Science Fiction and Fantasy that makes you laugh…

I used to be a big fan of Terry Pratchett when I was a teenager, not only was he writing fantasy (all he needed to be doing to become a favourite author of mine) but he was writing fantasy that made me laugh out loud because it was so funny. He was poking fun at the fantasy genre but in a way that made me think, “You know what? He’s right and it’s really funny at the same time.”
Christmas was the time of year when I would get the new Terry Pratchett ‘Discworld’ paperback and you wouldn’t see me (you’d hear me laughing though) until Christmas Dinner was on the table!

But then it all changed. While Terry was poking fun at fantasy tropes I was really enjoying the ride but when his eye started to focus on the real world the Discworld evolved to fit in with it. It was still a fantasy setting but there was enough of the real world there to take that sense of escapism, that I lived for, out and leave me with a book where (horror of horrors!) the jokes weren’t making me laugh any more…
I bowed out of the series (although you’ll still see me picking up ‘Guards! Guards!’ occasionally) but that was ok as I had just discovered Robert Rankin’s ‘Brentford Trilogy’…

Here’s a set of books (along with some of his others) where I think you need to have been born and bred in Britain to really get the humour. Having said that though, I think anyone will get a lot out of other books such as ‘Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse’. Matters of life and death begin and end in the pub and will often take second billing to compiling that winning ‘accumulator’ on the horses or trying to cheat Neville (the part time barman) out of a pint. John Omally and Jim Pooley don’t really want to save the world but when it’s a choice between that and looking for full time employment…

These days Rankin is my drug of choice when I’m after a read that will make me laugh. Christopher Moore is another good one; ‘The Stupidest Angel’ is a book that I think I’ll be reading every Christmas from now on! :o)
It’s also refreshing to see comedy moments popping up where you least expect it, Steven Erikson is a great example here with his epic fantasy series veering off into comedy every now and then with characters such as Kruppe and Iskaral Pust (not forgetting the mighty Bauchelain and Korbal Broach!)

I don’t read an awful lot of humorous genre stuff though and I’m after you to help me fill in the gaps. What am I missing out on? I don’t think I’ve ever seen any humorous sci-fi stuff, anyone care to enlighten me on what’s out there?
Comments in the usual place please! :o)

Not on the bookshelves anymore...

If you want to buy a book these days then you’re not just limited to what’s on the shelves at your local bookstore. Shopping online is where it’s at right now with any number of internet stores that will find whatever you’re after. I’ve never shopped there but apparently the Book Depository is supposed to be pretty good and I’ll always be grateful to Abe Books for having a cheap copy of Robert McCammon’s ‘They Thirst’ in stock (seriously hard to find over here in the UK, at least where I was looking anyway…)

All in all we’re looking at a time where we’ll never be without that book we really want, good isn’t it?
I don’t know about you though but despite how easy it is to buy books I still find it a little bit sad to go into a bookshop and find that my old favourites are no longer on the shelves. There are loads of sound business reasons for this, I’m sure, and you can still buy them online but I think it’s a real shame to see the actual books themselves drop off the radar, especially when trends these days could easily fit in some of the old series…

The series that’s on my mind, regarding this post, is Michael Scott Rohan’s ‘Winter of the World’ series. It’s been a while since I last read it but I’ve still got the impressions of complex worldbuilding and plots that could go anywhere with a cast of Gods who were just as human as their subjects. Couple all that with a real gritty and vicious attitude towards the characters and you’ve got a series that I reckon would appeal to anyone who’s into Brian Ruckley’s work or Erikson’s ‘Malazan’ series. Don’t go looking for it, during your lunch break, though as you won’t find it in your high street book store…
Like I said, it’s a shame but I guess priority has to go to all the new books that are being published and that’s not exactly a bad thing either :o)

How about you? Are there any books/series that you miss when you can’t see them on the shelves? Is this purely a nostalgic thing or do you think that genre fans are missing out by this stuff not being so readily accessible? Do you even go into book shops anymore? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think…

What the ??!!?”*&* just happened there?

You know what I’m talking about, those moments in film or literature where you think you know exactly what’s going to happen right up until the moment when the director/author throws you a wicked curveball and all of a sudden you see everything in a brand new light.

