Lord Samper's Library

This is going to be a quick post today as damn how many emails did I come back after my week off…? Too many, that’s how many. I fought my way free of them, last night, but have to dive back into them today. Wish me luck… There’s also the fact that I’m starting to run out of things to say about this series which, so far, has been consistently excellent. And that’s lovely but there are only so many times that you can say the same thing before you end up secretly hoping that the next book will be rubbish, just so you have so something different to say. And I don’t want these books to be rubbish, I just want to keep enjoying them 😊 I’m still going to collect them, I suspect this will be the last review you see though (maybe…) And on that note, lets talk ‘The Cimmerian Vol 3’… In Iron Shadows in the Moon, a young woman in danger is pursued by her vile master. Conan, whose family has just been wiped out by this same master, puts an end to the beauty's pursuer, and saves her with a...

Sometimes a book comes along that elbows its way through your TBR pile and says, 'the hell with that lot, you're reading ME first..' We've all been there, don't tell me that you haven't (next thing you know, you'll be telling me that you're not buying any more books until you finish the ones that you have first)... But anyway ;o) I was pretty much set on reading Moorcock's 'The Jewel in the Skull' until I was walking past the British Heart Foundation shop, in Bromley, and saw 'Scratchman' in the window. I went straight in and grabbed it, and then got a bit of telling off from the volunteer lady for taking books off the display. Yep, shouldn't have done it but also nope, didn't care as I had the book in my hand and it was mine now :o) As you can probably tell from the rest of the blog, I'm better at keeping up with 'Doctor Who' on the small screen than I am with the books, all the best intentions but you know... ...

This is the third book of Brian Keene's that I'll have covered in the last three weeks and doubtless you all know the score by now. In case you don't though... Keene is making a selected ebook of his available for 99c (or whatever your equivalent is) each week, as it's tough times out there, and I'm reading them as the discount hits. This post should have gone up a few days ago but it was my turn to take a week off and hang out with my kids and I'll be honest, I was having far too much fun to get any reading done. Turns out that I needed that burst of fun to get me through 'Terminal'; it's been a while since I've read it (and I've never read this edition) and I forgot just how intense this one can get. It's not quite as intense as 'The Girl on the Glider' but damn it gets close. Tommy O’Brien once hoped to leave his run-down industrial hometown. But marriage and fatherhood have kept him running in place, working a job that doesn’...

What does a Graeme do when all parental responsibilities up sticks and go off for a week in France...? Why, he goes book-shopping of course, and on a particularly sunny weekend as well. Honestly, it was pretty much perfect ;o) And as far as the actual book hunting went? Well... Sometimes the hunt doesn't really lead anywhere and that's just the way it goes. This weekend wasn't one of those times though ;o) I turned up some little beauties, take a look... Notting Hill Comic Exchange is always a safe bet for good books and true to form, it didn't let me down :o) Someone's collection of old-school pulp fantasy had found it's way there so I helped myself to a few books including these Robert E. Howard books. I'm particularly looking forward to reading 'Three Bladed Doom'. I've been enjoying my 'Occasional Brak Re-Read' so I thought I'd see what else John Jakes had to offer. 'The Planet Wizard' is a bit of a cheat as that is on my ...

My daughters have gone off on holiday, for a week, with their Mum so I started off the Bank Holiday weekend doing three of my favourite things; book shopping, reading a good book and watching a little 'Doctor Who'. My fourth favourite thing (ordering and eating a pizza) will kick in just after I finish writing this post. I'm going through a phase, right now, where I'll come across a 'Doctor Who' DVD (nope, still not doing Britbox...) only to find that I already have it. Which is weird as I don't think I have that many but anyway... I pretty much jumped on 'Nightmare of Eden' when I saw it then, and that was my afternoon pretty much booked solid when I got home ;o) Having watched it though... I'm kind of half and half about the whole thing. Two spacecraft fuse in a hyperspace collision. Fortunately the Doctor, Romana and K9 arrive to help. But when a crewmember is found clawed by a ferocious animal, it seems there's something even more frigh...

