Lord Samper's Library

When I saw 'Full Circle' for the first time (as a five year old) the marsh men freaked me right out and thinking about it, I suspect that this was why the next 'Doctor Who' story I saw was 'Warrior's Gate' and not 'State of Decay'. It's been a long time coming but now I have the 'E-Space' box set, I thought I'd see what I'd missed out all those years ago... Searching for a way out of E-Space, the Doctor and Romana (along with a hidden stowaway) land on an Earth-like planet. Here the people live in fear of 'the Three who Rule'; cruel lords who live in a high tower overlooking their village. Suppressing all learning to keep their subjects ignorant and helpless, what chilling secret are these ruthless monarchs concealing? An ancient evil is rising once again and only the Doctor and Romana can destroy it. After the gloriously atmospheric yet strangely fragmented 'Full Circle', I found that 'State of Decay' wa...

Yesterday was not a day for blogging... My ex-partner had her first vaccine jab, on Friday, and it knocked her right out, for most of Saturday, so I took the kids for the day (which is always awesome and better than blogging, just a real shame that it was because my ex-partner was feeling rough, hopefully she'll be feeling better today). So yeah, absolutely not a day for blogging then but definitely a day for blowing bubbles, playing 'I Spy' and hanging out watching the first 'Hobbit' movie, If you were wondering at all, yesterday was probably going to involve a 'Doctor Who' post but it's not like I can't do that any other time instead ;o) But you're here for the books, aren't you? This week ended up being full of new books for the TBR Pile, one of those weeks where everything just falls into place while you're out on the hunt. Amazon did me a few favours here but the really cool stuff came from a quick stop at 'Any Amount of Books...

This is going to be a quick post, I'm afraid. Today totally didn't go the way I was expecting (not a bad thing, to be fair) and now it's almost over. So yeah, let's see what I can do in the next hour... It didn't feel that long since I'd last read a new 'Conan' comic but a little look back at the blog proved otherwise with my having read 'The Life and Death of Conan: Book 2' a year and a bit ago . It wasn't a bad read (it was a great read in fact) but I wasn't up for reading any of the other 'Conan' books, out at the time, so I thought I'd give it a break and come back to the series when I was more in the mood. That time came a few days ago (funnily enough, at exactly the same time as payday) when I saw 'Into the Crucible' on Amazon and thought I'd give it a go... Unfamiliar ground! Conan has faced many foes since leaving Cimmeria, but the greatest challenge lies ahead — in the mystical Uttara Kuru, farther on th...

I'm trying to stick to to some kind of 'TBR Pile Order', these days, as I've found that adding a little structure to my reading helps me to stick with it and get more books read. There's only so much time in the day, you've got to use it wisely... There are some writers though where any new book of theirs will jump straight to the front of the queue and throw the rest of my reading order into total disarray. Don't look at me like that, you're exactly the same and you know it. One of the joys of having favourite authors is that excitement you get when a new book comes out and you absolutely have to read it that very second.  Brian Keene is a favourite author of mine (so do bear that in mind as you read on) and 'With Teeth' was the book that I had to read straight away. And so I did, it was brilliant. 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 crimin...

Once again, it’s another instalment in the ongoing series where I try and make my way through all the old sci-fi films that I’ve never watched but have been assured are classics of the genre. Are they though? Are they really…? Well, that what these posts are for :o)  I’m as guilty as the next person of getting all enthusiastic over my favourite books and films but when you’re faced with something that has built up that reputation over a number of years, you can’t help but go into it thinking that the hype has to be justified on one level or another. That was certainly the case here with ‘Soylent Green’, a film that I’ve never seen but already knew the ending because of how it has ended up as a great example of ‘a twist in the tale’ (in popular culture). And that reminds me, I’m going to try and not be too spoilery here but am working on the fairly reasonable assumption that I’m the last person to see this film (I usually am) and that everyone already knows the big reveal at the e...

In the interests of full disclosure, I was offered the chance of reading 'Old Norse for Modern Times' in return for a fair and honest review. My reading has been headed down a Viking influenced path, just recently, so of course I said yes. I would have said yes in Norse but I hadn't read the book, at that point, so had to settle for saying it in plain old English (which does the job but Old Norse is much better, as you'll discover in a bit). So here goes, in a first for 'Lord Samper's Library', a review of a phrase book. Not just any old phrase book though... This is normally the paragraph where I copy and paste some blurb to give myself a little breathing space before the review itself. Not this time though, 'Old Norse for Modern Times' is pretty much exactly what it says it is; a collection of old Norse phrases that you would probably never have used back then but are just the trick for any number of situations today. So yeah, no big surprises ...

