'Boneshaker' a steampunk novel by Cherie Priest. Read, reviewed.

Having read the Mortal Engines series, I was was just about ready to give another steampunk novel a crack. Summarised as a steampunk novel in 19th Century Seattle, with zombies (Huzzah!), I was intrigued by the premise of Cherie Priest's 'Boneshaker'.

There's a lot of story, but I'll try not to spoiler too much. Essentially Seattle has been subject to a disaster apparently caused by the heroine's (Briar) husband, Leviticus Blue. The upshot is that a gas is released causing people to become 'rotters' (read zombies) and the city becomes a no-go area and walled off. Years later, Briar's son wants the truth about his father and breaks into the city where drug runners and other very random characters have made a (sort of) life for themselves. Of course Briar goes after him and the truth of Leviticus Blue's death, or otherwis, is revealed.

But that's not even a small proption of all the shenannigans! In fact, for me, that is the key slight weakness. It's not a long novel, and it's not that the descriptions are too slight compared to the action. It's just that the events and places come so thick and fast that perhaps any real sense of place and character is diluted somewhat. There is atmosphere, but we are at such a pace that it isn't given time to 'brew' sufficiently. To that extent the writing style was similar to a movie script. Particular dramatic moments seemed to be over-written in amongst a dramatic series of events in a longer quest story. There were very strong and simply drawn characters with clearly defined (and predictably developed) relationships. I think the movie script idea holds - indeed I have read that the rights have been bought and I think it would make a great film.

I liked Briar though, fiesty, at times awkward and unsure. Strong-willed and independent. The other characters were not so 'rounded' and left me a little cold in my opinion. There was a pantomime villain at the end and some interesting allies. But what do I know? For me it was a 2 and a half out of 5, but with potential.

Overall then, not as successful as my first steampunk outing. Modern steampunk may still be finding it's feet, so might Priestly. thnakfully still a few more to read though ... watch this space.

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Posted in: books,Steampunk

Mortal Engines : A steampunk novel series.

Well, this was all a bit of an accident.


I stumbled on the book title while researching steampunk novels. You see, since finishing Martin's 'A Game of Thrones' and Robin Hobbs' first Farseer series, I'd been in a bit of a book lull. Casting around the interweb, I'd thought I'd read some of this new/oldfangled thing called steampunk. I was curious. I liked the Philip Pullman 'His Dark Materials' series - a bit steampunky. I like the Dystopian Legions figures (and got some). I like Warmachine. So ... what else was out there?

And when I say stumble upon I literally stumbled upon the first in the series of Phillip Reeve's 'Mortal Engines', just lying about. I think one of my boys must have read it at some point. Having seen it mentioned, I flicked it open and started to read...

Immediately sucked in.

While there may be a very valid claim that these are 'kids books' - and I can't really dispute that description - just like Pullman and Tolkien’s 'The Hobbit', there is a charm and allure about these novels which is beyond merely children's fiction. The characters are vivid and engaging, the locations threatening and sinister, and the events are dramatic, tense and frequently sombre.

I'll try not to spoil too much.



P.S. Respect to the chapter titles...



Tom Natsworthy works on London. On London because it's a moving city. Cities move in this time - thousands (how many?) of years in the future after war has ended civilisation as we know it now. But how do these cities survive? By 'eating' other cities, after all that's what Municipal Darwinism means. Swallowing other cities to take what is needed to keep your city going. But then there are the anti-tractionists who live in static settlements at war with the moving predatory mechanical conurbations. There are the icy wastes where Anchorage roams and the hidden city under the sea where the Lost Boys creep out.



But this is merely (almost apocalyptically?) a back drop. The lives of the characters - at first Tom, then troubled Hester then Valentine, Shrike the dead mechanical soldier and so on - all come into focus over the course of the four novels. And in time moves on... the story evolves. The history rolls forward, the narrative expands. More characters, stranger locations. But all held together with a desperate desire to hold on to life – and love.

