Lord Samper's Library

  Page Count: 140 Pages I’ve said it before so I’m just going to be honest (despite what happens to Professor Everard for his honesty)… I’ve got a lot of time and respect for the mythos that Lovecraft gave us, there aren’t many literary settings that have endured in quite the same way. It’s just that from where I’m sat, a number of other authors did (and still do) ‘Cosmic Horror’ with more ‘flair to the telling’ than Lovecraft’s dry prose. That’s just me though, your mileage will vary. So when I came across ‘Strange Stones’ then, I knew that I had to give it a read; it’s cosmic horror with a little something to say about the man who started it all. Turns out that ‘Strange Stones’ had a few more things to say at the same time... Professor Everard, weird fiction scholar and proclaimed critic of H.P Lovecraft's works, is no stranger to making people mad. Giving convention presentations on the triteness and melodrama of Lovecraft's work pays the bills, though. Sometimes he even ge...

And we’re back for the last three ‘Raiders of the Realms’ stories. You can read my thoughts on ‘Conn Crowhand’s Last Oath’ and ‘Vipers of the Marsh’ over Here or you can just scroll down a bit, either is fine by me ;o) I was going to do this as ‘two stories per post, across three posts’, over the week, until I remembered that the ‘Raiders of the Realms’ collection only has five tales in total. Now, my math is comically bad (seriously, I’ve had interview feedback that said I shouldn’t be allowed to work with numbers…) but even I know that two into five will always leave one left over. So, here we are :o) The following three tales didn’t hit the mark quite as hard, as the previous two, but there was still fun to be had here and overall, I’m glad I forked out for the set. Some quick thoughts follow… ‘Slinktalon’ – Robbie MacNiven (Black Library) Page Count: 35 Pages A trio of rival assassins from the Clans Eshin join forces to take out a high profile Skaven. Pooling their prodigious skil...

Today had a few surprises for me (and 'chemo-fatigue' did for me last night) so no book post today I'm afraid; I'll see if I can make up for that tomorrow... In the meantime, 'Send Help' continues to look like my kind of film so here's the final trailer (at least, that's what it says) to keep us ticking over ;o) And now, I'm heading off to read something. See you tomorrow :o)

  Page Count: 128 Pages I’ve used this very phrase on a number of occasions over the years (mostly old jobs and at least one UK city…) so when I saw it across the front of a comic book, my interest was immediately piqued. And what looked like glowing green zombies didn’t hurt its chances either ;o) What clinched it though was when my youngest daughter took a look and said, “yeah Dad, you should get it.” My process, for choosing books to buy, is subject to change and is pretty incomprehensible to everyone else; it makes sense to me though and that’s the main thing ;o) And that’s how I found myself reading the first volume of ‘I Hate This Place’ last night :o) Let me tell you about it… They wanted a fresh start…. Instead, they got… THE MOST F***ED UP PLACE EVER. After inheriting a farmhouse, Trudy and Gabby are ready to start the next chapter of their lives together… except the farmhouse is already home to a mysterious forces that’s attracted ghosts, aliens and all kinds of super...

After reading Jim’s thoughts on the ‘Raiders of the Realms’ series of short stories , back in July last year, it didn’t take too much for me to go out and buy the eBooks for myself. Jim knows his stuff and if it features on his blog, I’m interested. It took me a little while longer to get round to reading them but to be fair, the latter parts of last year were a little bit of a mess ;o) That was last year though, it’s 2026 now and as I’m staring down the barrel of a particularly intense week, I thought that now would be a good time to finally read at least a couple of them. I’ll see if I can get through the rest of them over the next few days but for now, lets take a quick look at ‘Conn Crowhand’s Last Oath’ and ‘Vipers of the Marsh’… ‘Conn Crowhand’s Last Oath’ – Graham Thomas Wilcox (Black Library) Page Count: 45 Pages Paranoid that allegiances have shifted within his tribe, the Darkoath chieftain Crowhand hosts a bloody feast and demands his two best warriors, Nuatha and Syve, root ...

