Tuesday 30 December 2014

Ahriman: Sorcerer by John French (Black Library)

I return to the world of Black Library, with the latest entry in John French’s Ahriman series, Ahriman: Sorcerer, focusing on the infamous titular sorcerer of the Thousand Sons Legion.


Sunday 28 December 2014

Awards #2: The Best Books of 2014

In the second Awards post of 2014, I turn my attention to the best books to come out for this year, running down, like I have done in previous years on The Founding Fields, the Top 25 novels of this year from a variety of genres in fiction, but mainly science fiction and fantasy.


Wednesday 24 December 2014

Locke (2013)

I review Locke, a film Steven Knight and starring Tom Hardy. It was released in 2013 and is currently available to buy on DVD. 


Tuesday 23 December 2014

Awards #1: The Best TV Shows of 2014

In the first of three separate posts, I hand out my traditional ‘best of the year’ blogs to various subjects. The first of these awards goes to TV Shows, where I run down The Top 20 TV series of 2014, as well as listing my favourite actors/actresses from this year, as well as including my favourite 10 series that I started watching in this year not from 2014. So it’s essentially a big, bumper post that should give you enough television to watch over the Christmas break. Enjoy! 



Monday 22 December 2014

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

I offer my thoughts on Dallas Buyers Club, a 2013 film based on a true story starring Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner. This drama is directed by Jean Marc-Vallée.


Sunday 21 December 2014

Hannibal Season 1 (2013)

I review the first season of NBC’s psychological horror series, Hannibal, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy and Laurence Fishburne. The first two seasons are currently available to buy on DVD, and the third premieres early 2015. 



Saturday 20 December 2014

The Martian by Andy Weir (Crown Publishing)

In today's blogpost, I look at a science fiction novel from Andy Weir, entitled The Martian, published by Crown Publishing Group, that’s currently available to buy.

Sunday 14 December 2014

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

I share my thoughts on Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, the action thriller 2014 film directed by Kenneth Branagh starring Chris Pine as Jack Ryan, with Kevin Costner and Keira Knightley.



Saturday 13 December 2014

Captain Phillips (2013)

I review Captain Phillips, a 2013 drama film directed by Paul Greengrass, which is based on a true story and stars Tom Hanks.



Thursday 11 December 2014

Advent 2014: Favourite Characters of 2014 – Day #11: Team Machine (Person Of Interest)

For the penultimate day in my Advent Column, I turn my attention to the lead characters of NBC’s hit crime/science fiction drama, Person Of Interest, created by Jonathan Nolan, which is currently in its fourth season.


Wednesday 10 December 2014

Advent 2014: Favourite Characters of 2014 – Day #10: The Guardians of the Galaxy

For the tenth out of the twelve days that my column is running for, I turn my attention to the group of misfits from James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, this summer’s best movie.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (Picador)

I cover the brilliant, thought-provoking post-apocalyptic novel Station Eleven from Emily St. John Mandel, published by Picador in the UK and Knopf in the USA.

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Advent 2014: Favourite Characters of 2014 – Day #9: Nikita & Alex (Nikita)

For the ninth day of my (now reduced to 12) Advent column looking at my favourite characters of 2014, I turn my attention to the cancelled CW series Nikita’s two main characters, the titular star Nikita (Maggie Q) and Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca).



Monday 8 December 2014

Advent 2014: Favourite Characters - Day #8: Korra (The Legend of Korra)

Reduced to 12 days of December rather than the original 24, I look at the Avatar Korra from The Legend of Korra as my next choice of character from 2014. With Korra voiced by Janet Varney, the series, currently in its fourth and final season, is aired by Nickelodeon



Sunday 7 December 2014

Advent 2014: Favourite Characters Day #7: Bluebird & Spoiler (Batman Eternal)

I turn my attention to two of the extended members of the Batfamily, Harper Row (Bluebird) and Stephanie Brown (Spoiler) for the next installment of my Favourite Characters of 2014. This entry also marks the start of my reduced plan to lower the limit down to 12 rather than 24 due to the fact that I want to prioritize more time for my University work.



(Note, there is no image featuring both Spoiler and Bluebird so I have just used a cover from Batman Eternal for this article)

Star Wars: Tarkin by James Luceno (Del Ray)

I share my thoughts on James Luceno’s latest Star Wars novel, Tarkin, looking at Darth Vader’s right hand man from the original trilogy. This book was published by Del Ray Books.



Saturday 6 December 2014

Advent 2014: Favourite Characters – Day #6: The All New X-Factor

The team from Peter David’s fantastic All New X-Factor comic, Gambit, Polaris, Quicksilver, Danger, Cypher and Warlock make Day #6 of my Advent column.



True Detective Season 1 (2014)

I review the first season of the eight hour True Detective, HBO’s serialized crime drama starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.



Friday 5 December 2014

Advent 2014: Favourite Characters Day #5: The 99th Precinct (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

The fifth day on my favourite characters advent column goes to the crew of the New York’s 99th Precinct, which encompasses the main characters on Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine.


Thursday 4 December 2014

Advent 2014: Favourite Characters – Day #4: Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla

I switch to a new interpretation of a classic ‘character’ today for this Advent column and look at the latest take of Godzilla, the King of Monsters, from Gareth Edwards’ film that was released earlier this year and is currently out on DVD.



Wednesday 3 December 2014

Advent 2014: Favourite Characters – Day #3: Nolan & Irisa (Defiance)

I focus on Joshua Nolan (Grant Bowler) and Irisa (Stephanie Leonaidas), the two main protagonists of Syfy’s TV Defiance series, as we enter Day 3 of my list of favourite fictional characters.



Tuesday 2 December 2014

Meritropolis by Joel Ohman

I turn my attention to yet another young adult dystopian novel, the self-published Meritropolis by Joel Ohman.


Advent 2014: Favourite Characters – Day #2: The Mikaelson Family (The Originals)

In the second chapter of my Advent 2014 column looking at my favourite characters from 2014, I turn my attention to the Original Vampires, specifically the Mikaelson family, and specifically, within the Mikaelson family, Elijah, Klaus and Rebekah, the New Orleans-based leading stars of the CW’s The Originals, a Vampire Diaries spinoff that’s far superior to its parent show.


Monday 1 December 2014

Advent 2014: Favourite Characters - Day #1: Raylan Givens (Justified)

In the start of a new column that should run right the way up until Christmas Eve, I address my favourite fictional characters (taken from a wide variety of sources, mainly novels, television, film and comic books) from 2014 and why they’re so awesome, starting on the first day with Justified’s (FX) Raylan Givens, played by actor Timothy Olyphant.