GregHorrorShow – The Books of 2015

I’m opening this piece with a confession – I have read a lot less books in 2015 than in previous years but there have still been some standout stories that I loved and a fair bit of non-fiction that caught my eye. So the list is a little shorter but there’s plenty to recommend!

I’ve mentioned Hugh Howey before and after thoroughly enjoying his Wool trilogy I was a little hesitant as to whether his new book ‘Sand’ could deliver. I’ll be honest, for the opening few chapters I wasn’t entirely sold but as things developed the story gripped me and I had a great time reading this one.

A friend suggested reading an old sci-fi classic, Joe Haldeman’s ‘The Forever War’ which I also really enjoyed. Telling the story of William Mandella as he fights in the ongoing war between Man and a race called the Taurans. As time passes differently in space, the four years Mandella spends fighting is the equivalent of several centuries back on Earth. Seeing how he deals with that, as well as several other war related issues, was pretty interesting.

Another older book that I’d never read previously but have now caught up on was Stephen King’s ‘Misery’, which I thought was amazing. It was tough to read at times as Paul Sheldon lived through a nightmare scenario, some of the things that happen during the course of the story are horrific but it was a great read and I couldn’t put it down.

On the non-fiction front the highlight of the year for me has been Jonathan Green’s ‘You Are The Hero’, which tells the behind the scenes story of the rise of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks in the 1980’s. Crammed with interviews with writers and artists, alongside awesome artwork, this is definitely recommended for fans of the book series. I also found the anonymous tell-all football book ‘I Am The Secret Footballer’ very interesting. Written by a professional player, it gives a glimpse into the murky world of football and the cash that runs through it all.

Oliver Sacks is a well-respected writer for a good reason – he is excellent at shaping real life stories and bringing a deft touch to sensitive subjects. ‘Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain’ is a glorious but poignant look at people affected by music in debilitating ways. It really is fascinating and well worth checking out. Another non-fiction title I really enjoyed this year was ‘Console Wars’ by Blake Harris, which tells the story of Sega’s rise with the Genesis/Mega Drive in the early 90’s. As a big Sega fan back in the day it was amazing to get a look into the process of how the console came to be such a success and the internal struggles that the company faced. If you were a gamer at the time this is well worth a read.

Speaking of games I was fortunate enough to be gifted ‘Dragon Age: The Masked Empire’ for my birthday which I thought was fantastic – it also did a great job of fleshing out one of the main story missions in the Dragon Age: Inquisition game. It was fun to see the characters from the book in game form and be able to interact with them in the course of the game’s story as well. Keeping on the game theme I also enjoyed ‘Armada’ by Ernest Cline, not quite as much as his previous novel, ‘Ready Player One’, but then my expectations were much, much higher this time. Armada tells the story of a game obsessed school kid who gets recruited by the real life government to fight an alien invasion. It has Cline’s trademark geek style all over it and it was a fun read.

Robin Sloan’s ‘Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore’ is a bit of a mouthful of a title but was a book I had a good time with. Clay Jannon takes a job in a small bookstore and discovers a secret that sends him on a wild adventure around the globe. It’s a great book for a bit of escapism. Another novel that should’ve been perfect for escapism was Andy Weir’s ‘The Martian’. However, while I did enjoy the book, I just didn’t think it warranted the praise it got from all quarters. In fact, in a rare turn of events, I actually preferred the film to the book!

Lee Child always almost delivers with his Jack Reacher novels and ‘Personal’ was another good instalment in the series. While the plots do at times become a little formulaic, I felt moving Reacher to different European locations was a smart move that helped freshen things up. Probably my favourite novel of the year was ‘The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August’ by Claire North, which I felt took the concepts of last year’s ‘Life After Life’ to another level. A gripping story, another that I couldn’t put down, as Harry August comes to terms with living over and over… and everything that entails.

Here’s the full list:

Joe Haldeman – The Forever War
Lee Child – Personal
Oliver Sacks – Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
Robin Sloan – Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
Patrick Weekes – Dragon Age: The Masked Empire
Hugh Howey – Sand
Blake Harris – Console Wars
Stephen King – Misery
Claire North – The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August
Anonymous – I Am The Secret Footballer
Ernest Cline – Armada
Jonathan Green – You Are The Hero
Andy Weir – The Martian

What have you guys been reading this year – any recommendations?

Dead Space 3 – Review (PS3)

I really enjoyed the previous two Dead Space games – the original was a return to the very best of survival horror and while the sequel did get bogged down with enemy encounters I thought it was excellent. So hopes were high for this latest installment, despite some of the negative buzz floating around online.

Set some time after the events of Dead Space 2 – at least long enough for Isaac and Ellie to get together and break up – the game actually opens some 200 years in the past with a nice prologue section. Nice that is, until the shooting started. The first thing I noticed was how different it felt to previous games. Granted you’re using a rifle rather than the plasma cutter that the series is famous for but still I just couldn’t shake the feeling that the handling had changed dramatically.