I'm slowly catching up with the TBR pile, 'Deathbringer' has only been sat in the middle of it since the middle of February... I was quite pleased to see 'Deathbringer' finally make it into the TBR pile as it happens. Here was one of those books that I meant to buy and not only didn't but also managed to forget what it was called entirely. It took me a while (and by 'a while', I mean 'several years') to find it again but find it I absolutely did and I finally got round to reading 'Deathbringer' over the weekend. Was it worth the wait? Erm... no, unfortunately. Hannah Starke was the first to die. And the first to come back. In the small town of Dandridge they all come back. The buried claw their way out of their graves. The recently killed get up and killed . As the dead attack the living, the number of the dead continue to grow. And the odds against the living get worse and worse In the middle of it all stands a dark shadowy figure, a ...

One day, there will be a payday where I don't go absolutely crazy, spending money on books, and have plenty of money for the rest of the month. Maybe, one day... Not this month though, I went absolutely crazy spending money on books ;o) I really need to make more of an inroad into the piles of books in my flat. Again, maybe... one day. I don't know if you're the same but all this book buying is almost like a little reward for getting through the month and dealing with all the muck and trouble that seems to have leaked over from 2020, Do you do that or are you a little more honest with yourself and don't even bother with the weak excuses...? ;o) This time of the month isn't about the Hunt for me, more about treating myself to books, that I want, because I can. The rest of the month can be about the Hunt. If there's time that is, work is ramping up as we speak... That's another, slightly more depressing, story though. Let's take a look at the books that I...

I'll own up right now, I'm far from the most knowledgeable 'Doctor Who' fan' I just love watching the show and reading the occasional book Okay, there is a Tardis stood on top of one my book cases but even so... ;o) It's only in the last few years that I found out 'Full Circle' was actually called 'Full Circle' and that was only after I googled 'Doctor Who and the Marshmen' to try and find a story that I hadn't seen since I was about five years old. It had Marshmen in it, it was an easy mistake to make. I never got round to watching it again though so once payday had put in an appearance, the other day, I thought I'd do something about that now ;o) Another thing I hadn't realised was that 'Full Circle' was the first part of the 'E-Space' trilogy of tales; my new copy came as part of an 'E-Space' box set so you'll hear more about that over the next few weeks. For now though, lets have a little chat...

Reading the, much slimmer, Grafton editions has actually really helped me power along a little bit with my long running re-read of the 'Elric' series. While I do like how the 'new' (they're not that new now but, you know what I mean...) Gollancz look on my shelves, they're also just chunky enough to make me think, 'I'm only after a quick read, maybe I'll choose something else...' Nope, I'll stick with the Grafton editions for now ;o) So, on to 'The Weird of the White Wolf' and a book that had me a little puzzled to begin with... Imrryr, the dreaming city; Yrkoon, the hated usurper; Cymoril, the beloved – all had fallen to the fury and unearthly power of the albino prince and his terrible sword. And Elric faced at last the fate that was to be his in this haunted era: that he must go forth, sword and man as one, and havoc and horror would be forever at his forefront until he found the Purpose that was yet obscured to him... There is ...

It won't surprise you at all to learn that I've had my eye on this book since the end of last month; I was just waiting for publication and then I was just waiting for payday (dammit!) I got there in the end though and along with the celebratory pizza, I thought I'd finally read a Guy N. Smith book that was brand new (which is something that I haven't managed to do until now). So I picked up 'Satanic Armageddon' with mixed feelings, mostly because there are now only two more new books to come from Smith but also because, and I'll be completely honest, Smith's later works haven't hit the spot in the same way that his earlier books did. So, where did 'Satanic Armageddon' land in the great scheme of things? Well, let me tell you... The forces of evil, led by Satan's disciple, were massing worldwide to overthrow democracy. Throughout the UK and Europe the forces of evil were gathering to destroy democracy. Bombs, shootings, vehicles mowing ...

I know I’m repeating myself but this week has been crazy and there’s still a couple of days left to go… I can’t wait for the weekend! Last night was a familiar tale then of my not having a lot in me for reading but having just enough for watching ‘Doctor Who’ with a little bit left over for reading a short story before bed. ‘Doctor Who’ will be the subject of another post; right now, it’s all about the short story ‘The Coming of the White Worm’... I’ve had a lot of fun reading Clark Ashton Smith’s works, over the last few months, so it wasn’t a hard choice to go back to ‘The Emperor of Dreams’ last night. This time round, choosing the story to read was accomplished by the highly scientific method of ‘I never pick a tale from the end of the book, lets pick a tale from the end of the book…’ ‘The Coming of the White Worm’ it was then. 'Evagh the warlock, dwelling beside the boreal sea, was aware of many strange and untimely portents in mid-summer. Chilly burned the sun above Mhu T...

