Robert rated Saga, Volume 8: 5 stars
A post apocalyptic tale illustrated by Simon Stålenhag. What’s not to like. The story is grim though.
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Robert reviewed The Labyrinth
Review of 'The Labyrinth' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Review of 'Blood, Sweat, and Pixels : The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games are Made' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A series of short chapters looking at the development of 10 games. Written by a video game journalist it pulls from his various interviews with the developers and designers. Unfortunately each chapter is a little too short.
Robert reviewed The Red Atlas by John Davies
Nearly thirty years after the end of the Cold War, its legacy and the accompanying …
Review of 'The Red Atlas' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
During the cold war the soviets undertook a massive mapping operation of the world. This book recounts the history of these maps, and how they came to be known in the west. The book is full of high quality reproductions of the soviet maps and goes into extreme detail over everything from legends to the symbology used.
Robert reviewed The Game Console by Evan Amos
Review of 'The Game Console' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This is primarily a photography book book, featuring detailed and high quality photos of most consoles no matter how large or small. Each system has a brief text introduction which is far to small, but that's hardly the point of this gorgeous book.
Review of "Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
A light and blustery history recounting Sid Meiers life his games and the games industry in general. If you are interested in the topic this book is essential, if you are not I can't imagine reading it.
Robert reviewed Centauri Dawn by Michael Ely
Review of 'Centauri Dawn' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Firstly I cant recommend this book as the final book in the trilogy is so expensive/hard to find. However if you happen to find a copy of all three then this isn't a bad yarn. Centauri Dawn is the backstory and novelization to Alpha Centauri the video game by Firaxis (Brian Reynolds, Sid Meier). Ely himself worked on both the game and its expansion. All in all a great book to fill in the details.
Robert rated The Way of Kings: 5 stars
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive, #1)
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, book one of The Stormlight Archive begins …
Robert reviewed Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive, #2)
The eagerly awaited sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Way of Kings.
Six …
Review of 'Words of Radiance' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
The series is continued. Sanderson some how manages to snatch both victory and defeat from his characters. This is an enthralling work and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.
Robert reviewed Centuries of change by Ian Mortimer
Review of 'Centuries of change' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Mortimer sets out to answer the question - in what century did the people of England see the most change. I think he does a pretty convincing job, and revealed a lot of changes that occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries that I was unaware of.
Robert rated Wool Omnibus: 5 stars
Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey
This Omnibus Edition collects the five Wool books into a single volume. It is for those who arrived late to …
Review of 'Midnight in Peking : how the murder of a young Englishwoman haunted the last days of old China' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book is an anthology of murders that occurred in China and Hong Kong primarily in the 19th century, and primarily, though not exclusively, to or by westerners. The book doesn't just focus on the crimes but also explores the history and places where they occurred.
Robert reviewed Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King
A solitary finger pokes out of a drain. Novelty teeth turn predatory. Flies settle and …
Review of 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I have rated each story 1-4:
1 I would recommend avoid reading this
2 Not great
3 I enjoyed it. I would casually recommend a king or horror fan read this.
4 I would recommend everyone read this.
Dolan's Cadillac [3]
Revenge can take a long time. Fantastic story one of the few I remembered.
The End of the Whole Mess [2] A
A man fails to be his brothers keep – and it costs everything. This story is not stupid, but it almost is.
Suffer the Little Children [3]
A teacher discovers that her children are not quite what she thinks. Children are monsters.
The Night Flier [2]
A newspaper man hunts down a Vampire. Ending is midlling. Soooo much setup.
Popsy [3]
The wrong boy is kidnapped. Nice and punchy.
It Grows on You
A haunted House. Utterly forgettable [2]
Chattery Teeth [3]
A man is highjacked by …
I have rated each story 1-4:
1 I would recommend avoid reading this
2 Not great
3 I enjoyed it. I would casually recommend a king or horror fan read this.
4 I would recommend everyone read this.
Dolan's Cadillac [3]
Revenge can take a long time. Fantastic story one of the few I remembered.
The End of the Whole Mess [2] A
A man fails to be his brothers keep – and it costs everything. This story is not stupid, but it almost is.
Suffer the Little Children [3]
A teacher discovers that her children are not quite what she thinks. Children are monsters.
