Review: The Service of Mars

The Service of Mars by Glynn Stewart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this book.
Another great entry in the series.
Whilst it is a shame we get less of the titular mage I do enjoy seeing how Roslyn Chambers is continuing to develop.

Much like Stewart's Duchy of Terra series (a personal fave) I believe viewing the progression of the major characters and seeing the development of new ones adds a richness to the series.

Plus, Roslyn is frankly a baddass so there :P

Another thing I have been appreciating is the reintroduction in this and the previous book of Kelly Lamonte.

Great continuation.....onto book 10.

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Review: The Transformers: Dark Cybertron, Volume 1

The Transformers: Dark Cybertron, Volume 1 by John Barber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Haven't read any TF titles (other than Regeneration One) really since back in the OG Marvel days.
Despite that I still really enjoyed this title.
I do have some questions about certain bits of law I have clearly missed too.

Overall enjoyment was not affected too much by the contrasting art styles but, I do think that inconsistencies such as this detract from quality a little. The title as a whole would benefit from consistency in the art.


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Review: Transformers '84: Legends & Rumors 100-Page Giant

Transformers '84: Legends & Rumors 100-Page Giant by Bill Mantlo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A fun read which holds some great childhood memories.
The most interesting part of this graphic novel was the reprints of early Marvel UK stories.

I particularly enjoyed Mike Collin's older artwork and the portrayal of characters in close resemblance with the toys. Amusingly I remember him talking at a convention about how when he met the American creative team they told he he was drawing the characters all wrong. Apparently there was a bible which the American team had as a reference which the UK team had not seen up to that point.


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Review: A Darker Magic

A Darker Magic by Glynn Stewart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Commodore Loving.

On a recent trip home I brought back my first computer.  The champion of the 80s that is the Commodore 64,  it is my original breadbox, chunky fudge model.

The stuff of 80s gamers dreams.

Wholly expecting it to require some maintenance I was seriously chuffed that after not seeing any use in about 22 years (that I can recall) it powered on straight away.  Admittedly I couldn't remember which socket the power adaptor plugged into but, after a quick Google I realised I was being a muppet and it fired straight on.

Fantastic,  now to test out some games.

Thankfully I have them easily accessible in a storage tub in the garage,  so I pulled out a few choice titles.  Given that all bar a few of my C64 games are on cassette tape and suspecting that time would have degraded the media,  I hunted around for some carts.  I know I have a few somewhere namely a couple released with the C64GS  console, sadly I do not have any of the classic carts.  Whilst I was unable to find Robocop 2 or Chase HQ 2  but, I did manage to locate the multicart that was originally supplied with the GS. Amusingly this cart was never tested and purchased on a whim long after I had stopped using old faithful.

Never really going to set the world on fire was it?

Wow, it only worked!

Great stuff had a blast on Flimbo's Quest, which is still an awesome game and one I remember fondly from my tape version back in the day.

OK right now feeling brave.... dare I break out my 3rd part C2N Phonemark cassette deck with the LoadIt style tape adjuster?

Why not, lets give it a whirl.

Whilst hunting in the game box I picked out some choice games in the form of the Thalamus collection (all the first games.... Sanxion, Delta, Quedex, Hunters Moon, Hawkeye and Armaylte) and also my copy of the fantastic Rowland Brothers Thalamus classic Retrograde.

OK fingers crossed.

Wow  the Delta MixiLoad appears, and instantly I am taken back in time.
I was a big fan of Delta back in the day and it still holds up very well but, boy am I crap it it.  Right,  let's change joysticks.  So off to my bookcase which has a display of old joysticks, picked up my first Zipstick....OK now I remember why I purchase the 2nd one (it seems to be lurching to the right constantly).  Zipstick number 2 works like a dream and I soon remember some of my Delta moves.

Right sticking with the Delta theme, lets rock out the sequel Armalyte.  Gosh darn it, it works....well OK only to the point it crashes but, that's OK.

OK lets get a bit braver.  Lets fire up Retrograde.


Oh...oh bugger grrrr the tape is stuck...damn it! and I mean really stuck, wound etight around the tape drive wheel. Crappity crap, minor surgery later and I realised that the tape will have to be cut :(

Alright stuff this.  We need a better solution that using tape based media.

Tune in for part 2.

Insurrection

One of my pickups from this years Kapow was a 2000AD trade called Insurrection I thought I would compile a mini review now that I have finally got round to reading it.

Set in the 2000AD Judge Dredd universe but not featuring the signature Judge or his Psi division compadre. The title is set on a mining planet which is rebelling against the rule of the Judges and Mega City law. After fighting and winning a war with an alien force on their own the population of the newly christened Liberty are fed up with the rule of the Judges.

The first thing that you notice about the trade is the fantastic art courtesy of Colin MacNeil. Greyscale almost pencil like art that actually looks as if it was in originally in colour then rendered monochrome , stunning stuff.  Artwork also has more than a nod to the Warhammer 40K universe.

When you get into the story it is just what you would expect from Dan Abnett who is a guy that really knows how to right cosmic tales (as very ably demonstrated in the Abnett/Lanning Guardians of the Galaxy trades).

I was seduced by the artwork and teased by the Dan Abnett writing … I wasn't disappointed. 

Famiclone

Quick update on the retrogaming side of things, I've made a bit of an impulse purchase.  Scrolling through eBay mainly looking for PC Engines at bargin prices I decided to have a quick search for a Sharp Famicom Twin,  nothing came up but I did get a listing for a "TV Computer Game" Famiclone.  I put in a random bit to test the waters and it held!  So I am now the winner of a bargin priced Famicom clone system.

Looks in good nick, says its in working order and with all cables plus some games (not the best selection and I think I will be selling the Barbie game!).  I've bid and won a few other Japanese Famicom games including one of those 4 in 1 type clone carts.

Hopefully it will all work and it was a bit of an impulse buy but, I figure I'll have a bit of fun with it and then sell it if I get bored.

Will do a YouTube vid when I get a chance!