Vision In Blue

You guys know I like my Doctor Who, so when this one came up on Netgalley it was another no brainer... of course I was going to request it. Doctor Who: Myths And Legends by Richard Dinnick For thousands of years, epic stories have been passed down from Time Lord to student, generation to generation. The truth of these tales was lost millennia ago, but the myths and legends themselves are timeless. These are the most enduring of those tales. From the princess Manussa and her giant snake Mara, to the Vardon Horse of Xeriphin, these stories shed light on the universe around us and the beings from other worlds that we meet. Myths hold up a mirror to our past, present and future, explaining our culture, our history, our hopes and fears. A collection of epic adventures from the Time Lords’ mist-covered past, Myths and Legends is an unforgettable gallery of heroes and villains, gods and monsters. I was really excited by this one. The contents page was encouraging, with tales ...

This one was a bit out of the blue, searching through new titles for our February catalogue I came across this cute looking cover and when I was Googling for more information I discovered it was on Netgalley... so of course that was going to get read straight away! Kim Reaper: Grim Beginnings by Sarah Graley Kim is like any other university student trying to get by, she's found herself a part-time job to help make the rent. But it's not quite that simple. When she leaves a lecture the only things she needs to do to get to work is get out her scythe and open a portal there. Kim is a part-time grim reaper. Becka has noticed Kim in class, the beautiful gothic angel has caught her eye and she's hatching a plan to meet her properly. That plan goes slightly awry when she chases after her and ends up in Kim's portal to work. This little mishap leads to all sorts of chaos, one not quite dead cat, one fully dead cat-dad, some vengeful zombies, and a bunch of grim re...

I was surfing Netgalley the other day and spotted a sampler for Dan Brown's new novel Origin ... of course I clicked on "read now". I was unfortunately only privy to the prologue and first chapter (out of 105 chapters I think), but that was better than nothing. It certainly leaves you with a good sense of what to expect in the rest of the book. With a two chapter sample it's very difficult for me to give you any spoilers whatsoever... Edmond Kirsch excelled in the tech world from an early stage, not just that, he excelled at knowledge. The last people you'd expect him to be meeting with are three of the world's leading religious figures. But that's exactly what he's doing behind the closed doors of the Library of Montserrat. What he's about to show them will change the very meaning of what they hold dear. Three days later. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Hundreds of guests are gathered in the most fitting venue for the tech giant's late...

Super Sons Volume 1: When I Grow Up by Peter J. Tomasi. Published by DC Comics. Out 17th October 2017! Synopsis: Superboy (AKA Jonathan Kent) and Robin (AKA Damian Wayne) make their debut in this new graphic novel that collects Super Sons issues 1–5. The two boys long to follow in their fathers’ footsteps. But when the Bat tells Robin he can’t join him on a mission he goes in search of his own, and he’s taking Superboy with him. With Robin’s intel, the dynamic duo go in search of security footage that will help them track down their very own villain… but all doesn’t go quite to plan. At least, I’m fairly sure that flinging Superboy off the side of a building wasn’t quite what the plan entailed. Even so, they manage to secure the footage and find their next clue. Even with the bickering the pair manage to stick together and find the lair of Kid Amazo. Infected with the Amazo virus created by Lex Luthor, Kid Amazo has lost the hero values that his family had… now he wants so...

I like to know a little about a lot of things. At some point you'll find something that peaks your interest and then you've got a research black hole you can fall into. So when I see books like this I'm always interested to see how they approach a subject. Know It All Shakespeare: 50 Key Aspects of the Bard's Works, Life & Legacy, Each Explained in Under a Minute by Ros Barber. The book is set out quite neatly in seven sections that house the 50 key aspects. Each of those sections has a short essay on a specific Shakespeare play as well as a glossary. The pages themselves are set out for multiple factual sections: 3-second Prompts - a one/two line summary of the topic 3-minute Call - key point about the topic 3-second Biographies - profession and timeline of people relating to the topic Related Topics - other sections of the book that are relevant and the main article The trouble with a lot of factual books is the sheer volume of heavy text. This ...

