CaptainD's Book Review Blog

Want a free ebook?

2017-01-12T07:01:00.002-08:00

I'm running a Twitter poll to let people vote on what they want my next free promo to be - if you see a Twitter poll running about this then it's still running, if not then it's over!

Favian's Law released

2017-01-09T06:59:00.000-08:00

Favian's Law, the final book in the Truth Teller trilogy by Kurt Chambers, is out now!

"Thirty years pass in a flash of elven magic and Charlotte loses all those dear to her. She tries to put things right but is forced to return home, leaving Elderfield to face certain death.

She has no way to save him, but worst still, no way to save herself. The discovery that her own world is changed beyond recognition leaves her no choice but to give up her gateway forever."

Available for Amazon Kindle

Novella review - Roko's Labyrinth

2016-12-14T05:06:00.001-08:00

Roko's Labyrinth is the second in a trilogy by author Michael Blackbourn. I haven't yet read the first one - I know, I know, why read the second story first! - and the final story in the trilogy is currently being written. I was sent a review copy by the author.

Having read the middle story first though I can tell you with confidence that Roko's Labyrinth works well as a standalone story, giving you enough background information to keep on top of what's written. I don't want to reveal anything much about the plot but to say that AI is at war with humanity, but also at war with itself - and it all ties in with the AI's originator, Roko. Labyrinth is the story of a hacker for hire that's been brought in to try to find a way to communicate with an entity that claims to be able to help humanity in their fight.

This is a tense, tightly-written story that grabs you from the first page and refuses to let go. The technical descriptions sound plausible and although the hacker who the story mainly centres around is not what you'd call a paragon of virtue, the story changes with him starting out just looking for personal glory but becoming affected by what he learns and finding out that he does have a moral compass after all. There's plenty of action which is written in uncompromising and sometimes brutal style, and although I saw one of the plot twists coming, I have to admit that the ending took me completely by surprise.

There is quite a bit of profanity in this story and that did spoil it for me to an extent (it's not exactly on every page but there is quite a lot); if you are sensitive to profanity you might want to give this one a miss, if not then there is really nothing you won't like about this novella if you like a good post-apocalyptic sci-fi technothriller. It's intriguing and gripping, with enough humanity to keep things grounded. Not sure on the exact word count but from the Kindle pages estimate probably around 30-35K.

Available for Amazon Kindle for 99p or equivalent.

Young Adult Sci-Fi by Kurt Chambers

2016-11-16T06:35:00.002-08:00

I've recently made the online acquaintance of a fellow Kindle self-publisher by the name of Kurt Chambers, and I wanted to give a shout-out for his books. They're written primarily for young adults (though there's no reason older adults shouldn't enjoy them too!), and the first in the series, Truth Teller, is available for free so you can get a feel for the writing.

The second book in the series is Wrath of Sirens. Kurt has also released Unknown Reality.

Oops... what happened?!

2016-11-11T11:59:00.003-08:00

Well, honestly, I actually thought I'd deleted this blog completely. Now that I accidentally find that I haven't, I will resurrect it at little! :-D

Recently read: Sahara by Clive Cussler
Currently reading: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick

I hope to get something more here soonish... but don't hold me to it.

An unexpected addition to the library

2015-06-05T10:29:00.003-07:00

Well okay, it was partly fueled by needing to buy lunch and the necessity to get something else in order to get past the minimum spend for my debit card, but still... it didn't have to be a book, and didn't have to be this book, but it was. So there it is.

It initially caught my notice because it had Alistair Maclean's name on it, but it was only the story outline that he wrote - the book itself was written by Alistair Macneill (yes, took me a while to realise it was a different Alistair!). The book is in the UNAC series, and it's called Code Breaker. Exactly where it will slot in with the other books on my read list in terms or the order I read them in, I don't know... will depend on my mood at the time I guess!

First Thoughts - Songmaster by Orson Scott Card

2015-06-05T03:34:00.001-07:00

This is an intriguing book. It takes a little while to get used to the writing style, which is often highly introspective, and the fact that for a long time it almost appears that there is no overall plot, such is the emphasis on developing the characters. I'm a fair way through now and getting to the point where my opinion of is it moving from "pretty interesting stuff" to "uniquely amazing". Not quite sure if the book peaks at the point I'm reading right now, or if it can maintain that level until the end - if the latter, it will be some achievement.

