Busy working on the new NEW book. Currently editing it and at the end of that process it will be a second draft. I’ll then send it back to my agent for her feedback. After that, we’ll see. I might need to do another edit (which is likely) or it may be ready to go out on submission. Who knows.
In the meantime, I’m continuing to feed my brain lots of good content. TV, comics, films and books. No spoilers and I’m not going to be discussing Game of Thrones even though I am watching it. Some people are not up to date and I hate spoilers.
Sneaky Pete – Not a genre show at all, but this con-man drama is actually quite heart warming and I found myself really caring about the whole cast of characters, even the annoying ones. Giovanni Ribisi is excellent in the lead as Pete, and to be fair, the whole cast is wonderful. It’s a little bit family drama, a little bit Leverage or Hustle, depending on where you live, as Ribisi sweet talks his way around people using his astute skills and observation. Funny, surprising and always interesting. Currently on Amazon and definitely worth a watch.
Knightfall – While desperately waiting for the next series of The Last Kingdom I thought I would give this a go as it seemed like my kind of thing. Created by the History channel at first I thought it would be a very dry retelling of events surrounding the Knights Templar. Two minutes into the first episode and that preconception was shattered. This is a saucy, violent, action drama with larger than life characters. It involves Templars living in France after the fall of the Holy Land and their quest to locate the Holy Grail. Yes, that very special cup that was lost. As well as the Knights getting up to no good there is also the interwoven intrigue and drama of the French court where Philip rules with an iron fist. It’s fun, and I’m sure not at all historically accurate but it is always entertaining.
Stumptown Vol. 2 – This comic book series written by Greg Rucka was recently optioned for TV. A pilot was made with Cobie Smulders in the lead role as Dex Parios, a PI operating out of Portland, Oregon and it has now been picked up for a full first series. Each volume of the comic book focuses on a different case and this down on her luck PI is reminiscent of the Rockford Files, which Rucka has said was an influence on this book. Quirky, funny and unpredictable, Stumptown takes the time to build its characters, which means when it comes to the TV adaptation which is probably due to air later this year, they have plenty of source material to draw on.
Joyride – Remember when comics just used to be really light-hearted fun with some drama? I say that as a lifelong comic book fan. Sometimes I just want to watch or read something light, exciting and enjoyable that’s not challenging anything or commenting on anything in today’s society. At least, not in too obvious a way. Joyride tells the story or 3 teenagers who steal a spaceship and go off into space to have adventures. That’s it. Drama and excitement follows.
Mister Miracle – This twelve issue comic book series (now collected into one volume) by Tom King and Mitch Gerads from DC comics is one of the best comics I’ve read in many many years. It’s also very difficult to describe. It is self contained, so even if you’ve never read any DC comics before or are not familiar with the characters you can read it and the story will make sense. What it is actually about beyond the surface story is for you to decide. I’m not going to tell you what I think it is about because there’s a lot going on and if I try to outline what I think it is about I will probably miss a bunch of stuff and then later want to add to it as I think about it. This is also a comic I will be able to reread multiple times in the future and get something different from it. I believe it is Tom and Mitch’s finest work to date, not that either of them have been slouches up to now.
The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding – This is the first fantasy novel in a new series by Wooding who is already a very accomplished author who has written YA, fantasy, a SF steampunk series about space pirates, amongst many other books. I’ve written a longer review on Goodreads about it but here is the start – This is a mighty beast of a book, clocking in at over 800 pages. To be fair, Wooding handles the story with his usual balance of cracking action, rich characters that you genuinely care about and wonderful worldbuilding. If Grimdark is a thing in publishing, and maybe it is just a label for the tone of a book, this is the opposite, it is Noble Bright, or whatever you want to call it. Full review is here but in short, read it. You won’t be disappointed.
Stephen Aryan 