Book Review: The Colour Of Magic By Terry Pratchett

Posted on 27th May 2018 by 5WC in Book

When I was younger I really didn’t read. Books were a chore, tolerated in school and overlooked outside. They were just pages of words, incomprehensible, a puzzle without a picture, and aside from a few magazines (that related to my passions and hobbies), I could never find a way to pull any enjoyment from the words and stories they contained. My school friends, however, were different. For many, books played an important role in their lives and, at a time when you’re naively trying to press upon each other how cool and intellectual you are, I can clearly remember them going on about how Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody was the best song ever written, and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld saga was the best tale ever told.

But, still, I didn’t read it. Read more

Book Review: Back from the Dead by Nick Kyme

Posted on 19th May 2018 by 5WC in Book

In my mind, Necromunda is a dark and dirty, concrete dystopia. It’s where too many people are forced to exist in too smaller a space. Broken pipes spewing toxic sewage and exposed cabling jerry-wired beyond capacity. Where buildings collapse without warning and gang law turns a blind eye to murder, crime and suffering.

This is the world I want the Tales from the Underhive collection of Necromunda stories to paint; the background I demand each story play out within. It took four stories to reach that requirement, Andy Chambers finally stepping up to the mark with Survival Instinct and thankfully, Nick Kyme has continued to stalk those hallowed and dangerous streets, with Back From The Dead. Read more

Book Review: Black Library Celebrations 2018 Short Stories

Posted on 20th April 2018 by 5WC in Book

When I was younger, and first discovered the dystopian worlds of fantasy and sci-fi created by Games Workshop, the only publishing they did was to print rulebooks, army expansions and a monthly magazine called White Dwarf. The back stories and folklore to the worlds they created, and the races that inhabited them, reserved purely to bulk out these tomes. The idea of delving furthering into the history of the characters, and the battles they rage, in their own standalone novels, yet to see the printer’s press, as it were.

This predating of the start of the Black Library – named after a fabled vault of books within the Warhammer 40,000 universe – seems somewhat scary when you realise that 2018 saw them celebrating their 20th birthday! The passage of time really is a cruel mistress, and to mark the anniversary, along with a branded the bookmark (which I got for buying Brothers of the Snake by Dan Abnett), they had also printed a celebratory collection of short stories, which you were given for simply entering the store! Read more

Book Review: Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton

Posted on 19th April 2018 by 5WC in Book

The book I turned to when I very nearly walked away from ‘Stranger From A Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein’, was ‘Dragon Teeth’ by Michael Crichton. I’d chosen it simply because the cover has the fossilised skull of a dinosaur emblazoned across it. Crichton was, after all, the mind that invented Jurassic Park, and even if I do think the film is far, far better than the book, I will always believe I like his writing as a result, whether truthful or not.

I didn’t get more than 50 words into ‘Dragon Teeth’, however, before I returned to Stranger From A Strange Land, not because Crichton had done anything wrong, but because I’d become so befriended by the previous characters I couldn’t walk away. Finally, though, having forced myself through Heinlein’s polysyllabic speech, I returned to Crichton’s apparent dinosaur story. Keenly awaiting the prehistoric adventures that, I thought, lay ahead. Read more

Book Review: Stranger In A Strange Land By Robert A. Heinlein

Posted on 16th April 2018 by 5WC in Book

Yes, it’s more Sci-Fi! But, I’m no longer in the world of Warhammer turning, instead, to the classic literature of Robert A. Heinlein. Based purely on the suggestion of Google, and their “you may like to read…” algorithm, I picked Stranger From A Strange Land, completely overlooking the fact Heinlein was also the author of Starship Troopers.

Even if I’d remembered Heinlein’s previous offering, it wouldn’t have put me off from beginning read. The issues I found in Starship Troopers are now so diluted by the cult love I hold towards its film adaptation, that I don’t really recall them anymore. But looking back to them now, I wish I’d looked them up, because, while Starship Troopers is flawed, Stranger From A strange Land takes its problems to a whole new level. Read more

Book Review: The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Posted on 7th April 2018 by 5WC in Book

I think it is fair to say, that right now, I am essentially lost in a world of science fiction novels. That when it comes time to pick the next book to read I’m drifting firmly through the futuristic worlds of space. Whether it’s with the Games Workshop created, war-torn dystopia of the Necromunda Underhive, or their infamous Space Marines, I am not spending much time on planet Earth right now.

