Archive for the ‘featured’ Category

The pointy end of a parasol: Gail Carriger and the Parasol Protectorate

When asked why someone would read her books, Gail Carriger wrote “It’s got gay vampires, dirigibles, and madly wielded parasols in it. What more could you want from a book?” I can’t say it any better than that. But here I go anyway. The Parasol Protectorate is a series of five novels, Read more

Earthsea: an exercise in humility

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted on here. In this time I’ve read lots of great books and have been working on my own novel! Enough to keep me busy, that’s for sure. Lately I decided to read Ursula K Le Guin’s Earthsea series, consisting of A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Read more

Final Fantasy XIII: Why moms are tough (and some stuff about the game)

I bought Final Fantasy XIII on tues when it was released and spent a good two hours playing it. I would have played more, but us poor gamers still gotta work. So here’s my first impressions… The FFXIII story revolves around two things – the Fal’cie and the L’cie, although I’m not Read more

V is for… very good?

V is back on TV in a glossy new update of the old miniseries. The first part debuted last night on Channel 9 in prime time position. I’m a V fan from way back. The 1983 miniseries holds the same amount of nostalgia for me as Back to the Future or Escape from LA. [caption id="attachment_405" Read more

The Secret of Monkey Island… It’s in New Zealand

I’ve discovered the Secret of Monkey Island. It’s in New Zealand. I found this sign on my recent trip there and nearly made my tour group detour to Monkey Island. They didn’t really understand my insane shouting about Monkey Island and Guybrush Threepwood but I’m sure you Read more

The Hercules, Xena and Cleopatra 2525 Museum

Radiant Attack is back! I needed to take a little break after christmas from blogging. It seems so long since I’ve posted something. But here is a little tidbit from my recent trip to New Zealand. In the middle of the south island near Lake Ohau is a fantastic antiques shop called the Totar Read more

World fantasy awards, draft swapping and Margo Lanagan

On the weekend I attended a draft swap meeting run by a dear friend of mine, Jan Cornall. Jan’s a great facilitator, she’s led a number of wonderful authors from first concept to publication, one of them being the award-winning fantasy author Margo Lanagan. [caption id="attachment_384" Read more

Dead, dead, dead: Charlaine Harris and the Southern Vampire Mysteries

There’s been a lot of talk recently about Charlaine Harris’ novels, ever since Alan Ball (creator of Six Feet Under) turned her books into a TV series. TrueBlood has been described as ‘trailer trash vampires’, so I decided to take a look at what the fuss was all about. And I can tell you, Read more

The 13 best films to watch on Friday 13th

It’s that unlucky time of year again when the number thirteen happens to coincide with Friday. Especially creepy since it’s a week after Halloween. For those of you who haven’t had their fill of horror, why not try these movie suggestions? There’s more than a few scares Read more

Shlocky Holmes and the Case of the Dunderheads

I’ve been going through a Victoriana bingefest lately – Wilkie Collins, Bram Stoker, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen… So I thought I’d hark back to the world’s number one detective, the marvellously arrogant Sherlock Holmes. The famous detective was created by Sir Arthur Conan Read more

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