Lord Samper's Library

  Wednesday evening was a bit of a blur (school parents evening and then moving furniture), and so was yesterday actually (work…), and that’s why there was no post. Sorry about that. Anyway... When giant mosquito-like alien creatures invade a rural seaside community, a frustrated sheriff and two oddball exterminators end up being the town's only hope for survival. A comedic and gruesome story for fans of Slither, Arachnophobia, and other classic creature-features! To be honest, I’m more of an ‘Eight Legged Freaks’ fan than ‘Arachnophobia’ (‘Arachnophobia’ is not a bad movie, it’s just that giant spiders will always trump any other kind of spider, simple facts) but I love ‘Slither’ and well, just ‘Creature Features’ in general really so the blurb still managed to sell itself rather well and… Here we are :o) And… There’s not a lot to say about ‘Skeeters’ really and despite what you’re thinking right now, that’s not a bad thing at all. ‘Skeeters’ doesn’t mess around, it knows what yo...

  I’ll be honest, I have no idea how ‘Cimmerian September’ works… Is it REH stories only or does any tale, featuring Conan, count regardless of author? And am I putting far too much thought into something that is only meant to be a bit of fun? The answer to the second question is, more than likely, yes ;o) As ever on this blog, I will tackle things in my own way. I’ll find time for some original REH ‘Conan’ tales, later this month, but for now, lets kick things off with the latest ‘Conan the Barbarian’ trade from Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures. Jim Zub has done a superb job of adapting REH’s work while filling in the gaps with original pieces; lets see how he fares in ‘Twisting Loyalties’. Conan the Cimmerian and Bêlit, Pirate Queen of the Black Coast, are in their prime, enjoying a life of decadence and debauchery, but a flagrant flash of wealth brings unwelcome attention from thieves with a taste for danger and agents from Stygia on a dark mission for their serpent god! In ...

  Page Count: 70 Pages I’m trying to draw a line between work and a little time where I can recharge in the evening; there’s no better way for me to draw that line than by picking up a book and having a read ;o) I’ve been reading Scott Oden’s blog for a while now and love his passion for Robert E. Howard and how this comes out in his discussion of Howard’s work as well as ‘Sword & Sorcery’ and what Oden calls ‘Heroic Historical’ fiction. I was after something heroic, while I try and sort a mini-TBR pile for ‘Cimmerian September’ so I figured it was way past time I gave Oden’s work a go. I have a copy of ‘Old Gods and Other Tales’ lined up, ready to go, but last night I thought I’d kick things off with ‘The White Lion’... Acre, at the close of the 13th century. The last remaining Crusader stronghold, where the ideals of a Kingdom of Heaven - forged by saints and zealots nearly two hundred years ago - now hang by the slenderest of threads. It is a city menaced by Saracen warlor...

  Page Count: 546 Pages My ‘absolutely out of order’ readthrough of ‘The Siege of Terra’ continues with ‘Mortis’, chosen because there really is nothing cooler than cover art featuring a traitor Titan (‘Dies Irae’?) attacking the palace with loyalist soldiers trying to look like they stand half a chance against it. Seriously, if you know of cover art that is better, point me at it ;o) This wasn’t going to be todays post but I finished ‘Mortis’ yesterday and given the state of my memory at the moment… If I don’t post something today, I’ll completely forget to post at all and that would be a shame as ‘Mortis’ was a very good read. One hell of a slog, it took me about three weeks to finish, but a very good read all at the same time. The victories of Saturnine and the sacrifices of the Eternity Wall space port have faded into the hope of yesterday. Denied but not defeated, the traitors intensify their assault on the Imperial Palace. With the principal space ports in Horus’ hands, th...

The last few weeks haven't been great for reading but I have managed to get a few comics and a couple of books under my belt. I'm going to have to space posts out a bit (things are still very busy what with one thing and everything else...) but posts will happen ;o) In the meantime, I've got a few books on the go along with some others that I'd like to get to sooner rather than later (we'll see how that goes). Lets take a look, shall we? Apologies in advance for the photos... I am reading the 'Siege of Terra' books completely out of order, more or less based on whatever cover happens to catch my eye ;o) 'Mortis' has a massive Titan, attacking the walls of the Imperial Palace, so there was no contest really. It has been a slog to get through, more on that another time, but I'm on the home straight and the plan is to finish it today, Fingers crossed and all that ;o) 'Fifteen Hours' is in this pile as the Book Stooge had things to say about...

Am I back? Sort of… Things are still busy here (okay, really busy…) so for now at least, you won’t see a post every day; I just haven’t got the capacity for it right now. Every few days though…? That’s a little more do-able, I think. Lets see how it goes ;o) I want to have a little go at ‘Cimmerian September’ for a start. In the meantime though… Reading hasn’t come easy the last few days but I did manage to get a couple of short stories under my belt last night; one re-read and one new. I’ve got some longer books on the go but for now, lets have a little chat about these… ‘The Box’ – Jack Ketchum (Crossroad Press) What is in the box? Our narrators son knows and now he won’t eat; and when he tells his sisters… they stop eating too. ‘The Box’ is chilling, all the more so because it is told in such a matter of fact way. It almost doesn’t matter what’s in the box, it’s the inevitability of that knowledge that drives our narrators family to their death and makes the tale a compelling one. T...