tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86794577685718007832008-08-20T00:30:00.519+01:00Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comBlogger465125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-8464216907297094482008-08-20T00:30:00.000+01:002008-08-20T00:30:00.532+01:00

Every year I always seem to end up finding a new book (or series) that I wouldn't normally pick up but end up really enjoying. This year it's the turn of Hugo Award winning John Scalzi and his 'Old Man's War' series. I've finished 'The Ghost Brigades', and will probably be reading 'The Last Colony' as you're reading this post, and thought it would be a cool thing to do to have a giveaway for the

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-1067548647980383092008-08-19T00:30:00.000+01:002008-08-19T00:30:00.338+01:00

Urban Fantasy is a real mixed bag, as far as I'm concerned, but one series I've consistently enjoyed is the 'Mercy Thompson' series that chronicles the adventures of a car mechanic that can not only change into a coyote but also has to make her away through the politics and machinations of werewolves, vampires and Fae... I've only just started reading the books but Patricia Briggs is already one

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-38324354068518790932008-08-18T00:30:00.001+01:002008-08-18T00:30:00.403+01:00

If you're a Malazan fan then you've been waiting for this book for about as long as I have! 'Night of Knives' was slow to get out of the starting blocks but was an entertaining read and the signs are that 'Return of the Crimson Guard' will be even better... Thanks to Transworld Books I have three books to give away to anyone who wants a copy. If you count yourself on that list then entering is

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-67642662478977714492008-08-17T00:30:00.000+01:002008-08-17T00:30:00.953+01:00

Actually, I got tagged ages ago, by Aidan, and never got round to spreading the meme love. Better late than never I guess, here goes... Nightstand/Table: Or, in my case, a patch of carpet next to the bed... There you will find copies of, The three 'Nemesis the Warlock' collections. 'The Painted Man' - Peter V. Brett 'The Man with the Iron Heart' - Harry Turtledove 'The Last Colony' - John

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-45060056746035472682008-08-16T00:30:00.003+01:002008-08-16T00:30:00.799+01:00

The camping went so well last time that we figured we'd try and get another trip in before the summer ended! This time round things could be different though as weather reports say there's going to be a 95% chance of rain every day that we're away. Things are going to be interesting... and very muddy! While you're all tucked up in your warm homes and offices spare a thought for poor cold me? :o)

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-18520201891389740282008-08-15T11:44:00.004+01:002008-08-15T11:52:13.438+01:00

Having read 'Jhegaala' I thought it would be a cool thing to run some questions past Steven and see what he had to say. Without further ado, here's my questions and Steven's replies... Hi Steven, thanks for agreeing to answer a few questions! I’ve never read of the Vlad Taltos series (I know, sorry…) but found it really easy to get into what was going on, with Vlad, without the background

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-5595134994496732462008-08-14T16:05:00.002+01:002008-08-14T16:06:12.066+01:00

I read ‘Old Man’s War’ last week and loved it for all kinds of reasons that I’m not going to go into all over again, have a look over HERE for my review if you haven’t seen it already. One of my first thoughts on finishing was that if ‘The Ghost Brigades’ was half as good as ‘Old Man’s War’ then I was in for a treat of a read but then I started to wonder whether ‘The Ghost Brigades’ could match

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-41613317863824863912008-08-13T18:05:00.002+01:002008-08-13T18:14:16.419+01:00

I'm going to be on holiday next week and thought I would share the good vibes by scheduling some competitions to run while I'm away :o) I emailed some publishers, to see if they would be up for it, and the response has been so great (thanks to all concerned) that I can now officially declare that next week is Book Giveaway Week on the Blog! There's going to be a little bit of fantasy, some

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-89800707753786224402008-08-13T13:51:00.003+01:002008-08-13T13:58:53.121+01:00

The beauty of the sci-fi/fantasy genre is its ability to be flexible and cater to everyone’s tastes. There’s something there for everyone and if there isn’t then you can bet that there’s room to squeeze something new in. The genre caters pretty well for what I’m into but every now and then I realise that there’s something missing that I really want more of… One of my favourite things about the ‘

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-62698553295758317062008-08-12T11:02:00.004+01:002008-08-12T11:25:42.548+01:00

Work is being a real pain right now, with an office move coming up in the next week, and reading time is getting more and more scarce. I don't have time to read some books, and there are also other books that I can't see myself reading at all, but one of the things I want to start doing on the blog is telling people what's out there as well as what I'm reading. Fantasy Book Critic's 'Monthly

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-59140228093011984122008-08-11T12:20:00.003+01:002008-08-11T18:37:30.852+01:00

Steven Brust is one of those authors that I’ve heard lots of good things about but never got round to reading. Apparently Vlad Taltos is one of those characters that’s worth getting to know in a series that’s worth a look if you like your fantasy a little darker and your morals a little more ambiguous than normal. This weekend I decided to do something about this and picked up ‘Jhegaala’, the

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-18397392958953823592008-08-10T10:47:00.003+01:002008-08-10T11:15:37.134+01:00

Checkout Guy: "I see you're wearing a zombie t-shirt my good man. Can I interest you in this fine limited edition 'Night of the Living Dead' comic?" Me: "That is indeed a fine comic old chap. Unfortunately I'm saving my money for the purchase of alcoholic beverages tonight and... I couldn't possibly... but it's all bright and shiny... but I've got too many comics already... and..." Checkout

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-77463090471965178322008-08-09T10:44:00.007+01:002008-08-09T23:14:03.605+01:00

