Smorgasbord Fantasia

Angus Watson's fantasy spin on historical facts continues to regale us - in his latest series, West of West. I had thoroughly enjoyed the Age of Iron - a historical epic, the first in a political sword and sorcery series that was sheer fun, full of pulse-pounding action and some unforgettable characters, brimming with that gallows humour. The series sought to shed light on the pre-christ era and the roman conquest of the south brit isles - with of course creative liberty in terms of the magic and the gory action which probably defined those times.



And now with this one, You die when you die - he turns his attention to the Vikings - setting out to explore their little-known exploits on the American soil, the first intrepid explorers who dared to go beyond set boundaries. His treatment stands out - converting that research into believable and highly entertaining fiction that still rings deep and true in some fashion. I know some of my favourite fellow bloggers have loved it and show…

If there's one movie series capable of taking on the might of the Avengers in the whole MCU, then this is it. The naughty man-boy of the Marvel universe, the wise-cracking god of extreme snark and dick jokes - Dead Pool aka Wade Wilson returns to form in a deadlier, funnier and snarkier outing, if it were possible. And yes Dead Pool - 2 is even better than its predecessor in almost all ways.



With the trademark gleeful violence punctuated by sardonic quips, some even directed at you the viewer, mostly though focused on himself, Ryan Reynolds outdoes himself surpassing even his first outing bringing the Merc with a Mouth on the big screen. He acquits himself for whatever sins he did in the past ( Green Lantern, Wolverine Origins!) with Deadpool in one of the most memorable after-screen credits. And add to that Josh Brolin, fresh from having played the greatest Marvel villains of all times - must admit, we have a mouthwatering prospect on our hand.



So yet again, Deadpool is a love-s…

Cross Her Heart is the latest from Sarah Pinborough a taut psychological thriller with enough twists and turns to make your heart jump and keep you invested till the explosive climax.



I am a big fan of her works - especially after the hauntingly evocative novella 'Language of dying' and her stunning thriller 'Behind Her Eyes' with that mind-blowing twist of an ending. So Cross Her Heart is sort of a spiritual sequel to Behind Her Eyes - with similar premise of an tangled up web of lies and deceit at the centre of it with an interesting experiment in the narrative that weaves between Now, Then and After.

Truths be told, while yes I loved the book - I thought this was more a mainstream, straight forward psychological thriller examining the pedestrian life of a single mum, delving into the dysfunctional rut that defines her life which slowly devolves into unimaginable horrors when a secret from her past comes awake. It is minus the supernatural horrific elements that have…

Well, the superbowl of super-hero movies is finally here - Avengers Infinity War!! And it is smashing all sorts of box-office records since its release weeks back. I jumped onto this a bit late as I was traveling the release weekend and so I sensibly avoided all social media till last Thursday when I finally managed to watch it on the big screen. And hells come alive, a good thing too!



Because this was it - This behemoth record-smashing epic culmination of the last ten years of Marvel movies. This was where the last eighteen MCU movies were leading up to.  This giant throw-down where all our favourite heroes across space and time come together to pit their wills against one mean megalomaniacal purple war-monger tyrant named Thanos ( Who's been in the shadows for far too long without his due!) to save the universe. We know there's trouble brewing because Thanos has got his own brand of justice for this world, where resources are getting scarce and people are anyways dying of …

Well, Mark Lawrence is officially up top on my list of go-to-authors for his stunningly original take on dark fantasy - And well I think having completed two of his trilogies (Yup. Complete series in itself! Old men with long beards, sit up and take note!) he becomes the author whose series I have completed/loved to bits, that I've read the maximum.



Mark is at the top of his game - and with this new series, Book of the Ancestor, he is consciously striving for something different. (Here’s my review of Red Sister) For one, the protagonist is a young girl, growing into her legacy in this savage, ice-bitten world. And it’s definitely not dark as Jorg or Jalan’s narratives. The world-building has been phenomenal, to say the least and Grey Sister builds on the strong foundation laid by the opening salvo, to give us a glimpse into this wild, savage and beautiful world called Abeth - When four ancient tribes landed here from the stars to make this land their home. The Moon continues to…

Sarah is fast becoming my go-to author for those twisted dark pretzel of a story that blurs the line between psychological thrillers and surreal fantasies. Of course, Behind Her Eyes was a runaway hit phenomenon last year after it came. A dark, real dark psychological thriller guaranteed to knock the socks off you with it's double-whammy twists that hits you at the end.


The marketing materials came with specific instructions not to give away the mind blowing ending. And I agree that this definitely added to the hype and hoopla around the book making us intrigued, causing us to get to that end faster. I finished this in a week's time but I took my time purely because the premise and the story is really unsettling and caused me to stop several times and put this aside.

So the story is about three characters in love. Yes - a doomed love-triangle involving a very successful psychiatrist, his rich and beautiful wife and his secretary in office, a single mum. So far so good, soun…