But I could give too much away.

This series is highly recommended – at least by me. It’s not just children’s fiction. Reeve’s skill, compared to other novels I’ve read in the steampunk genre, is that he doesn’t try too hard. There aren’t endless explanations about the backward steampunk technology. Or overwritten dramatic moments which have a movie script in mind. The novels have a very human and frequently, tragic thread. Everything isn’t always alright. Pain hurts. Tension is unpleasant. People are scarred.

But then there’s the power of human experience and the strength of the connections you make with one other.

I was sold.

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Posted in: books,Steampunk

The new look 'White Dwarf' vs 'No Quarter' ... a penny for my thoughts?

 

What I'd thought I would do with this post is to consider a face-off between these two titles. It's Games Workshop vs. Privateer Press.

Games Workshop have recently revamped the design and content of their decades running monthly magazine - we are currently on November's issue (£5.50), the second of the new format. No Quarter is on Issue No. 44 and is bi-monthly ( about £4.50 depending) - representing seven years or so. I love magazines, I confess. And books. I'm not one for Kindles or tablets. I want to turn the pages by hand. A physical sensation. A4 size.If I want a close up, I move the page closer.

Ah, I remember, back in the day, reading RPG backgrounds and 'Thrud The Barbarian' cartoons,  all in amongst the various wargaming articles and reviews in the old White Dwarf. I then left for a long time and a few years ago, came back to a completely different publication that was very much focused solely on the models and the Warhammer gaming universes. There wasn't much else. Not that that was a bad thing, I needed lots of information to get going again with all of the gaming knowledge that had bypassed me. And I loved the rich variety of source material that provided ample inspiration for my painting, especially - and here I bow - the fantastic 'Eavy Metal articles that helped me move my painting on to a new level (or at least to a more acceptable one!).

Why all this preamble? Well, I guess because No Quarter has a bit of that feel about it. There is ample background 'fluff'. Indeed it seems clear that No Quarter is continually helping to build the Warma/Hordes universes as it goes along. The pages often feel like extracts from a 'codex' of sorts. The layout supports this design style too. Pages seem like they have been torn from journals, or from ancient reports and there are a variety of colours and font styles used, which go hand-in-hand with the type of faction being discussed. There is also a great deal of fantastic artwork and and page-edge design that really gives the magazine a sense of coherency across the various different sections of the magazine itself. There are RPG backgrounds, short stories, reviews and articles about other products from Privateer Press. The readers are also represented with examples of their painting and often the opening editorial-style articles show that the staff actually do go out into the wide world.

In Issue 44 of No Quarter, you've got detailed conversion articles, the obligatory catalogue pages (only a few though), tournament and painting sections, background, army building, a section on playing scenarios in another game (Level 7), RPG info, battle reports, and readers' models.  I do feel that the photographing isn't up to scratch - this sometimes helps blur the fact that some of the models used in the articles aren't quite up to the painting level of WD. There's a lot here, though I would say that compared to White Dwarf, there's a little more of a sense of randomness about the content. I never know quite what I'm going to get! Until recently, with White Dwarf, I knew exactly. It had come to feel too much like a catalogue for the products and if you weren't into this month's catalogue items, you were left a bit miffed at not having a great deal to delve into. I feel that if WD could learn anything, it would be about page design and the use of stories and background to help the universe 'live' in the pages.

