Jasher Drake
Perfect sci-fi pulp! Was actually taken aback quite a bit by how genuine and moving the love story between John Carter and Dejah Thoris is. And that ending?!
This book has to be one of the best books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. It wasn't just a fantasy-adventure but it was a fantasy-adventure-mystery which made it a whole lot more entertaining. I have to admit that I didn't expect the murderer to be Boreas at all. :) Have a great day and go and buy this book RIGHT NOW!
Great short story about someone trying to figure out what is a dream and what is reality. Again, great poetic feel to it!
Loved the sprawling cast of characters and kaiju that this follows, as well as the really creative use of location and timezone in every chapter.
And the monster fights?! Was skeptical that the huge battles we're used to in Godzilla flicks wouldn't translate well to paper, but boy was I wrong. Some of the most exhilarating and intense action I've read in years.
These Godzilla comics have so many creative, cool ideas and would probably work way better as films than graphic novels!
Gangsters & Goliaths was my fave from this omnibus but even that sadly had some strange pacing and forgettable characters.
This book was so good! Didn't know what I signed up for when I decided to read a collection of essays, but honestly loved it! Bruce Campbell has a style of humour very similar to my own and there was so many times when I found myself genuinely cracking up over his writing.
And although there were some essays that I liked less that the others (the tree-planting & exercising ones), they were still super fun to read and all in all I enjoyed this a lot more than other non-fiction and autobiographies I've read recently.
Hail to the king, baby!
such a fun read! quick little treasure hunting adventure/mystery that introduces some really interesting things into the cosmere. rysn may be one of my fave stormlight characters of them all now, and i appreciated the effort put into making the lopen at least a little bit likeable.
begs the question, should every sanderson book be 300 pages long?
Had such a blast being back in the world of the OASIS with these characters. Although the original nostalgia-fuelled buzz of Ready Player One has worn off a little bit, Ready Player Two manages to up the stakes, up the references and tell an epic tale of the things, and the people, that we love.
Really do recommend checking this one out! Whether you read the first one years ago or you simply lost interest in the premise - this is a super worthwhile, timely, and entertaining sequel. May even be the Empire Strikes Back to the first's Star Wars.
Really wanted to like this but for something that's called a ‘Guide to Dinosaurs', it didn't actually spend too much time on the dinosaurs themselves. Instead, it delved a whole lot more into evolution, extinction, climate change and chickens. And while a few of the conversations were interesting at times, I just wanted to learn about the dang dinos!
Maybe it's just that I'm actually not a grown-up yet, but I think I'll stick with Jurassic Park for now.
Can totally tell why this is such a highly regarded classic. Sure it isn't one of my personal favourites ever, but the story, characters and writing-style actually made this a super enjoyable read for me.
I've never been the biggest fan of period dramas, and although I'd like to think of myself as a romantic at heart, I never have found myself drawn into those types of stories. Usually I‘be found that the majority of stories akin to this tend to be pretty much the exact same story, with a few slight variations. But, I actually found myself loving the particular character interactions and drama in Pride and Prejudice, and it's probably thanks to the way that Jane Austen managed to make these character all unique and add an amount of humour in this that I never expected.
All in all, I really enjoyed Pride & Prejudice, and would 100% recommend it to everyone, even if it isn't usually your thing.
Simply capital!
Really wanted to like this book, but ended up being very disappointed.
The author obviously had such an awesome imagination. The storyline and monster are so original and unique, but I found the style of the writing very hard to read. I felt lost with the way the author would describe things and constantly found myself bored with the lack of tension and drama in the way that it was written, although that may just be because this is an extended edition of the original novella.
In my opinion, John Carpenter's ‘The Thing' film from 1982 is a much better version of this story. Skip reading this and give it a rewatch.
genius of sanderson to flesh out stormlight side characters with their own novellas, and the everstorm is such a dope backdrop for this story but it just feels super underwhelming imo! last few chapters rock but there are so so many more chapters beforehand where nothing much really happens apart from pancake after pancake being eaten by an annoying little girl.
INSAAAAANE BOOK!
Such a thrilling, quick read that completely held my thoughts hostage for the last few days. Obsessed with how cleverly this is written.
Does anyone do it as good as Iain Reid?!
I cannot believe that's it's taken me this long to finally get around to reading this book, and I'm infuriated that it did because just like always, E.M Powell has written something amazingly thrilling, thought-provoking and wholly original.
This book is so easy to read! It's been written in such a way that you never get bored and you're always left wanting more after putting it down.
