Paul Grenyer

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A Review: Cibola Burn

by James S. A. Corey ISBN: 78-0356504193 In some ways Cibola Burn is a lot like Abaddon’s Gate , it’s slow to get going. It takes about half the book, however the second half of the book is really good. One way in which it is different from the stories which precede it, is the Space Opera scope. The vast majority of the story is based on or in orbit around a single planet. For me, this means it doesn’t qualify as Space Opera. That sort of thing may not be important to you though. The new characters in the book are outstanding. Of course James Holden and his crew are central and key to the story. Chrisjen Avasarala is mostly absent again. The members of the opposing factions on New Terra are complicated and feel real. The natural order of who is right and who is wrong is constantly changing and being reevaluated. Star Wars this isn’t! I didn’t really get my head around what I think was meant to be the thought processes of the Protomolecule within the planet or how Miller interacts with

Ten Minutes with Winterfylleth

Would you travel for over 4 hours to spend less than 10 minutes with one of your favourite bands just to get their latest album signed and a photograph? I DID! Although, someone came from Germany, so it wasn’t the longest anyone travelled. I don’t think I’ve been to an album launch signing since July 1997 when Paradise Lost played the London Astoria on a Sunday night and they opened the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street so that we could buy the album at midnight and have it signed. (Remember when album releases were on Mondays?). When the email came through that Winterfylleth were doing a number of album launch appearances and one of them was in Camden on a Friday night I immediately wanted to go. And then I panicked! I’d already pre-ordered the album. Would it be here in time? Worry not! I’ve got plenty of other albums of theirs they could sign. To add insult to injury, Mark Deeks wasn’t going to be there either. It’s Wednesday evening. I’m in Skegness with work and I get an email sa

PJ Harvery - more talent than I was expecting.

My wife is a massive PJ Harvery fan, but I always found her squeaky, out of tune, unable to play and talentless. And to be fair, some of her songs on some of her albums do sound like that. For one reason or another, we missed PJ Harvery at the Roundhouse in 2023, so despite never having been to Gunnersbury Park before, let alone for a gig, I was determined to get my wife to see her this time. The setup for gigs is actually quite good. It’s a relatively short walk from Acton Town and the accessibility entrance was easy to find and the process quick. There was an odd rule about only bringing bags which were A4 sized or smaller. How anyone would get the clothes for all weathers, it was also suggested you should bring, into a bag that small, I don’t know. However there didn’t seem to be much enforcement and we got in with our slightly larger bag and saw plenty of larger ones while we were there. One of the accessibility team who greeted us had a new Korn hoodie. They’d played the previous

A Review: Chapterhouse Dune

By Frank Herbert ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1473233812 Here ends a journey which turned out to be more stubborn determination than enjoyment. As I’ve mentioned before , I first started reading the Dune books as a young teenager after loving the Lynch adaptation of the 1980s. I didn’t complete the initial trilogy until last year (2023). Dune still stands out as the great story, but Herbert's self indulgence starts with Dune Messiah and continues through the rest of the sequels. I really don’t know why he bothered with Chapter House Dune or Heretics of Dune. They don't bring anything to the story or explain anything which isn’t covered in the initial trilogy. Idaho isn’t that interesting after Dune Messiah and Bene Gesseritt after Children of Dune. However, I do have the satisfaction of having read all six books by the original author. I could stop here, but I am told that the Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson is well worth a read. Perhaps I’ll try that before consider

Crypta at The Underworld 2024

When it comes to sound, the Underworld in Camden can be a bit hit and miss and tends to be more miss with heavier bands. I struggled to hear the guitars clearly for Born of Osiris last year and it was the same for both Perpetual Paradox and Phobetor , who were supporting Crypta . It’s a shame as both bands sounded reasonable when I tried them before the show. It wasn’t much better for Crypta. I could just about make out the guitars when there was a solo, but otherwise the guitars got lost in the bass and drums. Perhaps if the sound person concentrated more on the mix than volume it would be better. Despite the sound problems I could tell that Crypta were playing really well and I enjoyed it. They’re so young, it did feel a bit like watching a teenage garage band. I was very keen to see them and I love both albums. Hopefully I’ll get to again and the sound will be better. I was fortunate enough to meet the singer briefly, who was lovely, but my photography skills failed me!

A Review: A Feast for Crows

By George R.R. Martin ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0007548279 If this wasn’t the penultimate book written and I hadn’t enjoyed the TV series so much I would be giving up on the book series at this point. A Feast for Crows is boring and long winded. It’s full of a lot of unnecessary descriptive detail and while there are a few exciting moments, it just drags on. This is also where the TV series diverges the most. The vast majority of this book, especially what takes place in the Iron Islands, does not happen in the TV series and, I suspect, for good reason. If, like me, you want the achievement of having read the whole series then read this book and keep going. Otherwise find something enjoyable and interesting to read.