It's not hard (at all), I just really needed a title for this post... ;o) Last week was an intense one but I got through it, yay me :o) Next week is looking like more of the same (hospital appointments along with some other stuff) but I'm feeling pretty good about my chances, I've got this ;o)  I'm not quite there yet though, I still have a habit of promising myself books if I make it through a week and, if I'm caught between two tough weeks... I end up buying a few more than I probably should have done. It really is time for the 'one in, one out' policy to be implemented. That's not for today though (not when I've my kids coming over later). No, lets take a look at the books that came home with me over the last few days... I'd already had some anxiety over going back into the office so, last week, I sweetened the deal with the promise of a 'Robin of Sherwood' book if I made it in. And I did so, here we are :o) I'd always thought that...

This week hasn’t been a bad one but it has been pretty intense (what with one thing and another, and another) and my reading took a bit of a hit. I’ve got the day to myself so hopefully I can catch up with myself a little bit :o) In the meantime, I did manage to get a few more ‘Warhammer 40K’ reads under my belt last night so lets talk about them :o) ‘Eternal’ – Dan Abnett (Black Library) Page Count: 8 Pages Captain Froer of the Astra Militarum and his men receive a new ally in their attempts to push into enemy territory - a Space Marine of the Blood Angels Chapter. But as Brother Gammarael wages war with a monstrous foe, Froer gets a glimpse of the eternal darkness that lurks at the heart of the sons of the Angel. I chose to stick my hand in my wallet, for an 8 page tale that costs exactly the same as Black Library eBooks three times the length, so I can’t really complain but… It’s worth bearing in mind if you’re thinking about giving ‘Eternal’ a read. Maybe try looking for it in an a...

I've been back at work for a few weeks now but yesterday was the first time I'd been into the office since the middle of September... It didn't go badly at all but I'll be honest, I fell asleep on the bus home and when I got back, I crept into bed and stayed there :o) No 'book post' today then but while I'm working (and trying to figure out what to read next...), you get a trailer for 'Masters of the Universe' and... I think it's looking good. I wasn't hugely into 'He-Man', back in the day, (I watched the cartoon though, of course I did) but I love a bit of sword & sorcery in the cinema so, yep, I'll be watching it in a few months time :o)

  I’ve had a pretty good run, just recently, with books and movies that I’ve really got into and enjoyed and I’ll be totally honest, that’s exactly how I planned it. If I’ve got a bit of free time, I want to spend it reading and/or watching stuff that I know I’ll enjoy; that’s how I recharge my batteries before jumping back into all the other stuff ;o) Every so often though, we all need to step outside our comfort zone and try something new. I’ve always been partial to a bit of body horror and any film with a title like ‘Septic Man’ is more or less guaranteed a viewing sooner rather than later. It’s a weakness and I’m not proud of it; I’m happy to live with it though ;o) Anyway… I’m not sure quite what brought ‘Septic Man’ to my attention but the clip I watched certainly caught my eye so I had to give it a go and last night, that’s exactly what I did. To be honest, I really wish that I'd watched something else instead. A sewage worker is trapped inside a septic tank, during a water...

  Page Count: 12 Pages ‘It turns out that if I’d actually read ‘The Haunter of the Ring’, I’d know that we’re looking at three REH adaptations in one ongoing ‘Scourge of the Serpent’ tale. I really need to read ‘The Haunter of the Ring’ now…’ That’s what I said, at the end of last year , when I realised that there was yet another gap in my ‘REH Reading’. Well; it took me a little longer than planned to get round to addressing that but last night, ‘got round to it’ I finally did ;o) I’m reading a lot of ‘Warhammer 40K’, at the moment, and while that’s not a bad thing, I do need to vary things a little bit. ‘The Haunter of the Ring’ popped into my head at just the right time. If you’re looking to read ‘The Haunter of the Ring’ yourself (and no surprises but I think you really should), you can find it in ‘The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard’ (Del Rey) or if you like your eBooks, on Project Gutenberg . I found it in the ‘Necronomicon’ collection (which I’d been meaning to pick up an...

  Page Count: 411 Pages You probably figured this out already (especially as I finished off the last three books, in the series, not so long ago) but I gave up trying to read the ‘Siege of Terra’ series in order (and the ‘Horus Heresy’ books as well, thinking about it) a long time ago. Finding the books is one thing, I’m also completely at the mercy of whatever cover art catches my eye at any particular moment. It’s a hard life ;o) That’s why I headed back to the beginning of the Siege, just after seeing what happens at the end, and saw how it all kicked off; with the kind of pyrotechnics that would give the Death Star Superlaser a serious inferiority complex… After seven years of bitter war, the end has come at last for the conflict known infamously as the Horus Heresy. Terra now lies within the Warmaster’s sights, the Throneworld and the seat of his father’s rule. Horus’ desire is nothing less than the death of the Emperor of Mankind and the utter subjugation of the Imperium. He ...

