Lord Samper's Library

Page Count – 196 Pages There isn’t a lot that’s good about moving house (especially when it slowly dawns on you just how much the new place is going to cost to run, I need to get another job…) but there are some good bits if you look for them. For me, it was mostly around getting all my books unpacked and back on shelves around me again, not stuffed up in the loft where I couldn’t see them. Old favourites were back within easy reach, along with a whole load of new books that I really should have read ages ago. You can probably guess what my main New Year’s resolution will be… ;o) ‘Day of Ascension’ was one of those new books and I figured it was as good a place as any to start over in making a dent in the ol’ TBR Pile. And I’m really glad I did. On the forge world of Morod, the machines never stop and the work never ends. The population toils in the mines and factoria to protect humanity from the monsters in the void, while the Adeptus Mechanicus enjoy lives of palatial comfort. Gene...

I'll be honest with you... This wasn't meant to be today's post but then again, yesterday evening really wasn't meant to be the evening that I flooded my kitchen either (for clarity, there is never a day when I deliberately plan to do this...) and by the time I'd sorted that out, I wasn't really in the mood for reading or writing. What's that? Turns out I was in just the mood for a pizza and watching 'Strays'. A full stomach and a few chuckles later... It's all good ;o) Where does that leave me though? Well... While I was looking through older blogs the other day, to see if I'd ever written anything about 'Worms of the Earth', I came across a short review that I'd written about Robert E. Howard's 'Pigeons from Hell'. When the universe is clearly telling me to give that review some time on this blog, I don't ignore it (especially after yesterday evening). You can read the full review over Here but all the importan...

Page Count: 27 Pages I have a copy of this on my shelf and the plan was to pick it up for a read on the way into work this morning. Well, that was the plan but I was half asleep, leaving the house, and totally forgot… No matter though, that’s what the Kindle app is for (although if I’d been a little more awake, I’d have read it off Project Gutenberg instead, you can find ‘Worms of the Earth’ Here ). 99p later and my ‘commute reading’ was secured 😉 I always seem to fall into the trap of just reading ‘Conan’ stuff whenever I fancy reading a little Howard. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just that there’s a lot of his other stories out there that are more than worth your time when you come across them. ‘Worms of the Earth’ is very much one of those tales but you knew that already, didn’t you? You didn’t? You should do something about that, take it from me… After witnessing one of his subjects die at the hands of Roman governor Titus Sulla, Bran Mak Morn vows vengeance on Sulla but at w...

Page Count: Ten and a Bit Pages. I found out, the other day, that author David Drake had sadly died, a reminder that Drake is one of any number of fantasy authors that I have shamefully never got round to checking out. In my defence, I do get there in the end, it just takes bloody ages sometimes (it’s not like I don’t have a lot of other things going on at the same time, anyway…) The article I was reading mentioned that ‘The Barrow Troll’ continues to be worth a read and can be found in any one of a number of anthologies. I had a feeling that I had one of those anthologies and was right 😊 I don’t know about all the other anthologies but ‘The Barrow Troll’ can definitely be found in ‘The Sword & Sorcery Anthology’ (Edited by David G. Hartwell & Jacob Weisman). With all that said, lets talk a bit about ‘The Barrow Troll’. Quick thoughts today because it’s my lunch break and I’ve got a few other things to get done before the weekend starts. That and the fact that ‘The Barrow Tro...

Page Count: 38 Pages It’s like God doesn’t want me to have broadband… Every time I think I’ve got it sorted, something happens and I’m back to square one. Oh well, next time’s the charm, lets see if tomorrow is the day it happens. Sorry, mini-rant over. Lets talk about ‘The One Road’… ;o) Out for the count and oblivious to the world around him, Gotrek Gurnisson becomes a prime target for the vengeful Sylvaneth. Can the bold riders of the Freeguild Cavaliers reach the stricken baggage train containing the blacked-out Slayer before the forest warriors do? So… When is a Gotrek tale not a Gotrek tale (and is, all at the same time)? When it’s ‘The One Road’. I love the fact that Gotrek sleeps through practically the whole thing and only wakes up right at the end… and it’s still a Gotrek tale. Freeguild rider Elsworn may well do all the heavy lifting as far as the plot goes but at the same time, Vogel is more worried about disturbing Gotrek than he is about the Sylvaneth warriors attacking t...

