Friday 28 June 2013

Crashing Down to Earth Launch

Hi all! Friday is finally here and so are the release details for my new book!

Hayley Foster is a woman with a secret. Her flatmate is her guardian angel. But with the terrifying events of two years ago firmly put behind them, Hayley finally dares hope for a quieter life for her and Alex to enjoy.

But it is not long before the old angel’s past comes back to haunt him in the form of an ex-lover. As Alex tries to protect Hayley though, it quickly becomes apparent that far greater powers are at play, far bigger than either of them could ever have possibly imagined.

Join Hayley and Alex in the first part of their epic journey as they try to save Glasgow, as well as each other, from doom.

Crashing Down to Earth will be available from Amazon and Smashwords this August.


The Dragon Thief Review



There be dragons and merfolk off the starboard bow in JL Mbewe’s short story, The Dragon Thief. This is the first work I’ve read by the author and it acts an introduction to her forthcoming trilogy of fantasy novels, set in the same fictional world. 

Semine is a student living with merfolk far from home, training to become a Guardian. But while carrying out her studies, she is contacted by her mentor Raven, who tells her that the teachings of their order are a lie. I can’t really say much more than that without spoiling the story but put it this way, Semine has to decide whether to become a rebel or stay the course with her studies. 

I did enjoy this story. It was quite intriguing and had some fresh ideas, mostly with the merfolk characters, for a fantasy novel. There were a lot of interesting environments as well which were beautifully portrayed. 

Unfortunately, I feel the story failed to hit home the gravity of how serious Semine’s rebellion would mean if she chose to walk that route. The story did enough to leave the impression that she would get into trouble. 

But when the book only gives you a vague impression of what the Guardians do and poorly references the ancient, sacred rules they follow, it leads to a lack of understanding about what she is doing wrong; or in fact what the Guardians are apparently doing wrong. It is slightly confusing.

Also there were a few typos and silly errors in this book, especially near the start. If you let these slide though, it is a very well told, well rounded, engaging short story. 

It gets 6/10.

Monday 24 June 2013

Crashing Down To Earth Cover Reveal

Well chaps and ladies, in a break with tradition, I am posting on a Monday (Oh my god! Drop everything!).

Anyway, as the title of this post suggests, I'm going to be revealing the cover for my new book. It will be revealed first on Facebook, followed by on here. Besides the cover reveal, there will also be a preview, extract, and release date details. 

All this wonderful stuff is coming your way this Friday at 6pm, BST time.

Unfortunately I can't say more than that for now. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing you all on Friday. Stay tuned. ;)


Friday 21 June 2013

The Starship Damrey Review



Ever woke up alone? Ever woke up alone stuck in a cryogenic pod with no way out on a seemingly pilotless spaceship? I thought not. 

This week I have been playing The Starship Damrey on the Nintendo 3DS. This game is classed as a horror and the trailers add well to that impression. However, unfortunately, after a short while, the tense atmosphere dissipates. 

As previously mentioned, the game starts with you waking up in a cryogenic pod. You cannot get out and the computer informs you that being in suspended animation may have led to amnesia. What you must do next is hack into the computer system. Once you’ve done it, it seems quite simple, but the first time you play, you will eventually resort to smashing buttons. 

Anyway, once you’ve hacked the computer, you then in turn hack one of the onboard robots. The robot acts as your eyes and ears for the rest of the game as you explore the dark - and seemingly abandoned - Starship Damrey. 

There are two scary moments early on, but after that, the game becomes really tame. For a while you will be looking up and down dark corridors to see if something is going to jump out. But after about the second hour, you won’t care anymore; simply because, there is nothing there. 

The game also gets quite monotonous after a while, degrading itself to a simple game of moving one item to another area, followed by the same again and again, and again, until your eyes bleed. If only robots could cry or bang their heads against the wall in frustration. 

The graphics are also a bit ropey, but I’ll let that slide as this is a short game and it was made by a small studio. The cut scenes, however, are just beautiful. 