Book Review - Jedi Search by Kevin J. Anderson

2015-05-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

Jedi Search by Kevin J. Anderson is the first of a trilogy of Star Wars novels, which presumably inspired the game “Jedi Academy”. It follows events not only from the original film trilogy, but also the official sequel trilogy by Timothy Zahn comprising of “Hear to the Empire”, “Dark Force Rising” and “The Last Command” – none of which I’ve read, but it doesn’t affect reading this book too much apart from a few references (in particular to “the resurrected Emperor”) which didn’t mean anything to me (although they did pique my curiosity about that other trilogy!).

Anyway, in Jedi Search we have all the main characters we know from the films – Han and Leia (now married with 3 children), Luke Skywalker whose quest to recreate the order of Jedi Knights is the source of the book’s title, Lando and his dodgy dealings, R2D2 and C3PO with their antics, Chewbacca still acting as Han’s sidekick. There are several narrative threads beginning with Han and Chewy’s diplomatic mission to Kessel (which goes spectacularly wrong), Luke’s announcement of his plans and subsequent search for the candidates for enrollment in his Jedi Academy, Leia with a thousand diplomatic responsibilities and trying to somehow find time to be a mother at the same time, and a few others here and there. At some points it threatens to break off into too many separate strands and it can be a little difficult to remember what happened last when a particular strand is returned to, but it manages not to get confusing – aided no doubt by most of the characters being very familiar to us in the first place.

The characters are written consistently with what we already know about them, but there is time for a surprise and revelation or two about some of them. The action set pieces are neatly written, somehow lacking a bit of oomph but there is usually an element of excitement to them. It’s quite often during the sections where characters are contemplating inwardly that Anderson’s writing comes to the fore – he creates believable motives and worries for the characters that, despite any difference in circumstances between the Star Wars universe and real life, we can easily relate too (juggling a stressful job and being a parent, excited by your plans but terrified of the potential for disaster if they go badly wrong, etc).

Overall it keeps you interested and I definitely want to find out what happens next. The two main failings of the books are perhaps inherent to what it is – a movie spin-off and the first part of a trilogy. In order to maintain links with its source material, events from the movies are mentioned or alluded to frequently – I found a little too frequently, as if some of them had been forced in to make the point that it all tied in, rather than because they actually added to the narrative. There are a few story arcs that don’t really go anywhere in this book, clearly because they’ll be expounded on later in the trilogy (it is perhaps a little unfair to make this comment when in the past I have reviewed trilogies as one entity, but there it is).

I wouldn’t describe Jedi Search as a spectacularly good book, perhaps not even as a very good book, but if you like Star Wars then it’s certainly a good read. If you don’t like Star Wars to begin with then, well, there’s nothing for you here. For those of us that do, while we wait for the Force to Awaken with Film 7 this December, you could do a lot worse than check out the Jedi Academytrilogy.

Double Your Money!

2015-05-30T05:41:00.001-07:00

Paid Books, the site that pays you to read books online, has just announced that their rates have doubled. So you can now claim 500 Satoshi every 10 minutes. If this sounds interesting to those of you who love both books and Bitcoin, head over to the Paid Books Website.

First Thoughts - "Jedi Search" by Kevin J Anderson

2015-05-27T08:20:00.001-07:00

Yeah I know, I know, I said I was going to read Songmaster next, but in the end this one called to me and I answered. Good and bad so far, mainly good but a little too self-consciously tying things in to events from the Star Wars films, I thought. Anyway I've procrastinated from posting this so I'm actually nearly at the end of it, review soon!

Onto the next book...

2015-05-18T04:42:00.001-07:00

Right then! Now that I've read and reviewed David Gemmell's "Legend", I'm going to move onto Songmaster by Orson Scott Card. I've always been curious about his books and he was writer for The Dig, one of the most atmospheric #pointandclick adventure games I've ever played. Perhaps "Ender's Game" would seem the most natural choice for a first read of his but I was in the mood that I wanted something that looked a bit different, and Songmaster fits the bill. Perhaps the title appealed to me too as I continue developing my indie game "Troll Song".

It doesn't look particularly long so I guess I'll have the review done in about 1-2 weeks.

Book Review - Legend by David Gemmell

2015-05-17T14:07:00.002-07:00

Well it's been a loooooooooong time since I did a book review, but here goes!