The first time this happened to me was when my Dad took me to see a ‘Star Wars’/’Empire Strikes Back’ double bill at the cinema. I was about six at the time and after having seen Darth Vader keep trying to kill off Luke Skywalker for several hours I couldn’t believe it when Vader turns round (right at the end of ‘Empire Strikes Back’) and says… well, you know what he says! Part of me still wonders how the film would have turned out if Vader had told Luke much earlier on instead of just after Luke having had his hand chopped off…

Luke: “But why didn’t you just tell me to start off with? I’d have been cool with it and I’d still have both my hands! Nice one Dad!”

Vader: “Well, you were using my lightsaber and I certainly don’t remember giving you permission. You won’t be doing that again in a hurry, have we learnt our lesson?”

Luke: “Yes Dad…”

The unexpected twist that really got me though came years later (around nineteen eighty eight) when I was reading Tad Williams’ ‘The Dragonbone Chair’ for the first time. Now bear in mind that I’d been reading a lot of David Eddings around that time as well as a lot of generic sword and sorcery where the good guys always win no matter what… If you haven’t read the ‘The Dragonbone Chair’ (and are planning to) then you may want to skip the next paragraph)

So I’m happily reading away safe in the knowledge that even though things are looking grim it’s all going to turn out ok. Prince Josua and his subjects are holed up in the castle of Naglimund, under siege from the mad Prince Elias.
It’s going to be all right though. Look, there’s Duke Leobardis and his army, marching to crush Elias and raise the siege. Wait a moment, why is the Duke’s son drawing his sword? He’s not going to… he did! Benigaris has just killed his father, taken control of the army and retreated (he then goes on to ally himself with Elias). But, but… what’s going to happen now?

Not only was this a twist in the plot where I least expected it but it completely blew my expectations, of fantasy literature, right out of the water. The story wasn’t meant to go like this… but it did and all of a sudden a whole load of new possibilities opened themselves up to me. These days I almost expect at least three wicked twists in any story but back then it was brand new to me and had me thinking that maybe the genre wasn’t running off just the one plot after all…

So, it’s over to you now. What’s your ‘WTF?’ moment (sci-fi, fantasy or horror) that sprung to mind while you’ve been reading this? It can be something that you never saw coming or something that made you realise the potential of the genre all over again.
You know where to leave your comments :o)

I've been tagged!

I don't usually do this kind of thing but got tagged by Neth Space and Fantasy Cafe and I thought it looked like fun...

Grab the nearest book and turn to page 123. Write down the fifth sentence, post it, and then tag 5 others to do this.

The closest book to hand was an advance copy of Peter Brett's 'The Painted Man', a book that Terry Brooks has had plenty of good things to say about. This should give you a fair idea of what kind of fantasy it is; at least that's what I thought until I turned to page 123, counted five sentences down and found...

Gared's hands roamed her body freely, and Leesha let him touch places that only a husband should.

Ok... There's not much more I can say to that...

I feel like I've turned up far too late to tag anyone who hasn't done this already so I'm turning it over to anyone who reads this post! You know what to do. Go to page 123, count five sentences and post the fifth sentence in the comments...

My Wife is Great!

Sue is great anyway but she is especially great right now as, yesterday, she jumped out of an aeroplane (10,000 feet up in the air) to raise money for a children's paediatric ward in London. Sue raised just over a thousand pounds in all :o) I've seen the DVD (you can get a camera-man to skydive with you) and my heart is still in my mouth so I can only imagine what it must have been like for real...
Well done Sue! I'm really proud of you :o)

Because I'm stuck in the middle of two books and have nothing to review...

A 'what if?' scenario for you...

Terminator: Are you Sarah Connor?

Sarah Connor: Err... yes...

Terminator: Die! (Shoots Sarah Connor)

Terminator: Oh, now what do I do?

This is something that occurred to me one time when I was watching 'Terminator', what would the Terminator have done next if he had succeeded in killing Sarah Connor? Once he had accomplished his mission there would have been nothing left for him to do (Skynet's future having been safeguarded), or would there? The way I see it, the Terminator had three options...

1) His mission fulfilled, the Terminator realises that he is still wanted for killing a whole load of police officers. Knowing that he will eventually be tracked down, he decides to self destruct so that his future technology won't fall into the wrong hands and influence the future development of Skynet.

2) The mission may be over but there's still a lot of damage that the Terminator can do before 'Judgement Day'. He becomes a 'one robot army' intent on destroying military installations that could prove dangerous to Skynet in the future.

