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‘Flies’ – Isaac Asimov

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Page Count: Eight Pages. After working my way through the last couple of hundred pages of ‘Into the Narrowdark’, my next read needed to be something completely different and a change of pace as well. You know where I’m coming from ;o) With that in mind then, I took the jump from epic fantasy, straight into a slice of science fiction that I hadn’t read in almost forty years… (Note to self: Stop thinking about how long it has been since you’ve read certain books, you’ll just upset yourself) Wikipedia very kindly let me know that Isaac Asimov’s short story ‘Flies’ first appeared in the June 1953 issue of ‘Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction’, eventually ending up as part of the Asimov collection ‘Nightfall and Other Stories’. And that’s where I first came across ‘Flies’, poring over the books on my Dad’s shelves. He was cool with me reading a little Asimov and while I got a few short stories under my belt, it was ‘Flies’ that stuck with me and the other day, I figured I was well overd...
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‘Into the Narrowdark’ – Tad Williams (Hodder)

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It struck me yesterday that I’ve been reading (and re-reading) Tad Williams’ ‘Osten Ard’ books for most of my life and while that’s not a bad way for any fan, of fantasy fiction, to spend their time; it has left me feeling rather old now ;o) Not as old as I felt though when I realized that if I was ever going to finish ‘Into the Narrowdark’, I would have to finish it in hardback as the print there is slightly larger… On the one hand dammit but on the other hand, I did feel a little like Father Strangyeard complaining to Deornoth that his sight is failing when there is so much still to be read. I love it when a book grabs you like that and you really identify with a character. That’s just one of the reasons that I go back to this series over and over again. Anyway… This review has been a long time coming and for many reasons that had very little to do with the book itself. And it was really liberating to finally realize that and be able to just kick back and enjoy ‘Into the Narrowdark’....
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Books for the TBR Pile... 'Bloody Finished It!' Edition

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I finally finished 'Into the Narrowdark' on Saturday, the 'Easiest TBR pile' is finally complete :o) And yep, it has taken me since early November to finish off three books but cut me a little slack, it's been a tough few months... And that is why it felt so good to finish off 'Into the Narrowdark', kind of drawing a line under a crappy period. That and the fact that it ended up being a very good read (I mean, I was sure it would be but you never know until you give it a go...) Let me get my head around the book a little more and you'll see a post in the next couple of days. In the meantime... I managed to sort out one health issue last year but one of the tests, coming out of that, highlighted another possible issue which, a few weeks ago, was confirmed as an actual chronic condition and I'm now getting treatment for that. I'm not happy but you know what? It could have been a lot worse :o) My Uncle knows me very well and kindly sent me a book t...
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Good Alligator Movie, Bad Alligator Movie…

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The plan, for today, is still very much to get some reading done. It’s still early(ish), I can do it :o) But I’m also full of cold today so when I finally dragged myself out of bed, I went straight to my favourite chair and turned on the telly to see if anything on my Prime watchlist appealed. You know, something to blow the cobwebs away while I was having breakfast.. You know me, I love a good ‘creature feature’ and sometimes, even a bad one ;o) So when I saw that ‘Alligator’ was on Prime, that was my ‘breakfast telly’ sorted… ‘Alligator’ (1980) A pet baby alligator is flushed down the toilet but survives in the city sewers, growing to an enormous size on a diet of laboratory dogs injected with growth hormones. Twelve years later and sewer workers have begun to go missing. The police are looking for a killer but were not expecting to find anything quite like this… ‘Alligator’ is one of those movies that I’ve always meant to watch but never quite managed to because, well… There so many...
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Reading Plans for the Weekend...

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So I'm on call this weekend, for work, which means that I can't go too far away from the flat, just in case the phone rings. Seriously... The last time I went into town when I was on call, I ended up taking a Major Incident call in the Children's Section of Waterstones Piccadilly; luckily my youngest daughter was having a browse so I got away with it :o) Anyway... I'm not making that mistake again so I've resolved to sit in my living room and read while I wait and see if the phone rings. Here's what I'm planning on reading... With only a hundred and sixty three pages to go, 'Into the Narrowdark' is the priority read and I reckon I might even finish it today :o) It's not a bad book at all, I just haven't had the time or focus to really get into it. I'm hoping that today will be different. And 'Mortis' ? I gave it a few pages the other day and the next thing I knew, I was really into it. If I finish 'Into the Narrowdark' th...
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‘The Hellbound Heart’ – Clive Barker (Fontana)

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Page Count: 128 Pages I never leave it too long between watching ‘Hellraiser’ movies (I actually re-watched the 2022 remake the other day, it’s still a good one) but I always seem to leave it far too long between re-reads of ‘The Hellbound Heart’. It’s a particularly slim book, my edition is anyway, so I guess it is too easy to lose it on the shelf. I came across it again, the other day, and thought to myself that if I don’t read it now, it could literally be years before I come across it again. Plus I was due a bus ride into work, yesterday, and ‘The Hellbound Heart’ is just the right length for a commute so… It came along with me :o) The Doorway to ultimate pleasure. At last, he had solved the puzzle of LeMarchand’s box. He was standing on the threshold of a new world of heightened sensations. In moments, the Cenobites – who had dedicated an eternity to the pursuit of sensuality – would be here. They would reveal dark secrets that would transform him for ever. But with the exquisite ...
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‘The Deacon of Wounds’ – David Annandale (Black Library)

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I’ll be honest, I’m not a hundred percent sure what the page count is here as I was reading ‘The Deacon of Wounds’ as part of of the collection ‘Unholy: Tales of Horror and Woe from the Imperium’. I’m going for a hundred and eighteen pages, in this edition, but I don’t trust my math and that’s all I’ll say about that ;o) I’ve managed to get a few Black Library tales under my belt over the last few months and ‘The Deacon of Wounds’ was a read back in December, one that I’d been looking forward to finally picking up. I couldn’t spring for the hardback, when it first came out, so the ‘Unholy’ collection was a welcome purchase and having already read ‘The Bookkeepers Skull’ , I went straight for ‘The Deacon of Wounds’ and… I’m glad that I finally got to spend some time with it. The planet of Theotokos is dying of thirst. For years, Arch-Deacon Ambrose has done everything in his power to help the people. Charismatic, virtuous, pious, he is as beloved as the corrupt Cardinal Lorenz, who hoar...
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