One thing I will say is it’s refreshing to play a game that doesn’t have instructions or tutorials. Game hand-holding is something of a pet peeve of mine, especially on the consoles. Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy 2 is an example that spring to mind, what with an instruction booklet, a poster with instructions and a separate disc with the same ones on it. Talk about patronising. I used mine as a coaster. Assassin’s Creed is another series that is becoming worse with every progressive title. 

But I digress. 

The Starship Damrey does finish with a clever twist, but I don’t feel that is enough to save it. I think it’s a shame really. It is one of those games that starts off really promisingly and has a lot of good ideas; both story and game play wise. These should have been expanded on a lot more and the game would have been much better. 

The Starship Damrey gets 5/10.

Friday 14 June 2013

Woochi The Demon Slayer Review



If you’re into obscure movies then they don’t come more obscure than Woochi: The Demon Slayer. Considering it had a full size production team and a large cast, it’s surprising that this movie doesn’t have a Wikipedia page. And that is surprising when we live in an age when everything has a Wikipedia page - including my toothbrush. 

Anyway, despite sounding like a poor man’s Harry Potter rip-off with the title, Woochi, tells the story of an arrogant, womanizing wizard, of the same name. After getting into a fight with two goblins, then being tricked, Woo-chi and his friend are imprisoned in paintings for five years by three demi-gods. Realising their mistake in modern day South Korea, (the good Korea *thumbs up*) and needing help to capture the same two goblins, the three wake Woo-chi and his friend up and ask for their assistance. 

While running around cities and having fights in urban settings for the next hour or so, Woochi has to contend with the man who killed his master five hundred years ago, and who tricked the three demi-gods. 

The premise sound s a little silly, but if you watch the film, it is pulled off really well. The acting is sincere and the fight scenes are very impressive, as are the sets. 

Also, I don’t know why they’re called goblins. The two goblins Woochi and the others are trying to capture look like a rabid version of Splinter from TMNT and a pissed off Easter bunny. They couldn’t look less like goblins, to be honest. 

                                          ^ See? Pissed off Easter bunny. Stay well back.

That said though, the CGI of the monsters is a bit ropey. There’s a scene where Woochi fights then early on in the film and they just stick out like the over-personified animals that they are. 

Fortunately the rest of the fight scenes are between humans, so they are visually more pleasing to watch. The other times special effects are used are also better than the haphazard monsters. 

If you don’t want to watch Woochi for the story, then I would still say watch it for the comedy and the fighting. There are a lot of jokes in the two hour film, most physical based, with some great one liners thrown in. 

The story also gets a little confusing towards the end, and I’m not quite sure that I still fully understand it, but hey, this is still a well rounded film and one that deserves a lot more attention that it’s got to date.

Woochi: The Demon Slayer gets 7/10.


Thursday 6 June 2013

Sentinel Short Story Review



It’s time to board the rocket ship and blast to god- knows-fucking-where for my review of short story Sentinel. This tale, by author Jack Hardy, is something I picked up a few weeks ago on Smashwords as a freebie. 

The story is about intergalactic, genetically-enhanced, space thief Adrian Gates. Things start off with Adrian heading through a market on some distant planet trying to lose someone who is following him. But his efforts fail and he is caught by a bounty hunter called Gu. 

While Adrian is being held captive in a spaceship, Gu reveals a devastating truth to him about his past.
And unfortunately that’s all I can really say about Sentinel without spoiling the ending. I know it’s not much, but then again, there’s not much substance here, even for a short story. I’ve seen longer tales on the back of pop tart boxes. 

Sentinel’s not a bad little story, the imagery is good especially when Adrian arrives at his final location and the city he is chased through is also well described in the narrative.

That said though, the story ultimately doesn’t go anywhere. It would have been nice to have a couple of more twists to it and the premise would certainly work as a full length book. But as it is, this version just goes straight from A-B.

Sentinel gets 5/10 and is available here.