Don’t get me wrong, there are times when I just reach saturation of all things space and need to feel the pull of gravity, again as it were – hence the curve ball of indulging in The Angry Chef’s debunking of fad diets and pseudoscience in the middle of this alien adventure – but, with my satiety once again in need of satisfying, I was back blasting off into the stars – this time, however, I was leaving the grim darkness of the Warhammer future behind and instead, entering the galaxy as imagined by Becky Chambers.

I came across Chambers purely because Google’s, unimaginative algorithm, saw I’ve been reading a lot of sci-fi and suggested I read some more! Not something you really need to ask me twice about at the moment, especially when the suggested book is only £2.99! Read more

Book Review: Survival Instinct by Andy Chambers

Posted on 31st March 2018 by 5WC in Book

It’s happened! I’ve finally found a Necromunda novel I truly like. There aren’t many named characters in the world of Necromunda, it’s much more about gangs, fighting for survival and territory, under the association of their respective noble houses, but there are one or two outsiders. Characters who stand alone. Arguably the most famous, and certainly the most strikingly notorious, is Mad Donna Ulanti. So legendary is her renown that on the Tales from the Underhive page of The Black Library website, it’s Mad Donna taking the central role in the titular artwork. She was in a story, and I have been longing for it.

I didn’t know, however, which story she would be in and so, was again placing my “reading order trust” purely in the “zip file modification date” system I now employed. Uploading Survival Instinct, the apparent next tale in my journey deeper into the Underhive. As the cover of the book loaded before me, a shiver ran down my spine. There stood Donna. A look of abhorrent disgust in her eyes, her infamous chainsword standing to attention and her trusty Plasma pistol pointing at me, beckoning me inside. Read more

Book Review: Salvation by C.S. Goto

Posted on 29th March 2018 by 5WC in Book

It was with tentative trepidation that, once again, I re-entered the Underhive; continuing my journey through the “Tales of the Underhive” omnibus of Necromunda novels. I had slipped down the slope of expectation with both Outlander by Matt Keefe and Junktion by Matthew Farrer and, therefore, taken some time away, to cleanse my mind of the disappointment it had felt, before stepping back in.

I think the reason I’ve been so disappointed, however, is entirely due to the image of Necromunda I hold in my head. A few days ago, I was discussing the age-old argument of “book versus film”, saying that I was worried about the upcoming release of Ready Player One onto the big screen. It is arguably the best book I’ve ever read, but worryingly, the film trailer is leaving me very cold. I’m fearful of what’s to come and I think I’m now having the same problem with these stories. I want the world I picture, not the world as interpreted by others, and it’s clouding my expectations and enjoyment as a result. Read more

Book Review: Brothers Of The Snake By Dan Abnett

Posted on 23rd March 2018 by 5WC in Book

I don’t know if I should admit to the fact that I only bought this book because it was (relatively) cheap! Games Workshop’s publishing arm – The Black Library – was celebrating it’s 20th birthday and my local store was having a party (I even baked a cake). Lots of hard to find books were back on the shelves (well a huge pile by the till) and special promotional goodies were on offer. Simply turn up and get a free book of short stories; go further and actually buy a book and get a branded bookmark as well. Read more

Book Review: Junktion By Matthew Farrer

Posted on 26th February 2018 by 5WC in Book

Having re-entered the world of Necromunda through, apparently, the wrong door with Outlander by Matt Keefe and, with over half a dozen other stories still waiting in line, I thought I really should find some sort of correct order. Google turned up nothing, an email to the Black Library customer service was little help either but, I realised, the zip file the omnibus downloads as had differing modification dates for each title and, while based on no actual truth or logic, it was all I had to go on. So, with that as my guide, I turned to the oldest modified book: Junktion by Matthew Farrer and started reading.

Instantly, I was taken away from the expansive sand dunes that had plagued my enjoyment of Outlander and instead, placed into a shanty town of corrugated metal and rationed utilities which again, didn’t quite live up to the mental image of the tough underground world I so desperately wanted, but it was much, much closer than I’d previously found. Read more

1 2   Next »