As I've got older, I'm reading more non-fiction for pleasure than I used to – I always thought I was a fiction-only chap – which includes more autobiographies/memoirs; for example, I've recently been enjoying Andrew Collins' books. The interesting thing about reading biographies is the differences in writing style and…
I'm not the sort of fan who feels so passionately about something that I could come up with the infamous remark from the Star Wars fan who, on coming out of The Phantom Menace, said, 'George Lucas raped my childhood' (apocryphal though it may be). It's only fiction, after all,…
When I mentioned I had bought a book by Andrew Collins in my post about the oddity that was my presence on the Wikipedia page for The Collings and Herrin Podcast, this was the book I to which I was referring. I would like to point out that I didn't…
Being a fan of Warren Ellis (see this rather extensive selection of previous posts about Ellis' work), it was obvious that I was going to buy his first novella; the only question was how much I would enjoy the book. The story of Crooked Little Vein is pure Ellis, a…
By Mike Carey This is book 3 of the Felix Castor series, and Carey is maintaining the quality in this adventure of the London exorcist. The setting and threat level is perfectly balanced; I was slightly worried when I read that Carey was taking the character to the USA because…
Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler I read this book via my library after it appeared on the list of recommendations from Amazon – I feel guilty that (a) I’m not spending money to read the book and (b) if I did, I wouldn’t be using a ‘proper’ book shop.…
By Andrew Collins Andrew Collins – journalist (various magazines, including NME, Q, Empire), editor (Empire, Q, Radio Times film reviews), broadcaster (Radio 1 show, movie review show in ITV, 6 Music), television writer (Eastenders, Not Going Out) – obviously likes doing different things. He has become a blogger after all…
Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes Written by Christopher Knowles and illustrations by Joseph Michael Linsner This is a book that tries to unite all comic book superheroes into a common theme; in this case, that they are all derived from occult origins. This is…
This is the third book in the proposed five-book series of Joe Pitt novels by Charlie Huston, and it’s very much the in-between, transition story. (You can read my thoughts on the previous two here and here.) It is putting the pieces into place for the remaining stories, after Huston…
Not only do I read a lot of comic books that my local library is so kind to stock for me, I also read the 'normal' stuff (you know, without pictures) as well. Apparently, they have a lot of those sort in the library too … I reviewed Eternals yesterday,…