Helllooo! This week was going well until Friday when I fell ill and I’ve now had to deal with family illnesses and a laptop that needed rebuilding. I’m so glad to see the end of it. But I’m going to be quick as I’ve a bit to do before a very busy week starts!

What Have I been Watching?

Erin Morgenstern – The writer of The Night Circus was in Liverpool to talk about their new novel the Starless Sea.   It’s a story about stories and secrets and that is so appealing.  The Night Circus was a huge imaginative feast of a novel and this sounds fascinating too – probably won’t get to this until Xmas.

Vikings (BBC4) – Finished this documentary and there were some fascinating insights into what are actually a very complex people who definitely changed the world.

Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile – an impulse bargain basement buy as when I was a kid I loved this film.  Exotic locations and a host of suspects including a sozzled erotic fiction writer which was a new one on me – I think it was on a lot when I was a kid.  It’s a glossy all-star whodunit with Peter Ustinov hamming up Hercule Poirot and stars like Bette David and Angela Lansbury adding a touch of class. But now I’m looking with eyes that have now seen and read so many tales and despite an impressive bodycount and a truly despicable set of crimes it’s very hammy and lacks pace - it feels more like a nice holiday pic and not working for me now

Farscape – my re-watch moves to season 2 and its taking a little while to find it’s groove back past renewal but stay tuned for the good stuff to come.

Fringe – finally back to my season 1 re-watch let’s see what that brings back!

What Have I Been Listening To?

The Magnus Archives – huge catch up now to episode 30! I’m back in the game

What have I reviewed or read?

Tangle's Game by Stewart Hotston - a smart cyber thriller set in the near future that raises a lot of interesting questions for today’s world too. 

Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri an absolutely stunning entry in fantasy and one of my favourite reads of 2019.  READ IT

The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman – review to come – the fourth tale in the Library series where all powerful librarians, dragons and fae battle across the multiverse.  This time in a version of prohibition Amercia.  Sadly a tad infodump overload crept in that for what should be alight fast fun read made it feel leaden a lot of the time.

Legacy of Ash by Matthew Ward – a behemoth of a new fantasy tale but the first few chapters are excellent at grabbing my attention…

What am I reading or coming soon?

Loads to do before the year is out but this week on imminent TBR

The Djinn Falls in Love edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin – need to sit down and lose myself into this

A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie – I must see how things have gone in the First Law universe

X-Men Mutant Empire by Christopher Golden – a new marvel prose series

The Nightjar by Deborah Hewitt – an interesting new fantasy series to try