The Night Flier [2]
A newspaper man hunts down a Vampire. Ending is midlling. Soooo much setup.
Popsy [3]
The wrong boy is kidnapped. Nice and punchy.
It Grows on You
A haunted House. Utterly forgettable [2]
Chattery Teeth [3]
A man is highjacked by a hitchhiker. A stupid premise pulled of excellently.
Dedication [4]
A woman recounts the events surrounding the birth of her son. One of the few I remembered.
The Moving Finger [1]
A finger pokes out of the drain. Terrible.
Sneakers [2]
A ghost in the music studio toilets. If this had ended correctly it could have been a 4. Instead it wafs away like a sheet of newspaper in the wind.
You Know They Got a Hell of a Band [0]
I hate this bullshit story and I had to stop reading. Infuriating and awful. The primary protagonist is perhaps Kings greatest villain.
Home Delivery [4] A
Great yarn about a pregnant woman making do in a zombie apocalypse.
Rainy Season [1]
It rains vampire toads. No satisfactory explanation is given for the locals behaviour. Written as if by a person who has heard about the Wicker Man and desires to recreate it but has no interest in seeing it.
My Pretty Pony [1]
Gramps tells a story. About nothing really.
Sorry, Right Number [1]
A woman calls herself.
The Ten O'Clock People [3]
I remember this really well, but I recall it being better. Bat people live among us, and only smokers can see them.
Crouch End [4]
As a Londoner this story is significantly more resonant. The dark nightmare that is North London, full of its creeping horrors. Reads like he has never been to London though and was using a map.
The House on Maple Street [2]
Some kids kill there stepfather. Also aliens.
The Fifth Quarter [3]
Gangsters battle for treasure map.
The Doctor's Case [4]
A great sherlock Holmes story
Umney's Last Case [2]
The premise of this story underwhelms.
Head Down [?]
Skipped
Brooklyn August [?]
Skipped
The Beggar and the Diamond [?]
Skipped
The Shining
This masterpiece of modern horror builds relentlessly to an absolutely chilling and horrifying …
Review of "The Shining / 'Salem's Lot / Night Shift / Carrie" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Stories are rated 1-4:
1 I would recommend avoid reading this
2 Not great
3 I enjoyed it. I would casually recommend a king or horror fan read this.
4 I would recommend everyone read this.
Boogyman [4]
A shithead father recounts the loss of his three children to a bogeyman to a psychiatrist. All is not as it seems.
I know what you want [3]
A woman finds a man who can provide what ever she wants. She doesn't.
Strawberry Spring [3]
A man recounts the year his college was terrorized by a murderer. No supernatural elements.
Gray Matter [2]
A village man drinks a bad bear
The woman in the room [2]
A son watches his mother die. No supernatural elements. Just a sad story of despair.
Battleground [1]
An assassin gets his just desserts in a deeply unsatisfying story
Graveyard shift [3]
A mill has rat problems. …
Stories are rated 1-4:
1 I would recommend avoid reading this
2 Not great
3 I enjoyed it. I would casually recommend a king or horror fan read this.
4 I would recommend everyone read this.
Boogyman [4]
A shithead father recounts the loss of his three children to a bogeyman to a psychiatrist. All is not as it seems.
I know what you want [3]
A woman finds a man who can provide what ever she wants. She doesn't.
Strawberry Spring [3]
A man recounts the year his college was terrorized by a murderer. No supernatural elements.
Gray Matter [2]
A village man drinks a bad bear
The woman in the room [2]
A son watches his mother die. No supernatural elements. Just a sad story of despair.
Battleground [1]
An assassin gets his just desserts in a deeply unsatisfying story
Graveyard shift [3]
A mill has rat problems. A man doesn’t like his boss. Problem solved.
The man who loved flowers [1]
A young lad has romantic difficulties. No supernatural elements.
The Last Rung on the Ladder [3]
A man recounts a story of how he saved his sister from falling from a ladder but didn't save her later. There are no supernatural element in this story.
Night Surf [1]
The survivors of a deadly civilization ending flue outbreak do their thing.
Jerusalem's Lot [4]
The resident of a family estate recounts his family history, the odd abandoned neighbouring village and numerous disturbances. Set in the 1850s. Prequl to Salems Lot.
