Book and film reviews, and occasional reviews on other random stuff.
At the end of February, I attended my first ever writers’ retreat. I joined six other writers in a large house on the edge of the Brecon Beacons for three days of intensive writing and discussion. The organisers of the event were Jo and Roz from MeddwlCoed. A couple of years | Read more…
Arrival is sci-fi tale told with an air of intense realism. Alien objects appear around the world and humans are “invited” to check them out and try to figure out what’s going on. The aliens make no hostile moves, but tensions and miscommunication between the nations of Earth escalate nonetheless. | Read more…
Geordie Sharpe and his SAS team are sent to Africa to train government forces in the war torn nation of Kamanga. After an accident leaves a young boy dead, the local witch doctor makes a chilling pronouncement. Unless they leave now, ten white men or women will die. Geordie dismisses | Read more…
The Glass Demon by Helen Grant Lin Fox is dragged away from her life in England by her family. Her father is obsessed with finding the mysterious Allerheiligen Glass – medieval stained glass windows thought lost for centuries – and moves them to a remote part of Germany. His initial | Read more…
An adventure full of the stuff nightmares are made of. Infamous Reign fills in another chapter from the past of Nathaniel Garrett, hero of McHugh’s Hellequin Chronicles which so far include novels Crimes against Magic and Born of Hatred. While the novels are principally set in the present day, the | Read more…
Giant robots and gargantuan monsters haven’t exactly had a good run over the last couple of decades. Pacific Rim combines both; I didn’t have high hopes, but I was happy to be proven wrong. After its third weekend in the cinemas the film has struggled to break even at the | Read more…
Crimes Against Magic is the debut novel by Steve McHugh. Set in modern day London but with a host of historical and fantasy characters, the story creates a world in which the ancient and the modern don’t seem so far removed. Magic still exists and there are things that haunt | Read more…
Last week I reviewed The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. These days, when I read a book, I like to look back and think about what I can learn from it. Whether it’s something the author did well and I can try to incorporate into my own writing, or something | Read more…
There are lots of places where you can read reviews of the latest books. I on the other hand like to review things when I have a reason to, like having a spare copy to give away and an immanent movie release. So, while it’s not a new release, this | Read more…