Page Count: 342 Pages Packing all of my books up, and then promptly unpacking all again about a day later (I really hate moving house…), re-introduced me to a whole load of books that had previously been hiding in the loft. These days, they’re a lot more accessible (a loft full of books sounds awesome but seriously, I hardly ever went up there…) and there isn’t really any excuses any more, I’ve got to read them or get rid. ‘Bethany’s Sin’ was an easy decision to make in that respect. My ‘Robert McCammon Reading’ has a few gaps in it and ‘Bethany’s Sin’ had been patiently waiting to be read for just over four years ( me and my rash promises... ) Last week ended up being just the right time to do something about both of those things. Let me tell you how it went. Even God stays away from the village of BETHANY'S SIN. For Evan Reid, his wife Kay, and their small daughter Laurie, the beautiful house in the small village was too good a bargain to pass up. Bethany's Sin was a weird ...

I’ve worked out how to make my phone into a hotspot (and if you knew me in real life, well… you’d know that’s a pretty big deal for me) so here’s a little catchup on the bits and pieces that I’ve managed to read and watch over the last few days. Not a lot as it happens, it hasn’t been the best week for doing the things that I wanted to, or the things that I needed to for that matter. Oh well, hopefully next week will be a better one ;o) I’ll be spend today catching up with a couple of books and maybe some movies too. There might even be a blog post tomorrow ;o) In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this… ‘300: Rise of an Empire’ (2014) Greek general Themistocles of Athens leads the naval charge against invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes and Artemisia, vengeful commander of the Persian navy. While I’ve been waiting to get the internet back, I thought I’d watch a few of the DVDs that were hidden away in a cupboard (at the old place) and are now all over the place here...

Page Count: 183 Pages With the move and associated difficulties to be solved, there hasn’t been an awful lot of reading happening over the last week and a bit; more a case of my finding books, that I really want to read, and piling them up in one of those ‘pile of good intentions’ that, well… We all know how that ends don’t we? 😉 There have been a couple of books that I’ve been able to finish off though and now that I’ve worked out how to turn my phone into a hotspot, I thought it was way past time I got some thoughts down here. Being all of about three years old at the time, the ‘Key to Time’ series passed me by when it was originally broadcast. I’m sure that one day, I’ll finally get round to watching it (and yep, it’s all on iPlayer now but I’m still refusing to get a TV licence) but for now, it’s the book for me and that’s never a bad thing when you see Douglas Adams’ name on the cover. Let me tell you about it… The hugely powerful Key to Time has been split into six segments, all...

Another day in the office so another short read was required for a trip into work that reminded me how much I hate the trains and that buses are a lot nicer. Lesson learned, at least until the next time I’m running late… 😉 Anyway… As luck would have it, I’d found ‘The Battle of Tyrok Fields’, browsing Amazon last night, so my commute read ended up choosing itself. I haven’t gone wrong with any of my previous ‘Justin Hill reads’ so was looking forward to more of the same with this one. And as luck would have it… I chose well again. Every hero has a moment that defines their legend, a battle that sets them on the path they are meant to walk. For Ursarkar E Creed, that moment is here. Cadia itself is under threat – the hordes of Chaos emerge once more from the Eye of Terror, and the forces of the Imperium muster to meet them. But on Tyrok Fields, an act of base treachery, spurred on by an old enemy of Creed's, will change everything and provide General Creed a chance to prove his wor...

I'm surfacing, albeit briefly, as I've found myself with a little internet and wanted to say hi. Hi! :o) The move went ok, all things considered. It's really weird not being in my old place but the new place is bigger and I think it's going to work out. I've certainly got a lot more room to spread out all my books :o) Talking of which... It's been great going through boxes of books and finding stuff that I'd completely forgotten I had, books like 'Death Troopers' for instance. Once I found this book again, I took a little break and had a read and... thought I'd share my original review ( from the 'heady' days of 2009 ) with you. I know it's another recycled review, sorry about that. Original content will be back once I've got the rest of the unpacking done and worked out how to turn the heating on. Here goes... I first saw the cover for this over at Dave Brendon’s Blog and, once I’d managed to convince myself that this wasn’t a pr...