Lawnmower Man [1]
Pan takes care of the lawns. And takes care of Harold.
Sometimes they come back [4]
A teacher is visited by demons from his past
Quitters incorporated [4]
A man struggles to quit smoking. Stand out in the book. Only story I can recall from 20 years ago.
The ledge [4 ]
A tennis instructor fucks a mobsters wife. The mobster returns the favour.
The Mangler [4]
An industrial steam iron goes bad. This story is terrifying.
One for the road [4]
On a winters night an out of town we stumbles into a bar, his wife and child near Salem’s lot. Sequal to Salems Lot.
I am the doorway [2]
sci-fi. A former astronaut to Venus struggles with the strange changes happening to his hands
Trucks 1
Trucks take over the world Did this inspire Pixar’s cars? The idea is retarded. Its well written and between Christine and the mangler he clear can do Possessed machines but the concept is a little goofy.
Children of the corn [3]
I always hate when the protagonist makes dumb decisions and in this story of a couple finding themselves in a strange small rural town in Nebraska I am overwhelmed by their magnitude.
Robert reviewed Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
From the Flap:
The Master at his scarifying best! From heart-pounding terror to the eeriest …
Review of 'Skeleton Crew' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Stories are rated 1-4:
1 I would recommend avoid reading this
2 Not great
3 I enjoyed it. I would casually recommend a king or horror fan read this.
4 I would recommend everyone read this.
The Mist [4]
Mist rolls over a small town bring an array of unsettling creatures. Outstanding. It reads like the novelisation of Doom. It also feels like a zombie movie. Man is as great a danger as the monsters.
Here There Be Tygers [2]
A boy meets a tiger in the bathroom.
The Monkey [4]
A possessed monkey toy has the power to kill. Showing again that King is pretty good with the possessed object stories.
Cain rose up [1]
A college kid goes shooting. I could barely remember this a day after I read it and had to check Wikipedia to remind myself of the plot.
Mrs Tod’s Shortcut [3]
Mrs Tod finds …
Stories are rated 1-4:
1 I would recommend avoid reading this
2 Not great
3 I enjoyed it. I would casually recommend a king or horror fan read this.
4 I would recommend everyone read this.
The Mist [4]
Mist rolls over a small town bring an array of unsettling creatures. Outstanding. It reads like the novelisation of Doom. It also feels like a zombie movie. Man is as great a danger as the monsters.
Here There Be Tygers [2]
A boy meets a tiger in the bathroom.
The Monkey [4]
A possessed monkey toy has the power to kill. Showing again that King is pretty good with the possessed object stories.
Cain rose up [1]
A college kid goes shooting. I could barely remember this a day after I read it and had to check Wikipedia to remind myself of the plot.
Mrs Tod’s Shortcut [3]
Mrs Tod finds a shortcut. And another. And another. Sort of sad.
The Jaunt [4]
A father explains teleportation to his family. Sci-Fi
The Wedding Gig [3]
A gangster gets mown down. No supernatural events.
Paranoid: a chant [1]
Unreadable.
Word Processor of the Gods [4]
A writer re-evaluates his family.
The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands [3]
In a gentlemen's club, a man enters who has the opposite of the Midas touch.
Beachworld [2]
Crash landing on an out of the way planet the survivors had to deal with the sand. It gets ever where. I think this would be a but I hate the final paragraph.
The Reaper's Image [2]
So forgettable I forgot it. An antiquities dealer goes mirror shopping.
Nona [3]
Bonnie and Clyde, on Bonnie is a Psychic rat creature.
For Owen [1]
A poem.
Survivor Type [2]
A surgeon takes extreme measures when lost on a deserted island.
Uncle Otto's Truck [3]
Stephen King returns to the world of possessed cars yet another time.
Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1) [1]
A murderous milkman makes deliveries.
Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2) [3]
A vehicle inspection is required.
Gramma [4]
A boy is left alone with is grandmother. Hijinks Ensue. My favourite in the book easily, though I actually was considering skipping it in the first few pages.
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet [4]
Fornit Some Fornus. An editor feeds of a writers insanity.
The Reach [2]
An old lady finally leaves the island she has never left before.