Something I always love about E.M Powell's books is that you can tell how much effort has been put into making them historically factual, and it just makes them feel so real. Everything from the intricacies of the way the monastery is run to just her detailing of buildings, objects and clothing. It just utterly transports you to the time period and you cannot help but become completely immersed in the story.
Another thing I love about E.M Powell's writing is how she treats her characters. Every single character, from Stanton & Barling to each monk at the monastery are fleshed out like I've never experienced before. I don't know how she does it but she brings so much life into characters that that may even only be in the book for a page or two. In particular probably the main thing I loved was yet again the relationship between our two protagonists, Stanton & Barling. Powell really does something special with them both throughout the story and builds so much on what was set up in the previous book.
In conclusion, I loved this book. Such a great mystery and such a good thriller. Manages to also teach you so much historically while reading as well which is always something that I enjoy. Thanks E.M!
king kong and planet of the apes feel like they were made to be together! really enjoyed how much this story delves deep into all the political/religious stuff that i love from the original planet of the apes movies and carlos magno invokes their look and feel perfectly through his artwork too.
I really had no clue that this was the first novel I've actually read in over two years, and man, what a one to start reading again with.
From the very beginning you're drawn into a world that feels exactly like what I'd imagine this time period to have been like. E.M Powell has done such an amazing job with her research and descriptions and it really makes the book flow and really just feel genuine.
And I have to say, Stanton & Barling may be one of my favourite duos of all time, and the way their relationship evolves through the story is perfect.
Usually, I like to think I'm good and working mysteries out, guessing the twist before it happens. But I was so wrong with this. For the first time in a while I was involved in the story, constantly double-guessing myself and constantly being surprised with each next plot point or twist.
All in all, such an amazing book, and one that nearly brought me to tears at the end. Soooooo looking forward to the next one! Thanks E.M Powell!
Such a mind-blowing and insightful book on the human psyche and what makes people act the way that they do. It's also a fascinating look at what life is actually like for a g-man and I found myself learning a lot about the FBI, numerous cases that they've cracked and a lot about the infamous serial killers themselves.
Mindhunter wasn't an easy read though, let me tell you that! No punches are pulled when it comes to the gruesome and horrific details of a lot of these cases, and at some points I found myself having to take a break from reading just to get my mind off of the horrible acts described. The fact that it took me about two months to get through this whole thing probably speaks for itself in that regard.
In saying all of that though, I've definitely gained a newfound respect for the people who devote their lives to work like this.
This definitely wasn't as good as Cold Cases, and I probably would've rated this two stars if it wasn't for the last chapter. Most of the chapters were quite hard to follow in audio format, and a lot of them were very short and didn't have much of a plot.
Just like the last audiobook in this series, this is pretty much like a season of the tv show, taking place between seasons 9 and 10. Each chapter plays and sounds like an all new episode with stunningly produced sound effects and the original cast voicing their characters. I'm going to share a couple of thoughts on each chapter.
Chapter 1 - Immaculate: First things first, the plot for Immaculate was very, very... strange. It involved a girl possessed by the devil blowing up an abortion clinic and recruiting people for a suicide cult, which was quite messed-up, even for X-Files. I found the whole chapter hard to follow in audio format and very dark and depressing. Probably my least favourite of the bunch.
Chapter 2 - Chitter: A classic monster-of-the-week episode! This one I enjoyed but it was only about 20 minutes long and didn't have too much of an actual story. It did have a unique monster and classic Scully-in-peril moments though so it won me over.
Chapter 3 - Monica & John: This chapter was alright as well, but just like a lot of the others, it suffered by being short and not having a proper plot. It also kind of sucked to not have the actual actors of Doggett & Reyes reprising their roles because the two voice actors that did do it really didn't do the characters justice.
Chapter 4 - G-23: Another chapter with a strange concept that was hard to follow in audio format. Basically, Mulder and Langly hear about a conspiracy involving a government-created hallucinogenic drug called G-23, they start to investigate it and then end up accidentally taking it. From then on, the rest of the episode is basically just one big trip, with both Mulder and Langly seeing a whole ton of random hallucinations, hence why it was hard to follow, what they were hallucinating didn't transition into audio well and the descriptions didn't come across clearly.
Chapter 5 - Elders: The conclusive mythology episode and the best of the book. Brings back a few surprising characters from the original show and actually has a really thrilling storyline. This chapter by itself was over an hour and a half which was pretty much more than triple the length of each of the others, making it feel almost cinematic in scope.