Work has dealt me a couple of surprises this week, nothing major but definitely time consuming so while I’m aiming for at least a couple of book posts this week… Well, lets see what happens there. It’s a good job then that I’ve got a whole pile of DVDs that I need to work my way through, just what a situation like this requires ;o) I’m a contrary old… erm, person :o) While everyone else is looking forward to a speculative genre future filled with possibilities, I automatically find myself looking back to the past and searching for gems there. Don’t get me wrong, the genre has to evolve if it’s going to continue to thrive, I’m just at a point in my life where I’m not in a big hurry to evolve with it, especially when there’s still loads of stuff that I haven’t read or seen yet. A lot of ‘classic’ sci-fi films seemed to pass me by when I was a kid so I thought I’d catch up on some now and ‘Westworld’ seemed like a good place to start. I mean, any film that is mined for content, to...

Welcome back to another entry in that 'very occasional' series where I revisit 'Discworld' books, often after a number of years since I last read them. Back when I was a lot younger, I made it a point of, well... being a very geeky twenty something to read every single 'Discworld' book as soon as it appeared in paperback. Many a Christmas game of Monopoly was deliberately thrown by me so that I could get back to reading whatever 'Discworld' book was published that year (and I don't regret it). As time went on though, I fell out of love with the series (it had to move away from its fantasy roots but that didn't mean that I had to like it) and I eventually stopped reading... And then a few years ago, I started reading 'Discworld' books again. I was having a particularly shitty time and needed some comfort reading, 'Discworld' was there and I've been slowly catching up ever since. All of which brings me to 'Carpe Jugulum...

Yep, it's that time of the month again where Payday is tantalizingly close but still not quite close enough for it to make any difference at all. I've been in worse spots though, I just need to hang in there for a couple more days and it will all be good :o) This is the main reason why the book hunting hasn't gone so well over the last week, that and the fact that I really should give the charity shops more time to replenish their stock. Like I said, give it a couple of days and next week's 'book post' will be very different ;o) But that's next week though... I did manage to turn up some interesting looking books over the last week; lets take a look at them, shall we? Just up the road from my ex-wife's place, there's an old phone box that has been turned into a 'take a book, leave a book, library' type affair. I love it, mostly because you never know what you'll find there (my first 'Deadpool' comic book came from there, amongst o...

I had my second covid jab, on Thursday afternoon, and I'm still feeling steamrollered today. Don't get me wrong, it's still a million times better than the alternative but all I'm good for today is staying in bed and catching up on movies and TV series that I haven't seen yet... With that in mind then, I found the first fifteen minutes of 'Army of the Dead' online and thought I'd share. Can you tell I'm starting to get a bit excited now? ;o) I'm rubbish at content warnings but if you're not up for seeing children witnessing parents getting eaten, don't click play. The rest of it is 'Zack Snyder and Zombies' so expect loads of blood and bare chested zombie prostitutes chasing down a client...

Any trip through the 'Sword and Sorcery' films of my childhood would not be complete without looking at 'Ladyhawke'. Technically speaking, it's not actually a 'childhood movie' as I didn't know it even was a film back then, I only found out about it a few years ago. As a kid, I loved the book though, used to read and re-read it (the book is still on my shelf), so it counts ;o) It's been several years since I last watched the movie and the only real memory I had, of it, is that the soundtrack was just awful... With that, and only that, in mind then, I decided that last night was the night to get reacquainted with 'Ladyhawke'. And... On the run from the dungeons of the medieval city of Aquila, thief Philippe Gaston is helped by Etienne Navarre, a mysterious knight who carries a precious hawk on his arm and is also pursued by the soldiers of Aquila. Two years ago, Navarre and his lover Lady Isabeau were banished from the city and placed under...

You have a collection of short stories in your hand, how do you pick the one that you're going to read? I have my own methods which vary depending on my mood, most of the time I'll open a page at random, and read the story that's closest, but I've also been known to play it safe, start at the beginning of the book and go from there. My planned reading is not going to plan, at the moment, so I thought I'd finally pick up the 'Kull: Exile of Atlantis' and read something from there instead. I took one look at the contents and 'By This Axe I Rule!' pretty much chose itself as the most 'metal' title on the page. It's not how I'd normally pick a story to read but here we are. It was a good choice though if I do say so myself... It's fair to say that Kull is not enjoying his life as King; the long established law of the land stops him from ruling how he wants and his subjects really aren't keen on him. Even now, a group of nobles (a...