Lord Samper's Library

Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm halfway towards becoming vaccinated against Covid (I even have the little 'brave boy' sticker to prove it), just need to wait between three and twelve weeks for the next dose and then I'm done :o) I'm hoping that I'm preaching to the converted here but if you're asked to make an appointment for your vaccination, just do it. It's protecting you and people around you so it makes much more sense to get it done than not. But anyway, books. It's been a quiet week for books this week, mostly because I'm trying to concentrate on my TBR pile (which is too big now, it really is) but also because I'm trying to save a little money this month (not for anything specific, just to see what it feels like...) Books have been showing up though and the theme of the week is definitely 'Zombies'. Let me show you,   I have a copy of 'The Rising' on Kindle (which is the definitive version) but really wanted one ...

 Today ended up being one of those days where you don't even get out of bed until a lot later one, you just lie there and watch movies all day long... :o) I've got a habit of going into Poundland for one thing (Scampi & Lemon Fries) and coming out with DVDs where I've looked at them and said to myself, 'ooh, it's only a pound...' Today seemed like the best day then to try and make a bit of a dent in the DVD pile with a couple of movies that I knew wouldn't be great, one movie that I was hoping would be great (but wasn't, not really) and one movie that I'd never seen before and ended up being absolutely brilliant. See if you can tell which one was which... 'Alien Resurrection' (1997) Okay, that gave the game away a little too early on in proceedings ;o) It's not a great film though, is it? There's a little bit of tension at the beginning (just to remind us what it could be like if the film was good) but then it becomes a movie wher...

 I feel like I've been waiting on this movie for years (and funnily enough, I think 'Army of the Dead' has had it's ups and downs through development etc...) and now I've only got to wait a few more months, and sort myself out with Netflix. This trailer will keep me ticking over for a bit and there will be other trailers I'd imagine. It's a great time to be me ;o) The 2004 'Dawn of the Dead' is my favourite zombie film ever (despite heavy competition from 'Day of the Dead' and the 1990 'Night of the Living Dead' remake) and I can't wait to get back into that universe. And is that a zombie Elvis? Of course it is :o) 'Army of the Dead' will be released, on Netflix, on the 21st of May 2021.

I can't believe there's only one week left of 'WandaVision' and then it's done. How can one week at work just drag on forever but the last eight weeks of 'WandaVision' feels like it has flown by? Oh well, here we are again and facing just seven more days until we find out how it ends. I've got a couple of ideas but I'm going to wait until the end of this post before I share them. There's a whole episode to talk about first. But before we do, a little warning... Normally, I try to avoid spoilers but I suspect a few might just creep in here. We're at the point of the series now where they're almost impossible to avoid, especially with what's on the horizon. That's you told anyway, if you haven't watched this week's episode, you might want to do just that before you read the rest of this post... It turns out that we're not the only people with questions about what Wanda has done to Westview, and how... Agatha has a few...

Thanks to everyone who voted on Twitter, yesterday afternoon, and had me watching ‘Logan’s Run’ in the evening. I had no idea which movie to watch first so thanks for making that decision for me ;o) As it was, ‘Logan’s Run’ was the only film (of the four) that I’d seen but it had been over twenty years since the last viewing so it was kind of like watching it for the first time… I have really vague memories of watching ‘Logan’s Run’ as a kid, mostly around the bit where Logan and Jessica meet the old man, so was interested in getting reacquainted with the rest of the film and seeing how well it has held up over time. The answer to that is, well… I’m still trying to get my head round it a little bit. Before we continue, I’m writing this on the assumption that as the movie is so old now (almost as old as I am), most of you have probably seen it. Therefore, I’m not going to be avoiding spoilers. There, that’s you warned ;o) And now, on with the post… The year is 2274 and the remn...

I was going to read some other stuff first but I really got into the tale of Corporal Cully, in 'Blood Sacrifice' , and wanted to see where it all began. So I did :o) This of course means that over the last couple of days, I have managed to take a duology and read it in entirely the wrong order... I'm not even surprised at myself as this type of behaviour is turning out to be par for the course this week. I would promise not to do it again but there are two 'Sharpshooter' books, on the shelf, that are daring me to even try and work out where they sit in a series that I haven't managed to collect yet. Oh well... But back to 'Baphomet by Night'; a tale that also stands very well on its own (even if you read it after its sequel...) and invites you to read the next tale rather than ending on a cliffhanger and demanding that you keep going. If you're anything like me you'll keep going but even if you don't, 'Baphomet by Night' is a nasty...

