Reading and Watching
READING
Lots of good books are about to vomit forth into the world. I can't remember all of them, but I have just this minute helped myself to Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. Yes, you have guessed correctly: today is indeed the day of its release, and I have been quick off the mark. Soon... soon all of the books will be mine.
WATCHING
As for TV, my pick of the last few weeks has been the Danish historical drama 1864. It's yet another story that plays "compare and contrast" between a rural idyll and the horrors of war, but it has a fantastic atmosphere. Every leader on both sides of the Danish/Prussian conflict seems insane (other than Bismark) and the small people get the grinding into the dirt that they deserve, and that we, the paying audience, deserve to see.
As the series nears its end, a few fantasy elements have started to creep in, and they just don't belong, in my opinion. Still, well worth a watch.
Also, listening to Danish is fun. Incomprehensible fun for the most part, but every now and again, entire phrases that are identical to English leap out of the dialog.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to the imminent return of Netflix's Orange is the New Black.
Now, if only I could cut the lawn...
Lots of good books are about to vomit forth into the world. I can't remember all of them, but I have just this minute helped myself to Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. Yes, you have guessed correctly: today is indeed the day of its release, and I have been quick off the mark. Soon... soon all of the books will be mine.
WATCHING
As for TV, my pick of the last few weeks has been the Danish historical drama 1864. It's yet another story that plays "compare and contrast" between a rural idyll and the horrors of war, but it has a fantastic atmosphere. Every leader on both sides of the Danish/Prussian conflict seems insane (other than Bismark) and the small people get the grinding into the dirt that they deserve, and that we, the paying audience, deserve to see.
As the series nears its end, a few fantasy elements have started to creep in, and they just don't belong, in my opinion. Still, well worth a watch.
Also, listening to Danish is fun. Incomprehensible fun for the most part, but every now and again, entire phrases that are identical to English leap out of the dialog.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to the imminent return of Netflix's Orange is the New Black.
Now, if only I could cut the lawn...