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Post by The Doctor on Mar 8, 2022 22:01:02 GMT
Hadn't tried the Shift comic anthology series so their 2022 yearbook seemed like a good intro. I wasn't that impressed until a certain something happened and then I thought: 'ah ha, yes, that is clever'.
Naturally, the Furman scriptbook was procured too.
-Ralph
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Mar 26, 2022 17:20:16 GMT
I've now read the first few Valerian stories, and am enjoying them immensely. It has the makings of being my favourite science-fiction saga originating as a comic book series (i.e. not based on a pre-existing toy line, novel, movie or TV series). It's impressive in its longevity, and it's colourful, funny and visually spectacular.
There are two recent sci-fi films based on foreign-language comic books that have grown on me with re-watching - 'Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets' and 'Alita: Battle Angel'. But looking at the source material in bookshops, of the two, Valerian is the one that grabs me with its aesthetic and took my money. No regrets so far.
Martin
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Apr 5, 2022 12:22:13 GMT
Ghosts in Things From Gareth Hopkins and his young daughter, he mostly does abstract comics which I thoroughly recommend. This is much more straight forward and enjoyable. Charming and daft. grthink.bigcartel.com/product/ghosts-in-things |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Apr 6, 2022 18:16:29 GMT
Burns also now has a copy and can second my endorsement.
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 7, 2022 8:33:41 GMT
The idea doesn't work as isolated pictures but it suddenly gels when read as a complete work in a book format. The way the images are organised flows very nicely and does add a lot to the humour.
I wasn't sure at first but it won me over after a few pages.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Apr 7, 2022 11:21:31 GMT
Yup, the sequences are well thought out actually, and with a few that flow seamlessly into each other, almost hinting at a narrative but not quite.
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Post by The Doctor on Jul 11, 2022 19:39:10 GMT
The Missing Cryptoqueen by Jamie Bartlett. The book of the BBC podcast. Just as gripping.
Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Night. Non-fiction account of a polar expedition of 1897 in which the crew went increasingly mad. Great stuff.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 15, 2022 13:50:23 GMT
Enticed by a cheap copy in Asdaland with shiny bits on the cover, I am trying to read THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING again.
The fight does not go well.
The multiple introductions about the different versions of the text made me want to jump out the window.
Then some pish about hobbits.
-Ralph
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Post by Pinwig on Sept 15, 2022 20:28:00 GMT
"some pish about hobbits"
Hmm.
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 18, 2022 15:58:38 GMT
It gets a heck of a lot better after the pish about hobbits and more like the fine tale I remember reading when I was 12.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Sept 18, 2022 17:50:49 GMT
Once they get to the Inn in Bree is where it picks up for me.
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 26, 2022 16:13:24 GMT
It does indeed pick up.
It's not exactly great literature though, is it? The prose doesn't exactly sing, there's too much "tell don't show" and too many fucking songs. Hard to take seriously at times when characters randomly burst into song. It's like a Poundland musical.
Tom Bombadil needs to fucking die.
Actually, most of the characters need to fucking die. Stop fucking singing or standing in rooms narrating things you useless fucking bellends. Get fucking on with it. Toss that fucking ring in the fire. Don't talk about it for seven fucking days! Arseholes!
I'm rooting for Sauron.
You could easily strip 200 pages of padding out of it. So much fucking padding. Ow, ow, ow master Frodo oh we be on tha road doin' fuck all again, where are the fucking Dark Rider chaps, begorrah, oh the shire, the shire, let me sing you a song!
It's a decent potboiler and enjoyable enough. Decent tosh, but no more.
Pratchett was a much better writer when it comes to fantasy.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 16, 2023 15:46:09 GMT
I didn't bother revisiting books 2 and 3 of Lord of the Rings after finding book 1 poo. Should have stayed a memory!