I've pretty much got over my 'Warhammer Horror is just the same as regular Warhammer fiction, isn't it so what's the point?' phase... Well almost ;o) I still have my moments but these days, I'm more about just enjoying it for what it is and having fun getting just a little scared. Because there is some creepy stuff happening in the darker corners of the Warhammer 40K universe, and in hospitals too if 'Blood Sacrifice' is anything to go by. 'Blood Sacrifice' continues a story begun in 'Baphomet by Night', also by Peter McLean and a story that I totally neglected to read before getting into 'Blood Sacrifice'. I've got a soft spot for 'hospital horror' and my money wouldn't quite stretch to both tales, you know how it is. If you find yourself in a similar spot, the good news is that 'Blood Sacrifice' is a relatively self contained tale that stands very well by itself, with little hints of 'what came befor...

 I saw this featured on Tor.com and it's too good not to blog about here, both for the cover art and the concept... A junior anthropologist on a distant planet must help the locals he has sworn to study to save a planet from an unbeatable foe. Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way. But a demon is terrorizing the land, and now she’s an adult (albeit barely) and although she still gets in the way, she understands that the only way to save her people is to invoke the pact between her family and the Elder sorcerer who has inhabited the local tower for as long as her people have lived here (though none in living memory has approached it). But Elder Nyr isn’t a sorcerer, and he is forbidden to help, for his knowledge of science tells him the threat cannot possibly be a demon… I love this cover and the way it starts all fantasy at the bottom but turns into something completely different by the time you get to the top of the book. And it's al...

I first came across Celtic barbarian hero Slaine at a newsagents in the nicer end of Ipswich. And that would have been amazing if it had happened the way I (deliberately) wrote it but he was in a comic of course, one of those American editions that repackage old British stories. Ukko the Dwarf lost himself in a bet and Slaine had to win him back, which he did. It was a little hint, even then, that comics could do a lot more than retell old war stories (I'm looking at you 'Victor' comic) which is fine in its place but I was after something different and 'Slaine' gave me that. That first meeting was back in the mid to late eighties and it wasn't until 1992 that I met up with Slaine again. This time round, a good mate of mine lent me 'The Horned God' to read while I waited for my GCSE results to turn up. It was a good summer, both for the GCSE results and because I got to read 'The Horned God' for the first time. We pick up little influences on our...

 After four and a bit weeks of waiting, it's payday once again and I'm riding the resulting wave of good feelings and, at the same time, trying not to make all the spending mistakes that I made last month. I'm half succeeding :o) While all of that is going on, I've finally managed to get back into 'The Fortress of the Pearl' so am reading it, like a mad thing, while the going's good. Strangely enough, there's a lot more to 'The Fortress of the Pearl', than there was 'Elric of Melnibone', but it's actually easier to read. I'm not complaining, it's nice to be able to read something without putting it down after a few pages... What are you reading at the moment? And so, onto this weeks 'TBR' books. A book request and some payday treats... I've heard good things about 'Cold From The North' (thanks Twitter) so took advantage of an author giveaway to see for myself. 'Elric' is the priority read right now ...

I wouldn't say that I've watched every zombie film ever made but I'm trying my hardest... ;o) What I would say is that I've seen enough zombie films to know that I'm after something a little different now which may seem a little odd (seeing as zombies are, well... zombies) but that's where I am with it. I've got no idea what 'a little different' actually means but I'll know it when I see it. And I certainly did when I saw 'Fido'. 'Fido' is one of those films that has consistently flown under my radar for several years now, more than likely because I'm probably the only person who doesn't find Billy Connolly's stuff that funny (there, I said it). It's a zombie film though so when Twitter suggested that I give it a go (thanks @oretinker), of course I did. When the Earth passes through a mysterious cloud of space dust, the massed ranks of the dead arise from their graves with a craving for human flesh. Just when it ...

Is it just me or does it feel like there's always so long to wait until the next episode of 'WandaVision' but when you get there, you can't quite get your head round the fact that we've had seven episodes now and there's only two weeks left of the series? Just me? Oh well, at least 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' and 'Loki' aren't too far away. But those are series for another day and for other blog posts; we're all about 'WandaVision' right now and it's about to get all cliff-hangery... Or is it? It's another good episode but I was left feeling just a little non-plussed here. That song though... As always, I'll try and avoid spoilers for this episode but anything prior to that is now fair game. If you're not all caught up then, you might want to go and do that first. In the meantime... Things are starting to break down in Westview, literally right before Wanda's eyes. Could the answer have been right in ...

Now that I've gone and dug my copy of 'The Emperor of Dreams' out of a pile of books, I think you'll be seeing a few more short stories featuring here in the future (and now). And because it worked so well, for me anyway, last week, all future reads will be chosen by opening the book at a random page. This week's 'Random Page Opening' takes us on a nine page trip to Hyperborea and a money lender who is more of a 'money keeper', for all the good that does him... There's a guy who begs on Lewisham High Street and we have an understanding. If I have a decent amount of change on me then he's welcome to it. If I don't then no worries, we'll have a chat for a bit then get on with our business. Avoosl Wuthoqquan (and it's no good, I'm copying and pasting that name for the rest of this post...) would have done well to follow my lead. Instead, not only does Avoosl refuse to give the beggar any money at all (having had his dreams of ma...