Sorry... It's another 'recycled review' (from the 'heady' days of 2011) today but in my defence, there is a lot of other stuff happening and only the one of me to get it all done. I can see it being more of the same over the next week (especially with only a few days to go until the big move...) and then, fingers crossed, everything should start to get back to normal. Right now though... Here's another book that I found, in a pile of other books, and I absolutely adore it; if you read it too then I reckon you'll feel the same ;o) I'm including the whole review in this post but if you want to see where it first featured, well... that's over Here . And as far as the final comment goes, 'Stories' was a surprise read for 2011. As good as it is, I wouldn't say it's that in 2023 but only because I saw it coming this time round... ;o) So, here goes... One of the things that I enjoy most about blogging here is the opportunity that it gives me...

Things are starting to get busy at work and if that wasn't enough (it was more than enough for me), I've finally started to pack for the move. Not an awful lot of time for reading then... You'll have to excuse me some more recycled reviews then, at least for the next few days, until things start to calm down again. I really hope they do... There's nothing like packing books up to make you realise just how many you own... Some of the local charity shops are going to be very happy this weekend ;o) You know what though, it is fun going through piles of books and finding ones that you completely forgot you had, books like 'Swords & Dark Magic' for example. My current copy replaced another copy that got lost in one of many moves several years ago and I thought it would be cool (and save me a little time today) if I dug up my old review and shared it here. It's a long post so grab yourself a coffee and settle down for a read. And fair warning... Given the rece...

Yesterday was a day in the office so, of course, I needed a little something for the bus ride in and the journey home (and for some of lunchtime too, once I’d found something to eat). I’ve been really enjoying revisiting some of the old Doctor Who novelisations and figured it was time to go back and read ‘Day of the Daleks’, one that I always enjoyed as a kid. Way, way back in the day (and it’s a bit scary how long ago that was now), I used to have ‘Day of the Daleks’ as part of the ‘Dalek Omnibus’ collection, I’ve no idea where that book is now but Amazon saw me coming and so, when I left for work yesterday morning, ‘Day of the Daleks’ came with me... UNIT is called in when an important diplomat is attacked in his own home - by a man who then vanishes into thin air. The Doctor and Jo spend a night in the 'haunted' house and meet the attackers - who have time-jumped back from the 22nd century in the hope of changing history. Travelling forward in time, the Doctor and Jo find...

Thousands of years ago the evil city of Kuan Hador was defeated by a vast army of mystic warriors, the Enemy banished beyond the Gateway between Worlds. Spells of enormous power sealed the Gateway. Now icy mists begin to form around the ruins of Kuan Hador. Awesome beasts stalk the hills and forests. The spells are fading. Beyond the Gateway the vengeful armies of Kuan Hador await. And where years before a host stood against the Enemy, now only a handful of warriors prepare to face it once more: Kysumu the Swordsman, last of a dying breed, Yu Yu Liang, the ditch digger, Ustarte, the Beast-Priestess, and the mysterious Waylander. Together they must solve an ancient mystery, which will bring the dead to life for a final battle outside Time. But first Waylander must find a way to kill a man who cannot die... Before we get into the book itself… I used to try and come up with my own blurbs, when writing a review, but now I’m all old and tired so just swipe an online blurb instead. A...

Once again, not a lot of reading happened over the weekend; mostly because I was working my way through 'Superstore' (horribly late to the party but I'm really enjoying it anyway) but also because I was up in the loft, going through piles of books ahead of moving house next week. Damn I have a lot of books that I had totally forgotten about... I managed to bag some up, for a charity shop run, but I also found myself doing what I normally do when I find myself in the middle of a pile of books, cracking a couple open and having a little read. So not a lot of reading then but enough to get in the way of what I should have been doing, dammit... ;o) I picked up a copy of 'The Troop' a few months ago and this weekend was the weekend it finally got a read. I'm recycling an older review as my views haven't changed and also, it's going to be another hectic week so I'm going to be kind to myself and let 'Past Graeme' take up the slack for a little bit ...