Didn't I only do one these the other day? More like the day before yesterday... That's what comes of letting things getting away from me and then having to play a little catch up. Oh well, that's the way it goes ;o) Having see the first episode of 'She-Hulk', I was pretty determined not to let this series slide (I promise I will get round to watching you 'Ms. Marvel', promise...) so took advantage of some free-time to watch episode 2 last night. And I will get into that but before I do... Is it time for a little mini-rant about the end credits? Why, I do believe that it is :o) End credits are important, just to acknowledge the hard work that everyone does, but seven solid minutes of credits (I'm not forgetting the end credits scene but there's hardly any of that) after only twenty three minutes of 'She-Hulk'...? I don't know about you but I would rather have the credits run a little faster and send a few extra minutes back into 'S...

This wasn't the post I'd planned for today ('She-Hulk' will have to wait until tomorrow now) but sometimes the call goes out and you have to answer ;o) And yesterday, that call was... “Dad? Can you read us a Fighting Fantasy book?” It has been a long time since I last read the girls a Fighting Fantasy book ('Trial of Champions' back in November 2020 , in case you were wondering) but I've been building up a nice little collection in the meantime, just in case they wanted another adventure. Turns out that I could have saved my money as my eldest wanted to go back into 'Forest of Doom', typical... ;o) Once I showed them a few of the books, that they hadn't read, it became a lot easier to sell them on another 'new' adventure and after some back and forth, they settled on 'The Citadel of Chaos' over 'Creature of Havoc' and 'Armies of Death'. And as you're here, let me tell you all about it... Deep inside the Cita...

Because it's been a little while hasn't it? It has, we're talking May and finishing off 'Moon Knight'... What happened? Well, 'Ms. Marvel' popped up during a heavy period of work and turned out that it wasn't what I needed to switch off and relax.. I've heard a lot of good things about it though so wil give it another go (I only made it through about an episode and a half, maybe two, before putting it to one side). And as far as the movies go... Well, I think I've become that person who is happy to wait until it all hits Disney+ rather than catch it at the cinema. I also feel like middle age is hitting me pretty damn hard (especially in that last sentence) but that's another story. Anyway... I've had a little free time, in the evenings, just recently so decided that now would be as good a time as any to catch up on a couple of bits (otherwise it will be just like me and the comics, I'll never get caught up). Have some quick thoughts ...

It has been a bit of a struggle getting anything read this week, or last week come to think of it, but I get there in the end, eventually... ;o) I bought 'The Age of Enlightement' as a quick 'commute read', last week, but one thing led to another (not least that I ended up doing no commuting at all so the book kind of got pushed to one side) and now it's Tuesday and I've only just finished it. Oh well... 'The Age of Enlightenment' is a short read so it's only going to be a short post tonight (also because I'm knackered and it's an 'early night' for me tonight). I'm very glad I finally got round to finishing it though. The mighty Hamilcar Bear-eater returns to battle! When fortune brings him to the Unchained Lands, where the forces of the Free Cities wage war on the Nighthaunt hordes of Nagash, he seizes a chance for glory and joins the fight. But Hamilcar is not the only Stormcast Eternal in the battle – and the Lord-Celestant...

This week is meant to be about hanging out with my daughters and having some fun while their Mum is working; if I don't have something planned for every day this week (spoiler: I really don't...) then I could be in a world of trouble... That being the case then, why am I writing a post about my reading plans for the week...? Well, natural optimism to one side (why do I never learn...?), I'm pretty excited about some of the books that I found, on the TBR Piles, and if I get half a chance then I'm going to be into them. How many of them will be finished by the end of the week? I'll tell you in a week ;o) In the meantime, lets see what's what, The Main Reads... It has been ages since I've read a zombie book so I thought I'd do something about that by getting into 'Last Resort', it's looking promising so far and is the main read for the week :o) If by any chance I finish that, it will be onto 'The Jewel in the Skull'. I didn't think I...