Shamelessly erm... 'borrowed' from those nice people at Tor.com ...  I'm up to my ears in work, and looking for lost keys, today so while I've never read anything by Cameron Johnston (don't take it personally, there are so many authors that I haven't read anything of...), I thought I'd share the cover anyway as it brought a little colour into a drab afternoon. Okay, a lot of colour. Check it out... When you are all out of heroes, all that’s left are the villains. Black Herran was a dread demonologist, and the most ruthless general in all Essoran. She assembled the six most fearsome warriors to captain her armies: a necromancer, a vampire lord, a demigod, an orcish warleader, a pirate queen, and a twisted alchemist. Together they brought the whole continent to its knees… Until the day she abandoned her army, on the eve of total victory. 40 years later, she must bring her former captains back together for one final stand, in the small town of Tarnbrooke—the l...

This movie has been sat in my 'TBW Pile' ('To Be Watched' of course...), waiting for a night when I was really after something dumb but fun, something undemanding, something with Peter Cushing in it that wasn't 'Star Wars' or 'Doctor Who'. And last night was that night; work and moving furniture around left me in need of all of the above. You've probably guessed by now that this isn't a first viewing for me, not by a long shot. When I was much younger, I went through at least a couple of summer holidays where this movie featured heavily on the old VCR and I enjoyed every outlandish minute of it (remember what I said about 'Hawk the Slayer' yesterday...?) I never read the book though, I've never been able to get into Burroughs' work but that's another story... 'At the Earth's Core', the movie, though? I can always get into that, mostly because it's utterly ridiculous... When eccentric Victorian scientist ...

I don't know at what point this went from a little nostalgia buzz to watching as many eighties 'Sword and Sorcery' films as I can... but here we are :o) I don't know how often it will be but definitely be prepared for more of these posts in the future (more than likely dependent on paydays, Amazon delivery times and whether or not I'm feeling it with whatever I'm reading). While 'Krull' is a film that I always forget I've seen (until I watch it again), 'Hawk the Slayer' is exactly the opposite; a film that I was sure I'd seen before... Until I watched it last night and realised that I was watching it for the first time. Turns out that I'd confused it with 'The Sword and the Sorcerer', which is weird seeing as I've never seen that film either... Confused? It seems like I was for most of the eighties... But anyway, 'Hawk the Slayer'... A film that ended up being pretty underwhelming (apart from Jack Palance)... H...

I'm trying to act all cool about it but I can't get into any of my books right now and it is doing my head in more and more. You know that feeling you get when you live in a flat that is literally full of books and you can't settle down with a single one of them? That's all me right now. What is a Graeme to do then? Well, I thought I'd go and look for my next read somewhere different to where I'd normally look, see what happened next. 'What happened next' was my coming across a tweet from Lawrence Harding, thinking to myself that 'The Wyrms of Kakhun' sounded like an intriguing title and finally, buying a copy from Harding's Ko-Fi page. I'm very glad that I did, let me tell you why. The Bordermasters are the last line of defence for mankind against the horrors that dwell beyond the Plateau. They are the last sanctioned users of magic in a world magic all but destroyed. Teilo Jatari wishes nothing more than to join their ranks - but can...

I mean, I could say why but I think that blog title stands by itself just fine, don't you...? ;o) Lets just say that it will be a long time before my daughter lets me have a go on her DS... Anyway, hi and how's it going? How was your weekend? I'm wondering where mine went to be honest. It only seems like a little while ago that I was turning my work laptop off with a sigh of relief and now I'm looking at turning it back on again in a few hours. Oh well, five days until the next weekend... Reading wise, things are as slow as ever but I'm starting to make a little headway with 'Call of the Boneships' which, from what I've read so far, is at least as good as it's predecessor. I need to find a little more time in the day to get some quality reading done and really get stuck into the plot. I've got a few books that are finished, and waiting for a review, but they're all much older works. I'm not too concerned about being 'current' (the...

This week wasn't the best one for reading but was still better than the last couple of weeks. One slim book and a short story is better than no reading at all ;o) In between that and being flat out with work, I did watch a few films as well. Of course I did, my Prime subscription needs to start earning a living! So here are some quick thoughts on what I watched. Some thoughts are much quicker than others as you will see... 'Triassic World' (2018) Because what better way to let your brain take some time out than to watch an Asylum Movie... In a top secret laboratory a team of scientists are experimenting with dinosaurs, turning them into perfect creatures in order to use them to grow human organs for transplants. But in doing so, they have made the ferocious creatures indestructible! When the dinosaurs escape their cages the scientists are left fighting for their lives. The thing about Asylum movies is that as fun as they are, you'll find very quickly that you...