I love picking up things like this on Netgalley, it really cheers me up. I've kind of given away what I think about the book haven't I? Never mind, carry on and listen to my waffle anyway. While I'm a fan of comic books, I'm by no means an expert. I tend to opt for single character titles with a set number of issues. If that says anything about me, it's that I'm impatient. But when I see things that say they're "volume 1" or are stand alone set of team ups, then I do quite like giving them a go. So, Justice League Vs Suicide Squad... I'm going to copy and paste this next bit straight from Netgalley as I don't want to miss any of the talented people... Written by rising star Josh Williamson ( The Flash ) with art from acclaimed illustrators Jason Fabok ( Justice League: Darkseid War ), Tony S. Daniel ( Batman ), Fernando Pasarin ( Justice League ), Howard Porter ( JLA ), and more. What the official blurb tells us... It's the fi...

I was surfing around Netgalley this morning and came across this... I mean come on... there was no way I was going to keep scrolling past this one! A is for Asteroids, Z is for Zombies: A bedtime book about the coming apocalypse (what a great title!) by Paul Lewis and illustrated by Ken Lamug. On first glance you have to assume this is going to be along the lines of Go the F**k to Sleep and We're Going On A Bar Hunt. The sort of parody book that have been so popular of late. The blurb for the books says it pokes fun at the constant conversation about our planet being too far gone to save, and offers a vision of the apocalypse for every letter of the alphabet. Our tale starts out with little Timmy, who asks his dad if it's true that zombies eat brains like the kids in his class have told him, and if everyone will die when asteroids fall from the sky. Good questions Timmy. Dad remembers that Aunt Dorcas got Timmy a book about the impending doom of the pla...

There's always something fun to be had in the peculiar and curious. Having just finished London Curiosities by John Wade , I can happily say that this book proves my point. I'm honestly surprised that I knew very little of what was mentioned about London considering my penchant for pointless facts and things that make you go "reeeeeeeeeaaaallly?" One of the things I liked was that we're told the myth and local lore behind some of the oddities. But we're also quickly reminded that little, if any, is provable. It's nice to get the insight into the local area and the local people who probably came up with some of the fanciful ideas. I can almost see an old geezer sitting in a tavern/inn/pub, supping on his pint, regaling some out-of-towners with his idea of how the curio got there, as if it were fact. And that image does make me smile. I did have a little niggle about the book, a couple of times areas/monuments are brought up in a later section, a...

Bud Fiske is sent to do a profile of Hector Lassiter, larger-than-life crime writer. In a cantina, the pair find themselves face to face with history... literally. On the table between them is the head of Pancho Villa, and the prospect of a deal worth eighty grand. It sounds like easy money... take the head to a guy. But such a legendary piece of history is never going to be traded that easily. Gun, girls and car chases ensue "on the road to hell with a trunk full of skulls". --- I saw this on Netgalley, I'm always looking for new graphic novels, and the description of this one jumped out at me. That being said, I don't think this was what I expected it to be from the description. Noir, pulp fiction, whatever you want to call it, this book falls squarely in that genre. This is the first time I've ever read anything in that area, which is surprising considering I love crime fiction in general. But I have watched a lot of it... does that count?! ...

An old favourite reimagined is always a complicated beast. Some are good (Danger Mouse), some are bad (Wombles, I'm looking at you... and any of the other CGId shows). So, to Scooby Apocalypse Volume 1 ... Our team of meddling kids come together to fight a very real monster apocalypse. And so far these monsters don't appear to be creepy caretakers in costumes. The idea in this first collection of issues is that the gang come together when Velma realises she needs to blow the whistle on what the company she works for is trying to do. She can't go to the big media outlets, there are too many watchful eyes, but down on her luck reporter, Daphne and her camera man Fred might be her answer. They might not have the ratings anymore, but Daphne is determined, and always after the truth. Meanwhile Shaggy has got a job at Velma's company to train dogs in their smart dog program. Scooby Doo, the original smart dog, isn't up to the same standards and the new intake, a...