A short post today... My kids are back from their holidays so I'm going to be with them for most of today (just the way it should be ). My eldest has a pile of new books that she wants to sit and read and my youngest loves a bit of 'Percy Jackson' so I think today could very well be a reading day (my favourite kind of day). In the meantime, I thought I'd try and make a little use of my 'Shudder' subscription yesterday (yep, it's that time of the month where I remember that I've subscribed) and seeing a title like 'The Shed' was always going to end up with me watching it. What could possibly be scary about a shed of all things? Well, it's not so much the shed but what's inside it that made for one of those films where I'd never planned on watching it but I'm really glad that I did... Two best friends, Stan and Dommer, have dealt with bullies their whole lives. When Stan discovers a murderous  vampire   taking shelter in his shed, ...

Yesterday was a hell of a day (hence no blog post, sorry about that...) but I got through it and now I'm on leave until a week on Tuesday, go me ;o) I'm taking a week off to be with my daughters and have some fun so I don't know what that's going to mean for the blog to be honest, there might be a post every day but it's just as likely that I give it a rest for a week (work has been tough and I could do with a break). I don't know, lets see how it goes shall we...?  In the meantime, lets take a look at the books that found their way to my doorstep over the last couple of days. There were a few... ;o) I saw the two 'Doctor Who' omnibuses in the British Heart Foundation shop and that was an easy purchase. I will very rarely turn down the chance to buy Doctor Who books, especially if they're comic books. I can see myself reading one of these over the next week, don't know which one though. And 'Black Beth'... I saw this mentioned on Twitter ...

Brian Keene is making a selected title, of his, 99c (or the equivalent) every week. It goes without saying that you should be all over that anyway (it’s tough times out there and speaking from personal experience, Brian Keene’s books get you through tough times) but I’m also reading each book as the discount hits. It’s not like I need an excuse but I’m looking forward to revisiting some old favourites and maybe catching a few that I haven’t read yet. ‘The Girl on the Glider’ was a ‘first time read’ last week (review Here ) and this week I’m revisiting ‘Scratch’, a book that I haven’t picked up in a long old time. Let’s go.   April showers bring May flowers. But as the rain-swollen creeks recede, the residents of one rural Pennsylvania town learn that April showers bring something far worse than destructive floods and property damage. This year, the April showers have brought a crypto-zoological nightmare named Scratch, and only pain and terror follow in his wake. You’re getting...

And here’s the post that should have gone up yesterday (before I lost my patience with ‘Scorpion: Second Generation’ and decided to rant about that instead). Sorry it’s a little on the late side, okay a lot on the late side, it has been one of those days (and I know I’m saying that more and more). Oh well, just a couple more days and I’m on leave… 😉 I can’t remember where I picked the book up from originally but I first came across this story as ‘Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters’ and I loved it (I still have a copy lurking about which I really need to find now…) Even back then, and as much as I appreciate Terrance Dicks’ novelisations, I got more out the tie-in books that deviated from the TV scripts. I never saw the actual story on TV though (just a little too young for that) so when I came across a copy, I had to grab it and finally got round to watching it over the weekend. Let me tell you about it… Exiled to Earth and now working for UNIT as their scientific advisor, the Docto...

Well, today was going to be a ‘Doctor Who’ post but this book has been bugging me, since I finished it, so I figured that now was the time to post about it. This one will be a short post but not for the normal work related reasons. The simple fact is that there’s very little that I can add to this tale that I haven’t already said about it’s predecessor. Let me tell you about it, as much as I can anyway… Nightmare black and hideously armed, they came scuttling and swarming from underground. Ever hungry, ever vicious, they hunted down their prey, clawing, biting, stinging. The scorpions have returned, this time grown huge, irradiated, mutant. Their claws could strip the living flesh of man or woman down to the white bone. Could snap and splinter the bone into tortured fragments. Gouging, tearing, blinding, they could hold their bloodied victims while they pumped spurts of venom into the agonised body. The scorpions have returned, and the stench of death seeped out over the countrys...

