All posts by Tom

Knytt Underground

NPEB01041Until now I’ve always been wary of describing small developer video games under an ‘Indie’ label, considering that the genre and effective scope of the game should be judged on its own merits rather than by the developer behind it, however Knytt Underground is the kind of game that challenges even that. It consistently turns its own way, sometimes to the detriment of the overall experience, but always in ways that justify its own strange sense of self identity. Continue reading Knytt Underground

The Almond Tree

I won this novel through Goodreads Giveaway, and spoilers follow:

If14929224 the Almond Tree can be described with one word that both sums up its inspiration, content and ambition it’s ‘grim’. This is never clearer than the opening chapter, described through the eyes of a young boy as he watched his baby sister chase a butterfly out of a house, across the street and into a minefield. The story follows a boy, persecuted for being an Arab in an Israeli state, of his escape through education and the hunt to redeem himself via his family. It depicts the living conditions of real people and runs across many historical events of the last fifty years accurately (as far as I can tell, although I must confess I am no historian and woefully ignorant about some things that I should not be), I just ‘wish’ I could say it was based on a true story but sadly the redemption found in the end by Ichmad is not one that our dreary real world has accomplished yet.

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The City at the End of Time

Or the ‘Slow Painful Death of Reality’…

172741There’s a brilliant tale somewhere in ‘The City at the End of Time’, it’s a book full of pregnant thoughts and weighty expectations but in the end I admit I was left just as unfulfilled as I did when launching into this difficult piece of prose. By splitting his story between so many characters the author, Greg Bear, risked spreading his story too thin but in fact it’s perhaps the characters themselves that let the grander tale down.

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No Return

15956856I received this book as part of a Goodreads Giveaway at the end of 2012, and I’m glad to say it continues the trend of high quality fares available from this site. Brett Battles ‘No Return’ is an excellent mystery/thriller story which is partly about the navy covering up the death of a US Fighter Pilot but also partly about one man’s return back home for the first time since childhood. At its heart is a strong, surprisingly affecting tale about facing up to the consequences of your actions, something lead character Wes has been hiding from for fifteen years. This is something I’m glad of because the ‘high octane’ blurb on the back didn’t sell itself to me nearly as much as the close-nit tale Brett Battles story deserves.

Continue reading No Return