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A Simple Post on Libraries

Hello Readers,

I haven’t done a post that isn’t a book review for some time now, so I thought I would put one together for you. I had a little think about what I could do and came up with this idea, a post on some of the awesome libraries I have visited locally and across the world. So, here are a few of the photos I have taken while on my travels (and one photo I didn’t take).

This is the forest of Wisdom in South Korea:

This library is located in an area called Paju Book City and is close to the border of North Korea. This place is full of publishers and book related businesses. The library even has rooms you can book and stay at.

And a printing press museum:

This next one is Oodi Library in Helsinki. I didn’t have a decent photo of this library, so I grabbed this one by Seppo Palander, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    This is the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia:

    The State library of South Australia in Adelaide, Australia:

    This one is Kurilpa Library in West End, Queensland Australia (My local library):

    And to finish up, here are a couple of the communal libraries around my area:

    Happy Reading!

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    Book Review: Unsouled (Cradle: Volume 1) by Will Wight

    Unsouled (Cradle: Volume 1) by Will Wight follows the story of Lindon, an ‘Unsouled’; a boy unable to follow a magical path in a world that revolves around the paths of the sacred arts. He is determined to follow a path… any path, and decides to forge his own.

    The Cover: The cover is simple, depicting a wooden token/badge on a plain background. It has a strong white font that contrasts well against the red background. I would not associate the image with a fantasy novel. I would question if this was a thriller as it is not clear to me, but it does represent the Asian culture the world is built around. It is a good fit with the story, but I don’t feel it is a strong representation of the genre.

    The Good Stuff: I really enjoyed the story line in this book. I am a big martial arts fan and this reminded me so much of the movies I used to watch in my younger days. The world building works well for me and I can imagine the clan villages, their politics, their clothing, etc… clearly in my mind. The main character has a strong focus on his goal and I find the magical elements is intriguing.

    The Bad Stuff: I hate to say this as I am no expert on writing, but a review is an opinion piece, so I will share my opinion. I thought the writing style was weak. There are sentences starting with ‘As’, ‘And’, and ‘But’. There is a lot of telling and unnecessary wordage. There is also description in the fight scenes that slow down the pacing. In my opinion this all detracts from the story.

    Overall, this is a good story and I feel it is worth reading. I enjoyed it and will look at reading more of the series. I’m giving this one a fist smashing, sword slicing, 3 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

    Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here.

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    Book Review: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

    Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman is the comical tale of an angel and a demon who have been living on Earth for quite a while, awaiting the apocalypse. But when the time is nigh, a slight mishap at the birth of the anti-christ sows the seed of change, and the end of the world doesn’t quite go as things were written.

    The Cover: The cover on the version I own is a great cover, based on the TV adaptation of the novel. It shows the demon (David Tennant) and the Angel (Michael Sheen) sitting on the world with the biblical apple and serpent sitting in a tree between them. It is a great fit for the title with a good choice of colours and fonts.

    The Good Stuff: I enjoyed this more than I expected, it is well written and very amusing. The characters are well created and all have their own goals. It may even take your mind back to reminisce on your childhood days. Having seen the TV adaptation myself, I can say they did a very good job bringing the book to life on the screen.

    The Bad Stuff: This isn’t a bad thing for me, but it did feel a little childish, which is fine and suits the story and the characters. I just thought I would mention it as if you are after a serious read, this is not the book for you. But really, the authors’ names should be enough to hint at that. Overall, this is a fun read that will bring a smile to your face and a few giggles along the way. It has interesting characters and will keep you amused to the very end. I’m giving this one a rib tickling 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

    Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here.

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    Book Review: Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

    This was a re-read for me, below is my original review with a few added comments:

    Half a King by Joe Abercrombie is the story of a boy with his life planned out, suddenly forced to become a king, only to thrown from grace to the depths of depravity where he strives to take back his life and his rightful place among his people. More so, it is a story of greed and betrayal, friendship and loyalty, but most of all… Vengeance.