I've always meant to read David Gemmell's books but just never been round to it. A desire to get back into reading fiction prompted a visit to The Book Farm in Astley, and one of the books I decided to get was his very first book, "Legend" (seems it's been released with various subtitles too), the first of the Drenai novels.

My first impressions of this book were positive, and overall it was an extremely good read, though in only the second paragraph of the Prologue a cardinal writing sin was committed - the repetition of an adjective within the same sentence (well, whether it's a cardinal sin of writing in your eyes I don't know, but personally I hate it!). This was however the only time this occurred in the entire book! (I have to admit that poor proof-reading of the edition I was reading did distract a few times, although it was nothing absolutely terrible.)

Legend follows 3 narrative paths - a man called Rek, a warrior priest (sort of) called Serbitar, and the "Legend" himself, Druss. All three of these man, along with almost every other character that you'll meet in the book, have much more to them than it first appears - Rek seems merely a lovable rogue, Serbitar a devout man unsure of the responsibility thrust upon him, and Druss little more than a mighty warrior always trying to stare down Death. As the story progresses, you learn about the backgrounds and insecurities of the characters, and they will sometimes surprise you - though always the surprise will be, on reflection, in keeping with their characters.

The main thrust of the plot is the Drenai's impending war with an empire to the north - with the Nadir empire - and in particular the pivotal battle at the might fortress Dros Delnoch. Whilst war is depicted here with sometimes unflinching detail, it is never glamourised. There is a quite a bit of gore at times, but the narrative never loses sight of the human stories within it; individual acts of heroism, families sticking together or being torn apart. Also there are breaks in the fighting at times due to the traditions of the opposing factions, who almost become friends for a moment before the terror of battle resumes. Even the mighty Nadir warlord, Ulric, turns out to be not quite the spectre of unbridled evil that everyone believes him to be.

The world in which Legend is set is mostly very close to medieval Europe - there are no Elves, Dwarves and the like prancing around the scenery, it's just humans. There are of course characters with abilities outside the normal human range although even these can mainly find their roots very closely in beliefs of various real-world cultures. The language used is very normal too, with only a few words here and there - military ranks for instance have terms unique to the Drenai language - but mostly it's very familiar stuff.

It's in the history, customs and culture that the book really makes it known that you're reading fantasy fiction not a historical novel. There is a lot of background detail but the reader is never bogged down with detail - the're a decent amount there and the suggestion that there will be much, much more to find out in later books in the Drenai series.

Overall, Legend was a very good read and I found it quite difficult to put down. The key to its readability is that it focuses on the characters more than the situation, and the characterisation is very good - it makes you care about the characters, makes you dislike some and then suddenly understand them in a new light, and respect or even like them as a result. For one particular character (I won't tell you who in case it spoils the suspense for you if you read it), I really liked him and read into something about the way a sentence was phrased that made me think he was going to die before the end of the book - I was very glad to be wrong about that one!

So anyway, it's a real page-turner and I'm probably going to have to get into the full series now...

Get paid to read!

2015-05-11T13:35:00.003-07:00

There's a new site where you can get paid (in Bitcoin) to read. It's called Paid Books. You do have to complete a Captcha after each claim (5 minute time limit, currently paying at 100 Satoshi per claim, payout at 5,500 Satoshi - this is while the site is in beta mode, it should hopefully increase quite a bit from that - it WAS 60 seconds which was far more reasonable, 5 minutes is a bit ridiculous tbh and I didn't realise that when I started writing this post, only when I went back to check something - hopefully this will change as well) - you're certainly not going to get rich from it but if you read on your screen anyway and use Bitcoin, its a fairly pain-free coin of building up some pennies.

EDIT - 14th May 2015 - the claim rate has changed to 250 Satoshi per 10 minutes. Decent amount and less intrusive for when you're reading, so a good change.

Here are some of the books available:

First Thoughts - "Legend" by David Gemmell

2015-05-07T01:53:00.003-07:00

This one's got me hooked pretty quickly - some great writing really helping to set up the scene and characters, very interesting characters and enough going on in the background to make the basic themes more interesting. I'm only a few chapters in but I have a feeling that Legend, his first book, won't be the last David Gemmell book that I'll be reading...

Review coming probably in about 3 weeks. Stay tuned! :-D

Long time, no see... new arrivals to the library!

