Long time, no blog

I am still alive. I have just been busy with work, with life, with stuff. I can't quite believe it has been so long between posts, but hey, there you go. I always knew this was potentially going to be a hit and miss affair as far as regular posts were concerned.

I have read Graceling by Kristen Cashore. Which was okay, quick and fun, but not as good as the reviews would have you believe. Poison Study by Maria V Snyder was as good as the reviews would have you believe and I will be reading the next two novels in the series soon. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown was exactly what you would expect. Average prose. An intriguing idea and a book that does what it says on the tin. Apart from being filled with info dumps and coming across like a cut rate National Treasure movie, but not as good. It is a diverting read for a couple of hours. Dracula- The Undead is the official sequel by a descendant, Dacre Stoker. It starts off okay and rapidly descends into a screenplay with description. And they (I say they because it is actually a co-authored novel) had the audacity to retcon a great deal of story. No. Dracula is not a romantic and misunderstood hero. He is the f---ing grandaddy of the bad ass vampire. Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly is another good Harry Bosch novel and the foreign setting gives it an intriguing feel. Cross Country by James Patterson is average and the foreign setting feels like it is African politics as written by an infant. How is this guy still being published? Nearly all his novels are 'co-authored'. And those he writes have got steadily worse over the last five or so years. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson was very enjoyable as was The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff was a good first horror novel.

I have never read any Terry Pratchett before (apart from Good Omens which was read because of the Gaiman factor). I bought Nation and was underwhelmed. I know he has a phenomenal reputation, but don't get it. Or was this an atypical place to start reading him?

Dollhouse. Joss Whedon. New TV show. Joss Whedon. It started off slowly. It really had improved by the end of the run. Not as instantly classic as Firefly. Not as easily classifiable as Buffy or Angel. But a show unlike anything else on TV at present and I hope the second season which is pulling in poor ratings in the US won't be the last. A special mention has to go to Tahmoh Penikett who is very, very good.

FlashForward has an interesting premise and is enjoyable enough, but is not that special. I'm not desperately waiting for the next episode yet.

True Blood. Saw the first episode and I was also underwhelmed by this. Slow pacing, no immediately relatable characters and a lot of swearing. I know it is HBO, but... A show like The Wire has a great deal of bad language, but is realistic and in complete context for the locale and setting of the show. The swearing in True Blood felt like it was there because this is HBO and this is an adult take on vampires. I have no problem with swearing in film or TV if it serves a purpose and is in context. And as for the steamy sex scenes. Was that all?

I am going now to watch Boris Karloff in The Mummy.