Then we come to the new White Dwarf. To begin : I like it. I like it a lot. The strident design, the attempts to show us the real people at GW. I think ' This month in...' is a great idea. The fantastic photographs - and the infinite painting guidance that this represents. I also am really pleased that they have broadened their outlook -Forge World, novels, audio books - golly Fantasy Flight Games even got a look in with their 40K related board game! It feels all the better for this. The articles are also more discursive, exploratory and there is less reliance on a 'wodge' of bat reps. The catalogue feel is still there, however, but it now feels more like a model showcase, with excellent close-ups and atmospheric backgrounds. I'm still not sure what Blanchitsu is for (though I love his painting style and artwork - so keep it coming) and I'm also not really convinced by either of the rather similar,  Jeremy Vetock and Jervis Johnson articles. They can all too easily appear to be bland and entirely irrelevant. I also get 'miffed' again at the insistence with the focus of one army per issue (last month 40k Chaos, this month Fantasy Chaos). I mean it says Lord of the Rings of the front, but there isn't any in it!

Furthermore, there are great modelling articles so far, great ideas for terrain, conversions and armies. Let it not seem that I am a ranting sycophant though -oh no. Two concerns -

1) Fonts and colours of pages. I like the worn appearance of the pages - but really the same font for all armies, all sections - and exactly the same colours? Surely there is some way to differentiate between sections in the magazine that lends clarity to the divisions between the sections. Just flicking thorough, you can't really tell what is where. The font at he moment is a kind of modern-machine-block, like the type on the front. But is this really any good for Elves, Orcs, LOTR etc. It'll seem a bit odd to me. Pedantry perhaps?

2) This is may main gripe so far though - the painting articles are too basic, too short and poorly developed. I think that if, as it seems, the style is to bring in a wider audience, but a more savvy one, then the painting guides have to do so too. Where is my 'Eavy Metal please GW? You've just brought out all of these new paints. Show me how to use them dammit! I am currently watching WarbossTae on You Tube for this...

So, in conclusion. Thumbs up to both. I have perused the various Internet versions of gaming magazines - some have really good sections, but these two lead the way. And - theyr'e real. You can have them by you when you are painting and cart them about in your back pocket, without worrying if you sit on them. I hope to see GW 'tinker'  in months to come, I'd like to see PP's magazine grow and add some photograhic finesse. I'll give both  5/5 stars if they sort out my gripes, but for now 3.75/5 for NQ and 4/5 for WD.

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Posted in: 40k,books,Warhammer Fantasy,Warmachine

Hunger Games Trilogy review - Suzanne Collins

I'd seen lots of teenagers reading this and, a bit like the Potter/Northern Lights  bandwagon, I thought I'd hop on. First of all my overall impressions, so if you don't want to read all the hot air below, you can read this and move on!

A good read, but don't be surprised if you don't find the descriptions all that detailed. It's very narratively driven, quite cinematic in construction even and I think it was a bit of a stretch for three novels. However, as teen fiction (which is not to be condescending), it really works. It's easy to read, the characters are strong and the action is constant and consistently engaging. There are also some interesting 'versions' or distorted images of our modern world in here too to add a more thoughtful quality to the action. Recommended - especially for those readers who like science fiction but maybe don't read all that often. A 'page turner' as is often quoted!

So, I'll aim to avoid spoilers - but beware if you don't want to know anything at all!

Katniss Everdeen, her friends and family, live in a post apocalyptic world where the population lives in a number of scattered districts with their own distinct communities. There is some technology, but life in these districts is basic. Everything is run from the Capitol, which 'rules' over the districts. Life there isn't basic.
It's explained that because of previous problems between the districts and the Capitol a Hunger Games has been devised to help oppress / punish the districts. The winner ensures themselves luxury for their families and the losers, well the losers .....die. The novels follow Katniss through her experiences of the games and the changing nature of the world around her. It's not always an uplifting read, quite a number of horrendous things happen to the characters. There's a tragic love triangle, alcoholics, plenty of awful injuries, vicious mutants and heartbreak. Perhaps that's why it's been so popular!

Another reason that I think it's hit a nerve, is that it deals with a number of contemporary concerns. There's the Big Brother TV style watching of the competitors every move. There's the 'pleasure' of the death and gore, like the audience are watching some sort of action movie. There's also an interesting take on the cult of celebrity mixed in. So for a modern audience, the novels do have something to say. It does feel like action for action's sake at times- but there is a point to the trail of death and destruction which seems to take the novels beyond Arnie Schwarzenegger territory. (Remember 'Running Man'?)

