Slow Bullets is a novella from Alastair Reynolds. The sci-fi is set at a time where humanity has expanded to very many planets but split into two. A war rages between the Central Planets and the ones of the Periphery. The government uses a device embedded into its soldiers and people to record their identity […]
Huge, hard sci-fi: A review of Bowl of Heaven
Bowl of Heaven is a combined project from sci-fi faves Larry Niven and Gregory Benford. I’m in the interesting position of having read both Bowl of Heaven and the followup Shipstar based on recommendations for the latter of the two. Bowl of Heaven is harder to get into and ends in such a way that […]
Better than the first: A review of Magi – The Kingdom of Magic
I described the ‘prequel’ as odd but catchy. In Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic we meet anime characters with names taken from famous Arabian stories; Aladdin, Alibaba, Sinbad, etc, who have magic powers or supernatural abilities and follow them as their adventures led to a battle around the independence of a small nation. The action […]
Russians against the angel: A review of Truth and Fear
Truth and Fear is Peter Higgin’s strong sequel to Wolfhound Century. I used “communist angel punk” to try and summarise Wolfhound Century and Truth and Fear is more of the brilliant same. We’ve a State Investigator, now essentially hunted by the State, teamed up with the daughter of a terrorist, now an assassination target for […]
Boom! A review of a Certain Scientific Railgun
As mentioned in my review “Wizards vs Science” of A Certain Magical Index that the best character in the show is Misaka Mikoto. Misaka can manipulate electrical forces to such an extent that she’s a formidable warrior and a favourite tactic is to accelerate small items like coins at such speed that she acts as […]
Double or quits: A review of Psycho-Pass the Movie
Let’s begin this review with a caveat: there are times in this anime that the characters speak English and some of those dialogues are wince worthy bad. I watched the UK premier at Scotland Loves Anime and I very much hope the studio can dub over these sections before a general release. I really enjoyed […]
Are we doomed? A review of Attack on Titan live action movie
This was always going to be a challenging movie to make. For a start there are legion of manga and anime fans who really want this movie to bring to life this incredible story and then there’s task of bringing the towering titans to life. People laughed at this horror movie. I was able to […]
Which side would you pick? A review of Expelled From Paradise
Expelled From Paradise begins with a metric ton of fan service. A sexy woman in the sort of strappy swimsuit that’ll sure to provoke a reaction – even if it’s the roll of the eyes – is lazing around on a beach when she’s approached by a hunky guy in budgie smugglers. The action picks […]
Wizards vs Science: A review of a Certain Magical Index
I knew the light novel series A Certain Magical Index is very popular and so I was quite interested to see what the anime has to offer. It’s a wise choice from the still new but experienced Animatsu team who are responsible for buying the license and bringing the title to the UK. The series […]
Twilight Zone meets Farscape: A review of Metal Hurlant Resurgence
Metal Hurlant began life way back in France in 1974. It’s older than me. I believe the literal translation is Howling Metal but when geeks I know in the UK talk about the series they often call it Heavy Metal. Skip forward a few decades and a live action TV series is announced. Metal Hurlant […]