Just like the last audiobook in this series, I was blown away by the production quality of the whole thing, and the voice acting from the returning cast was great. I found myself laughing at Mulder's quips and sighing at Scully's scullyisms.
Unfortunately though, this was quite a big step down from the last one, and the pacing and clarity of majority of the book was a big letdown. Still worth listening to just for further adventures with the gang, but definitely not essential listening like the last one was.
This was so much better than I thought it would be! David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson and a ton of other original cast members are back as their characters in a fully-voiced and stunningly produced audiobook that feels just like you're watching episodes of the show.
The audiobook consists of five chapters that are essentially 5 all new X-Files episodes that take place between seasons 9 and 10 of the series. I'm going to quickly break each one down and give you a few thoughts on each as some were better than others.
Chapter 1 - Believers: So great having the whole ensemble back and it even had a few surprise appearances from X-Files side characters. This acted as a mythology episode and pretty perfectly made sense of all the twisted alien mythology the show had it its later seasons, making me wish that we'd seen something like this chapter in the actual show. Only downside was that the action sequence at the end was quite hard to follow in audio form, and could have done with a bit more narration from the characters on what was actually happening.
Chapter 2 - Hosts: Easily my favourite of the bunch, even if the ending was anticlimactic. As it's name suggests, this chapter finally gave us the long awaited return of the Flukeman and upped-the-ante just like Alien did with its sequel Aliens, giving us a ton more Flukemen. Some really cool scenes in this chapter, and really fleshed-out the Flukeman backstory.
Chapter 3 - Being for the Benefit of Mr. X: I found this one to be the worst of the lot. It was very hard to follow in audio form, very short compared to the others, and the whole chapter pretty much solely consisted of a single conversation and flashback. Mr. X was back though so even though this chapter was quite lacklustre, he was still as badass as ever.
Chapter 4 - More Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man: This chapter was probably my second favourite after Hosts. It works as a sequel to the Season 4 episode ‘Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man' and follows the same format as that episode did by pretty much only focussing on Cancer Man himself and taking us through different stories from his past for the runtime. Absolutely loved every single one of the stories and how they all connected to different moments in the show. The highlight of this chapter though was easily William B. Davis's voice acting. So good!
Chapter 5 - Pilgrims: This chapter was epic. Clocking in around an hour and a half long it had everything you'd ever want in a mythology episode and totally felt that it was movie-scale in execution. Even though this chapter was long, it went by in a breeze and the story was super engaging. And come on, our favourite rogue agent Krychek coming back? What's not to love about that.
All in all, I was blown away with the quality of the audiobook and honestly think that the stories and route that they took with this should've been what they went with for season 10 of the show, so much more engaging and a better storyline all around.
Would definitely consider this essential listening for any X-Files fan.
zid's artwork rules, kong's backstory is heartbreaking and the surprise antagonist was pretty wild. loved it!
Loved this book and I was so close to rating it five stars, but did find the ending a little rushed and feel that it could have been handled a little bit better.
Other than that though, it was so, so, so, so, so good! Felt like a Black Mirror episode or an A24 movie at times while also feeling like The Midnight Gospel or an enthralling podcast at others.
Super fresh, original, easy to read and hard to put down.
So, a fantasy book about vampires. A couple months ago I wouldn't of been interested at all, but after finishing the Weis/Hickman main storyline of Dragonlance, I wanted to delve into another Dungeons & Dragons franchise, so I chose to read the first Ravenloft book. I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised.
This book was awesome, the right amount of adventure, the right amount of mystery and the right amount of horror. The main character, a elf turned vampire called Jander Sunstar, really makes you feel for him and really makes you feel how cheated and robbed of a normal life that he was.
So yeah, I'm gonna read this series because the whole idea of a realm that takes broken and evil people and offers them redemption is really cool. Forget those flipping vampire-romance novels and read Ravenloft!
five different godzilla fans showcase their art styles while each tackling the prompt of ‘godzilla in hell' in strikingly different ways. love the concept more than the actual execution of some of these stories, but the artwork pops and i really enjoyed the wild and wacky places these issues go. i mean, godzilla taking on angels, demons, god and the devil before coming out the victor?? insane stuff. so cool that people can play with these out-there ideas.
Pretty good book. Totally feel like this captured Mulder's character perfectly and completely sets him up to be the man we meet in the show. A bit disappointing though as the pacing was quite strange and the ending felt very anticlimactic.