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marthmuffins's reviews
304 reviews
The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin
5.0
Le Guin writes so well.
You can feel the pain as a people must learn to kill.
You can feel the pain as a people must learn to kill.
John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 2: The Devil You Know by Jamie Delano, David Lloyd
3.0
First 3 issues get 4 stars, good resolution to the plot from the first volume with some good old weirdness and we learn what happened in Newcastle.
The next single issue gets a 3.5. Weird as fuck but eh, that's part a the charm.
The annual gets a 3. The story of one of Constantine's ancestors who's, unsurprisingly, a bit of a shite. Alright but not too engaging.
The Horrorist miniseries gets a 2. Do you like grim and depressing storytelling? Do you like it continually for 120 pages, without a break? Then this is for you! Seriously, it doesn't end it's just gratuitously grim for page after page. Artwork by David Lloyd is stellar though and if it were only that it would easily reach 5 stars.
The next single issue gets a 3.5. Weird as fuck but eh, that's part a the charm.
The annual gets a 3. The story of one of Constantine's ancestors who's, unsurprisingly, a bit of a shite. Alright but not too engaging.
The Horrorist miniseries gets a 2. Do you like grim and depressing storytelling? Do you like it continually for 120 pages, without a break? Then this is for you! Seriously, it doesn't end it's just gratuitously grim for page after page. Artwork by David Lloyd is stellar though and if it were only that it would easily reach 5 stars.
Elric At The End Of Time by Michael Moorcock
3.0
Elric at the End of Time - 4.5
The title story is an easyly the best in this collection. Elric travels to the end of time, meeting characters that I'm sure are familiar to people who've read those stories but also Una Persson who appears in the Oswald Bastable novels 9and, I assume, the End of Time series). Fun commentary on who Elric is and how moody and melodramatic a character he is.
The Last Enchantment - 3/5
This story was a fun and weird non-canonical short Elric tale as the Albino Prince of Ruins is transported to a chaos realm and has to do some quick thinking to escape. Nothing stellar but good none the less.
Sojan Shieldbearer - 2/5
These stories are passable. It's interesting to see some of the first work Moorcock ever produced but he has definitely substantially improved, even by the early 60's. Nothing very good but if you like to see an author's evolution, this will give you an idea of where Moorcock started out as a teenager.
The Essay's - 3/5
The various essays were interesting to read though, aside from the Elric one, were seemingly irrelevant to the rest of the stories within, mainly focusing on Jerry Cornelius who is only briefly mentioned in the title story. Good insight into the author and the diferent things he's been invovled in such as the New World magazine.
The Stone Thing - 3/5
Funny little short that satirises many of the tropes that Elric and other fantasy heroes of Moorcock make use of. Funny, short read.
Overall - 3/5
An uneven collection that isn't really about Elric at all. The Elric stuff is all pretty good, its just a shame that the majority of the content is based around the uninteresting character of Sojan.
The title story is an easyly the best in this collection. Elric travels to the end of time, meeting characters that I'm sure are familiar to people who've read those stories but also Una Persson who appears in the Oswald Bastable novels 9and, I assume, the End of Time series). Fun commentary on who Elric is and how moody and melodramatic a character he is.
The Last Enchantment - 3/5
This story was a fun and weird non-canonical short Elric tale as the Albino Prince of Ruins is transported to a chaos realm and has to do some quick thinking to escape. Nothing stellar but good none the less.
Sojan Shieldbearer - 2/5
These stories are passable. It's interesting to see some of the first work Moorcock ever produced but he has definitely substantially improved, even by the early 60's. Nothing very good but if you like to see an author's evolution, this will give you an idea of where Moorcock started out as a teenager.
The Essay's - 3/5
The various essays were interesting to read though, aside from the Elric one, were seemingly irrelevant to the rest of the stories within, mainly focusing on Jerry Cornelius who is only briefly mentioned in the title story. Good insight into the author and the diferent things he's been invovled in such as the New World magazine.
The Stone Thing - 3/5
Funny little short that satirises many of the tropes that Elric and other fantasy heroes of Moorcock make use of. Funny, short read.
Overall - 3/5
An uneven collection that isn't really about Elric at all. The Elric stuff is all pretty good, its just a shame that the majority of the content is based around the uninteresting character of Sojan.
Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
3.0
Children of Dune continues to have an interesting world, an engaging (for me personally) look at philosophy and politics, and an exploration of ecology and the long view of history. However, the flat characters with their long melodramatic speeches and sudden changes in motivation because "Ah saw it with prescience" really grated on me.
I never really cared for Leto II or Ghanima or even the returning characters of Jessica and Duncan. The just seemed to follow the plot because hats what Herbert wanted rather than with much motivation of their own. Alia and the Preacher where slightly more engaing with their struggles but they were still incredibly melodramatic.
Overall, interesting ideas and philosophy that ultimately bog down the book and make the characters unbelievable and wooden.
Rating: 3/5
I never really cared for Leto II or Ghanima or even the returning characters of Jessica and Duncan. The just seemed to follow the plot because hats what Herbert wanted rather than with much motivation of their own. Alia and the Preacher
Spoiler
PaulOverall, interesting ideas and philosophy that ultimately bog down the book and make the characters unbelievable and wooden.
Rating: 3/5
The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
4.0
The Player of Games
Stars - 4.5
A unique set-up for a Sci-Fi book, playing space board game isn't the usual plot you see but it really works. Sets up great characters, commentary and has a load of sexy times to boot. What more could a man ask for?
Stars - 4.5
A unique set-up for a Sci-Fi book, playing space board game isn't the usual plot you see but it really works. Sets up great characters, commentary and has a load of sexy times to boot. What more could a man ask for?
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson
5.0
The Broken Sword - 5/5
Beautiful, lyrical melodrama at it's best. The tragedy of Skafloc, Freda and their doomed love (in the literal sense), the torment faced by Valgard as he struggles with his identity and place as the 'shadow' of Skafloc, and the blue and orange morality of the elves and trolls as they fight for dominion over the crumblng remains of Farie works so well in holding you to the tale.
The desperate futility of the characters as they are inevitably drawn towards their weird's with no way of escape perfectly contrasts with the dying world of Farie as the influence of the 'White God' and his son enter the Viking world, driving the denizens of the old religons, both in the north where our story is set, and further south in the Mediterranean world and even farther afield, into irrelevance or death as they are hunted down by servants of rising faiths.
The writing is excellent as well, poetic and flowery in all the best ways, evocative but not over-long, stylised but very readable. You'll find yourself rereading passages just to digest the way it was written.
All this achieved in little over 200 pages, incredible.
Beautiful, lyrical melodrama at it's best. The tragedy of Skafloc, Freda and their doomed love (in the literal sense), the torment faced by Valgard as he struggles with his identity and place as the 'shadow' of Skafloc, and the blue and orange morality of the elves and trolls as they fight for dominion over the crumblng remains of Farie works so well in holding you to the tale.
The desperate futility of the characters as they are inevitably drawn towards their weird's with no way of escape perfectly contrasts with the dying world of Farie as the influence of the 'White God' and his son enter the Viking world, driving the denizens of the old religons, both in the north where our story is set, and further south in the Mediterranean world and even farther afield, into irrelevance or death as they are hunted down by servants of rising faiths.
The writing is excellent as well, poetic and flowery in all the best ways, evocative but not over-long, stylised but very readable. You'll find yourself rereading passages just to digest the way it was written.
All this achieved in little over 200 pages, incredible.
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
5.0
The Culture, exploiting PTSD-ridden veterans to try and maintain the moral high ground since 1987.