Lord Samper's Library

What makes a 'Library Classic' on this blog? Genre classics are one thing but here, a 'Library Classic' is something a little different. We're talking books and movies that are important to their sub-genre (in one way or another) but are also important to me personally. Those books and films that came along, at a particular time, and resonated with me. Books like 'Dead City'... It was back in 2006 that I really started to get into zombie fiction, discovering through Brian Keene's work that there was more to it than just the 'Walking Dead' comic. I wanted more though and didn't have to look far my next read. Seriously, I didn't have to look far at all; the books in Forbidden Planet are arranged alphabetically (because of course they are) and 'M' isn't all that far away from 'K'... I'm a sucker for a good blurb so 'Dead City' came home with me and I was hooked from the first page. We'll go into it more,

Just a quick post today; mostly because today has been one of those days (and the forecast says that tomorrow looks like being one of those days as well...) but also, well... Let me tell you about 'The Dark'... It came like a malignant shadow with seductive promises of power. And somewhere in the night . . . a small girl smiled as her mother burned... Asylum inmates slaughtered their attendants... In slimy tunnels once-human creatures gathered. Madness raged as the lights began to fade and humanity was attacked by an ancient, unstoppable evil... It wasn't so long ago that I got ahead of my reading and had a little stockpile of books to get me through those times when I was in the middle of another book and wanted to post something. They were good times :o) As these things do, that pile of books grew smaller but there was always one book that never made it off the pile and onto the blog. And that book was... you guessed it. Today though... Today is the day that 'The

I know it sounds really obvious but I've only recently found that the best way to head off a reading slump is to pick up something completely different, to my normal fare, and give that a go instead. To that end, I've got a small pile of books that are set to one side, just for that very purpose; an emergency TBR pile if you will ;o) I hit a little slump just recently, work is going ok but it has got on top of me a bit, so knew that it was time to read something a little different. Bruno Rossi's 'Headcrusher' was a surprisingly fun read, last year, so I thought I'd revisit the 'uber-violent' world of Johnny Rock and his ongoing mission to kill 'Mafia Bastards', see what happened next (or 'happened before', turns out that I'm reading these books out of order...) 'Muzzle Blast' was, well... a bit of a disappointment actually. The Sharpshooter headed for Cape Cod looking for trouble. He found almost more than he could handle. A

'With Teeth' has been available for pre-order for a few days now so I think I'm good to post the cover art and go on about how great it is :o) Here goes... For a group of middle-aged friends, the trip into the forest was supposed to be simple.  All they had to do was find a place to set up their criminal enterprise, and all of their financial problems would be solved.  But now, night is falling, and with the darkness comes something else.  Something fast.  Something ferocious.  Something...with TEETH! Now, I'm a huge Brian Keene fan so I'd buy 'With Teeth' if the cover art was the Count from Sesame Street. Luckily, I don't have to :o) I'm also a big fan of cover art that isn't ashamed to match what's inside the book and that is exactly what we get here. The 'With Teeth' cover is very much 'by horror fans, for horror fans' and I love that, even while I'm wondering whether our redneck vampire has a gigantic mouth in his sto

It’s been ages since I looked at some classic ‘Doctor Who’ (a quick look tells me it was back in September, last year, with ‘The Talons of Weng Chiang’) so I figured that now was probably the best time to do something about that. That and the fact that I was in CEX, the other day, and saw a couple of ‘Doctor Who’ DVDs that I fancied watching ;o) ‘Claws of Axos’ was one of them… I’ve said it here before, I know, but the ‘Doctor Who’ Target novelisations were an absolute lifeline to me as a kid. It’s hard to believe now (unless you were there and saying that makes me feel really old now…) but if you had the misfortune to be born in the middle of the seventies, well… You’d already missed three whole Doctors already (I started watching with Tom Baker, only for his time on the show to finish only a few stories later) and it would be a few years yet before the BBC started releasing old stories on video. What was a tiny ‘Doctor Who’ fan, like me, to do in the meantime? Simple, read every si

Okay... I didn't get carried away in a 'lets buy all the books' kind of way (believe it or not, I'm trying to tone it down a little bit) but I did get carried away in a 'it's sunny and I'm out, I just want to buy some books' kind of way. I'll bet I'm not the only one either. Hands up anyone who has been into a bookshop, over the last week or so, and bought a book or two, or more? I thought so ;o) It's just nice to be able to go to an actual bookshop again, isn't it? Of course it is although I really need to finish off some of the 'lockdown' books that I've bought over the last year... So with that in mind then, I'm hoping that you'll understand why this isn't the first time a couple of these books have featured in a post like this... My ex-wife, and the girls, went to Columbia Road Market for the amazing looking flowers that they have on sale there. I trailed after them as I remembered a cool little bookshop hidden