I read speedily though the first novel. The action is well-paced and the premise interesting. I did feel that the second novel was slightly more of the same and then by the third I wasn't quite enjoying it as much even though the action comes thick and fast. It was quite a bleak story by the third installment and the only respite from this comes in the Epilogue. I do think though, that it really is a worthwhile read. My 14 year old son got through all three fairly rapidly and recommended it heartily. I'm glad I've read them too.

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40K 6th Ed. I got mine. Have you got yours? First impressions.

Well, because I'm sort of in the business, I got mine a whole day early. Ooooh, get her! Yes, I know nothing to boast about. So what can I say? Well seeing as how everyone else is saying something...here goes. First impressions -

First of all I have to confess my gaming 'status'. That's to say I'm basically a hobbyist. If you've seen my posts, they're not about the game, or the strategies, or the army selection. The models. So far that is...

I thought that with this edition I'd try to get a better handle on the game than the rudimentary basics I'd picked up from owning previous editions. Editions which I had read for fluff and painting source material only basically.

So here I am with 6th Edition and it's time to plunge in a bit more properly. This post is for you if you too have been dabbling...

The art work is fantastic, full colour and detailed. There are some great pull out panels which are atmospheric and add to the feel of a book (some say tome at over 450 pages) with a strong sense of artistic coherency. There's decay, corruption, death, destruction and chaos seeping in at the edge of each and every page.

There are a fair number of different sections too. The rules at first, followed by hobby advice, background histories, pas battles, photo galleries, game expansion ideas, mission types and a number of appendices with summaries of the most important information. So there really is a whole lot here. For £45 (or less, if you search the net), I think it's good value for money, though I'm not a teenager with limited funds.

Nice.

 Next:The rules.  I've always considered 40k to be a complicated game. There are a vast number of rules since you need a codex for your army too, to be fully rules equipped. And there's still a lot to plough through. In a way, I'm glad that I never knew the previous rules very well - since I don't have to do any re-learning. The first 30 pages or so are the basics then the rest gets added. The new Psychic Powers, for instance, come much later.
Those first 30 pages are quite manageable. There's a lot to remember but the new pre-measuring rule will help players like me and I think the feel of the basics has an appropriate battle 'flow'. For example, I'm happy enough that the close combatants have to work in initiative order. I think I get 'Pile In' and Morale checks and I'm reasonably juggling the AP knowledge for each weapon (if I have the stats close by!)

The Special rules and vehicles and terrain and character models are next. I guess I'll let you know how that goes. I'm hoping that a few blogs/vlogs will turn up (as on Beastsofwar perhaps), that will guide novices like me.



Look, lots of sharp stuff to kill stuff with.

Things I think I like so far-

Allies -why not? As a hobbyist I've got Space Wolves and Ultramaries and Dark Angels and IG all sitting around in various places. I don't think it will cause me to spend more money, as many have argued. I might just spread it out in different directions. Good! I can get that cool model from a different army.

Pre-measuring - who wants to argue how far one thing is from another thing? Who wants to try and work out if someone is sneakily trying to pre-measure anyway.

Snap-shots and overwatch - seems sensible to me.  Shooting in battles is incessant. Make it so on the table.

Explosive barrels - of course they are.

One thing I wish was in the new book -

A quick start guide. Noobs like me need to get going and have a reference guide that will help. There is a summary but it's six pages long. I think GW have missed a trick here. Other quick start guides I have seen are miles shorter (Warmahordes anyone?) There may well be one. Wait n see.

So there you go. I'm not sure I'm sold on random Psychic Powers and I know that Warlord Challenges will take ages to get my head around to any effective extent. But you know what, it's injected enthusiasm in all of the right places. Here goes...

