Pinwell Books’ blog

Hi,

It's been a while but I know totally worth the wait. This book is excellent. I thoroughly reccomend it for everybody to read.

A lot of the time books about factual event's can be hard work. This book though thanks to Mr Runciman's writing style is a joy to read. The story flows, all the facts,figures and maps are there but they do not overtake the overall essence of this First Crusade, there was a People's crusade before this but this is the 1st true crusade in which was sanctioned by the church of the west.

I learnt a great deal, like things haven't really changed too much in the last 900 years. I'm not going too say much more, I think people should form there own opinions about this time in history.

I can see why this work is one of the standard work's, excellent writing and an exhaustive bibliography. I am looking forward to volume 2 plus it has sparked my interest into other area's.

It's a good job the night's are drawing in, perfect for reading.

I would give this a 9/10

Regards

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Runciman

As promised my take on the Science Fiction classic.

Well the last time I read this Trilogy had to have been about 15 years ago, and it did not disappoint then or now. The story was still very fresh, and just as relevant today. Admittedly some of the technical references are slightly outdated and amusing today, but at the time they very forward thinking. Plus the concept of the story is still very good, you can see how Mr Asimov and his stories influenced the modern generation of writer's.

The story is in the now classic Space Opera style charting the rise of a new Galactic civilization from the remnants of the old one, predicted by Hari Seldon and the science of Psychohistory with all of it's ups and downs in the process.

It establishes for me again, that Isaac Asimov was fully deserving of all of his awards, and that he is the Father of Modern Scince Fiction. I will definetely be re-reading his other novels and would reccomend them to anyone interested in this genre.

Regards & keep reading.

Hi,

Sorry it has been a while. I should have a few review's over the next couple of days.

I havn't posted any lately as I've had my time taken up with doing Book Fairs. I have to say they are marvellous events, if there is something that you have been looking for then they are the event to goto. I'm not just saying that as somebody who hopes to sell at these events but as a buyer, which I frequently am, as an avid collector myself. The choice can be a bit overwhelming at times (the big book fairs) but the experience of the dealers is great to use, and you can make some very good friends and contacts. So because of this I would heartily recommend them.
       Well because of this I am a little behind in writing reviews of books that I have just read, though I have picked up some nice things for me. My up and coming reviews will be on Isaac Asimov (Foundation Trilogy); Steven Erikson (Dust of Dreams) & Runciman (History of the Crusades Volume 1).

Regards

Hi,

What I thought would be the last review in this series, but it appears that it will be more than a trilogy. This seems to be the norm at the moment but not one that I find great. The series for me seems to be too much after three, everything appears as though it is just for the publishers sake. I could be wrong, but I prefer a Trilogy so that the story does not become tired. Anyway now for my take on the book.

I said earlier and I still believe that the world and the characters are interesting with a lot of potential, but three for this episode would have been enough for me. The story was a pleasant read, it moved along fast and introduced some new characters, but I was hoping for an ending of sorts. There was an ending but not the one that I expected. I would say that overall the series has been a good quick read (not much thought required), and I will read the rest though I will wait until they are in the Library.

Overall for the series so far - 3.5/5

I think that it is now time for Science Fiction or Non-Fiction

Apt 3

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Regards

Hi,

This in one of my older reviews, I hope that you find it useful, though it is maybe a bit to spartan.

The Shadow of the Scorpion

One of the fan site's can be found at http://www.nealasher.com.

Scorpion

Hi,

Well what can I say. I gave the first installment a glowing review and the second? It is still a good story, well written with good character development, one I would still say read but it was not as good as the first one. I'm not sure if the first one was so good because he was a new author to me, or if it was a nice twist on a traditional theme, but I did and still stand by my review. This story was more along the lines of the traditional (might be because I have got use to the new ideas), and for me a little slow in the middle, though it picked up towards the end. Here it introduced some new and interesting characters and developments, enough so that the story was enjoyable and I will be looking forward to the third installment.
  All said it is a good story if traditional, and the world is interesting with good scope for the future.

Well enjoy and keep reading.

Regards

Apt 2

Excellent, a new Author. This book was an experiment as the price was good and I hadn't read the Author before, but it paid off. The story line is an old one, quite common really but exactly what I was after, though it has a nice twist in that the characters, and species are a cross between the insect world and the human world. I mean that they are roughly human though they have the characteristics and general attributes of their associated insect counterparts. This I found quite interesting (and I havn't come across before), and it has opened up a lot of new possabilites and avenues to explore, and explore he is. The characters are well developed, and if you like action packed fantasy, with twists and turns then this is for you.
 I enjoyed it so much that I immediately ordered the next in the series, and I am currently half way through that. Oh I forgot the Author is Adrian Tchaikovsky and more information can be found at www.shadowsoftheapt.com .

Well I hope that you enjoy.

Regards

Black

Well this time I'm giving my first foray into reviewing a non-fiction title. I love History and this book just caught my attention, primarily as it deals with an area I know very little about, and what I do know was heavily influenced by the media.
 I've just finished the title (in the last 30 minutes) and I have to say that it was enjoyable, and a complete eyeopener. Attila is nothing like the depiction on TV. This I had thought, but he was a far more complex character than I imagined. Patrick Howarth write quite well, it engaged me and kept me wanting to read more. It looks at more than just Attila, looking at the whole area, what went on before Attila, what the political and military aspects of the region were at the time. Within this timeframe it looks at all the main characters, and gives some reasoning as to why Attila proceedeed like he did. He was definetely an able General and a very good diplomat, as good as the others of the period. It also looks as to his death, and possible sites for his grave. Overall it is an engaging piece of work if slightly incomplete (original source material is hard to come by), one in which anyone interested in this period or Attila should read.

Regards

Well as promised here is my take on the Einarrin Saga. I have to say that I had never read any of her novels before as I have mainly been concentration on Science Fiction titles lately. It does seem to go in phases between the two Genres. After reading the first title I quickly purchased the next then the next and finished them all in about 2 weeks, so that tells me they were enjoyable, and yes they were.
  The Story basically consists of the exploits of Livak (thief), Ryshad (swordsman), Shiv (magician) with there comrades dealing with a possible insiduous attack on themselves and the world in which they live (Classic characters). The characters are well written and it is has a nice use of two different forms of magic and it's interaction, plus two differing worlds coming together. The world as a whole is interesting and offers up lots of possibilites, the characters well rounded, making you want to keep reading, and the storyline different enough from the norm unless I've been away from Fantasy for a while. It is good also that it stops at 5 novels, which is a pleasant change as some Author's just continue for ever and ever.
  Basically I enjoyed it, and hopefully over time my reviews will get better. I have just purchased the first Novel in her next series The Aldabreshin Compass and hopefully it is as enjoyable.

Well hello again. I was hoping to say something about my visit to the Book Festival at Melrose but unfortunately I was unable to go. Well there is thankfully next year, as Literature festivals are few are far between around this neck of the woods.
Well the weekend wasn't a total waste as I did finish off a series that I had been reading, from an author (Juliet E McKenna) that I hadn't read before. The series was good and I'll do a short review a little later. Also I gave up on a book that I had been trying to read for the last 3/4 months. The Author Peter Hamilton is one of my favourites, and I've enjoyed all of his previous work, and probably will again - hopefully the next one. I don't know about you but I do have to put down some books for a while (record is about 4 years) and then come back to them, so hopefully this one is the same. Sorry..the book is The Temporal Void - Has anyone else had this problem, the first installment was fine.

Anyway I'll see you all later, and I'll think about what I am going to write about my first review.

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