Swither
Full Member
I've recently just finished reading a couple of books that I thought I'd recommend, so I've popped my brief Amazon reviews for them here.
Last night I finished Last Light by Alex Scarrow and went straight out and bought the sequel Afterlight this morning.
I normally read fantasy and the occasional sci-fi, but this book gripped me and kept me glued from start to finish.
I like to read the odd end of the world sci-fi story which is usually based on a hundred years later or so after some world event, but Last Light clearly shows a possible scenario of the rapid breakdown in society if oil were to suddenly stop today.
The plot gets a bit cliched at times, but the book is well written and the main theme of our dependancy on oil, combined with the vivid descriptions of the breakdown of British life are very thought provoking.
A great read and I'm looking forward to settling down with Afterlight, the sequel, tonight.
The other book is more your 'normal' fantasy fare - The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan.
If you are a fan of the likes of Steven Erikson and Joe Abercrombie then you will enjoy this `dark fantasy' title by Robert Morgan.
Many reviews have mentioned the graphic sex scenes, especially the gay scenes, so let's get that out of the way first then. The main character does work as a bitter and ostracised gay warrior, but I don't personally think that the main character, Ringil would have worked half as well if he was heterosexual. His very nature and mentality seems to be shaped on how he has been treated, so it works well. However had he been straight, it would be hard to have any sympathy for his callous attitude to sexual partners. In fact he would be very hard not to despise. The sexual scenes are a mix of all gender preferences and at times feel like pointless fillers, but there is only one real strong scene that might put off the homophobic readers, especially as it added very little to the plot.
The book is well written and the story fairly good, but it did feel like it should have been part of a series, with the ending seeming very rushed.
The other main characters seem to have little to do with the plot until the last hundred pages of the book, feeling a bit divorced from the main plotline until then. It is almost as if the story was edited very heavily and all the other main characters are sadly a bit disjointed from the main story as a result.
I'd be surprised if this isn't the start of a series as it was very enjoyable despite the points previously mentioned.
Well worth a read if you want something a bit more gritty in your fantasy genre reading.
Anyway these might keep you busy for a week or 2
Last night I finished Last Light by Alex Scarrow and went straight out and bought the sequel Afterlight this morning.
I normally read fantasy and the occasional sci-fi, but this book gripped me and kept me glued from start to finish.
I like to read the odd end of the world sci-fi story which is usually based on a hundred years later or so after some world event, but Last Light clearly shows a possible scenario of the rapid breakdown in society if oil were to suddenly stop today.
The plot gets a bit cliched at times, but the book is well written and the main theme of our dependancy on oil, combined with the vivid descriptions of the breakdown of British life are very thought provoking.
A great read and I'm looking forward to settling down with Afterlight, the sequel, tonight.
The other book is more your 'normal' fantasy fare - The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan.
If you are a fan of the likes of Steven Erikson and Joe Abercrombie then you will enjoy this `dark fantasy' title by Robert Morgan.
Many reviews have mentioned the graphic sex scenes, especially the gay scenes, so let's get that out of the way first then. The main character does work as a bitter and ostracised gay warrior, but I don't personally think that the main character, Ringil would have worked half as well if he was heterosexual. His very nature and mentality seems to be shaped on how he has been treated, so it works well. However had he been straight, it would be hard to have any sympathy for his callous attitude to sexual partners. In fact he would be very hard not to despise. The sexual scenes are a mix of all gender preferences and at times feel like pointless fillers, but there is only one real strong scene that might put off the homophobic readers, especially as it added very little to the plot.
The book is well written and the story fairly good, but it did feel like it should have been part of a series, with the ending seeming very rushed.
The other main characters seem to have little to do with the plot until the last hundred pages of the book, feeling a bit divorced from the main plotline until then. It is almost as if the story was edited very heavily and all the other main characters are sadly a bit disjointed from the main story as a result.
I'd be surprised if this isn't the start of a series as it was very enjoyable despite the points previously mentioned.
Well worth a read if you want something a bit more gritty in your fantasy genre reading.
Anyway these might keep you busy for a week or 2