy, of which this is the first book, takes place more than a thousand years after the events of Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained, although [...]

Next

28/06/2008

I’ve read a number of Crichton’s books, generally I like his mixture of fact and fiction and especially the research he does into complex topics. I also enjoy his bent on scientific/technological topics. I picked up Next some time ago when I saw it on offer somewhere but have only recently got around [...]

Troy: Fall Of Kings

24/05/2008

David Gemmell sadly passed away before he completed this final book in his Troy trilogy. His wife, Stella, took what David had written to date, plus his notes and finished the book. Some people may have been apprehensive about what this would mean for the story but I think it’s fair to say [...]

Troy: Shield Of Thunder

1/05/2008

The second in the excellent trilogy and another one well worth a look with fantastic story and great characters.

A Darkling Plain

22/03/2008

I’ve loved what is now called the Mortal Engines quartet from the very first line of book one (Mortal Engines):
It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.
How can you not love that? The books [...]

The Gilded Chain

13/03/2008

Another one from the Sci-Fi Club Top 50 and another cracker. Most people think of fantasy novels like many of the posters you see, or a Conan movie, all muscle-bound heroes in loincloths and damsels in barely anything, fighting against dark lords and huge beasts. That’s rarely the case, certainly with the best [...]

Misspent Youth

12/03/2008

I generally like Hamilton’s books, and this is a precursor to the Commonwealth novels of Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained, the first to feature rejuvenation, something that is used heavily in those books.
It’s been suggested this was a way to feel out and test the water of some of the technologies that would be used [...]

Ender’s Game

11/03/2008

This was a recommendation from the Science Fiction Book Club Top 50 science fiction/fantasy novels, 1953-2002 (via Binary Bonsai). It was a good choice, I was a bit dubious, a sci-fi action novel starring a six-year-old, but Ender’s Game is fantastic. Sometime in the future Earth has to fight off an invasion force [...]