Archives for reviews - Page 16
MJX X300C Quadcopter Drone [Product Review]
I was sent a free drone for review earlier this year, an MJX X300C Quadcopter Drone. It was a pretty cool toy, and I was looking forward to having fun with it. MJX X300C Quadcopter Drone While the battery was charging, which took about forty minutes, I read the instruction manual. There were a lot of pictures in it, which was just as well. The manual was clearly written in another language and then translated into English by a non-native speaker. It was rather unreadable, although I persevered. In the end I found some better instructions on the internet. I started off testing it a little indoors. I got it paired with my mobile phone. I had to download a version of the app from the manufacturer website as the version in the android store didn't work. I was a little nervous…
Chieftans by Bob Forrest-Webb [Book Review]
Chieftains by Bob Forrest-Webb My rating: 3 of 5 stars Chieftans is a speculative fiction piece on the Cold War going hot in 1985. It was written in the early 1980s and hasn't dated well. Like Game of Thrones everyone dies, but in less interesting and more predictable ways. Chieftans - review There are good points to Chieftans. For the most part the characters are believable and likeable. Bob Forrest-Webb clearly has done his research, and understands British Army soldiers and officers. That aspect of the book was excellent. One of things that didn't quite work for me though was that the book was clearly researched/written about four or five years before it was set (it was first published in 1982). This means that some of the kit wasn't deployed, or had its name/designation changed on deployment. There was also…
A.M. Griffin [Author Interview]
The Guicai Talisman by Griffin After a bit of a break I have another author interview with Griffin, a prolific author. She is promoting her most recent book The Guicai Talisman (The Undercity Chronicles of Babylonia Jones, ). As well as urban fantasy Griffin also writes romance. You can see all Griffin's work on her website. Griffin - the interview Do you write for a living, or do you also do other work? I have a full-time job that I love and I write part-time. Sometimes I think that I’d want to write full-time, but then it would turn into something that I had to do instead of something that I love to do. So for now I have no desire to write full-time. How did you get into being a professional writer, and how much effort did it take to…
EZICASH by Ian Thompson [Book Review]
Ezicash: How to Usurp a Totalitarian Behemoth with a Monkey Wrench by Ian Thompson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I laughed out loud reading this. EZICASH is a really good satire of health and safety culture and where it could go. Like the best comedy it makes you think, and reminds you how modern life can veer off track from what is really important. Review of EZICASH by Ian Thompson EZICASH is set a couple of decades in the future. The world has divided into those that take safety and health seriously, and those outside their safe bubbles. DOSH-UK-1 is a huge domed town near Milton Keynes. All its inhabitants live in houses rated for safety and wear high visibility protective clothing at all times. Rubber covers the pavements and roads and speed is limited to 5mph. Running violates safety…
Disaster at Havendale by Richard E. Davis [Book Review]
Disaster at Havendale by Richard E. Davis My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was sent a free copy of Disaster at Havendale by the publisher as a prize in a twitter competition. I started reading it when it arrived, but then lent it to a friend to read, and then it sat neglected in the bottom of my work bag when it was returned to me (because I was then in the middle of another book). Disaster at Havendale I finally came back to Disaster at Havendale a couple of days ago and read it on my daily commute over two days. It is a bit of a slow burn to start with, taking slightly more than half of the book to set the scene and establish the characters. This would be fine in a full length novel, but its…