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Posted in: 40k,books

The Farseer Trilogy or 'There and not back again.'

I picked this trilogy up on browsing through Amazon's review lists. I'm trying a few 'epic'(?) fantasy series, not generally my normal fare but Game of Thrones brought me in. Normally I like the posh stuff, classics n' that but general recommendations were positive and Robin Hobb was on a number of readers' 'best' lists. This trilogy was up there or there about on many lists too.They're books I thought and I like books. I'll give them a go.



Nice metallicy covers.



Inititally, it took me couple of efforts to get past the first five pages. Not sure why. Perhaps having just finished reading George RR Martin's 'progress' in The Game of Thrones series, I guess I wanted something with the visceral immediacy of Westeros and its brutality and its sex. That's all here. But the pace is more measured, it's relatively less complex certainly and all is from a single point of view - Fitz the royal bastard - and not multiple perspectives. Having been bound to the story of the child Fitz like some sort of Wit-beast I soon grew into the story. Some of the phrasing flummoxed me somewhat - maybe they are Americanised sentence structures - but generally the narrative is fluent, engagingly descriptive and the world of the Six Duchies and The Mountain Kingdoms is soundly realised.
The narrative is also helped by the 'magical' element, if you can call it that. It's not sorcery and spells per se, the power is called the Skill and is a sort of mind control/telepathy/seeing from afar type thing. This helps bring in other parts of the story that are running narratively in sequence with the man action without the need for other perspectives or drifting from the location of the current point of the narrative. Also, to a lesser extent, this is true of The Wit - an animal bonding power, apparently much frowned upon in the Six Duchies However, apart from the bonds Fitz creates with particular animals there are elements of The Wit which are largely left to the side - oddly even when other characters with the same ability cross his path. Missed opportunity?
Maybe not. He's a bit of a loner see? Fitz. Not always a nice guy. Selfish. Humanly faulty. Sometimes I thought he was right, sometimes what happens isn't 'fair' and sometimes the arrogance of his youth is stunning. He does develop. As does the wolf. As does the charming (eventually) King's Fool. The assassin master Chade and the other characters too. No spoilers you can read the story yourself...I like the fact Fitz is not the all powerful magic man who comes through in the end. Though he sort of does. Well he would wouldn't he? He's just a  catalyst - so everyone keeps tellng him.
I don't feel that there is much difference in quality or pace in the three instalments - a criticism sometimes flung at Martin. The criticism seems to be that the ending is a bit short. I can see that but didn't mind that at all. It said what it had to. Did what it had to. I feel the point of the ending was made efficiently. I think people wanted more battle and more magic at the end. Not sure it would have made any difference.
Just one final point. I really enjoyed reading it. That's the point. And as soon as I put it down my son (14) picked it up and charged through it too. There are a few dodgy moments but as I said it's not Game of Thrones -and the language while advanced is accessible. He loves the idea of the Wit and has renamed our pets after the names of the 'witted' animals in the text. He thought Nighteyes wa s especially 'cool' - We are pack he said. I'm not even sure his lips moved.
Give it a go.

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Christmas treats and a preview...

So, Merry Christmas!
I have put a link to my YouTube channel in the weblink bar on the right. There you will find some unboxing posts for a couple of games I got for Christmas - Dreadfleet and Legend Of Drizzt (D&D boardgame). These are added to the Lord of the Rings LCG I put on there last week.
So, also up and coming for the end of this year and 2012 are -

• Warmachine's plastic Cygnar Battlegroup (plus painting posts).
• The Walking Dead up to volume 14.
• Hellboy volume 11 (and BPRD thrown in for good measure).
• A couple of MTG core sets for 2012.
• LA Noire, Portal 2, Skyrim for PS3.
• A Dance With Dragons by George RR Martin
• Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy.

If I ever have a chance to post about all of these - it'll be right here! Happy New Year too!