3) All any soldier wants to do is re-join their unit and the Terminator is no different. The problem is that it's 1984 and 'Judgment Day' isn't for another thirteen years. What's a Terminator to do in the meantime? Get a job/apartment, settle down and wait for August 29th 1997. There are many job opportunities out there for a highly advanced hunter/killer robot but a career in the CIA beckons because of the Terminator's espionage capabilities. The Terminator's exploits eventually form the basis for the film ‘True Lies’.

Any other suggestions?

A Thursday afternoon question for you...

I recently posted, just over a week ago I think, about the perils of being 'transported to fantasyland' if you're not going to end up as King/Prince/marry the Princess etc. By the way, in the event of this happening to me, I still intend to offer my services to the local evil overlord! I've been thinking about this a bit more (yep, another boring Thursday afternoon in the office) and I thought that I'd give us all a fighting chance this time round. Here it is...

By whatever means, you've found yourself transported to the magical fantasy world of (Insert Name Here). You're not the long lost twin of the King and you're not fated to save the world etc, you're just here and you have to make the best of it. Here's the thing though, before you made this journey you had time to grab one thing from the real world. Through clever use of this 'thing', you are going to make your fortune and marry into Royalty. What did you grab before you left the 'real world'?

There's a couple of rules though (otherwise this would be too easy!)
1) No guns, bombs etc. It's far too obvious, let's get creative people!
2) You're not allowed to take anything that runs off a power source only available in this world. Batteries etc will eventually run out and you're left with a heap of junk on your hands.

My initial thought was to go with a Rubik's Cube and make my money by inviting people to solve the puzzle, I'm not so sure how far that would get me in the long term though...
What would you take?

Sign me up for Team Evil!

I've got at least one book coming up, in the 'to be read' pile that goes along the familiar lines of ' someone is transported from our world to another where they become a knight, have a heroic quest, get married to a beautiful princess blah blah blah...' Yes, these stories still exist and this got me thinking. In fantasy literature pretty much everyone who finds themselves in a strange new world ends up doing pretty well out of the deal but what are the odds of that happening to everyone? Surely there's only so many castles, dragons and princesses to go round? The simple fact must be that for every single person who inherits a kingdom there must be dozens of people who find themselves trying to eke out a living in some hick town, they've got extensive knowledge of project management but that's not going to get the harvest in is it? It's a fairly safe bet then that if my wish to escape this life of office tedium ever came true that the odds are that I wouldn't end up ruling the land of Faerie, I'd probably be ploughing a small chunk of it. And this got me thinking... If you had to live the rest of your life in a 'Fantasy Realm' would you rather your life was governed by the 'good' or 'evil' archetypes that we so often find in fantasy literature? Think about it, your basic 'good' King doesn't have a clue what's going on with his populace. He's either being manipulated by his advisors or slowly being supplanted by a jealous sibling. He's got no idea about finance, he'll just raise taxes (or borrow more money) and expect the money to come from somewhere (I'm looking at you Robert Baratheon...) I could go on but I'm supposed to be working ;o) We would be up in arms if our political leaders did this in real life (it doesn't stop them though) and this is why, if I ever found myself in 'fantasy land' I would probably offer my services to the nearest evil overlord (until they started talking about human sacrifices that is). You know exactly where you are with your basic 'evil overlord'. They're ultimately far more honest than the forces of good, they want to rule the world and they don't care who knows it! Evil has a better line in innovation as well and I'm not just talking about torture devices. Saruman may not have been big on natural conservation but all those trees he cut down were helping to fuel industrial revolution! You know, things that could make life easier for the common man! But no, Tolkien had to go and get all pastoral and put a stop to progress...
The best thing about living under an 'evil overlord' is that they want all the power for themselves and have no time for politics or committee. They will defend your borders far more vigorously than a 'good' King for the simple reason that they know how much they have to lose. A King can always come back from exile but it's a definite 'one strike and you're out' policy for a Dark Lord...
Until someone is transported from our world and actually does a good job of ruling 'fantasy land', I'll be the guy peeling potatoes for the evil horde. I reckon I'll be having a better time than you! ;o)

Science Fiction & Fantasy - What do you want to see in 2008?