Well, maybe not that positive, one of these films wasn’t actually that great, but the next week and a bit is (hopefully) going to be a pretty big deal for me so I wanted to start it off on the right note. Well, try any anyway ;o) Anyway… I did manage to get a little reading done over the weekend, there’s nothing like a long bus ride to make some headway in a ‘Siege of Terra’ book, but I started things off with a movie and ended up just continuing from there :o) And here’s what I watched… ‘Predator – Badlands’ (2025) In which a young Yautja warrior (I believe they answer to ‘Predator’ as well) is cast out from his clan but finds a new family on his journey to confront the ultimate adversary… I’ve got to admit, I was a little wary of what I think is the first ‘Predator’ movie to carry a ‘12’ certificate; I mean without the horror, gore and flayed bodies hanging in the jungle, is it really a ‘Predator’ movie at all? On the other hand though, my eldest daughter and I love to hang out and...

The plan for 2026 is not to buy so many books and concentrate on the unread books, on my shelves, instead. That's still the plan but little did I know that I'd be the victim of a master book-tempter, and so early in the year... If you made the same resolution that I did, and you don't want to be book-tempted, then keep an eye open for this Womble as vigilance is the only thing that will keep your wallet safe ;o) The only problem is, if you do see this Womble then it's already too late and you are now the proud owner of a new book ;o) Anyway... I was reading through some of my favourite blogs, the other day, and came across this review for Clay McLeod Chapman's 'Acquired Taste' collection. I'd already read, and enjoyed, 'Wake Up And Open Your Eyes' so one payday later, and a little wait for delivery, I now have an 'Acquired Taste' as well ;o) They're feeding on you too. A father returns from serving in Vietnam with a strange and terr...

  Page Count: 122 Pages and about 5 Lines (yep, I'm in one of those moods...) It felt like a little while since I’d last read an old Target ‘Doctor Who’ novelisation (although looking back down the list of books posts, not that long as it turns out…) and it also felt like one of those weeks where you just want to round things off with a light read so… I put those two feelings together, paid a visit to my pile of unread ‘Doctor Who’ books and ‘The Masque of Mandragora’ was the book that I came up with for last night’s reading. I’ve never seen ‘The Masque of Mandragora’ (I was about a year old when it first aired so, maybe I did see it and just can’t remember…?) but I’ve got the vaguest memories of reading a library copy when I was little. From what I can remember, I didn’t particularly enjoy it back then (I’ll go into that later on) but when you’re looking through a pile of old ‘Doctor Who’ books and this one was only a fiver… You figure that maybe it’s time to give ‘Masque’ anothe...

  Page Count: 23 Pages What with one thing and another, Wednesdays are always busy, in and outside work, and while I wouldn’t swap it (well, I wouldn’t swap the bits where I get to hang out with my daughters); there’s never enough time at the end of the day to settle down with a good book. So, I settled down with (what I hoped would be) a good short story instead. And it was :o) I had seen that Chris Wraight’s ‘Vaults of Terra’ trilogy is due to be published soon, collected in one volume, so I thought I’d go and see if any of the accompanying short stories were available on the Kindle. ‘Argent’ was the first one that I came across so that’s the one I went with. And... Interrogator Luce Spinoza’s hunt for a traitor brings her to Forfoda and into the company of the Imperial Fists. Unearthing a den of corruption, Spinoza learns what it means to fight alongside the Emperor’s Angels, and vows to prove herself worthy of this honour or die in the attempt. It has been a long old time since...

  ‘No bold act is too small to be without consequence.’ The true strength of the Emperor’s largest military force lies not in their artillery, trenches and tanks, but in the courage of the ordinary men and women of the Astra Militarum. Against the countless foes of the Imperium, Guardsmen stand together. They fight to live and die not only for the glory of the God-Emperor, but for their fellow soldier. To survive against the Ruinous Powers and the overwhelming xenos tide, the trust and bravery of daring Catachan jungle fighters, indomitable Cadians, stoic Kriegsmen and more will be tested to the limits. Black Library’s authors give voice to the untold stories of heroism, determination and betrayal amongst the endless war of the 41st millennium. This is a little bit of a ‘cheat post’ as a number of the stories included, in this anthology, have already been covered here (as part of my ‘commuter reading’ on the Kindle app); I’ll link to these as we go ;o) I ended up buying the b...