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Posted in: board games,books,CCG/TCG,graphic novels,Magic:The Gathering,PS3,stuff,Warmachine

Are we nearly there yet? 'A Game of Thrones'... the story so far.

As it happens, I've just finished 'A Feast for Crows' - Book four of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin. The title itself is a tad obscure as I'm not sure it really illuminates the content, though it does hint at it.
Here we have a post-war Westeros. A place for bandits, murderers and rapists. A place of recriminations, changed allegiances and revenge. It is struggling to piece itself together - with an equally disfunctional Cersei as regent Queen, ruling with bitterness and manipulation. The characters find no solace, nor peace, in the aftermath of the devastation that was unleashed. Brienne searches vainly to complete her deluded knightly quest for a Stark child. Jaime, less a sword-arm and changed from the man he was, also seems to seek some kind of salvation - which largely eludes him. Samwell voyages forlornly home in a vague attempt to spread the word of the evil that awaits beyond The Wall in the North. Sisters Arya and Sansa Stark are 'lost' and invisible to the world, appearing to be beyond the clutches of the Lannisters.
Running alongside this are the stories of Dorne and the Iron Islands where ongoing violent struggles for power and rule follow in the vacuum that the war has left. Brother and sister are at each others throats as they too play 'the game of thrones'.
We don't get everyone though, Brandon Stark and Tyrion Lannister are conspicuously absent -  and so too is the narrative of the Dragon Princess Daenerys. This annoys a lot of readers (fans?) - but Martin himself says he couldn't get everything in a single text. This was his way of bringing a narrative coherence to some characters. The narrative for the others will, apparently, come later. I didn't mind this so much. There are plenty of other epic fantasy stories where a long hiatus follows drama. I think Martin does need to reinforce the idea of a place in despair, searching for a new sense of itself. I like the way that we see other parts of the Westeros universe. I do understand that readers find it ponderous and lacking in pace. It does require patience and there is the nagging sense that not much happens in a large amount of text. I forgave it though.  I found out more about Westeros. I think it's interesting that Jamie should see things differently. I think it's eminently sensible that Brienne's quest is a kind of Holy Grail journey without ending, but with plenty of tribulation. Nothing is neat and tidy. No one is exempt form human frailty. It's never easy in this world.
I also agree that the writing isn't as engaging as in other installments and that there are some awkward moments that tenuously hang together. It might be a 'bridging' novel - moving towards a dramatic conclusion in some later book, as some have argued. Nevertheless ,I didn't stop reading. I still wanted to know what was next - and Martin does continue with the violence to main characters - unabated. Roll on 'A Dance with Dragons'.

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A Song of Ice and Fire - Four books in and so a review so far...

Having been extremely encouraged by Book 1: A Game of Thrones, I have embarked on a mini-mission of getting as much of this series read as possible. Consequently I am now on Book 4 : A Feast Of Crows. The others I was able to read here and there while basking in the sun on holiday. Weighty tomes they were too, each running over 600 pages or so.