I thought I'd give myself the weekend off you see... ;o) And by that I mean I was up at Heathrow Airport, collecting my ex and the kids, on the Saturday and then back round theirs, on the Sunday, to help them get ready to go away again. It was a busy weekend and I'll be honest, the last thing I wanted to do was any blogging so... I didn't :o)  All of which means that I've still got the weekend posts, that I was going to do over the... you know, as a little bit of insurance against what is shaping up to be a hectic week (before I go on leave again next week). Lets not hang around then. Here's a quick look at some books that have turned up recently and for whatever reason, didn't get their time in the sun. Until now that is... You know how it is... You've had a crap day and so you buy yourself a little treat to cheer yourself up. I really need to find other ways of cheering myself up, like reading all these books that I've bought myself. But anyway, we...

It's been a bit of a nightmare trying to get this book finished... Nothing to do with the plot or anything like that, more a case of there being two copies in the flat and I'm only ever able to find the copy that I'm not reading. Even while I'm writing this post, I've got one copy in front of me and not a clue where the other one could be. Oh well, it's a good job that I only need one copy... ;o) I've been looking forward to reading 'The Mark of the Demons' again as it was a real favourite of mine when I was a kid. Turns out that it still is, who would have thought it? ;o) 'We go to the dark. We ride to the awful dark. A stranger leads us, a savage man, His presence brings the evil down!' The soothsayer's grim words chilled the hearts of the travellers. Even the iron nerves of Brak the Barbarian twanged with foreboding. For in the trader's caravan as it crossed the wasteland of Logol, he was the savage, the stranger. Though his str...

It has taken far too long (the 'Elric Re-Read' kicked off way back in May 2020...) and that is why I had a bit of a brain snap, the other day, and told myself that I had to finish 'Stormbringer!' before I could read anything else. A deckchair in the sun turned out to be the missing ingredient and once I was there, gently crisping in the heat, the book more or less finished itself. I've still got a few more 'Elric' books that I've never read but the 'Re-Read' part of my 'Elric' reading is done. Well, not quite. I need to tell you all about it ;o) Lets go... The epic tale of Elric moves towards it's inevitable conclusion as the lonely albino discovers the true power of his magical blade, Stormbringer, and must return to the shattered ruins of his homeland before facing his greatest test. The massed ranks of Law and Chaos are coming together for their final battle, and Elric will be faced with a decision only he can make – will he ushe...

Brian Keene is making a different book, of his, available for 99 cents each week and not only should you be all over that anyway (there's nothing better than a Brian Keene book to get you through tough times and the world is full of those right now) but I thought I'd read each book as the discount hits. Gives me an excuse to re-visit some old favourites but more importantly, a chance to fill in some gaps where I haven't read the book yet, there aren't many of these but there are a few ;o) 'The Girl on the Glider' is the first book to get discounted and it's one that has sat on my Kindle for a little while, mostly because I'm English and was trying to get my head round the notion of a ghost flying a glider... Yep, I know. It's funny what stops you picking up a book and just how wrong you can be about it. Once I realised my mistake, I found 'The Girl on the Glider' a lot easier to pick up and damn, what a read it turned out to be. Here's a...

It's not often that I push the TBR pile to one side and start reading a 'new find' straight away; there are unspoken rules to observe after all and some of those books have been in the pile for literally years... ;o) It's also not often though that I get a weekend to myself and find an intriguing little slice of 'early eighties creature feature'. Creatures, I should say, loads and loads of radioactively mutated scorpions. Well, that was my weekend pretty much booked solid (yes, I went straight on to read 'Scorpion: Second Generation' as well) and here I am to tell you all about it... A high shrill cry of terror ripped from her throat. Thousands of black scuttling insects, curving tails arched over their backs and pincered arms splayed out... They surged towards her, sensing her warmth. The promise of food. In moments, her body was covered by a flowing blanket of scorpions... A couple of things before we get onto the book itself. Cast your eyes over...