A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) – Ursula K. Le Guin

I had never read the Earthsea books as a youth. I think as previously mentioned, the only fantasy book I read when I was younger was The Lord of the Rings, and I never tackled anything after that, because how do you top that? I’ve found over the past few years, however, that I’ve been…

Whispers Under Ground (2012) – Ben Aaronovitch

The third book in what has become known as the Rivers of London series takes Peter Grant beneath London in the next volume of the urban fantasy series. Working a murder case, while still hunting down the Faceless Man and his students, Grant, alongside Lesley, who has now joined the Folly (where they work from)…

Dead Alive (1992) – Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson’s wonderfully over the top gore fest horror comedy, Dead Alive aka Braindead is the next zombie title to stumble out of the catacombs of the zombie genre as featured in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Mocies book. By turns hilarious, and bloody, the film is so extreme in its kills, and it’s gore, in…

South Park: The Complete Sixth Season

Paramount Pictures continues making me laugh with their re-release of the first seasons of South Park. I dug into the seventeen episodes with enthusiasm, and this may be my favourite season! We get Butters taking in his evil persona of Professor Chaos, Bebe gets her breasts and disrupts society, 80s movies get skewered (again), the…

The Shannara Chronicles: Season 1

Fantasy television series always have a hard time proving themselves on television. For every Game of Thrones or Xena: Warrior Princess, there’s a Wizards and Warriors or Covington Cross. While television viewers are happy to welcome superheroes and aliens into their living rooms on weekly basis, elves, dwarves and trolls have had a tougher time…

The Passage (2010) – Justin Cronin

  Epic, majestic, terrifying and engrossing. And heartfelt thanks to Amanda for pushing it in my direction! These words perfectly define The Passage by Justin Cronin. A massive novel, coming in at 879 pages in paperback, the tale it unfolds is massive, engaging, and is almost mythic in nature. With a vast cast of characters,…

Alice in Wonderland (2010) – Tim Burton 

  The final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my viewing of The Wizard of Oz, is a bit of a swing and a miss. Combining Disney and Burton with a much beloved classic like Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland seems like an easy winner, but I was less than…

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) – Peter Jeackson

  From the off Peter Jackson’s second installment in The Hobbit trilogy feels like a stronger, more confident picture than it’s still enjoyable predecessor, An Unexpected Journey. Based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, the characters have already been established, as well as a large portion of the journey has already been undertaken. Threats have…

Ready Player One – Ernest Cline

Wicked Awesome (or wicksome as I like to say). That’s what this book is. It’s absolutely bril, and a geek dream come true. What a fantastic ride. It’s like this book was tailored specifically for me, and all the kids I grew up with. Just wow. Wicksome. … I’m an 80s Kid, I was going…