The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman Volumes 2 and 3 The Secret Commonwealth The Rose Field Volume 2 of Pullman's new trilogy raises the same kind of questions as Volume 1. It's a great story for readers who know what's going on. However, I did wonder if Sir Philip did enough to attract new …
Category: Science fiction and fantasy
Dark Matters
The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman A Review Thirty years have passed since Philip Pullman thrilled a generation of teenagers - and many adults too - with Northern Lights, the first volume of his trilogy, His Dark Materials. Readers of the latter will recall that the story resolved satisfactorily at the end of the …
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
by Neil Gaiman On looking back on some of my reviews from 5-6 years ago, I found a couple on Neil Gaiman's books. However, the links to the original posts seem to be broken so I thought I'd do them again! They are a lot of fun to read. ‘I just looked up at her, …
Catch a Falling Star …
Stardust by Neil Gaiman On looking back on some of my reviews from 5-6 years ago, I found a couple on Neil Gaiman’s books. However, the links to the original posts seem to be broken so I thought I’d do them again! They are a lot of fun to read. ‘She was one of the …
A World Without Books?
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury A Review ' "There is nothing magical in [books] at all. The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us." ' Guy Montag is a fireman. But he doesn't put out fires; he starts them! That is …
Book Review
Dracula by Bram Stoker 'There lay Lucy, seemingly just as we had seen her the night before her funeral. She was, if possible, more radiantly beautiful than ever, and I could not believe she was dead. The lips were red, nay redder than before, and on her cheeks was a delicate bloom.' What is there …
Tolkien and the Future of Epic Fantasy
by Andrew G Lockhart ‘The past is but the beginning of a beginning, and all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn.’ [HG Wells] The movie industry occasionally trivialises and mangles great works of literature in order to bring them to the screen. We might cite, for example, various adaptations …
Gems of Fantasy
The Illustrated Man By Ray Bradbury ‘Sixteen illustrations, sixteen tales. I counted them one by one. Primarily my eyes focussed upon a scene, a large house with two people in it. I saw a flight of vultures on a blazing flesh sky, I saw yellow lions, and I heard voices.’ Ray Bradbury was one of …
Hogwarts #7#
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling Harry Potter Hogwarts House Editions I think I may have written previously that I am collecting these special editions of the Harry Potter novels for my two granddaughters. Although they are still too young to read them, I am happy to announce that the collection of …
Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir 'I think my job is to solve the Petrova problem . . . . in a small lab, wearing a bedsheet toga, with no idea who I am, and no help other than a mindless computer and two mummified roommates.' In Project Hail Mary, Dr Ryland Grace is a thirty-something high school …
Bookheathen Scribblings 