Book one dragged me in and (I hate this phrase) it was a real 'page-turner'.Though I still have reservations about the ages of some of the characters, especially the female ones (e.g.Daenerys), I can perhaps see that Martin was aiming at something more medieval in tone. Young girls being married off for political and economic expediency and life expectancy being shorter. Even so, I'm not always convinced that he is able to authentically portray the mind of a 'child' - though, to be fair, Arya is convincing in parts, but grows up extermely quickly.
Nevertheless, all have been very readable, which is the important point. I felt that the hugely complex interrelationships between the various different families (or Houses), their squabbles, alliances and betrayals were handled confidently and fluently. It is a big ask to remember all of the connections and I'm not sure if I can accurately tell you who likes/hates who all of the time. The narrative therefore does 'pause' at times to remind the reader of previous events (some with better memories have argued that it's tant amount to repetition). Given that the chapters themselves are relatively short, this does mean that some information can feel a little redundant. This was true for me at times , I have to say, but this may have also been because I was reading all novels in a row and quite quickly.
Overall, I like the narrative structure, with each chapter being seen through the eyes of a different character - and (no spoiler) don't think that just because a character has their own chapter, that they can't come to a very grizzly end! Martin is more than capable of throwing a deathly 'curve ball'.
The descriptions are clear and  the narrative pace well structured and at times completetly engrossing. I enjoyed the journey through all books and the devastation wrought by the characters on each other. The other plus about a series of POV chapters is that you can see the impact of the events of the novel from a variety of perspectves. With a long novel series such as this, it helps.
I think the final thing to say is that according to the Amazon reviewers, the installment I am reading now and the next one (A Dance With Dragons) are less narratively engaging and lead the story in different directions, while bypassing some of the central characters somewhat. That remains to be seen. What I do think is that an undertaking of writing about a world as complex and involved as this is going to have to take different paths as it moves along. I do get that this means it sems to lack a sense of moving towards a definite conclusion. But here I am going to wait and be patient - and write more later...

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This week : A Game of Thrones - the book and some other stuff.

So the other week , for Father's Day as it happens, I got a bit of stuff to play around with. A few more copies of the seriously dark and doomy graphic novel 'The Walking Dead', the last two volumes of the seriously cool Dillon/Ennis series 'Preacher' and a pack o' cards. (A WoW TCG starter deck, just because it wasn't very expensive at about £6. It was a random deck - a Mage set, not that this would normally thrill me, but it's good source of deck building cards for a relative noob like me.) More of all those later.


But I'm going to start with a brief review of the opening of 'A Game of Thrones', the ubiquitous (?) novel by George R. R. Martin. I had already seen the first few episodes of the HBO series. I was impressed. Especially when I compare it now with the Channel 4 version  of sex 'n' swordplay - 'Camelot', which appears to be a bit like the BBC's 'Merlin' for grown ups - if that's not too condescending. Camelot's production values are excellent and Fiennes is fine as a badman Merlin, but it did feel a little tired. We all know the story already , even if they tried a few different slants on the tradititonal views of the tale.
'A Game of Thrones', however, is more complex. In my view more satisfyingly so. I liked having to work out the relationships and their histories, the back stories and past events. Yes, my brain did have to work, but I enjoyed its gritty, cinematic, darkly atmospheric feel. The production values are far better than 'Camelot's' and I have to say - I love HBO. 'The Wire', 'Deadwood', sex, swearing and slaying, oh and more swearing. Ok, that's me ...easily pleased. But the acting is superior, the plot more sophisticated and the characters more fresh and intriguing. They're all badmans, even Ned!

So, to the book. Book One of 'A Song Of Ice And Fire' as it happens. I'm not going to write too much about the story. There's a lot about it all over t'internet already.  A number of families (or houses) vying for power, political leverage and/or royal favour. Illegitimate children, Direwolves, assassination, incest and greed. Great! I was pleasantly surprised, having expected something rather fomulaic, maybe trite or even cliched. I have to confess to being a bit of a Tolkien die-hard at heart, however, I felt that the short chapters, the controlled descriptive sections and the whole world feel engaged me straight away. I will admit that the young ages of the girls did make me cringe a little, given their in-story 'experiences', but having said that, their treatment is consistent with the kind of world Martin is trying to set up. It isn't Middle Earth, it's tough, it's uncomfortable, it's uncompromising. The Dark Ages even. The pace moves swiftly on, when Tolkien would pause for dramatic effect. The reader has to work things out, where Tolkien would either have a character explain, or write an entire historical appendix. Good characters aren't allowed only to make good decisions for justice and truth, they have to make awful ones for survival and political expediency. And  ...  wot no magic? Cool enough.


Now, I've learnt all of this in the first 100 pages, so roll on the next 700.


Phew!

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Posted in: books,graphic novels,wow tcg