29 August 2011
Call no: 800
Genre: Juv/YA, sff
Setting: Britain - modern, suburbia, Yorkshire
7 Stars
2 Comments
17 Orchard Lane, in Bishopthorpe is a quiet, residential spot. Home to the respectable types; doctors and architects. You know that sort of *respectable* English street. But one of the families resident here is keeping a secret. A secret the … Continue reading
28 August 2011
Cast: Andy Serkis, Brian Cox, Freida Pinto, James Franco, John Lithgow, Tom Felton
Script: Amanda Silver, Rick Jaffa
Genre: sff
Setting: USA - San Francisco
9 Stars
4 Comments
Okay, so we all know what is going to happen in this film. Don’t we? I mean, we all have heard of Planet of the Apes and pretty much every one, even if they haven’t seen that film, knows the … Continue reading
War is hell. Especially on a planet torn up between warring religious countries. Nyx has done her time at the front, been a hero and had her body rebuilt. Then she joined the bel dame, government mercenary/bounty hunters to you … Continue reading
Cassy lives with her grandmother. Her practical, sensible, responsible grandmother. Her mother is a dreamer, unable to look after herself let alone her daughter. And her father, well, no one ever talks about him. Cassy has learned that if she … Continue reading
21 August 2011
Call no: 800
Genre: Juv/YA, sff
Setting: alternate world, C20th, Istanbul
7 Stars
Comments Off
The sequel to Leviathan No recapping on account of this being the second in a series, and if you haven’t read Leviathan then you’ll be spoiled, and I wouldn’t want to do that to anyone. I will say, however, that … Continue reading
21 August 2011
2 Comments
How many people in the internet world still use internet explorer? Cause I’ve just taken a quick peak at this site in it and everything is all crappy. Comments aren’t displaying properly, images all over the shop. Tis a mess! … Continue reading
19 August 2011
Call no: 800
Genre: sff
Setting: alternate world, Britain - Victorian
9 Stars
Comments Off
An Alexia Tarabotti novel, The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Fourth The first book in this series introduced us to our heroine, Alexia Tarabotti, and in some ways the very first line of this book is a spoiler for that one … Continue reading
16 August 2011
Call no: 028
Genre: Literary criticism, non-fiction
8 Stars
7 Comments
It is strange, I’ve often come across media stories on the “decline” of reading as a result of modern technology. Social networks, texting, these sort of things are bringing about the end of literacy. That strikes me as strange because … Continue reading
14 August 2011
Cast: Chris Evans, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving, Samuel L. Jackson, Sebastian Stan, Stanley Tucci, Tommy Lee Jones
Script: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
Genre: Action, sff
Setting: 1940s, USA
7 Stars
6 Comments
Too short, too unfit, too ill for military service, all Steve Rogers wants is to join up and serve his country in fighting the Nazis. He has been picked on all his life, but refuses to back down, once you start running, he believes, you’ll never stop. When Dr. Abraham Erskine discovers this desire he begins to pull strings and gets Rogers into the army, into a special, experiemental unit, to be precise. Soon Rogers is no longer too small, or too unfit, he is in fact a super-soldier. Although what can one man do? Well, propaganda. He is sent off touring the states in an effort to try and persuade the public to buy war bonds. And then, on to Europe to entertain the troops. But they aren’t interested in his performance, they want to see the girls. Rogers, however, is very interested in the news that this is the 107th, the very same unit his best friend joined, but of Bucky there is no sign. Rogers decides that he has had enough of Captain America the stage hero and decides to go in and rescue the missing soldiers.
But you don’t really need that back story do you? I mean, we’ve all heard of Captain America, the superhero who fought the Nazis, right?
9 August 2011
Call no: 155.7
Genre: non-fiction, psychology
7 Stars
1 Comment
What does the theory of evolution have to do with morals? Can it explain why we feel guilt or love? Or why men cheat?
Evolutionary psychology is an attempt to use evolution to explain why people are the way they are. The theory posits that the many many cultures have many items in common, these commanalities cannot be explained by conicidence alone, there must be some reason that humankind has developed these cultural norms. Wright, and other evolutionary psychologists would argue that as human beings evolved certain psychological traits were more conducive to an increase in descendents and therefore became the norm.