Ben-To begins with a young guy getting killed at a supermarket. We don’t see what strikes him, just that he hits the floor and lies there bleeding. A passer-by says something like, “Oh no, not another one.” In a twist; the student recovers. After being released from hospital he meets a strange girl who seems […]
Should you embrace Darkness? A review of The Knight
The Knight is written by the giant of French fantasy Pierre Pevel, translated by Tom Clegg and brought to the UK by Gollancz. I wouldn’t call The Knight a sequel. The book is described as “A tale from the High Kingdom” and there have been other High Kingdom books. I’ve not read any of them […]
Know Your Role(play): A Review of World Wide Wrestling
In 2010, D. Vincent Baker made a game called Apocalypse World. Since then, the hobby’s never been the same. Emphasizing a conversational approach to gaming rather than hard-and-fast rulings and backed by simple, elegant mechanics, Apocalypse World took the world of roleplaying by storm, and has since spawned numerous spinoffs and conversions. The latest game to adorn the now-glorious words “Powered by […]
Gothic Prince: A review of The Boy with the Porcelain Blade
I’d read a blurb of The Boy with the Porcelain Blade long before the book arrived on my desk as a potential review option and I knew I was interested. There’s a lot in the title; “Porcelain Blade” sounds gothic, interesting, fragile and dangerous. I forgot to consider “The Boy”. Our hero is young. In […]
Power up again: A review of Dragon Ball Z – Battle of Gods
Battle of Gods is the first Dragon Ball adventure in a decade. The action picks up right at the end of the plot arch and after Goku has managed to defeat Majin Buu. A new power has awoken – Beerus. Okay, strange names are part of the Dragon Ball Z saga but this one even […]
Sand versus Sea: A review of The Desert Princess and the Pirates – Adventures in Alabasta
What a long title! The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta is the 8th movie in the One Piece saga. Count ‘em! 8 … and there’s more to go. My version of the movie is the one supplied in the One Piece: Movie Collection 3. These One Piece collections are good value; a […]
Undead and Loving It: A Review of End of the World: Zombie Apocalypse
What is it with pop culture and zombies? In the introductory chapter of its new roleplaying game, End of the World: Zombie Apocalypse, Fantasy Flight Games breaks it down for you, plain and simple: Zombies are the perfect manifestation of the end of the world. Inexorable, unstoppable, contagious, and beyond understanding—whatever scares you, whatever you think could destroy the […]
High fantasy steampunk: A review of Girl Genius – Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle
Girl Genius – Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle is the third in the Girl Genius series by Phil and Kaja Foglio and at just about 600 pages long the fattest book yet. I really enjoyed the first two books. We still joke about minmoths here. I’m aware of the original Girl Genius […]
Super spy violence: A review of Kingsman
I liked Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons and Matthew Vaughn’s The Secret Service: Kingsman comic book. At the time I tried to imagine what the movie of the super spy story would be like. My sense was that it would be hard to do but the superstar team make it work – thanks, largely, to the […]
Audio EXP: Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day narrate R.A. Salvatore
Welcome back to Geek Native’s Audio EXP column. In this feature we get to sample some of the most interesting audiobooks out this month and review geeky music. Inspired by computer game music? Pop over to our competition to win a signed copy of Odds & Ends by Jeff Penny. This month we have a […]
