Book – Sharper than a Serpent’s Tooth (Nightside Book 6) by Simon R Green

This urban fantasy series is set in an alternative part of London where your wildest dreams can be fulfilled and your soul can be sold to any number of devils. The main protagonist John Taylor is a private eye whose adventures in the Nightside are the basis for the twelve books.

Green probably wouldn’t win any prizes for originality however the books are highly readable and above all enjoyable. Green also casts a number of memorable sidekicks such as Dead Boy and Razor Eddie. The sheer number of geek references Green crams into each book should also be applauded.

You can find out more about the Nightside and Simon’s other work here http://simonrgreen.co.uk/

Film – Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol DVD

I’m a fan of the MI films and was looking forward to catching up with the latest instalment but on reflection I feel a little disappointed.  The MI films never make much sense but GP takes the Huh? factor to a whole new level. If you boil it down the team are left chasing a file from set piece to set piece.

Cruise is clunky. Pegg annoys (oh that hurts).

GP should have been seen as a reboot and handed over the series to Renner’s Brandt as the new team leader.

A missed opportunity and not nearly enough mask unveiling action.

Film – The Amazing Spiderman DVD

This was part of the family DVD haul at Christmas as we missed it at the cinema. I’d read some negative reviews and fan grumblings (surprise) and to be honest I wasn’t holding out much hope.

How wrong was I!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the film, ok so it’s not perfect, the ‘Spidey’ cgi hasn’t moved on since the Rami films and the Spider vision is just bad. However the two leads (Garfield and Stone) are pitch perfect and the Lizard really isn’t that bad. Even Sally Field is watchable.

It’s a solid comic book adaptation that’s well worth a watch.

Book – Die Trying (Jack Reacher Book 2) by Lee Child

 

These books are some what out of my usual reading tastes, but I fell for the hype and read the first two and controversially it’s a big ‘I’m not sure’ from me.

I would go so far as to say that I didn’t enjoy the first book but I manfully soldiered on with book two.

The change in perspective helps enormously, the first half of the book moves at a great pace and is genuinely a ‘page turner’ but I quickly lost interest after the reveal. The less said about the ending the better.

Overall I’m left disappointed and bemused.

TV – Ripper Street

January is usually a crappy month, everybody’s skint and depressed after Christmas and the TV is usually woeful.

Not so for January 2013, blasting out of the gates at the BBC is Ripper Street which is quite simply brilliant TV.

Set in London in 1889 in the aftermath of the Ripper murders it follows the police in charge of keeping law and order in the infamous Whitechapel district.

For a police drama set in London this feels very much like a Western and is reminiscent of Deadwood but with less swearing.

Reasons to watch - two words Matthew Macfadyen.

 

Why? An Introduction to The 100’s Blog

I’m busy – hell I’m very busy - what with family, work and everything else thrown in I don’t have much free time. This leaves me with a huge problem - I love to write whether it’s a blog, reviews, flash fiction or general musings about the geeky things I love. I also find that when I have something to concentrate on that’s not family or work related i.e. creative, it bleeds out into all the other parts of my life and I feel more content and as if I’m actually ‘doing’ something constructive.

Last year I set my self the ridiculous task of reading 52 books in 52 weeks which in the end completely took over all my spare time – writing, comics, gaming, TV, and films all fell by the wayside. In the end I managed to complete the challenge and since December I have been thinking about what personal challenge I could set myself in 2013.

A reading challenge was out of the question, the 52 books in 52 weeks nearly broke me on a few occasions and if I’m honest I think I’ve fallen a little bit out of love with reading, which I know is my own fault. So in an effort to re-engage with my inner geek I have come up with the devastatingly simple The 100’s Blog.

The idea is simple one I’ll blog about the things I’ve read, watched, played or it will simply be my deeply insightful thoughts on issues affecting the geekverse (ahem) – all in a post of 100 words or less. I’m hoping this project will give me an outlet for my writing as well as helping me rediscover my geek mojo which has more or less depleted and is in need of urgent attention.

If you have any thoughts or wish to get in touch the email address is follows the100sblog@sky.com .

Nick