'The Head Hunter' was one of those movies that I've been meaning to watch, for what seems like forever, but never seemed to get round to. And I really don't know why because on the face of it, it looked like just my kind of movie, a medieval fantasy with loads of monsters in it. I got paid, a few days ago, and realised that I had no excuse to put it off any longer, especially when the DVD was only £l.50 (or something like that). Even then, it still took me until earlier today to finally watch it... 'The Head Hunter' ended up being just the film that I was after, but not the one that I was expecting. I'll try and explain myself... On the outskirts of a kingdom, in the shadows of a looming castle, a quiet but fierce medieval warrior protects the realm from monsters. The gruesome collection of trophy heads on the wall of his cabin is missing only one the monster that killed his daughter. He travels wild expanses on horseback, driven by a thirst for revenge. W

And that's that, another Marvel Series over and I'm sat here waiting for the next series to kick off (which I think is 'Loki' but I might be wrong, can anyone help a Graeme out?). 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' started off as a bit of a slow-burner for me (I even managed to forget an episode one week) but swiftly became pretty much essential viewing for a Friday. And now it's done, where did the last six weeks go...? Today saw me watch 'One World, One People' twice, just to try and take it all in; there is a lot to tie up in one episode and there is a lot happening because of this. I'll tell you what I thought in just a minute. Right now, I'll tell you that this post is probably going to contain more than a few spoilers so if you haven't seen this episode yet, you'll want to bear that in mind. For the rest of you, lets take a look at 'One World, One People'... Everything has all built up to Karli Morgenthau taking down

No, not the whole book; just the short story of the same name. Nothing against ‘Sojan the Swordsman’ (which I may look at another time) or Catharz (just a little bit embarrassed that I didn’t get all the little jokes last time I read it); they’re cool but they’re not Elric. And I’ve already reviewed ‘The Last Enchantment’ ( over Here if you’re interested). Nope, we’re all about Elric’s adventures at the End of Time today albeit in a slightly shorter post than normal, the story is only a very slender fifty three pages long. I’m using the Grafton edition as this was the first ‘Elric’ book that I picked up all those years ago in my first year at high school, which I think makes ‘Elric at the End of Time’ the second ‘Elric’ story that I read after ‘The Last Enchantment’. Wikipedia told me that this story is next, in the reading order, and I’m never one to argue with Wikipedia so here we are. But enough of me leaving these not very subtle notes to myself in the event that my memory goes

Welcome once again to the world's slowest 'Elric' re-read! All those other blogs that say they're taking their time over their 'Elric' re-reads...? They're just amateurs... I started reading back in May last year and I've only covered two books and a short story... ;o) Way, way back in the day, I used to be all 'blog first and work second'; I really can't afford to be like that anymore so had to switch the priorities around. At least this way I get paid regularly... Actually, that reading speed is pretty bad though... Luckily, I finished 'The Sailor on the Seas of Fate' the other day so all is not lost yet. As a little aside, I'm finding it easier going reading the single books instead of feeling really guilty that I'm not getting through the longer works with all their collected essays and so on. Where I can, that's how I will be reading the rest of the series but I'm getting ahead of myself again. Lets talk about E

Unfortunately, Guy N. Smith is no longer with us but the books he was working on (just before his passing) will be in the near future. Books like 'Satanic Armageddon', a 'pulp title' with some gloriously pulp cover art to go with it. Check it out... Just look at that, totally encapsulates what Smith's thriller and horror writing is all about. I've been debating over whether I pre-order or not and I probably will, actually of course I will (more than likely after I post this). There are a couple more books to come (the short story collection, 'From the Dark Hours' and a collaboration with J.R. Park, 'Beheaded') and then that's it, I think this book is worth having as a physical copy. The blurb is below but be warned, if you're planning on reading 'The Black Fedora' for the first time then I'd skip reading this blurb if I were you... The forces of evil, led by Satan's disciple, were massing worldwide to overthrow democracy.

Children are creepy and I should know, I've got two who are more than happy to get in touch with their dark side. I don't live with them but apparently, the other morning saw my youngest sneak into her sister's room so that when she woke up, the first thing she'd see would be her little sister stood by right by her, just staring... So yes, little children are nasty, creepy little creatures whose natural habitat is the horror book or film; which leads me onto 'Sour Candy' by Kealan Patrick Burke. Now here is an author that I always mean to read more of but never quite seem to get round to it. Amazon threw me this title, the other day, and I thought I'd give it a shot. And I'm really glad that I did. At first glance, Phil Pendleton and his son Adam are just an ordinary father and son, no different from any other. They take walks in the park together, visit county fairs, museums, and zoos, and eat together overlooking the lake. Some might say the father i

I'll happily admit that most of what I read and watch is totally geared towards me being able to escape from real life for a few minutes here and there. Anything too realistic and I tend not to bother because if I want real life... well, I'll just put my book down and go and live it ;o) With that in mind then, 'The Owners' isn't the kind of film that I'd normally pick out to watch on a Sunday evening. 'Home invasions gone wrong' fall very much into the 'a little too real for me' camp, especially with some of the people that I see on my street... But I did end up watching 'The Owners' last night, so what happened? I'll tell you what it was, it was the chance to see Sylvester McCoy in a role that wasn't Doctor Who. McCoy was a very underrated Doctor, in my opinion, and I wanted to see if he brought any of that slightly off-key darkness to this role. And he did, he really did... 'The Owners' isn't an easy film to watch b

