Frostbitten

Burn me deadly by

Author Alex Bledsoe
An Eddie LaCrosse novel #2

This book takes place around a year, maybe more I can’t recall, after the first one, The sword-edged blonde and since then Eddie and Liz have become a couple. Apart from that nothing much has changed for Eddie. He is still a sword-jockey for hire, and returning one night from a job he almost runs over a blonde woman who is about to mess up his life.

The sword-edged blonde by

Author: Alex Bledsoe
An Eddie LaCrosse novel #1
Eddie LaCrosse is a sword jockey, or private detectives in this fantasy world. He is also a man with a past. And that past is coming back to haunt him. I really loved parts of this book

Black Hills by

Author: Dan Simmons

I’d never read any of Dan Simmons work before picking this one up. I’d heard good things about Drood but that’s about it. So picking this up was a total impulse decision. I hadn’t heard anything about the book, and I don’t really trust blurbs.

In the opening sentence we meet our main protagonist, Paha Sapa, a young Lakota boy who has raced into the middle of the Battle of Little Big Horn in order to go counting coup, there he touches the dying George Custer, the infamous Long Hair, and from then on shares his mind with Custer’s ghost. The book shifts in time, usually within Paha Sapa’s life, but occasionally we get to hear from Custer. He usually talks about his wife, Libby, and the sex they had. To be totally honest this was the one bit I wasn’t that interested in. Okay, so he and his wife have a great sex life, and so…
The rest of the book though, well, it is one I recommend you take a look at.

Red Son by

by Mark Millar

I love the idea behind this graphic novel. Superman, instead of being raised by the Kents in Kansas, instead lands in the middle of Russia and is raised on a collective farm. Growing up, instead of embodying the American Dream, he becomes the Champion of the common worker. And so much of it is just cool. There are loads of great touches, I loved the idea of the alternate Batman.

Unfortunately it never got beyond the “oooh that sounds cool” aspect of the story.

Kick-ass dir. by

Dir:Matthew Vaughn
Writ: Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar & John Romita Jr.
With all the people out there who love comic books, with all those millions of people who love superheroes, why hasn’t anyone ever tried it. That’s what Dave Lizewski wonders. It isn’t that he thinks it is sensible, but surely it stands to reason that someone, somewhere will try it? Or has tried it? Well, why not him. So he goes online and buys a scuba diving suit, and low and behold, Kick-ass is born. Things do not go well for him. He’s a weedy teenager out on his own trying to fit the bad guys. He gets his ass kicked, on more than one occasion, but he also gets famous. And comes to the attention of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, two real superheroes who know enough about their job to keep themselves totally secret. Did I mention that Hit-Girl is like eleven or something?

The forest of hands & teeth by

Author: Carrie Ryan
I think that one of the main reasons I picked this book up was because of that title; The forest of hands & teeth it just seems so evocative somehow. And the blurb itself sounded vaguely interesting; “In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent.”

Leviathan by

It is 1914 and Europe is on the brink of war. In Austria-Hungary young Prince Aleksander’s life is suddenly in turmoil. His parents have been murdered and he is on the run and in disguise. His once-upon-a-time allies have turned out to be enemies and there are very few people he can trust. In England Deryn Sharp wants nothing more than to be an airman. The only problem is, she’s a girl, and airmen are.. well, male. In disguise she gets accepted and is soon serving as a Midshipman aboard the Leviathan. A huge airship built around a fabricated beast.

Iron Man 2 dir. by

Rewatched : 18th March 2018 So yeah, Tony is still a dick and Pepper has turned into an utter whiney damsel in distress. Original review from May 2010 below. IMDb ;...

The lovely bones [based on the book] by dir. by

I read the book this was based on a long time ago. So long ago that I don’t really remember the details. But I do remember thinking that it wasn’t the most film-friendly of novels when I heard that it was to be adapted. But of course neither was The Lord of the Rings and look how well Jackson et al did there. This, however, is a very different kettle of fish from LOTR

Alice in Wonderland dir. by

Ever since I saw the trailer for this with the wonderful character design I wanted to see it. Plus, Wonderland as seen through Tim Burton’s eyes! And Johnny Depp! And the fact that it is 3D. Of course with all those positives there was always the chance for expectations being far too high and the film itself being a disappointment.

This isn’t really an adaptation of Carroll’s book, instead we have a 19 year old Alice, and all the characters in Wonderland, or the Underland, are wondering if she is the right Alice, especially as she doesn’t seem to remember being there before. They need Alice to be their champion and fight the jabberwock and so defeat the Red Queen. But if she isn’t the Real Alice can she do it?

Living with the dead by

The plot of Living with the dead revolves around the character of Robyn; recently widowed she has moved to LA and taken a job in PR with Portia Kane, a Paris Hilton-type celebrity. Or wannabe celebrity. But when Portia is murdered Robyn finds herself the main suspect and in her confusion makes a break for it. She is helped out by her best friend, Hope Adams, and her boyfriend, Karl Marstsen.

Frostbitten by

It has been ages since I’ve read any of Armstrong’s books. I think I sorta faded away from them with Broken. But that was way back in 2006, she’s had four more books in the series out since then, as well as some YA books in the ‘verse, not to mention the ooodles of short stories. And while these books are pretty far removed from the cannon there is something so enjoyable about them.