So next weekend my sister is getting married. It’s been a long time coming, but sometimes that’s what it takes to get things right, and I think my sister and their fiancée have got this one very right. As a little tribute, here’s the first song I thought of. It could have been one of […]

Murger Han: After discovering the rou jia mo or murger in earlier adventures, I was eager to try more. That’s exactly what the chain Murger Han wants. The murger and other northern Chinese dishes are its raison d’etre. That’s why I dragged friends past Chinatown to go there. The decor at its Mayfair branch is […]

Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne: Another DNF round-up, another author that just didn’t work for me despite him having a substantial David Gemmell influence. Hunger of the Gods has all the swagger, grit, and action you could ask for, but I think that in its quest to put down a big epic bang […]

Recently I’ve been talking a lot to two writers who are very different but share two things in common – frustration with their work and the foolishness needed to listen to my advice. Happily, I recognise my limitations, which is why one of my main pieces of advice is “seeks lot of it, and have […]

I don’t wanna work on this damn book no more I don’t wanna work on this damn book no more Well I wake up in the morning Load up word and pray for hope That this head full of rubbish will end up something dope It’s a shame I can’t show this idea the door […]

No time for preamble, I’d hoped to have this out of the door by now but life happened. Reviews Ever read Diana Wynne Jones’ Dalemark Quartet? Calmgrove thinks you should Yes, I will give you every Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances review until I write my own. A Cupful of Cyanide’s version. And now for […]

Welcome to the next installment in my Retro Reviews! This time, we’re looking at a man who really carried the flame of Sword & Sorcery forwards, helping create a genre out of an idea, and the duo he used to do so – Fritz Leiber writing Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser. TL:DR review time There […]

(mild spoilers) By way of introductory remarks, let me start that while I first learned of Laurence Yep and Dragonwings in a fantasy encyclopedia, I am not one hundred per cent convinced this is a fantasy book. I find the why of that interesting though, and it’s a good book with a lot of appeal […]

(mild spoilers) They say that originally The Wheel of Time was meant to be a far shorter work. I can’t help but wonder if whether, in that original envisioning of Robert Jordan’s, the events of The Dragon Reborn formed a lot of the last book, or formed none of it. Either way, something feels subtly […]

I am a very smart, put together sort of man. That is often a lie but this Wyrd & Wonder, twas not. I plotted. I put books next to prompts, collected essay ideas and so on. Got a backlog of good review material in case I hit a slump. The plans were not perfect but […]