It's been a pretty cool couple of days what with one thing and another. Thursday night saw me get my copy of 'The Steel Remains' signed by Richard Morgan (who's a really nice guy by the way) and last night I was out on the town getting drunk, and generally making a nuisance of myself with my friends from the SFX Forum. All of this leaves me feeling more than a little fragile but buzzing at the

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-67763474962678743402008-08-08T14:49:00.001+01:002008-08-08T14:50:35.232+01:00

When I left Slaine last time he was in another plane (a dimensional one!) waiting to do battle with an alien god from beyond the stars, guess where this graphic novel picks up from…? Er… no… The clue is in the first sentence… Anyway, ‘Slaine: The King’ picks up where ‘Timekiller’ left off with Slaine, and his band of warriors, about to head into the temple and take on the star creature

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-72930959808002746782008-08-07T15:02:00.002+01:002008-08-07T15:03:29.453+01:00

The ‘to be read’ pile is starting to look a little wobbly again so this week I’ve been picking some of the shorter books, off the top, to try and make it stable again :o) If you look down the screen you’ll see it’s worked out fairly well in terms of me enjoying what I’ve read! This week has been all about science fiction, so far, and I thought that it was time to take a little breather and go

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-6598830551766912472008-08-06T15:56:00.001+01:002008-08-06T15:58:04.997+01:00

When will I ever learn….? :o) Here’s another book that I initially heard nothing but good things about but never picked up. Why? Well, knowing me I was probably on a big epic fantasy kick at the time but I also get far too suspicious about books where I hear nothing but good stuff. Instead of judging a book on its own merits I’m more likely to put it to one side and try something else instead.

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-90803730582052264132008-08-05T14:06:00.001+01:002008-08-05T14:08:27.635+01:00

Earth is under attack from a slug like alien race that are throwing rocks at us, from somewhere near Ganymede, and our hero is one of a brave band of soldiers that represent our last hope. He’s going to go through a hellish boot camp where his mistake will lead to the death of a comrade and he must ponder long on what it means to be an infantryman. The woman he loves will fall for a dashing star

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-35292633840771273742008-08-04T14:16:00.001+01:002008-08-04T14:17:55.736+01:00

‘Hard sci-fi’ and I aren’t the best of bedfellows. I have trouble following the theory and end up getting distracted very easily by pretty flashing things, ‘hard sci-fi’ just ends up getting exasperated when realises that it will never be able to dumb down enough to make any sense to me. We’ve pretty much agreed to be civil if we meet up but generally try to avoid each other where possible. But

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-50988438905265044782008-08-03T00:30:00.001+01:002008-08-03T00:30:00.676+01:00

I first came across Robert McCammon’s work at college when a friend of mine lent me a copy of ‘They Thirst’, a chilling tale of a Los Angeles over-run by vampires and the best vampire book that I’ve come across. It took me years to find my own copy but in the meantime I worked my way through ‘Baal’ (intense but unsatisfying), ‘The Nightboat’ (Nazi zombies from beneath the sea!) and ‘Swansong’ (

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-84048527972750107322008-08-02T09:00:00.003+01:002008-08-02T09:00:00.470+01:00

I've mentioned this already but Aidan wasn't a fan of Paul Kearney's 'The Ten Thousand', he wasn't a fan to the extent that he put the book down halfway through the story and told us why over Here. Nothing I haven't pointed you at already but stick around for a little longer... Standing out amongst the resulting comments is a comment from none other than Paul Kearney (the author himself!) who

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-84205530350778660562008-08-02T00:30:00.000+01:002008-08-02T00:30:00.464+01:00

Thanks to everyone that entered this competition, there were only three books up for grabs though which means there can only be three winners. The lucky people are... Will Masters, Hertford, UK Elizabeth de Jaeger, Beckenham, UK Zoe Hodgins, Dublin Well done guys, your books are on their way :o) Better luck next time everyone else ;o)

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-71682129997813724202008-08-01T10:10:00.001+01:002008-08-01T10:11:54.317+01:00

When I first went to high school my English teacher was more than happy to let me read anything off the library shelves, I think she was just pleased to come across a student in her class who wanted to read! Needless to say I went straight for the sci-fi/fantasy shelves and it was there that I first came across the works of Michael Moorcock. The satire of Oswald Bastable’s adventures went

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-16813611795839057992008-07-31T08:55:00.005+01:002008-07-31T19:39:30.523+01:00

Reading 'The Clone Wars' and 'The Force Unleashed' got me thinking about what it must be like, as a writer, to write an adaptation where someone else has already determined how the story will end. Is it just a paying gig or is it still possible to utilise those creative urges that made you want to write in the first place? I figured the best people to ask were those whose books I had just read,

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-89999197752079616732008-07-31T02:13:00.001+01:002008-07-31T02:14:30.489+01:00

I have no patience at all when it comes to playing computer games. I’ll start playing ‘Grand Theft Auto’ with aspirations of becoming the crime boss of Liberty City but within ten minutes you can guarantee that I’ll be seeing how many pedestrians I can run over before the police start chasing me all over town. A novelisation of a computer game is a completely different deal though. Especially if

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679457768571800783.post-24904407571459828852008-07-30T22:28:00.003+01:002008-07-31T09:16:26.450+01:00

It looks like Aidan has beaten me to it but David Anthony Durham is a really nice guy, and I got a lot out of 'Acacia' when I read it last year, so I reckon it's worth mentioning again :o) If you're a fan of 'Acacia: The War with the Mein' then you'll be pleased to know that it's been optioned by Relativity Media who have hired a screenwriter to work on the screenplay. I know next to nothing

Graeme Floryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15411505049326440010noreply@blogger.com