And it was a feeling I couldn’t quite dismiss throughout the game. As you come back to (Issac’s) present day you regain control of everyone’s favourite space engineer. Forced into helping track down Ellie you’re soon attacked on the way off the planet.

Dead Space 3 brings together the usual necromorph threat with a much higher Unitologist presence than before. And they’re armed, military units. Hell at one stage some of the necromorphs have guns!

Taking out the necromorphs still feels satisfying but the human enemies didn’t quite have that quality – whether that’s a game design issue (in terms of how the weapons control and the way shots affect enemies) or just because these games haven’t previously been about mowing down other humans, I couldn’t tell you.

I liked the story but I am a sucker for this universe (I’ve watched both animated movies and read the first spin off novel – will be reading the next one soon 🙂 ) so if you’re not invested you might not find it as enjoyable. I didn’t even mind the OTT end part of the game as much as lot of people seemed to.

I did, however, encounter a save problem that almost made me walk away from the game completely. About 4 hrs in I made it to the beginning of a new chapter, let the tram journey (yes trams are back!) finish and then quit to the main menu and out of the game. However next time I loaded the game I was back at the end of the previous chapter about to enter a room where I needed to hold off enemies until the tram showed up to escape on.

Problem No.1? It was also a chase, so there was an invincible enemy hounding me from the back as well. Problem No.2? It started me with no ammo and a quarter health 😦 There were 7 bullets in the room and I tried for almost an hour to get through it to no avail. I dropped it to ‘easy’ and after another 20 minutes I finally escaped to the tram. The game maintains your save for you and allows only one save per slot.

It was one of the more frustrating things I’ve experienced recently – I mean surely the end of a chapter/beginning of the next one (especially in the haven of a tram) is the *ideal* place to trigger a save? Come on Visceral, that is ridiculous. If you can’t be bothered to organise a proper save system, at least let me choose when to save!

The much maligned ‘micro-transactions’ didn’t effect me at all. They are there is you want to use them but it’s not essential to use them to get through the game.

There are still snatches of the original survival horror roots of Dead Space here but they end up overplayed and you can tell when (and even worse, where) the scares are coming. There are still space exploration parts and that sound drop out still makes for a fantastic experience. But it’s not really about that stuff any more.

Make no mistake, Dead Space 3 is an action game with these parts added. The balance between horror and action had teetered with the second game but has now tilted fully in favour of run ‘n’ gun action. It isn’t a bad game at all. It’s just not what I want from a Dead Space game.

Rating: 7/10

‘The Chrysalids’ by John Wyndam – Review (Book)

Written in 1955, The Chrysalids is a story set in a post apocalyptic world where it appears a nuclear war several thousand years ago has seen whatever people survived living a more rural life.

Because such a long time has passed the people now believe the nuclear event was God punishing the ‘Old People.’ Exposure to radiation has meant that occasionally animals or people are born with ‘defects’ and seen as ‘blasphemies’ from the devil.

Anything with a defect is killed as a sacrifice or (for people) cast out of the land and into an area the locals call the ‘Fringes’ and left to fend for themselves against the other desperate people out there.

David Strorm is only ten years old and has been bought up with a strict religious upbringing because his father is one of the town’s respected senior members. It is always refreshing to read a book written from the perspective of a child when it’s done right, and Wyndam does it right.

After befriending a girl that has a small physical defect (six toes on each foot), David begins to question the rigidity of the environment he has been raised in. Coupled with vivid dreams of technologically advanced cities and the discovery that he may also have a ‘blasphemy’, it’s enough to put him on a path that clashes with his upbringing.

It brought to mind the recent stories of Megan Phelps, who left the infamous Westboro Church movement. When all you’ve known growing up is the hatred fed to you why would you question it? You can find more info on that HERE.

The Chrysalids is an interesting book that deals with some interesting aspects of society and religion. The characters are well written and Wyndam does a good job of fleshing out the world into a believable place. It stumbles here and there with some pacing issues, the ending in particular felt a little rushed but this is a book well worth checking out.

Rating: 8/10

‘The Affair’ by Lee Child – Review (Book)

As long term readers of this blog might know, I am a huge fan of Lee Child’s ‘Jack Reacher’ novels. With ‘The Affair’ being the 16th in the series, I often wonder whether Child will eventually run out of steam.

Thankfully he shows no signs of doing so based on this tale of corruption, small town gossip and murder.

Set 6 months before ‘Killing Floor’, the first Reacher novel, this book serves as a prequel and finds Reacher still serving in the military police.

A woman is found murdered in a back alley with her throat cut. No-one seems to have any idea who it was but local suspicion points to the local military base.