This is a cross between an open ended question and a game...
It's early January and there's a whole brand new year stretching out in front of us where absolutely anything could happen, what would you like to see come out of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Genre? Are you one of the many people who's waiting to see if GRRM makes good on his intention to finish 'A Dance With Dragons' this year? Would you like to see Christopher Tolkien produce another book from his father's notes? Is there a favourite book of yours that you would like to see adapted for the big screen? Or do you just want the Writer's Strike over and done with so your TV watching can proceed apace?
Let's take things a little further, this is a speculative genre after all! :o) What ideas/concepts would you like to see hit the bookshelves or the big screen. Have you ever had a hankering to see an urban fantasy about a feisty young dragon trying to make it big on the Stock Exchange (and deciding whether or not to eat his attractive female co-worker) or a vigilante troll trying to deal with the early morning rush hour in London? Actually, that last one is one of mine... Let's get creative people!
And here's the 'game bit'. Leave a comment here and at the end of the year we'll see whos wishes came true. If nothing else it will determine whether some of my readers are psychic...

What's your breaking point?

If you've seen me posting in various 'Whats the last book you read' threads then you'll know that I've been reading 'A Sword from Red Ice' (J.V.Jones) for what seems like an interminably long time. It's a book that's infuriating because although it's a good read (and worth the wait) it seems to be designed with the specific intention of sporadically boring me to tears... It's a problem with 'multiple point of view' books that the reader will find at least a couple of characters that they just can't stand, I've found mine and they keep popping up to annoy me. I find these particular chapters pointless, and doing nothing to advance the plot, and I get to the point where I think 'why am I reading this?' Just as I've decided to put the book down though, along comes a chapter about someone I'm interested in reading more on. I'm back into the book but even then part of me is dreading turning over the page for fear that the next chapter will be about someone I hate... I feel like a yo-yo with all this swinging backwards and forwards between good and bad!
This got me thinking about the point where I just snap and put a book down never to be picked up again, I'm talking about books in general not just 'A Sword from Red Ice'. Normally I'll read anything pretty much the whole way through but there are occasions when I decide that life is too short and stop reading something that I just know is never going to get any better. My recent foray into 'The Charon Covenant' is a good example of this, I'm never going to finish a book where it just looks as if the editor never bothered to get involved. Certain of Laurell K. Hamilton's books have also shown me that I'm never going to get far with a book where plot is almost incidental and sex is prominent...
What about you though? Do you always read a book the whole way through or is there a point where you just think, "The hell with this!" and throw it in the bin? What's your breaking point?

'National Novel Writing Month' - The Aftermath

November was 'National Novel Writing Month' (or 'NaNoWriMo'), a month where if you listen really hard you can hear the feverish tapping of keyboards and people cursing when they see their wordcount... The deal was to forget things like editing and just get your ideas onto paper in around 50,000 words. You'd then have a draft novel that you could edit at your leisure (instead of getting stuck on the first page).
Unfortunately for me, I fell short of this target by around, oh... 50,000 words (oh dear...) November went something like this,

November 1st: Come up with a great idea for my novel, take the rest of the day off to celebrate.
November 2nd - 10th: There's a nagging feeling that there's something I should be doing...
November 11th: Remember about 'NaNoWriMo'. Unfortunately it's in the middle of a meeting at work and I've forgotten again by the time I get home.
November 20th: The Blog isn't doing too badly but isn't there something else I'm supposed to be writing?
November 26th: Suddenly realise that I'm faced with writing 10,000 words a day if I'm going to do this thing.
November 29th: Actually, make that 25,000 words a day (eek!)
December 1st: So, when's the next 'NaNoWriMo'?

It looks like 'Bartholemow Cain and the attack of the Spider Vixens from Neptune' is going to remain little more than a made up book title, in my head, for a little longer at least...
That's enough about me, how did you do? Did you finish your novel? Did you get into it so much that you're still writing it? Has your book been snapped up by a publisher in the last six days? Or did you do a 'Graeme' and are sat there gazing jealously at all the people who finished?
Tell me! ;O)

The Return of... Holidaywatch!

Did you guys all have a good weekend? I did, although the weather was a little chilly, I was in Vienna! Despite one of the engines failing on the runway, on Friday afternoon, we finally made it into Vienna airport several hours late and with no idea what we were supposed to be doing (or where we were supposed to be staying). A good friend of ours had arranged everything but couldn't make it so all we had to go on were the bits of paper he was able to give us. Luckily some fellow travelers and a nice taxi driver took pity on us and we made it to our hotel.
I'm not going to bore you with the 'blog equivalent' of me showing you a bunch of holiday pictures (although I did look good), I'm just going to give you a quick list of reasons why you should visit Vienna if you haven't already...