2015-05-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'll admit it... I haven't thought about this blog for a long time. I've also become someone who hardly ever reads book, largely due to lack of time but, also, because... I don't know, I just stopped for some reason. But I've been missing it, and feeling the need to start reading fiction again (other than all the kiddies books I read to my 4 year-old!), and so I've gone and bought a load of new books to rejuvenate my former passion for books - and, I freely admit, to help provide me with an extra spark of inspiration for some of my ongoing projects that I feel I've been missing recently.

Don't know when I'll get time to blog about them, but these are the books I've chosen:

Treasure and Sahara by Clive Cussler (because I enjoyed Inca Gold)
Legend by David Gemmell - because I've always intended to read his books and never got round to it, so I might as well start with the first one!!
The Better Part of Valor by Tanya Huff - just because it looked interesting and I'd never heard of it
Jedi Search by Kevin J Anderson - well, for light reading before a certain movie is released this Decemenber!!
Songmaster by Orson Scott Card - because I wanted to read something of his but didn't particularly want to start with Ender's Game for some reason.

So, there you have it... expect reviews of all these at some point in the future. I don't know when. I really don't know when I'm going to have time to start reading again... I just know that I really want to do so, and will find a way!

Wanderlust Proves to be Troublesome in 19th Century Rural Arkansas

2014-09-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

College Station, TX -- Sep 17, 2014 / (http://www.myprgenie.com) -- Life on the farm is far too disenchanting for the two brothers eager to see the world, regardless of the risks, in J.F. Gennings’ new novel, For Bread and Pottage.

Clyde and Willie Boy Gintry live and work on their father’s farm in nineteenth century Arkansas, but long for adventure and escape from their father’s iron hand. Already spending most of their free time in saloons, they encounter an illustrious saloon woman named Rose Devereaux who lures them away from their safe keeping on the farm and to her hometown of New Orleans.

With the promise of adventure and newness on the horizon, the brothers jump at the chance to leave behind their family and farm life for New Orleans, setting a string of events into motion that will prove to be life-altering, dangerous, and impossible to stop.

J.F. Gennings is from a small, East Texas town of Atlanta, where he lives and writes joined by his wife of forty-three years, his son, daughter-in-law, and two wonderful grandchildren. He is the third generation of post-Civil War Georgia pioneers, who were homesteaders in 1872. He loves the history of his native area, is passionate about his writing, and loves his family...especially those grandchildren. This story, although fictional, has strong ties to his own ancestry and has been eight years in the making.

For Bread and Pottage is available in hardcover (ISBN 978-1-62137-590-6) and eBook (ISBN 978-1-62137-591-3) from Virtualbookworm.com, Amazon.com, and Barnesandnoble.com. This book can also be ordered from most bookstores around the United States and United Kingdom. More information can be found at the author’s official website, www.genningsbooks.com.

Lilly the Deer Book Project

2014-07-29T15:52:00.001-07:00

Author Ken Foster and photographer Traer Scott have teamed up to launch a Kickstarter for their new book, "Lily the Deer", which is about Lilly, an orphaned deer, and her family.

"Lilly's story is a love story. It's a story about family. And in telling with with text AND photos, we have a remarkable opportunity to show their extraordinary every day life: Lilly playing fetch with the dogs, Lilly napping on the couch with the family cat, and so on. (The story also comes with a caveat: don't try this at home. We'll be including resources so readers know what to do and who to contact if they encountered orphaned wildlife.)"

Kickstarter Page

The Burlington Files

2014-05-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

The Burlington Files is a series of espionage novels about the Burlington family and their ambivalent ubiquitous relationships with state backed intelligence agencies over many decades. The series covers events involving the Burlington family from the First World War including the Smiling Buddha Project, Operation Able Archer, 9/11, the Nisha incidents and beyond.

The first novel, Beyond Enkription (and, yes, we have spelt it intentionally like that) starts in 1974 in the Cold War. For more information about the book, the series and the author please seeTheBurlingtonFiles.Org or FaireSansDire.Org.

inkle and Profile Books Announce "80 Days", a Jules Verne-Inspired Narrative Game for iPhone & iPad

2014-05-14T13:15:00.001-07:00

inkle and Profile Books Announce 80 Days, a Jules Verne-Inspired Narrative Game for iPhone & iPad

This summer, embark on a round-the-world steampunk adventure from developer of acclaimed Steve Jackson's Sorcery! mobile games

CAMBRIDGE, U.K. - May 14, 2014 - The year is 1872. Welcome to the future. inkle, an independent developer of interactive narrative games, and London-based publisher Profile Books are announcing 80 Days, a Jules Verne-inspired steampunk adventure game to release for iPhone and iPad in Summer 2014.