  Page Count: 295 Pages I will always have an unashamed soft spot for movie novelizations, mostly because of my old copy of ‘Return of the Jedi’ and how it helped me bridge the gap between seeing the movie, at the cinema, and finally watching it on the telly one Christmas. That and my (slightly older, I think) copy of ‘Ladyhawke’. As a kid, movie novelizations were the best way for me to experience movies that I was far too young to see, and it really felt like they were all written by Alan Dean Foster ;o) Anyway… These days, I’m still reading movie novelizations before I see the actual movie; something that happened last night with ‘Devour’. The trailer looks absolutely awesome but my googling has completely let me down, I can’t find a single mention of when the movie is definitely coming out or where I can watch it. Oh well… I saw the novelization, on Amazon, and figured it would keep me going in the meantime. And… The Virginia Bitches: an all-female, all-vampire metal band, shro...

  Page Count: 208 Pages It’s that time of year where I find myself trying to finish off the books that I foolishly promised myself I would read before the New Year started. Books like ‘The Savage Sword of Conan: Volume 1’… Now here’s a book that has been sat on the shelf for the best part of a year; every so often, I’d grab it for a read but never get more than a few pages in before swapping it for something else. I don’t think there was any specific reason why, it just never seemed to be the right time to get into it (which was the same for a lot of books, to be fair, so this was more about me I think). It’s ‘Conan’ though so it was always going to be read, eventually… And ‘eventually’ ended up being last night, in a ‘now or never’ kind of way ;o) The Savage Sword of Conan is back from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics! Featuring an epic new Conan epic from John Arcudi and Max Von Fafner, the rousing return of Solomon Kane written and drawn by Patch Zircher, an electric prose s...

After my first full week back at work, in a good three months, yesterday was always going to be one of those days where it wasn’t even worth trying to make solid plans; just wing it and anything achieved counts as a win. So that’s exactly what I did, just got through the day (with my kids so not exactly a chore) and rounded things off with a couple of movies before bed ;o) I’ve tried to focus a little more on reading, just recently, but that was never going to happen yesterday, and I did have a couple of movies in mind. The title, of the post, probably gave the game away but neither movie was that bad to be fair. Not every film has to be a winner (unless you invested in it, of course), so long as they do their job, that’s the main thing. And with that said… ‘The Evil in Us’ (2016) Run time: 90 mins. Six friends celebrate July 4th on a small island but by July 5th, only one of them will be left alive after some recreational cocaine has some unexpected side affects… This was a re-watch a...

Am I going to finish all of these books by the end of the month? Absolutely not. Am I going to have fun trying though? I sure am :o) Is this TBR pile subject to change at a seconds notice? You don't really need me to answer that ;o) For now though, lets take a quick look at what my reading is looking like in the short term... One movie novelization (that looks like it has come out before the actual movie...), a couple of 'Warhammer' books (one of which looks like it has gone on a cannibalistic spree and eaten several other books...) and another stop on my journey to eventually read Keith Rosson's 'Coffin Moon'. You can see that I've made a start on 'Devour' and 'Ashes of the Imperium'; looking at the size of 'Ashes' though, it's more likely that I'll finish 'Devour' first. We'll see... I really want to finish 'Savage Sword of Conan' now and all being well, the plan is for that to happen this weekend. Out of...

  Page Count: 368 Pages My ‘kind of’ resolution to read more books that I already own, and as a result maybe buy less books (we’ll see…), in 2026 is going… Okay, it’s only been nine days, so far, but I think I’m doing alright so far. If the year ended tomorrow, I could say I kept my resolution. What? It’s a start :o) Anyway… I was looking for something to read, yesterday, and noticed ‘We Used To Live Here’ , sat on a shelf that I generally don’t pay a lot of attention to. You know that feeling you get when it is exactly the right time to read a particular book? Well, I finally got that feeling about ‘We Used To Live Here’ last night so sat down for a read and… You let them back in. You shouldn't have... Young couple Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they got on an old house deep in the mountains. One day, a man knocks on the door. He says he lived there years before and asks if he can show his family around. But, as soon as they enter, strange things start to happ...