The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne by Ann Radcliffe A Review 'They pursued their journey over the wilds, and towards the close of day approached the ruins of an abbey, whose broken arches and lonely towers arose in gloomy grandeur through the obscurity of evening.' In Ann Radcliffe's work, it seems to me, there is …
Category: Books
Tolkien in Fairyland
Tales from the Perilous Realm A Review 'And so it was that the dragon, charging down the line, suddenly saw straight in front of him his old enemy with Tailbiter in his hand.' This collection of tales and poems does not have the epic grandeur of LOTR. Nor does it have the literary merit of …
Stories for Everyone
'A local group claimed the books were satanic and promoting witchcraft, and consequently, set about burning a large cache of the books outside the Christ Community Church.' [a 2001 campaign in Mexico against The Lord of the Rings] In two previous articles, I talked about some of the books I enjoyed as a youngster. I …
Black Holes
by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw A Review 'Black holes are perfect for learning about physics because understanding them requires pretty much all of it.' 'What happens at the singularity of a black hole is beyond current understanding.' Sometimes you think you know quite a lot about a subject, only to find, after reading another …
A Story for Boys (and Girls)
World Book Day 2023 - thoughts after the event: Let me begin with a question: Should we boycott, ban or burn great stories because we don't like the authors' opinions, or the opinions and mores of the society in which they lived? Before delving again into the literary world I introduced in my previous article …
A Story for Boys
Thoughts on 'Treasure Island' by RL Stevenson 'His left leg was cut off close to the hip, and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird.' I would have been about eight years old, and developing my reading skills, when I read …
Challenging an Empire
The Tiger and the Cauldron New Edition " Doquz had seen death and violence before but never had it filled her with such horror. Though Jahan had relaxed his hold, she was for a moment unable to move. Then something snapped inside her brain. Instead of fear and disgust, she was filled with terrible rage. …
Science and Humanity
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli 'There are absolute masterpieces which move us imtensely: Mozart's Requiem; Homer's Odyssey; tha Sistine Chapel; King Lear.... Einstein's jewel, the general theory of relativity, is a masterpiece of this order.' Published around the same time as his book Reality is not what it seems, Seven Brief Lessons …
Adventure, Love and Legend (2)
Another little plug today for my paperback novel, The Gammadion. 'The envoy shivered. It was only a month till the solstice and, though no snow had fallen, the sharp mountain wind chilled his bones. It was true he had known colder winters, but the circumstances of this journey were exceptional. Fear played a part in …
Helgoland
by Carlo Rovelli translated by Erica Segre and Simon Carnell 'In my own attempts to make sense of quanta for myself, I have wandered among the texts of philosophers in search of a conceptual basis with which to understand the strange picture of the world provided by this incredible theory. In doing so, I have …
Bookheathen Scribblings 