Taking the role of Passepartout, Phileas Fogg's long-suffering valet and travel companion, 80 Days players choose their own path in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe and win a hefty wager. In this vast adventure across all seven continents, the player's decisions weave a story written on the fly by the same flexible narrative system behindinkle's acclaimed Sorcery! mobile games. Getting around the world before the clock runs out requires strategy, cunning, and a dash of luck, with no two attempts unfolding the same way and boundless replay opportunities awaiting players who aspire to beat their best time.

Every second counts in 80 Days, with a networked live feed putting a real-world twist on Verne's iconic race. Observe the routes, discoveries, and disasters of other 80 Daysplayers in real time as you compete to be the fastest around the globe. Travel by steamer, express train, airship, hover-car, hydrofoil, gyrocopter, camel, horseback, or hot-air balloon. Avoid capture by pirates from Havana, aid the Indian uprising in Calcutta, track down mad scientists in the desert of Arabia, and explore the powerful Zulu Federation in Africa -- just don't let anything slow you down!

With a massive script penned by celebrated interactive fiction author Meg Jayanth, 80 Days has a flexible narrative with over ten thousand choices to make, a cast of hundreds to interact with, and more than 150 cities to explore. Far more than a digital adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days, the game blows open Jules Verne's classic to pit a Victorian past against an imagined steampunk future, creating a dynamic world as challenging and unexpected for today's audience as Verne's works were for his own.

For additional 80 Days details and a first glimpse of the game's Art Deco and steampunk-inspired art direction, visit the official website: http://www.inklestudios.com/80days

About inkle

inkle is a game studio that specializes in interactive narrative. Founded in Cambridge UK by Joe Humfrey and Jon Ingold, their interactive Frankenstein app, written by Dave Morris and published by Profile Books, was praised as 'brilliantly designed', 'beautiful' and 'ground-breaking'. Their interactive fantasy series Sorcery! has sold over 150,000 copies. http://www.inklestudios.com/

About Meg Jayanth

Meg Jayanth is a writer, producer and game-maker with a particular interest in digital storytelling. She is the author of story-game Samsara, an award-winning historical fantasy of dream-walking and courtly intrigue set in 18th Century Bengal. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies including Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History published by Crossed Genres. You can find her at http://megjayanth.com & @betterthemask

About Profile Books

Profile Books is an award-winning independent publisher based in London. http://www.profilebooks.com

Book Review - Inca Gold by Clive Cussler

2014-02-06T11:34:00.000-08:00

Clive Cussler’s epic adventure tale pits hero Dirk Pitt against a Peruvian psychopath, a trio of criminal brothers and a vast set of corrupt Mexican political, police and military officials. Along with trusty sidekick Al Giordino, on-off love interest Loren, and an array of supporting cast, after a somewhat slow start full of historical details Inca Gold becomes a rip-roaring tale of swashbuckling and derring-do, and of course defeating seemingly impossible odds.

While the action set pieces are well written and sometimes spectacular, I do find Cussler’s use of metaphorical imagery a little overblown at times. Another slight bugbear is that all measurements of distance are given in imperial format with the metric equivalent in parentheses after it – once or twice would have been fine, but every time… it really breaks the flow when reading. I don’t know who decided this was a good idea, but personally I would have to disagree with them! You will know if this is something that will likewise irk you, or if you think I’m being unreasonably picky.

Those minor annoyances aside, Inca Gold was a very good read. The main plot started off as a seemingly simple treasure hunt but got more complex as the book went on, largely driven by the character development, which is nicely done. Speaking of characters, Clive Cussler himself appears in a cameo role as an old man spinning tall tales in a remote diner in the middle of a desert. The action sequences are interspersed with romantic interludes and search operations written in exhaustive detail.