One of Reacher’s colleagues is sent to the base, Fort Kelham, to investigate in an official capacity and Reacher is instructed to follow close behind – posing as a civilian while poking around undercover.

Child’s easy to read style is as good as ever. He gives you just enough description without bogging things down and the book is well paced.

There is sometimes a concern with prequels that they might end up falling short because they are bound by what’s to follow and whatever background may have already been revealed in the other novels.

That definitely isn’t the case with ‘The Affair’, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and for fans of the series it is great to see more of Reacher’s past. Even if you haven’t read any of the previous books this is certainly one I’d recommend.

Rating:9/10

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World – Review (Film)

I’m a fan of Edgar Wright’s work – Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and Spaced are all great in my opinion. So I was looking forward to his interpretation of the Scott Pilgrim comic books.

Sometimes the spirit of a written work can be lost in translation to a different media and while I haven’t read the books, from what I’ve seen of them this film does a good job of capturing the feel of Scott Pilgrim’s world.

Pilgrim is a slacker who plays in a band. After meeting a girl, Ramona Flowers, he decides he has to win her over and sets about trying to make her his girlfriend – despite the fact he already has one.

To date Ramona he has to defeat her 7 evil exes, which sets up some great game-inspired fight scenes. I enjoyed the stylised way Wright handled the film, although I’m not sure everyone will like that direction.

Certainly I suspect it’ll be a love-or-hate movie. Personally I really enjoyed it and thought it was well worth a watch.

Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are great in the lead roles and Kieran Culkin is excellent as Wallace Wells, Scott’s roommate. The whole movie is pretty well cast, even the actors in smaller roles bring a lot to the table and it’s always nice to see Jason Schwartzman on the big screen.

Overall this is a difficult movie to recommend to a broad audience. If you’re into games I would say you’ll enjoy this, there are a host of little in-jokes/homages that you will have fun spotting. However it might be a little bit too far down the rabbit hole for your average viewer. Having said that, it’s certainly a watchable film – you just need to suspend reality for a while 🙂

Rating: 8/10

‘The Hare With Amber Eyes’ by Edmund De Waal – Review (Book)

As much as I love a good story it’s sometimes nice to lose yourself in someone else’s memoirs. Often that someone is a celebrity or somebody you admire. In the case of ‘The Hare With Amber Eyes’ the main focus of the book is a collection of small Japanese ceramic figurines called netsuke.

Beginning in the late 1800’s with the author’s distant relatives, the book charts the course of the netsuke collection (all 250 of them) as they pass through generation to generation.

While it may not sound particularly riveting in practice the journey of the figurines is an impressive one, taking in multiple eras and surviving two World Wars.

Added to that is the struggle of De Waal as he looks to unlock his family history – although fortunately for him his ancestors were not only wealthy but also well documented as figures in the social scenes of the time.

‘The Hare With Amber Eyes’ is a thoroughly interesting book but does drag a little in places – it becomes bogged down in intricate detail here and there, which slows things up.

I’m not even sure who I would recommend this to? I doubt there is a huge market for netsuke among people I know or the people who read this blog (please let me know if that’s incorrect!). Obviously an interest in ceramics/pottery (which I don’t personally have) may make it more intriguing but I think if you like a mixture of memoir and story then maybe this is the book for you.

Rating: 7/10

‘An Idiot Abroad’ by Karl Pilkington – Review (Book)

‘An Idiot Abroad’ is the book that accompanies the excellent TV series of the same name that saw Karl Pilkington, a not very well travelled Englishman, being sent abroad to visit some of the wonders of the world.

As I have mentioned before (indeed it won ‘Best Factual’ in my TV Awards in 2010) the series was great fun and it definitely did show you a different side to the wonders of the world.

Told from Karl’s perspective the book gives you some further insight into just what was going through his mind while all this madness was going on around him. Whether it’s the Pyramids or the Taj Mahal, you can guarantee it won’t be a straight forward affair – especially as it’s Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant that are planning the trips for him.

So if you’ve seen Karl in action on TV already, do you need to check out this book?

Unfortunately, almost all of the best bits of the book will be stuff you’ve already seen which obviously dampens the impact and to some extent the enjoyment of them.

I wouldn’t recommend reading ‘An Idiot Abroad’ if you’ve seen the show however for those of you with no plans to view it, this is a good, solid read that is worth checking out.

Rating: 7/10

GregHorrorShow: The Books Of 2011

We move on now to books and I made it through a fair few titles this year – one of which was the biggest book I’ve ever read… More on that later 🙂

As usual these aren’t in order but I’d recommend all of them:

• ‘Worth Dying For’ – Lee Child
• ’61 Hours’ – Lee Child
• ‘Dragon Age: Stolen Throne’ – David Gaider
• ‘Atlas Shrugged’ – Ayn Rand
• ‘Killzone Ascendency’ – Sam Bradbury
• ‘The Fall’ – Chuck Hogan & Guillermo Del Toro
• ‘Shadow’s Edge’ – Brent Weeks
• ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’ – Stieg Larsson
• ‘An Idiot Abroad’ – Karl Pilkington
• ‘All Your Base Are Belong To Us’ – Harold Goldberg

The two Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child really moved things up a notch after a couple of good, but not great entries, in the series. ’61 Hours’ was the first part and a real return to form but I felt ‘Worth Dying For’ was superior and one of the best book in the series.