I haven't had the urge to read a book in ages... that was until I saw The Four Legendary Kingdoms by Matthew Reilly on Netgalley. I'll admit, I was going into this book biased, I love Matthew Reilly novels. This one just confirmed that feeling. So this one is in the Jack West series, and my horrible realisation is that I had missed one in the series. Yes I know they're numbered and it should be easy to follow them... but I still missed one! So I have no idea what happened in the last book. Honestly though I don't think it meant I lost anything when reading this. Jack West Jnr wakes, head shaved, alone and very confused. As if waking up and not knowing how he got to wherever he was wasn't enough, now he's being charged at by something that's half man, half bull. What sort of dream was this? And if it wasn't a dream, was it a nightmare? The fifth greatest warrior had been kidnapped, and brought to this mysterious place... and he wasn't...

I managed to, somehow, not find out what this book was about for eight months... even though I requested the book from Netgalley with my own fair hands. For roughly eight months I thought the book was just about a really epic, yet bog standard zoo. My conclusion for how it happened is that I originally read about it in a buyer's guide at work... for those of you not familiar with these retched things, they are a catalogue of each month's new titles... but once you get to a certain level of success as an author your book descriptions tend to go out the window. This probably means that The Great Zoo of China read something like, "The Chinese government have been keeping a secret for 40 years. From the bestselling author Matthew Reilly." (On a separate note, people who write buyer's guides are going into my Room 101... we know who the book is by, we read it in the header... tell us about the damn storyline!!) So basically, yes, the Chinese government has been kee...

I love reading graphic novels, and with so many comics being produced with individual storylines and crossovers it's difficult to keep track or know where to start on something new. This book works great for the new reader, you've got the key points on where to start with each character and area, but it's by no means a full list. It's a very helpful guide, but it is just that, and a lot of people seem to forget that online... I always go and look for reviews after I've read something, and I'm amazed how often people have missed the point completely. Recommend this to people who come to you asking about where they should start with DC, it'll give them a great foundation for finding which characters are right for them. While I have a lot of web pages bookmarked and encyclopedias even I get to a point where I don't know which comic goes where. It would be nice to have a complete version of this for the more experienced readers. The amount o...

I always enjoy a good fairy tale. There are some fantastic adaptations out there and it never ceases to amaze me how many new twists people are able to come up with. Far Out Fairy Tales is a great example of that. The series is due to be published in April 2016 in paperback format, five books at £4.99 each. Let's take a quick look at each story... Ninja-rella has honed her skills, kept her mind sharp with chess and her body sharp with swordsmanship. As with the traditional tale of Cinderella she is cast into service for her step-mother and step-sisters, but when the ball comes around Ninja-rella wishes  to go so she can show off her skills and become the prince's bodyguard. Red Riding Hood - Superhero . Granny works hard as the President of the United States, and takes  Ruby on a trip to Area 54. There she meets an alien who accidentally leaves his cloak behind when he flees. The cloak comes in handy when she has to face Professor Grimm, the mad scientist who...

Today's read was Portal 24 by Meredith Stroud. Darin's is just a teen con-artist out on a date with his girlfriend when he's approached by a government agent who wants to recruit him. She shows him a picture. To persuade him? To scare him? Either way it can't be real because the Darius in that picture would almost certainly be dead, and he is very much alive. Soon he realises that his mystery agent knew the future, and to save himself and his girlfriend he does the only thing he can. He joins Project Oberon, a top secret experiment that sends teens back in time to stop disasters... and not long after Darius joins, one strikes. Ludd, evil mastermind, has used an EM weapon that could kill millions unless the team can go back and disarm it before it goes off. The only problem? Ludd knows about Oberon and will do anything to stop them. Even by testing their resolve by leaving them with no way back, and the possibility they will be lost in time. I tried re...