Inca Gold is actually the first Clive Cussler book that I’ve ever read – I had always intended to read his novels in the same way that I have always intended to one day read Wilbur Smith, Dick Francis and John Le Carre – and on this evidence, it very probably won’t be the last. After a rather long hiatus I’ve started reading fiction again, so hopefully more reviews coming soon!

CaptainD - Book Reviews Blog

Steve Jackson's Sorcery! Continues on iOS Today with New Interactive Adventure in Kharé: Cityport of Traps

2013-11-07T04:33:00.001-08:00

CAMBRIDGE, U.K. - November 7, 2013 - Independent developer inkle and author Steve Jackson are announcing that Sorcery! Part 2 is now available for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. The second installment in a series of narrative games that brings Jackson's renowned 1980s gamebooks into the touchscreen age,Sorcery! Part 2 is an interactive story that can be continued from Part 1 or started fresh as a standalone adventure. The game sells for $4.99 USD (or equivalent) from the App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/app/sorcery!-2/id627880433

inkle's Sorcery! games put you in the shoes of a hero or heroine on a quest to recover the stolen Crown of Kings. Part 1 involved a journey through the Shamutanti Hills, a perilous landscape that could only be survived with tactical swordplay, clever magic, and good old-fashioned brainpower. But those hills were a cakewalk compared to Part 2's Kharé, a bustling cityport where restless citizens and a brutal goblin army are about to come to blows. Secrets, traps, and trickery abound -- and even if you do reach the locked gate at the far end of the city, it only opens for those who uncover the city's most ancient secrets.

Sorcery! Part 2 is a highly flexible interactive narrative that writes itself around players' choices. With more than 300,000 words (twice the content of the first game) and nearly 10,000 choices to make, the story can be played and replayed with unique outcomes each time. In a feature unique to Part 2, you can challenge the townspeople in Swindlestones, a dice game based on lies and deceit that yields clues to Kharé's traps and enigmas. A detailed 3D street map with additional interior insets of key buildings lets you explore the city inside and out -- a city whose locations change over time as you make your way through. There are also over 30 monsters to fight with swords or fists, more gorgeous illustrations by John Blanche, and an upgraded 3D spellcasting system.

When it released in May, Sorcery! Part 1 (https://itunes.apple.com/app/id627879091) was exceptionally well received by press and players, earning an 85% ranking on Metacritic and a 4.5-star user rating on the App Store. IGN cited it as "a prime example of what can happen when traditional storytelling gets along with contemporary game design"; GamesMaster called it "the best rendition of the gamebook format we've yet seen on tablets and a shining example of the promise the genre holds." The series will debut for Android in December.

To learn more about inkle's Steve Jackson's Sorcery! games, visit http://www.inklestudios.com/sorcery.

About inkle

inkle is a design and development studio from Cambridge, UK, founded by Joseph Humfrey and Jon Ingold, and specializing in interactive storytelling. Four of their previous apps have been featured on the App Store front page, and their interactive Frankenstein adaptation was praised as "brilliantly designed," "beautiful," "gorgeous," and "the best interactive fiction yet." They've worked with Penguin, Profile Books, the BBC, English National Opera, among others, and their award-winning inklewriter website, allowing anyone to write and share their own branching stories for free, is used in schools all over the world. Before founding inkle, Ingold was a lead game designer for Sony, and the author of over a dozen interactive fiction games. Humfrey has designed and developed titles for all the major consoles in a career with PlayStation, Microsoft, and legendary studio Rare, where he co-created the BAFTA-nominated Viva Pinata DS. His independent games have appeared everywhere from iOS to Virgin Atlantic. Learn more athttp://www.inklestudios.com.

About Steve Jackson

Steve Jackson is co-founder with Ian Livingstone of the massively successful UK chain Games Workshop, and co-creator of the Fighting Fantasy series that sold over 25 million copies in 27 countries worldwide. He also co-founded Lionhead Studios with Peter Molyneux, and is now Professor of Game Design at Brunel University.

Disney's "The Jungle Book - 3D Storybook"

2013-10-20T11:30:00.001-07:00

An impulse buy, but even though my daughter's perhaps a little young for the story - it's a very shortened form of the story from the Disney movie, but the writing is not dumbed down, just keeps things simple - although part of her enjoyment may come from the fact that I sing a couple of the songs from the film along the way (yeah I know, she must be a little masochistic!). She's a bit small for the 3D glasses, but I think she can make out the 3D effect a little, which is pretty decent (although the book cover's description of it being "eye-popping" may be exaggerating a little).