Currently reading 'The Body Illustrated' by Bill Bryson. Good golly, this is fascinating stuff.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 17, 2023 15:59:17 GMT
It does get rather depressing in the final few chapters though, concluding Covid is here and we are all fooked.
Jeebus, Bill.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 24, 2023 15:39:16 GMT
ANIMAL VEGETABLE: CRIMINAL (When Nature Breaks the Law) - Mary Roach. Does what it says on the tin, with amusing digressions into deadly beans and when trees kill.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 18, 2023 13:01:37 GMT
Pat Cadigan's novelisation of William Gibson's Alien 3 draft has been read. Easily one of the worst novels I have ever come across. You can tell the source material wasn't that great but the prose is deadly. Reads like a 12-year old wrote it. No, hang on. 12-year olds can write better.
Utterly awful!
Currently reading 'Project Hail Mary' by Andy Weir. It is much better.
-Ralpj
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 23, 2023 14:10:47 GMT
Finally getting round to a novel I bought when it came out in 2018. 'Convenience Store Woman' by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori. Very droll and well observed.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 27, 2023 21:25:53 GMT
Tried to read 'The Midnight Library' by Matt Haig. It's clearly very well written but I had to bail partway through. It's like a deeply depressing Quantum Leap and wasn't good for my head. Not bad but not for me.
-Ralph
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Apr 11, 2023 17:10:03 GMT
I'm reading various things in different places at the mo.
In the office on my lunch break I'm reading 'Sparring Partners' (3 legal novellas) by John Grisham.
In bed I'm reading 'Dr Strange: Nightmare on Bleecker Street' (Marvel Epic Collection).
In the cafe and pub, when I'm not reading the newspaper I'm reading a translation of the Japanese novel 'Bullet Train', on which the recent movie is based.
I've got a few things in the queue to start, including 'The Peripheral' by William Gibson (having enjoyed the recent TV series), and 'Joker Moon' edited by George R.R. Martin.
Martin
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Apr 12, 2023 9:01:56 GMT
Have also added the Fantastic Four Full Circle GN by Alex Ross and The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy robot to the reading pile.
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 13, 2023 12:56:51 GMT
'Non-stop Spider-Man': pretty good! Shame it only got 5 issues.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Apr 15, 2023 9:09:39 GMT
Pat Cadigan's novelisation of William Gibson's Alien 3 draft has been read. Easily one of the worst novels I have ever come across. You can tell the source material wasn't that great but the prose is deadly. Reads like a 12-year old wrote it. No, hang on. 12-year olds can write better. Utterly awful! Currently reading 'Project Hail Mary' by Andy Weir. It is much better. -Ralpj I read the Dark Horse comic adaptation of the Alien 3 script by Gibson. Dreadful. |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Apr 15, 2023 9:10:11 GMT
'Non-stop Spider-Man': pretty good! Shame it only got 5 issues. -Ralph There was a sequel - Savage Spider-Man which continues the story, sadly without Chris Bachalo on art. |
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Post by The Doctor on Jun 10, 2023 8:26:22 GMT
The Lazarus Project - Geoff White. Book about the North Korean hacker group, based on the BBC World Service show. Good.
Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle - Ben McIntyre. Gripping. If you escape, you will be shot!!!
-Ralph
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Post by Pinwig on Jun 10, 2023 12:06:31 GMT
I was thinking of giving Colditz a go. I'll put it on the list then.
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Post by The Doctor on Jun 10, 2023 18:43:26 GMT
Bought a second copy for my dad. Asdaland and Sainsburgeries have it for a fiver.
-Ralph
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Post by Pinwig on Jun 10, 2023 20:15:45 GMT
Do they indeed. Well, alrighty then.
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Post by Pinwig on Jun 11, 2023 8:28:38 GMT
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Post by The Doctor on Jun 11, 2023 9:16:03 GMT
And I have reached the £10 off threshold on my Waterstones Plus card...
*yoink*
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jun 11, 2023 13:08:48 GMT
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