The CIA’s most dangerous former operative is drawn out of hiding to uncover more explosive truths about his past.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The 5th and most likely final, installment of the Bourne Series of movies. It follows on directly from The Bourne Ultimatum and recall requires knowledge of at least the first three movies in the series. If you have watched and enjoyed them then this one will come as no surprise as it keeps to the same story and characters.
It’s far from predictable though. The quality of production and direction is superb and the story moves at a perfect pace that keeps the action fast without losing control of the story. It all leads up to an excellent final confrontation proceeded by a great car chase and face to face action scene.
The two main characters are fantastically portrayed by Matt Damon (definitely one of my favourite actors) and Tommy Lee Jones but are very well supported by CIA agent Alicia Vikander and asset Vincent Cassel
If this is the final Bourne movie then it’s a very fitting end to an excellent series of movies.
At Crydee, a frontier outpost in the tranquil Kingdom of the Isles, an orphan boy, Pug, is apprenticed to a master magician – and the destinies of two worlds are changed forever.
Suddenly the peace of the Kingdom is destroyed as mysterious alien invaders swarm the land. Pug is swept up into the conflict but for him and his warrior friend, Tomas, an odyssey into the unknown has only just begun.
Tomas will inherit a legacy of savage power from an ancient civilization. Pug’s destiny is to lead him through a rift in the fabric of space and time to the mastery of the unimaginable powers of a strange new magic.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
While this is undoubtedly a very good book my high rating may be influenced by nostalgia as much as anything else. It was one of the very first fantasy books that I read and one of the small number that got me really interested in the genre. I first read it in my late teens and have come back to it a number of times over the years.
The story itself isn’t that complicated and neither are the characters but it still manages to incorporate a large number of characters, all with an impact on the story and span two worlds with very different cultures.
The style of writing is very much that of the early 80s. This story comes at the very beginning of the emergence of fantasy fiction and is very different to many books being written today. It’s a simpler style of writing and no adult themes. I found it very refreshing to be honest.
The author has written a considerable number of books in the world of Midkemia and Kelewan and this is just the first installment. It’s hard to believe that this was his first published novel. The story of the Magician and the Riftwar Saga is an introduction to two amazing worlds and I’d highly recommend it.
Nine feet under water, police diver Flea Marley closes her gloved fingers around a human hand. The fact that there’s no body attached is disturbing enough—until the discovery of the matching appendage a day later. Both hands have been freshly amputated, and there are indications that the victim was still alive when they were removed.
Newly seconded to the Major Crime Investigation Unit in Bristol, DI Jack Caffery soon establishes that the hands belong to a young man who has recently disappeared. As Caffery and Marley search for the rest of the victim—and for his abductor—they journey into the darkest recesses of Bristol’s underworld, where drug addiction is rife, street kids sell themselves for a hit, and a disturbing occult ritual may be making an unexpected appearance.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
One of the very best books I’ve read in a long time! The author has taken her familiar character and turned him upside down by moving him out of London and into a new city in Bristol. He hasn’t managed to leave all his baggage behind though so he hasn’t changed completely.
Two new characters have been introduced. One is the very complicated Walking Man who has only been touched upon in this story and with this book being sub-titled as the first installment of “The Walking Man” series we will get to know him better in the future.
The second is Flea Marley and she is as important and central a character as Jack. Another complicated character with a messy background story and again someone we will be meeting again. In an interview with the author she described how she had intended to leave Jack Caffrey aside and develop Flea as a character with her own series but was drawn to bring Jack and her together in the one story. It’s a fantastic result.
All that and then you add in gruesome murders, African occult and a host of other really well written minor characters and it was a story I could hardly put down.
As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human numbers dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night.
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is my second time to read this book. The first was a couple of years ago but for some reason I didn’t go on to read the rest of the series. I don’t understand why as this is an excellent book and the best fantasy story I’ve read for quite a while.
There is a solid core of well defined main characters aided by interesting minor characters. Together they are used in a really good way to create the back story of the main characters and bring them together.
It’s a far from predictable story without being too shocking, just the right blend to keep the story believable but still interesting.
Looking forward now to reading the rest of the series.
No one is safe, and no one is to be trusted as the bloody war that began in Stella Gemmell’s The City continues…
The dreaded emperor is dead. The successor to the throne is his nemesis, Archange. Many hope her reign will usher in a new era of freedom and stability. Soon however, word arises of a massive army gathering in the shadows of the north. They are eager to lay waste to the City and annihilate anyone—man, woman, or child—within it.
Yet just as the swords clang in fields wet with the blood of warriors, family feuds, ancient rivalries, and political battles rage on within the cold stone walls of the City. A hero must rise up and restore the peace before anything left to fight for is consumed by the madness.
My Rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
This is a true epic fantasy story. I read the first book (The City) a while ago and had forgotten a lot of the detail of the story so it took me a while to get into it. Like other reviewers the first section was a bit confusing as it goes back in the timeline of the first book and tells the ending from a different perspective. Many of the smaller characters from the first book reappear in this one in a starring role with major characters from the first taking a bit of a step back.
Once the timeline catches up the story really hits its stride. This is only Stella Gemmel’s second solo novel but it’s obvious that she worked closely with her husband David on his books. Her character creation and scene depiction is brilliant and combined with great storytelling makes this a very enjoyable read. I really did enjoy it and while I liked how it ended I was disappointed that it did!
I think my favourite aspect of the story is how she created many small connections between characters and then brought them together, sometimes more than once, to build towards something bigger and of more significance. There’s also no single standalone central character. There are a minimum of 4 or 5 that the story builds around and all of them are equally important. She also doesn’t mind killing off the odd character either!
I really hope that Stella Gemmel writes more books and if she does I hope they are as good as this one.
Meet Tony Hill’s most twisted adversary – a killer with a shopping list of victims, a killer unmoved by youth and innocence, a killer driven by the most perverted desires …
When teenager Jennifer Maidment’s murdered and mutilated body is discovered, it is clear that there is a dangerous psychopath on the loose. But it’s not long before Tony and DCI Carol Jordan realise it’s just the start of a brutal and ruthless campaign targeting an apparently unconnected group of young people. Their chameleon-like killer is chatting with them online, pretending to share their interests and beliefs – and then luring them to their deaths.
But just when Tony should be at the heart of the hunt, he’s pushed to the margins by Carol’s cost-cutting boss and replaced by a dangerously inexperienced profiler. Struggling with the newly awakened ghosts of his own past and desperate for distraction in his work, Tony battles to find the answers that will give him personal and professional satisfaction in his most nerve-shattering investigation yet.
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Really enjoyed this. Previous books have focused heavily on Carol, her private and professional struggles and her relationship with Tony. This book is written much more from Tony’s point of view, taking his character in a different direction and hopefully setting up the next book to be a really different relationship for the two of them.
I also really enjoyed the development of the other characters, especially the other members of Carol’s MIT. Paula in particular got a nice focus throughout this book and I think Ambrose will feature in the rest of the series.
On top of all that it’s a cracking bad guy story with a bit of a twist from the norm.
niall harran 