fantasy – Alex S. Bradshaw

Translate me once, shame on you; translate me twice, shame on me? – Amusing translation of book blurbs

May 18, 2015

Mark Lawrence recently pointed out that the website plus.deals has for some reason been putting up book blurbs that look to have been put through Google translate more than once… Sure we can understand them but they’re not quite what they should be… I’ve had a look through and picked some to show you: Prince of Thorns … More Translate me once, shame on you; translate me twice, shame on me? – Amusing translation of book blurbs

Review: Fearsome Magics

Sep 4, 2014

I’ve only picked up short story collections relatively recently, I (exceedingly) foolishly thought that they might not be good as a full length novel. This book, Fearsome Magics (edited by Jonathan Strahan), proves I could not have been more wrong. Inside we have stories from Garth Nix, K.J. Parker, Justina Robson, Ellen Klages, Christopher Rowe, … More Review: Fearsome Magics

Review: Emperor of Thorns (Audiobook)

Aug 30, 2014

Once again this was an audiobook but I actually got a signed hardcopy as a gift (awesome gift!) and it turns out the new POV character’s chapters were in a different font, which I thought was really cool! Anyway! As per usual Mark Lawrence does a wonderful job of throwing us right into the action … More Review: Emperor of Thorns (Audiobook)

Book Review: Assail by Ian C Esslemont

Jul 28, 2014

Hopefully I was not alone in my giddy excitement when I saw the title of this book. Assail. All Malazan fans will know the weight that sits on that continent. Throughout Erikson’s series we have seen some of the toughest characters be chewed up and spat out by Assail. And sometimes they even survive. We … More Book Review: Assail by Ian C Esslemont

Review: Shanghai Sparrow

Jun 24, 2014

I genuinely had no idea what I was in for with this book. I thought the cover art was awesome (steampunk dragon? Yes please) so I grabbed it and gave it a twirl, and then when I was done twirling I read it! So what is Shanghai Sparrow? Well to start with it’s written by … More Review: Shanghai Sparrow

Review: The Lost Castle (The Chronicles of Krangor)

May 30, 2014

I love a good fantasy book, and I love dinosaurs. So what’s not to love when you mix them together? That’s why I picked up The Lost Castle the first in a series called The Chronicles of Krangor written by Michael Pryor, which is a fantasy novel where all the characters are dinosaurs of one sort or … More Review: The Lost Castle (The Chronicles of Krangor)

And Now For Something Completely Different! A Real Tale From History

Apr 3, 2014

I love me some history, I love it so much that I studied various kinds of history for pretty much my whole education. I grabbed 2 degrees in Classics and Ancient History (they were mine I promise, I didn’t steal them). One of the things I love about it is all the stories that you … More And Now For Something Completely Different! A Real Tale From History

Red Seas Under Red Skies (The Expected Review…)

Nov 21, 2013

In a recent blog post I hinted (badly) that a friend had mentioned to me that Red Seas Under Red Skies felt like it was just filler. But at the time I hadn’t finished the book so I couldn’t really comment. Well, now I can. First off, let’s deal with what was said about the … More Red Seas Under Red Skies (The Expected Review…)

This Book Ain’t No Sandwich! (On the Subject of Filler)

Nov 13, 2013

This blog post is coming off a comment a friend made to me at a book signing, Specifically that second book in this particular series was a bit of ‘filler’ and it really picked up again in the third and latest book. And that got me thinking. I’ve heard tell of people having that opinion … More This Book Ain’t No Sandwich! (On the Subject of Filler)

My Very Quick Write Up of the WFC2013

Nov 5, 2013

Well then, it’s time for a write up of the World Fantasy Convention. I think it’s important to note at this point that this was my first convention, world or otherwise, that is specifically centered around fantasy, and definitely my first coming at it with a professional interest in the industry and genre. So I’m … More My Very Quick Write Up of the WFC2013