I was never really into Superman that much as a kid. Sure, I loved the Christopher Reeve movies (still my favourite on-screen Supes) but outside the Man of Steel’s cinematic adventures I never really paid much attention to the Kansas farm boy with the shiny red and blue suit. Honestly, I thought he was just a bit boring and moved on, and the more recent movies starring Brandon Routh and Henry Cavill haven’t exactly changed that opinion. So when I say I came to this ten-year old graphic novel with fairly low expectations you’ll probably understand why.
Bloodsworn is the first book in a new epic fantasy series by British author Tej Turner, and it really does get the series off to a phenomenal start. The narrative follows the adventures of a handful of young friends as they find themselves getting dragged into a magical conspiracy that threatens to destroy everything they hold dear.
There are been some astoundingly good fantasy novels come out over the last couple of years, novels that have, in my opinion, brought a breath of fresh air to the genre. Northern Wrath is another one of those novels.
William Gibson’s treatment of the Alien franchise is in many ways a much better sequel to Aliens than the Alien 3 film we eventually got. True, Ripley is notably absent from the action (apparently Sigourney Weaver initially declined an invitation to return to the franchise, so Gibson had to effectively write her out of his treatment) but what we do get is a damning examination of corporate hubris and the problems that arise when you put profit above morals and common sense. Oh, and there are some xenomorphs, too.
DISCLAIMER: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publishers in return for an honest review. My thanks to Caezik SF & Fantasy for giving me this opportunity.
Robert A. Heinlein, often referred to as ‘the dean of science fiction writers’, died in 1988, so to get a new, previously unpublished novel from one of the pillars of the Golden Age of Sci-Fi is something of an event in its own right. Add to this a lifelong love of Heinlein’s work and as you can probably imagine I was incredibly excited to be able to get my hands on this companion novel to The Number of the Beast (1980). But was it worth it?
All Rob Sardon wants, more than anything else in the world, is to be a hero. He wants the world to know his name, to revere his name and for songs to be sung of his exploits even after he is long gone. So when he is sent to live with his uncle in far off Khamas he begins a journey that will see him go from being a naive, thirteen year old boy to something more. Just maybe not the hero he imagines himself to be.
