The Week in Womble aka Wheel Spinning

Helloooo!

A bit of a boring week I’m afraid. A combo of my slightly ever introverted wisdom teeth (they have never fully erupted) having one of their sore half-hearted attempts and a lot of work made me rather tired by the end of each evening. Reading has been slowwwww. But still having fun and that’s more important.

What did I watch?

They Live – Found this in a pile of DVDs and haven’t seen it probably since the 90’s and one the one hand this idea of the world being run by a selfish cruel group of aliens with little caring for humanity is sadly still relevant. This would actually work even better in the 2020s but its also not a great movie. Carpenter plays this tight being just a 90 odd minute movie but its trying to do a lot and pacing is all over the place. There is a lot of shots with the lead Roddy Piper fighting people (well he is a wrestler) but his range I think is a bit weak and while the end is both bleak and bittersweet it also tries to do too much and wrap it all neatly. These days of course it would be a three-film trilogy and overplay it but one I think could be done brilliantly.

What did I listen to?

A great episode of The Fantasy Hive is out now interviewing the author Kate Elliot on her genderflipped Alexander the Great in Space novel Unconquerable Sun – its very tempting

Breaking the Glass Slipper had a great episode looking at issues of race in terms of which books people read. Honest and sounds like a lot of people in the same boat.

Book-Tempting To The Max

A quick summary of books received last week is here to tempt you because I care

What have I been reading?

Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders by Aliette de Bodard– his is thoughtful and delicious fun. A novella that will make you also want to explore the wider series

Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay– wow this was a bot on the nose for 2020 just with added not quite zombies

Dark Waters by G R Halliday – a dark and grisly crime novel that makes the Highlands look rather creepy.

Steel Frame by Andrew Skinner - not sure why this tale didn’t quite work for me but thinking about it

What am I reading?

Firewalkers by Adrian Tchaikovsky – an SF novella from one of the best out there – count me in

Velocity Weapon by Megan E O’Keefe – This Subjective nominee has spaceships

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – one of my increasingly favourite authors

Have fun!!