It's a good product, the book itself is very robust, the 3D glasses are showing the strain of toddler handling but haven't completely fallen apart yet - and there is a hand storage compartment in the front cover to keep them, which means that amazingly they haven't been lost yet!

Buy Disney's "The Jungle Book - 3D Storybook" from amazon.co.uk:

New Release: Guardian Angel - Rescue on the Glacier

2013-10-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

Guardian Angel - Rescue on the Glacier is the true story of a dramatic multi-day rescue mission that unfolds as five passengers get stranded high in the mountains of Alaska. Armed with a positive "never quit" attitude, four elite Guardian Angel team members encounter countless challenges as they climb upwards through a raging blizzard toward the family in distress.

By Jesse Patterson, illustrated by Manuela Soriani

Toddler Book Review - "Owl Babies" by Martin Waddell

2013-10-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

Owl Babies (written by Martin Waddell) is a sweet book for young children that we bought at the gift shop of an owl sanctuary – I’d never heard of it before. Then I found it on Epinions so gathered that it was perhaps not completely unknown! (Actually, according to an article I saw in The Guardian newspaper, Owl Babies has “long been regarded as a classic” – shows how much I know, but in my defence I’ve only been a dad for two and a bit years…)

(I wrote this review several months ago)

Anyway, this book tells a simple story of three baby owls – Sarah, Percy and Bill – who wake up one night to find that their mother has gone. They think about this (all owls think a lot) and conclude that she must have gone for some food and will be coming back… but they decide they must investigate anyway. Sarah is the oldest, a little more together than the others, Percy is marginally sensible and Bill just repeats “I want my mummy!” at every opportunity. Needless to say, mummy owl does come back.

The cardboard pages of the book are reasonably robust although they showed signed of wear and tear pretty quickly. The story is quite sweet but in repeatedly calling her the “owl mother” instead of “owl mummy (or mommy)”, the use of language didn’t really feel appropriate for the target age group.

My young daughter when she first had this book (I think she was about 15 months old at the time) liked the book quite a bit, mainly due to the pictures, and the writing and characters lend themselves to using exaggerated emphasis and different voices when I read it to her. When she was a little older, about 18 months, she started to understand what was going on a bit more and quickly decided that she didn’t like it – she was very upset that the owl mummy had left the babies behind, and she never got to the end of the book because of that! Another few months passed and she understood it a little more, and now likes the book again, although it isn’t really amongst her favourites (for instance, nowhere near Dear Zoo in her favourites list!).

The slightly odd choice of language at times and the theme possibly upsetting very young ones, Owl Babies is a very nice book and the illustrations are beautifully drawn. On the basis of my own daughter’s (changing) view of it and the fact that it isn’t quite as sturdy as it looked, I wouldn't say it's one of the best. I think it’s mainly aged at the 3-5 year-old age group, so I may be a little unfair judging it from the point of view of my own younger daughter, but she loves books and seems bright for her age (yes, of course I’m biased!), so I think what I’ve said in my review is basically a fair assessment. If your child loves birds, this is probably a winner; if however they are easily upset, it might be better to give this one a miss. When they’re old enough to reason a bit more they’ll be reassured by the message that the owl mummy did come back, of course.

EDIT - wouldn't you just know it, my little one chose ten minutes after I posted this to decided that she wanted to read this one again, and she really enjoyed it this time - she's almost 3. So I guess it's mostly an age thing.

So that's why he's so Cranky!

2013-10-16T09:11:00.001-07:00

Of course, when I posted yesterday about some of my daughter's favourite books of the moment, I actually managed to forget her absolute (current) favourite - No Sleep for Cranky. She adores pretty much all the characters in Thomas and Friends, but she seems to have a special affinity for Cranky - perhaps going back to when she saw him from the car park when we went to Thomas Land at Drayton Manor - maybe being the first full size character she saw made an impression on her.

At any rate, she really loves this book - perhaps a little different to most of the other Thomas books as it doesn't have as clear a moral or happy ending as the others tend to (although they are both there... sort of). I feel sorry for Cranky - he gets a pretty raw deal out of things it seems - but the book is fun to read when you put on a different accent for all the characters. Also the appearance of Salty the Dockyard Diesel probably helps, as he's a character she's always really liked as well.