The Food! I don't think we ate a single bad meal while we were there, we certainly ate several good ones that left us just wanting to curl up somewhere and get some sleep. If you go; be sure to try the roast goose, schnitzel and langos. My not so little stomach is getting nostalgic right now :o)

The Culture! I'm not really into history and all of that but some of the sights we saw took my breath away. The Freud museum wasn't so great but we did get to hang out in his waiting room which isn't something a lot of people can say ;O) If you're a fan of cathedrals and stuff then you should spend time in Vienna, the Cathedral in the Stephansplatz is amazing and another good thing to do is jump on a tram and just spend your time looking out of the window...


Christmas! Now, I'm one of those people who get all hot under the collar when the Christmas stuff goes in the shop window as soon as Halloween is over. Not any more though, a weekend spent going round the Christmas Fayre (in Rathaus) means that I am more excited than ever about the festive season! Hot punch, good food along with lots of Christmas decorations everywhere. And I mean everywhere, not just on the market stalls but all over the trees and church as well. I'm feeling pretty darn festive now :o)

I'm a little bit sad to be back (it was great) but I only have a four day working week and a fair bit of stuff to blog about before the month is up. I've just finished Jennifer Rardin's 'Another One bites the Dust' and am getting to the closing stages of Karen Miller's 'The Awakened Mage'. I've also got a winner for my mystery competition to announce tomorrow...

New Amazon e-book reader the future of reading?

Just before I got yelled at for peering over someone's shoulder to read their paper (on the tube) I noticed an article about how Amazon have come up with an e-book reader (the 'Kindle') that "may signal the death of the humble paperback". Without stopping to think how hardback sales may be affected (get it?) I immediately jumped off at the next stop, went home and burnt every single one of my books in a massive bonfire of literary distruction. There's no way I'm going to be seen with books when the Kindle is the way forward, right?
Actually what I really did was think, "nope, not for me" and carry on reading my humble paperback (after apologising for my anti-social newspaper reading behaviour). I'm not denying that it looks pretty cool (if you want something that looks like it could also double as a geiger counter) but I'm pretty old fashioned in a lot of ways and will stick with reading books just as they are.
For me the act of reading a book means that I actually have a book in my hands, not an electronic gadget where book storage (and display) is almost peripheral to all the other great stuff that it can do. A book is representational of all the work put in by the author, cover artist, editorial staff and many others. To me, an e-book reader is only representational of some amazing technical work (nothing to do with books at all).
The somewhat prohibitive price is also offputting, $400 is a lot of money even if the US Dollar/Stirling exchange rate is working in my favour right now ;o) What really swung it for me though is that I'm less likely to be mugged for a paperback than I am for a cool looking electronic gadget that I'm reading on the train. Think about it...
Having said all of that though, am I missing out on a great e-reading experience? Let me know if you have an e-book reader and can't be parted from it...

Sunday Confessional

No, not that kind of confession! A book related one… Every couple of years or so I find that my tastes in fantasy literature suddenly take a nose dive. I don't want Machiavellian plots in various shades of grey. I don't want the person who I think is the hero to die within the first hundred pages and I certainly don't want a villain who turns out to be all vulnerable and ultimately heroic!

No, what I'm after is far more simple. I don't want to have to think about what I'm reading or grapple with a cast of thousands, I'm after being spoon fed with fantasy mush. You know what I mean, the kind of book you read when you've got the flu or with a big bowl of ice cream. You know it's rubbish but you end up reading it anyway. Yes, I'm talking about guilty pleasures.

Mine is David Eddings' 'Belgariad', a series where 'prophecy' is the ultimate deus ex machina and sits alongside every single cliché you can think of (I haven't found a dragon yet but I'm sure there's one hidden away somewhere). I know it's rubbish, even while I'm reading it for the hundredth time, but I just can't help myself and I know that I'll be reading them again (you'll be pleased to hear that the same cannot be said for the 'Mallorean'!). It's comfort reading, pure and simple. Every now and then I want to read a book where I just know that the ending will be a happy one, I reckon you're the same too.