    The Cover: I like the cover for this book. The image on my copy is that of a party of six figures walking past a twisted tree on a rocky outcrop. It is clearly a fantasy novel with both picture and font lending themselves to the genre.

    The Good Stuff: I have been trying to read a wider variety of authors over the last year, but I was only a few pages into this story when I thought to myself – ‘Damn, I’ve missed the quality of Joe’s writing’. This is another great book, which I must say is without doubt, written by my favourite author. This title has the same amazing character development, great description, and everything else I love about Joe’s work. Maybe not as gory or bloodthirsty as his First Law Trilogy, and certainly less coarse, making it more suitable for a broader audience. I am a big fan and with quality writing such as this, who wouldn’t be?

    On re-reading, I found that I had forgotten so much of the detail within this story that it almost seemed like I was reading it for the first time again, and I loved it! The way Abercrombie weaves and twists his plot, building character depth with so many great characters (such as Yarvi, Sumael, Nothing, and Shadikshirram to name a few) with a thoroughly engaging story, is masterful in my opinion. This title is a pleasure to read and makes me want to re-read Half a World and Half a War now.

    The Bad Stuff: (Insert the sound of Crickets chirping here). On re-reading once again… (Crickets chirping) Overall, this really is a great fantasy novel with all the elements I love – good world building, great characters, and a solid story line with twists and turns you will… and won’t, see coming. I’m giving this one a whip lashing 5 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

    Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here.

    If you enjoyed this review, please share it with your friends on social media.

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    Book Review: Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence

    Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence is the second book in The Ancestor Series.

    The Cover: The version I have has a grey background of cloud with a lone female figure holding a sword, walking amongst a number of spears and blades. The title is in a silver font with slender curved edges that flow into points, resembling scimitars in my opinion. I like it and think it fits the genre well.

    The Good Stuff: This is the first book I’ve read by Mark Lawrence and I was not disappointed. This author knows how to write a good fantasy. I only wish I had started with the first book in the series. Having said that, it wasn’t hard to pick up and read this book out of sequence. The writing style is good and the story pulled me in. There is also plenty of magic, plenty of action, and plenty of blood and gore.

    The Bad Stuff: There were a couple of times when I felt things were over explained, mostly near the end of the book where the action really picks up. I didn’t like the prologue either and was relieved that the style it was written in did not carry across the whole book. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, it has everything I like in my fantasy reads. I will definitely be reading more from this author. It gets a thread weaving, path blazing 5 out of 5 golden bookmarks from me.

    Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.

    If you liked this post please share it with your friends on social media.

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    Book Review: Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein

    Stranger in a Strange Land by various Robert A Heinlein is a Sci-fi novel about a man from mars who visits earth.

    The Cover: The cover image on the version I have shows a mountain range that forms the profile of a human face lying down against a somewhat psychedelic sky. I can’t say the cover clearly defines it as Sci-fi, but I would have assumed it to be so. The artwork is a bit boring to me, but the title font is a good choice and is clear in white against the coloured background. I will say this is a 1991 publication of this book and it seems the image has been updated since.

    The Good Stuff: I did enjoy the beginning of this story and found I wanted to read more. I think it was a good concept and I did find myself liking the characters more as time went on.

    The Bad Stuff: I believe this book was originally published in 1961 and it shows. It is quite sexist and it doesn’t seem to be just the characters that come across this way, but more a reflection of the attitudes at the time of writing. There are parts that go on unnecessarily about things that have little relevance in my opinion (such as the mailing system introduced to review the mail received by the man from mars). The book also goes on about religion too much for my liking.

    Overall, I got bored with this book about halfway through, started to skim, and ended up giving up on it about 2 thirds of the way in when it was banging on about religion too much. If you love this book, I’m sorry. It just isn’t my cup of tea and only gets a mind vanishing 1 out of 5 golden bookmarks from me.

    Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.

    If you liked this post please share it with your friends on social media.

