Archives for reviews - Page 26
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Book Review – The Middle Kingdom Ride by Ryan Pyle & Chris Pyle
The Middle Kingdom Ride: Two Brothers, Two Motorcycles, One Epic Journey Around China by Ryan Pyle My rating: 4 of 5 stars I enjoyed the book, and am looking forward to watching the accompanying DVD as well. It is an interesting book, both because of the travelogue and the epic nature of the journey and because it has two authors. Both brothers have written their own point of view, based on their contemporary video diaries recorded at the end of each of the 60 days that they spent on the road (and in some cases off it) on the way round China. The book is very much a narrative of the journey and the effect it has on the brothers. There are lots of unusual aspects pointed out, like the fact that no-one seems to have a proper motorbike in…
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Author Interview – Chris Martin
This week's author interview is with Chris Martin. He is a long-time journalist (specialising in motorcycle racing and special operations), he's currently working on a very grounded military science fiction episodic series titled Engines of Extinction. How long have you been writing for and what made you start writing? I actually started a website about World Superbike racing in the late '90s while still in college. I knew I wanted to get my foot in the door in motorcycle racing, and I saw an opportunity to do so in that way. I guess I figured the site needed content and somebody had to supply that, so I just kind of took on the bulk of the writing myself. The site filled a void and proved to be quite popular. Before long I had professional journalists and photographers from all over the globe volunteering their…
Book Review – Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Insurgent by Veronica Roth My rating: 4 of 5 stars Reading this book made the issues I'd had with Divergent make more sense. This starts right where Divergent finishes, and they can be seen as a single long story. The world makes a lot more sense when you get to the end of Insurgent, and there is more to be explained in Allegiant (I haven't read it yet, so I cannot be sure whether or not things are explained). I'm not going to go into detail, because that would involve major spoilers. I like Veronica Roth's writing style. She keeps me wanting to keep on reading just to find out what is going to happen next. Stuff is trailed as a teaser and I want to crack on through the story to find out what happens next. I hadn't intended…
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Book Review – Divergent by Veronica Roth
Divergent by Veronica Roth My rating: 4 of 5 stars Unusually I broke my general rule of not reading books that I've seen the movie of first. I saw Divergent on DVD over the Christmas break, and while I sort of enjoyed it I also picked some holes in it. The person that had brought the DVD told me that the book was better, and when I saw it advertised cheaper in paperback than on kindle I thought I'd give it a try. I wasn't disappointed. Almost all of the things that had jarred with the movie were addressed properly in the book. The world built for the story makes more sense in the book than it does in the movie, largely because the movie needs to edit out some of the parts. That said there are still holes, like…
Author Interview – Samantha Bryant
This week's interview is with Samantha Bryant. Her new novel, Going Through the Change, is available on pre-order and will be released on 23rd April. It's a superhero novel with a twist. How long have you been writing for and what made you start writing? I’ve always written, starting with little stories and poems as a child. It probably grew from a general love of words and stories. I just get this feeling, I describe as “itchy fingers” and I have to create something out of words. I get darn grumpy when I want to write and can’t. I’ve been taking it seriously for about two years now. When I was getting ready to turn 42, I had a little talk with myself and we agreed that it was time to try this in earnest or just let it go. That’s when…