Now you know my 'guilty secret', how about yours? Which book is it that you settle down with when it's grey and horrible outside (even though you know you've got at least ten better reads sitting on the shelf)? Which book is that you'll quite happily mock but somehow never seems to find it's way from your bookshelf to the charity shop?

Don't be shy, fess' up! ;o)

What's your take on 'Urban Fantasy'?

There was a discussion going on about this over on the Terry Brooks Forum, Shawn (the site admin) is writing an 'urban fantasy' novel and was wondering if his thoughts and ours (re. the ingredients of the genre matched up).
While we all agreed that 'urban fantasy' is 'fantastical elements' in an urban setting' there was some small disagreement on where the urban setting should be. Some of us thought that it had to be in a real world setting, something like Feist's 'Faerie Tale' or Neil Gaiman's 'Neverwhere'/'American Gods' etc. I don't agree. As far as I'm concerned; 'urban' is 'urban' no matter where you set your story, whether it's in 'Old London Town', the labrynthine depths of Gormenghast or the village of Hobbiton. China Mieville's 'Perdido Street Station' was based entirely in the fictional city-state of New Crobuzon, surely that would class it as 'urban fantasy' even though there is no stated connection to the real world (unless you live in London that is, you'll see the similarities straight away).
I could be wrong though, I'm into Epic Fantasy more and have only really started reading the 'urban stuff' this year.
So I'm throwing this one out to you. What does 'Urban Fantasy' mean to you? What would you expect to find in it? Is it mandatory for the heroine to get romantically involved with the vampire she has to kill? Let me know what you think!

Here be Dragons...

Without going too much into what my job involves, my mind does wander an awful lot at work and more often than not it’s about what I’m currently reading. More often than not I’m reading fantasy! A few weeks ago I posted something about how I’d like to see more elves and dwarves in fantasy literature, I miss those guys… I mentioned this on a few forums and a lot of people said that if they never saw another elf or dwarf it would be too soon! A lot people also told me that I wasn’t reading the right books, fair point guys ;o) The discussion, along with some other threads, became one about how certain fantasy clichés have been done to death in the genre, I agree with some points but not with others. As a matter of personal taste, I like elves and dwarves but only really if the author at least tries to do something different with them. However, if I see one more prince who has been raised in secret as a farmboy then I will probably gut him with his own ‘magic sword of destiny’ ™…
There’s a lot of fantasy cliché out there a lot of which is trite and shoe-horned into a book in order to sell more copies, a lot of us realise this and try and be a bit more discerning when we buy our books. Unless I’ve missed something though, there’s one fantasy staple that I haven’t seen anyone moan about… yet. I’m talking about dragons.
Dragons have been around just as long as any of the other fantasy stereotypes (if not longer) but we don’t seem to mind if one or more turn up in the book we’re reading. Martin’s got them but only three at the moment. Erikson seems to have hundreds and will quite happily squeeze a few more in at the drop of a hat. R. Scott Bakker has at least one who’s a real nasty piece of work and Naomi Novik, well… I don’t really need to say anymore do I? The list goes on (Williams, Hobb and Barclay for starters) and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the newer, genre re-defining, authors out there sneak a few dragons into their books as well.
So what is it about dragons that we like so much (if we all do, tell me if I’m wrong)? For me it’s that the action (and story) will always kick up about three notches if a dragon gets involved. I mean, it has to as dragons are just so big and powerful, things just happen! Being at the top of the food chain also lends dragons an arrogance that I find compelling, especially in the ones that can talk. Despite some great fantasy out there with no dragons in it, I’ll always have a soft spot for anything that involves one of these big scaly monsters…
What about you though? Do you like to see dragons in fantasy or are they just another over-used cliché? Or have you taken a wrong turn somewhere and are wondering why this blog doesn’t have Dan Brown in it? (Hint: Try Google!)

‘The Hobbit Movie’ – A Lone Voice Speaks Out!