I’m not a massive fan of fantasy style books but I certainly enjoyed the novel based on the Dragon Age game universe by David Gaider, along with the excellent ‘Shadow’s Edge’ by Brent Weeks. Both drew on different areas of the fantasy genre but I thought they were excellent and Brent Weeks does a great job of setting up the reader for the final book in the trilogy.

In terms of factual books I didn’t make it through many but the stand out ones for me were Karl Pilkington’s ‘An Idiot Abroad’ and ‘All Your Base Are Belong To Us’ by Harold Goldberg. The former catalogues Karl’s trips to far flung destinations and the crazy set ups that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant organize for him. The impact was slightly dulled by having seen the accompanying TV series but it’s worth a read. ‘All Your Base Are Belong To Us’ relays the history of videogames but in a well written, almost anecdotal style. If you’re interested in games there is a lot of great info and interviews on subjects from EA in the 1990’s up to GTA in the 2000’s.

The biggest book I’ve ever read was also among the greatest – ‘Atlas Shrugged’ by Ayn Rand clocked in at well over 1000 pages but I could not stop reading it. Dagny Taggart and all the other characters felt real and alive which is down to Rand’s strong narrative. While I don’t neccessasarily agree with Objectivism in it’s purist form I certainly believe the world could learn a thing or two from this work. I recommend this whole heartedly, it’s the only book I’ve ever read that gave me goosebumps.

After making my way through Ayn Rand‘s masterpiece I felt like reading something a little less classical so plumped for ‘Killzone Ascendency’ by Sam Bradbury, which retells the story of Killzone 3 but fleshes out some parts in terms of what the characters were thinking and a few parts of back story. If you like the game you could do worse than pick this one up.

The second part of the Strain trilogy, ‘The Fall’ by Chuck Hogan & Guillermo Del Toro, arrived midway through the year and once I started it I couldn’t put it down. The story of a vampiric virus is written in such a frantic style that you find yourself reading and reading until you have to stop.

A book that had a slower start was Stieg Larsson’s ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’, the second title in the Millenium triolgy. Like the first book, things took a while to get going but once the rollercoaster started I didn’t want it to end. While the final few chapters of the book were a little disappointing in terms of some of the choices made, I can’t wait to read the final part soon!

So there we go, a busy year for books – let me know what you’ve all been reading in the comments.

‘The Bad Place’ by Dean Koontz – Review (Book)

‘The Bad Place’ is one of Koontz’s more supernatural novels and tells the story of Frank Pollard.

Frank wakes up in an alley knowing nothing but his name and feeling an overwhelming urge that he’s being chased and needs to get away.

He hires a private detective husband and wife team to help him after suffering more blackouts and having no idea what is happening to him… Or indeed who he is.

As the story unravels and Frank’s past is revealed everyone finds themselves dragged into a dangerous game of cat and mouse – where the stakes are life or death.

Koontz is a master of the genre but I’ve found I do prefer his more recent books that are grounded in reality. ‘The Bad Place’ is a decent read though.

The storytelling is good and Koontz does a nice job of capturing the chemistry of a husband and wife team. The characters were likable but unfortunately I just didn’t connect fully with this novel compared to some of his other ones.

Rating: 6/10

‘Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne’ by David Gaider – Review (Book)

Having played through and enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins on the PS3, I was intrigued to find that the universe of the game had been expanded with this novel.

Serving as a prequel to the game, Stolen Throne is set thirty years prior to where you started your story in game.

The book tells the story of Maric who, following the death of his mother Queen Moira, finds himself as the King of Ferelden. The only problems being that Ferelden is currently occupied by it’s neighbour Orlais and the fact that no-one knows that Maric is still alive.

As he flees the scene of his mother’s betrayal and death he meets up with a band of rebels, who take him in without realising the consequences. Will he disappear into the shadows? Or is he willing to stand up and reclaim the title of King?

The Stolen Throne is a decent read and while it can be easy to get bogged down in the detail, Gaider provides a vivid picture of events and on the whole brings the characters to life.

I wouldn’t say this was a pick up and dive into book and it certainly helps to have played the game first – not necessarily for the story but it helps in terms of the places the book is set.

I would’ve liked to have seen a little bit more of a crossover with the game if I’m being honest but as it stands The Stolen Throne is a solid, tie-in novel.

Rating: 6/10