It's not just eBooks that I've been buying... ;o) I know the shops have been open for about a week but I only got paid on Friday so yesterday was the day when I went just a tiny little bit crazy with the book shopping. And it's back in the charity shops and market stalls for me; my oldest daughter turns eleven in a couple of weeks (and where did all that time go...?) so I've got to try and save a little money for the party; not quite sure what that will look like, what with everything, but we'll see... You're not here for that though, lets take a look at the books that came home with me yesterday... Okay, I did buy a couple of books off Amazon... I'm trying to re-collect all the Dark Horse 'Conan' stories and in a slightly ironic twist, I'm doing it by picking up the Marvel reissues :o) Seriously though, picking up the Dark Horse editions, these days, is way beyond my wallet. 'Return to Cimmeria' is one I've been wanting to pick up fo

Every so often, I remember that I've got a Kindle... It's easier to forget than you'd think, especially when you take into account the sheer volume of physical books in my (very small) flat; a Kindle can easily get lost in all that ;o) And then every so often, I come across it and either read something off it (out of guilt, most days...) or, more likely, buy more books to put on it. And then I promptly forget about it all over again... Not today though! I was paid yesterday so treated myself to some books  that I've had my eye on for a bit. I'm hoping that if I post something about them here, it will help me to remember to pick up the ol' Kindle, in the next couple of days or weeks, and actually read them. They all look really interesting so I don't want to leave them too long. Check out 'Sour Candy', 'Juniper' and 'The Gulp'... At first glance, Phil Pendleton and his son Adam are just an ordinary father and son, no different from any

I can't quite believe that there's only one more episode to go now... where did the last five weeks go? It's gone so quickly and 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' has got so good so quickly that I really don't want it to end now. 'All good things' though and it's not like there won't be another cool MCU show hot on the heels of this one (I'm looking at you 'Loki'...) So here we are for a shorter than usual (it's been a long week and I drunk too much cider earlier) look at 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'. I'll be honest, there's more than likely going to be spoilers in this post so if you haven't seen 'Truth' yet then you may want to consider watching it first. This post will still be here when you get back ;o) For everyone else... What I loved most about 'Truth' is that the big fight, and all the shouting afterwards, is dealt with first like it's no big thing. Don't get me wrong,

It feels like whenever I look on Prime (which is far too often but that's another story...) there's another new episode of 'Creepshow', all bright and shiny and ready to be watched. And that's always cool, don't get me wrong, but I'd love it even more if I could pin down the exact day that a new episode drops. What I like to do is give myself little things to look forward to in the week; like a new episode of 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' for example, that's my 'Friday Treat' :o) If I knew when to expect a new episode of 'Creepshow', that would be another day where I could reward myself for making it through. Oh well, it's not the worst problem in the world to have :o) Lets get down to business. I've enjoyed what I've seen of Season 2, so far, but for me, the show hasn't quite hit the heights that Season 1 did. Nothing so bad that it would stop me watching (me and horror anthologies, right?) but just a naggi

I know, I really should be reading these in some kind of order ('Wolfsbane' comes before 'Titandeath' which I have reviewed already )... I just keep telling myself that it's ok, it's not like the 'Horus Heresy' is a story where the ending is a big secret, it's well known what happens next ;o) Reading these books is just filling the gaps in really and I'm filling those gaps in wherever I can. There's also the fact that I finally decided to do something about the TBR Pile under the bed, a few weeks ago, and that's where 'Wolfsbane' was hiding. As soon as I found it, I knew that I had to get it read. But above all, 'Wolfsbane' promised a fight between two of the mightiest Primarchs and even though I knew roughly how it had to end (see Point 1), I still wanted to see Horus and Leman Russ throw down. So I did and that bit was worth it. The rest of it though... I'm half and half. The time has come for Leman Russ, primarch

When I first started high school, we had ‘library lessons’ (I can’t believe that was actually a thing, did they seriously think we needed to learn how to use a library?) in the community library, which was part of the school building. Honestly, I was like a pig in, well… you know… as I walked in for the first time; I could actually feel my reading horizons broaden as I saw shelves upon shelves of new books to read. It was pretty ironic then that as the rest of the class went over to the kid’s section (what would probably be ‘Young Adult’ these days) I went straight to the adult sci-fi shelves and got stuck in ;o) Having said that though… The ‘War Fiction’ shelves were next to the sci-fi/fantasy and that is where I discovered Sven Hassel for the first time. Having been brought up on a diet of war films (amongst all the other stuff), I remember it feeling really different seeing books where the WW2 German army was the main focus of the plot; that and the covers were the kind of brutal