There’s been a lot of noise online, recently about whether Peter Jackson will play any part in the making of ‘The Hobbit’ into a film. Jackson doesn’t get on with the studio who owns the film rights, Jackson does get on with the studio, the studio is getting someone completely different to direct/produce the film… The rumours go on and all the while, millions of LOTR fans wait for certain people to get their act together and get this film made. After all, the first three films were great so therefore ‘The Hobbit’ will be as well! Won’t it…?
I was having a flick through the book the other day and what I saw not only sent a chill down my spine but also made me jump off the ‘Hobbit Bandwagon’ and raise my voice in an impassioned plea that this film never be made. Don’t get me wrong, I love the book just as much as the next person but just four words will have you agreeing with me that ‘The Hobbit’ should stay on the bookshelf. Are you ready? Here goes… Too many stupid songs...
There are just too many stupid songs in ‘The Hobbit’ for it to achieve the grandeur and majesty of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, that’s a fact. We’re looking at a film that will make full use of New Zealand’s stunning scenery and then massacre it with cheery songs about giant spiders and wine barrels… You thought Shelob was scary in ‘Return of the King’, just wait until you’ve sat through a comedy dance number about her offspring (because if there are songs then there will be dancing, mark my words). And it’s not just the songs either, it’s who you will find singing them. Remember the dwarves in ‘Fellowship of the Ring’? Stolid and gruff characters that were brave and true… Half an hour into ‘The Hobbit’, these very same dwarves will sing a little ditty about how they’re going to trash Bilbo’s house! What about the elves? Majestic, ethereal beings with a history stretching back to the very first days of Middle Earth. Remember how graceful they were in the films? In a chapter called ‘A Short Rest’, your dreams will be shattered as the elves start singing a song in the style of a badly done school production, it’s not pretty… “But that’s ok though” I hear you say, “we’ve still got plenty of goblins and stuff, it can’t be all bad!” Ah yes, the goblins… Those nasty creatures that came pouring out of the walls in Moria. They carry a fine tune as well I’m afraid. Yes, wherever you go in this book you can’t turn around without a song being sung in your face. Is this the film you want to see?
I’ll play devils advocate with myself and admit that I want to see ‘The Hobbit’ on the big screen, of course I do, I’m a fan. However, you’ve got to wonder if a book that was written for children will work as a film when placed alongside its adult counterparts. What’s the best way round this? Should ‘The Hobbit’ be more adult in nature (even at the risk of it losing its essence)? Should it be made as a film in its own right that plays to its strengths and distances itself from the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy? I don’t know but I feel a little trepidation about what I will see when ‘The Hobbit’ appears in the cinema…

What Sci-Fi/Fantasy Magazines do you read?

WHSmith's doesn't have a great selection so I want to know more about what's out there! :o) Every month, we all descend upon our local newsagent to find out what's new in the worlds of science fiction and fantasy, even though we all watch enough tv/surf the net to know what's new before a magazine can tell us... Some of us will even buy more than one magazine even though they all essentially tell us the same thing! Without pimping my favourites too much I'm a big fan of SFX and Deathray magazines, SFX for it's slightly irreverent style and Deathray for the sheer quantity of information that it manages to jam into it's pages.
But there are more magazines out there, some of which you'd only ever notice if you're one of those types who roots around in every corner of the comic book store. And what about all of those fanzines that you only ever hear about ten years after they've stopped being published?
Here's a question for anyone who doesn't live in the UK; if I was to come and visit your country, what sci-fi magazine would make a decent read while I was there? (Let's assume that I'm multi-lingual, which I'm not...)
Tell me what your favourite read is (and why) and give me some food for thought next time I'm looking for a magazine to read, now I'm going to crack open a beer and read the latest edition of 'Deathray'...

Holidaywatch!

An occasional series where I post and tell you about our tent being blown down and the weather doing nothing but rain... (eeek!)
The Highlands of Scotland are absolutely gorgeous but when you're constantly trying to make them out through a thick blanket of rain... We've given up on the whole camping thing, a particularly easy thing to do when your tent blows down with you in it! We're now slowly making our way back down the country and looking for hotels with hot showers and TV! :o) I have had time to get some reading done though so there will be a whole load of stuff to see in the next few days. Stay tuned!

Which Noble House are you a member of?

I'm a huge fan of George R.R. Martin's 'Song of Ice and Fire' and have often wondered which of the noble Houses I would have been part of (always secretly thought of myself as a Stark or perhaps a Lannister, who wouldn't?).
Well, thanks to The Book Swede I've found an online quiz that will answer my very question. I've been left wishing I hadn't asked when I came back with the answer of...



Yep, I'm a proud member of House Tully. The first line reads "Dutiful. Affable. Total doormats. The kindest and gentlest of the houses, you are of House Tully." Oh dear...
I'm not going to put the whole blurb up as, quite frankly, it's pretty embarassing. Instead, why don't you have a go by clicking Here...
Good luck!