Guess what everyone?! I've done it again! Today I read Private LA by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan in the Private series... and no it's not the first one! It could be number seven in the Private series, or if you go by some sites I've looked at it's included in the Jack Morgan series which is within the Private series... who knows... my tip is to just read them in order of publication (don't follow my example). Yet again (thank you authors) this can be read on its own. Jack Morgan doesn't want to take the latest case that's come to light, he's already on a job, but when he finds out that Hollywood's biggest couple have gone missing without a trace he agrees to take it on. Information is difficult to come by, as well as Thom and Jennifer Harlow being missing, so are their three adopted children and their personal assistant. Called in by the executives who work with the Harlows Justine knows something isn't adding up as they dig de...

Today's read was Doctor Who Engines of War by George Mann. Cinder has engage a Dalek hunting party on her planet, Moldox, and things were getting a little bit dangerous until a strange wooden blue box fell from the sky crushing one of the last two mutant Daleks. As she approaches she's greeted with coughing and spluttering from inside as a grumpy old man appears over the edge. She's not convinced that a man who's fallen from the sky can be trusted, but when the remaining Dalek appears and he tells her to get in the blue box that's laying on its side in the rubble, she does. "Bigger on the inside. Yes I know." "It's the right way up." "Hmmm, I wasn't expecting that one." As Cinder and The Doctor explore her ruined planet they discover how low the Daleks will stoop to get the upper hand. As well as their plan to eradicate the Time Lords, that could crumble to entire universe. I have never read a Doctor...

When will I learn that I need to check before reading a book to see whether it is in a series or not? I feel like it'll happen again before this week is up... so, I read Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes which is number TWO in The Naturals series. When a young woman is murdered and displayed for all to see on her university campus something seems awfully familiar. Dean recognises his father's handy work, but he's been locked up for his crimes, so who is out there copying on of the country's most infamous serial killers? Cassie, Dean, Michael, Lia and Sloane are all Naturals, a collection of teen experts in profiling, emotions, deception and analysis. There's a new FBI agent working with them, and she's aiming for change, can the team push this aside and use their skills to stop the killer? So as I said at the top, I cleverly read a book out of order... again... I really should have learnt by now! Luckily for me this is another one that rea...

My latest read was Spacejackers by Huw Powell. Jake Cutler doesn't know his family, the nearest thing he has are the cyber-monks on Remota that he was left with as a child eleven years ago. But now there's trouble, the monastery has some unwelcome visitors dressed a space pirates, and they've come for Jake. During his escape from the planet Jake finds himself thrown together with a fortune seeker, a healer, an adolescent alien and a band of space pirates captained by the formidable Granny Leatherhead.  Can they find Jake's mythical home planet? More importantly, can they stay alive long enough to try? This book definitely ticks all the boxes for a children's fiction title. Space adventure. Pirates (in space). Quirky characters... and did I mention pirates in space!? It would appeal to boys around the 9/10+ range and is a great science fiction adventure... or "space opera" as I saw on Goodreads. I enjoyed the story immensely, a quest in...

"I have not left you. But I am gone. Please carry on as normal. Love always, Hayley." Time to waffle about Who Is Tom Ditto? by Danny Wallace. When Tom's girlfriend Hayley "leaves" him it's an understatement to say he's confused. Has she gone or hasn't she? Tom starts to investigate, it's in his journalistic nature. His first lead... Andy, from the place... Not much to go on but it does lead him to a very odd meeting with some very odd people. Nothing is making sense yet, what do these people do? And who is following him? I don't know why this has been sitting in my TBR for so long. I had tried it a couple of times and failed early on. The book itself is two tales wound into one, a background tale (that I decline to talk about because spoilers sweetie) and Tom's tale of discovery. I did have to read back a few times during the background chapters because at the start I couldn't quite work out how they fit to...