Page Count: 40 Pages The plan wasn’t to follow up one Luke Scull read with another (my reading plans are as vague as ever these days) but Amazon threw ‘Boss of Bosses’ at me, I’m growing to really enjoy the ‘Age of Sigmar’ setting and I needed a quick read for the bus ride to work so… Everything just came together perfectly and here I am. Another short post today but you probably guessed that already 😉 I had about three hours sleep last night and there are a few other things that need to happen today so bear with me a little longer. More detailed posts are coming soon. In the meantime then, lets talk about Orks sorry Orruks and what they get up to when they’re not fighting full scale wars… Following the failed siege of Excelsis and the emergence of the Kruleboyz, Gordrakk must tighten his control over his own Orruk hordes. So, what does an Orruk do when it’s not at war? It’s a trick question, Orruks are always at war, the only difference lies in who (or what) they are fighting. In ‘B...

Page Count: 27 Pages One of my current reading goals is to re-read the first two books of the ‘Grim Company’ series and then finally finish it off either around Christmas or just after. You know what I’m like with setting reading goals so maybe don’t take that aim too seriously, lets see how it goes 😉 I thought I’d dip a toe back into the world of the Grim Company with a short story and as luck would have it, ‘The Dark Son’ was a new release that caught my eye. And at only twenty seven pages long, it easily fell into my ‘quick reads’ criteria so away I went and… Fifteen years ago, Prince Salidar escaped a near-hanging ordered by his very own father, the king. Now the exiled prince has returned to his homeland, vengeance burning like poison in his heart. Swords will rise. Heads will fall. The golden city of Shar will run red with blood. My first thought, upon finishing ‘The Dark Son’, was along the lines of ‘damn, it has been far too long since I’ve read these books…’ ‘The Dark Son’ is...

Page Count: 191 Pages This is going to be one of those shorter posts and not just because the book isn’t a long read. Work and packing stuff (along with everything else) have combined to really get me down but this book is a good one so I couldn’t not write about it. Here goes… When a brilliant scientist seeking to solve the problem of world hunger tries to create giant mushrooms through genetic manipulation, what could possibly go wrong? The mutated spores escape the lab and spread across all of England. Toadstools grow to twenty feet tall, and a case of athlete's foot can mean a grisly and horrible death. But those who die quickly are the lucky ones. Those who survive infection by the fungus will be transformed into something unthinkably monstrous ... I’ve read enough Jeff Vandermeer (the earlier stuff anyway) and seen enough clips from ‘The Last Of Us’ to know that ‘The Fungus’ would be just the book for me. Actually, thinking about it, ‘The Girl with all the Gifts’ helped make ...

Page Count: 101 Pages I’m not quite sure what happened, this weekend, but it’s Monday and although I managed to buy several books, I didn’t actually read any… I did managed to pack three boxes of DVDs though, so that’s something :o) Today then sees another trip to the HBR Pile (‘Has Been Read’) and another Brian Keene re-read. The original plan was to read ‘The Rising’ first but I was after reading the ‘Author’s Preferred Edition’ and I couldn’t find my Kindle so… ‘Deliverance’ it was. Go back to the beginning of the end of the world... Hell has come to earth as sadistic zombies rampage and massacre the human population. Reverend Thomas Martin has lost his congregation to the chaos but has found two wayward survivors to protect - Becky and John. The three of them have holed up in Martin's church in a desperate attempt for survival. But as supplies run low and civilization crumbles around them, Martin must come to a realization - God has abandoned them. But why? Is there any ch...

I am so glad this working week is coming to an end. Not that it’s been a particularly bad week, it just felt like the standard five days weren’t quite enough for this one. Oh well, a few more hours and then it’s pizza and play station :o) Right now though? It’s been another one of those weeks where comfort reading was the best way to recharge and ‘Doctor Who’ has always been a ‘go to’ comfort read so… It was time to give ‘Revelation of the Daleks’ a go, a book that felt like it had been on the TBR pile far longer than it actually had (only about three weeks) and a story that I enjoyed when I revisited it back in 2021 . Let me tell you about it... ‘Beware the hands that heal...’ The Doctor and Peri land on the planet Necros to visit the funerary home Tranquil Repose – where the dead are interred and the near-dead placed in suspended animation until such time as their conditions can be cured. But the Great Healer of Tranquil Repose is far from benign. Under his command, Daleks guard ...