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    Hurry Up Joe!

    Image by Jcrakow

    Hello Readers,

    It is no surprise to my regular followers when I say that my favourite author is Joe Abercrombie. If you follow my blog you will hear me mention him frequently. So, I must say that I am super excited about, and eagerly awaiting to read, the new trilogy he is working on ‘The Devils’. Unfortunately, it is not scheduled for publication until 2025, so we have a bit of a wait. If you haven’t heard/read about it, here is the blurb:

    The Devils begins a series which fuses the best of fantasy with the most gripping elements of heist, spy and thriller fiction. In a magic-riddled Europe under constant threat of elf invasion, the ten year old Pope occasionally needs services that cannot be performed by the righteous. And so, sealed deep beneath the catacombs, cathedrals and relic stalls of the Sacred City lies the secret Chapel of the Holy Expediency. For its highly disposable congregation—including a self-serving magician, a self-satisfied vampire, an oversexed werewolf, and a knight cursed with immortality—there is no mission that cannot be turned into a calamitous bloodbath…

    A must-read, this is accessible fantasy fiction with the addictive Abercrombie twist which has seen his novels hit bestseller lists around the world, delight millions of readers, and cemented his position as one of the leading fantasy writers of his generation.

    Let’s hope he finishes it a little sooner than expected. Happy Reading!

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    2022 Wrap Up

    Photo by Sebastien Wiertz

    Hello Readers,

    Well it was a wild year last year, what with Covid still rearing its ugly head, war in the Ukraine, and some crazy weather events, such as the flooding here in Queensland, Australia. On a more personal note, I didn’t succeed in completing my goals for 2022. I only managed to read and review 5 books from my target of 12, I didn’t obtain any new reviews, and I didn’t manage to finish writing some of the stories I had hoped to.

    To be honest I was a little slack over 2022. I had a lot of distractions. An X-Box managed to sneak into my life and I was sucked into the worlds of The Witcher, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age 4, and Skyrim. I completed all four games, but it took months of gameplay. It wasn’t one of my goals going into the year, but I’ll take it as an achievement anyway. There were also a few new TV series that came out, the likes of The Witcher: Blood Origin (binged), The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power (binged), and Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon (yet to binge).

    These are just some of the reasons (or excuses) why I didn’t reach my goals. I just hope I can be a bit more focused over 2023, try to pick up an extra review or two, and maybe get some actual writing done.

    Happy Reading!

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    Book Review – Heroes wanted by Various authors.

    Heroes Wanted by various authors is a fantasy anthology.

    The Cover: The cover image depicts some fantasy characters/creatures from the stories within and definitely fits with the genre. The artwork is good and the title font is in a good choice in a nice contrasting colour, making it clean and clear. The only thing I feel letting it down is that it is a very dark picture that tends to make the image a murky smudge on the thumbnail images you see online. Overall, I like it and fits the genre.

    The Good Stuff: This is definitely a fantasy anthology, and you get exactly what you’re expecting in that regard. It was free on Amazon when I picked this title up and here are a few good stories between the covers, so great value in that respect. Anthologies are a great way to sample the works of a number of authors to see if you like their writing, and it can be worth it when you find one you like.

    The Bad Stuff: As with most anthologies, you get ‘a mixed bag’ of stories from a variety of authors. Some are good stories and some you will likely skim through or skip. Sometimes this feels a little disappointing, but then I try to remind myself that it isn’t really an issue, especially when the book is free. Truly, if I can find one author I like from the various writers, it is far better than trying a novel by an author I haven’t read, only to find I don’t enjoy their work.

    Overall, I enjoyed some of the stories, but not as many as those I skimmed or skipped. I didn’t find another favourite author is this book, but there are a couple I would give another go on one of their longer pieces of work. This one gets a sword slashing, magic blasting 3 out of 5 golden bookmarks from me.

    Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here.

    You can also find his titles available in libraries. If you liked this post please share it with your friends on social media.