Talkie Tuesday: Pursuit of Jade

 

"Be a good pig in this life; be a good man in the next."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back.

 

Sorry for a bit of delay on Tuesday's reviews, I took last week off because there were other things happening (as said before, it was a special day!) and now I return with a MAMMOTH of a thing.

 

There's no way it's not going to be.

 

Not with the show being 40 episodes long, and each episode covering so much ground it sometimes feels like they're trying to shove a book into 40 minutes, each.

 

And in all honesty I fell into the hole completely by accident!

 

Netflix kept shoving the promo for it right on the front page. Eventually, I decided you know what? FINE, I'll watch.

 

I've since already breezed through twice. And the rest, as they say, is history.

 

So let's take a look at it together in Pursuit of Jade!

 

Tome Thursday: The Last Gospel

 

Hello everyone!

 

Returning to my beloved Jack Howard series tonight.

 

And when I say beloved, I mean it.

 

I think I read the first six books front to back countless times, loving every single adventure Jack and Kostas ended up in. When I finally got the chance to own the books outright, I LEAPED.

 

I didn't even double check the landing.

 

I just did.

 

Now my mission is to gather them all here on the blog for your reading pleasure, because I understand some might not have the time for the books in full, some might not know about them, and some need reminders before going into the next one.

 

That's okay, I gotchu!

 

We won't stall anymore at all, but dive straight down into the depths of this mystery that's about to unfold before us: The Last Gospel.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Blood of My Blood

 

"I will stand with you, whatever comes. We are one."

 

Hello everyone!

 

While I'm still not completely out of the woods yet - this stupid cold is taking absolutely FOREVER, and it probably doesn't help that I have to work in retail every single day, either - I'm feeling okay-ish enough to finally get back to blogging.

 

To a point.

 

It's going to be a much shorter post tonight unfortunately because I'm mostly just super tired all the time, and had to drag myself out of bed just now, BUT.

 

I CANNOT just stay sleeping anymore. It'll ruin my rhythm altogether!

 

So it's time we hop back in time a little bit, and check out the Scottish Highlands yet again.

 

Because nothing says 'welcome back, baby' as an Outlander-related prequel.

 

Blood of My Blood, here we come!

 

Talkie Tuesday: Outlaw King

 

"No more chivalry. Now we fight like wolves."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Tonight's choice has been floating around for a while.

 

And honestly, I had EVERY intention of watching it just as soon as I could, and then ... then, IDK what happened.

 

But on a random whim this past weekend, I finally flicked through the Netflix movie library to unearth this one, though I have to admit that I didn't even remember the correct title, accidentally landing on The King first before I bounced to this.

 

In my defense, there's a lot of kings running around the silver screen! LOL.

 

Without further ado, let's travel back in time to Scotland - ah, bonnie Scotland.

 

We'll be having a look at a failed rebellion, a successful one, wondering where Mel Gibson went off to, and plenty other subjects while also trying to discover why we need a full frontal nude shot that makes about zero sense, all wrapped in one movie package.

 

Which movie, you ask? And I answer: Outlaw King.

 

Tome Thursday: Crusader Gold

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back.

 

Tonight's blog post is a bit of a return to my roots, in a sense, because this particular book series was what got me "re-hooked" or, hooked again, on REALLY reading, seriously and furiously.

 

I can still remember randomly picking up the first one at a store, thinking it was going to be some la-la land thing, and ending up devouring it because of how vividly and realistically it was written.

 

Then I hunted down the rest of the then-translated books (I think the first five or six were translated into my language) in my local library and gobbled those, too.

 

After finding out that the author had written more, I got them for my e-reader in English, and am now pretty much almost caught up with the series, but I figured, before I dive into the last few, I'd start it all from the beginning. And every first step is always followed by a second one, so here we are with that tonight!

 

Jack Howard dives again, and honestly? David Gibbins knows what he's doing with these.

 

Crusader Gold is up next.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Gladiator II

 

"What is the dream of Rome if her people are not free?"

 

Hello everyone!

 

And yes, once again, welcome back.

 

You didn't think I was actually going to leave you hanging and NOT drop a review of this movie, did you?

 

Considering I pretty much promised to watch and review it last week, it should be obvious by now that I try to keep my promises, as many as I possibly can in any event.

 

However circumstances were just a little bit different than how it was initially planned.

 

See, supposedly, I was supposed to go watch this in the cinema, but alas, that didn't happen, and I got to watch it on my big-ass home screen TV instead.

 

Either way.

 

It's time to head back to Ancient Rome and see what happens when you try to make a sequel to one of the best movies of all time. Back to the Colosseum, baby, in Gladiator II.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Gladiator

 

"Are you not entertained?"

 

Hello everyone!

 

Happy New Year!

 

I hope you said goodbye to the last one in good spirits, and that you're ready to take on all new challenges in this brand sparkly new one.

 

At least, I'm telling myself that. As well as trying to set reachable goals that won't break my spirit if I can't manage to achieve them! I've learned (a little bit the hard way) that I need to set more short-term ones, smaller ones, than try for the big guns all blazing because I'm less likely to be disappointed this way.

 

Or, well, that's my take on it!

 

Anyway, back to the show, which is to say, back to the regular reviews that have nothing to do with the holidays.

 

And I decided to start it off with a right banger.

 

So strap on your armour and hold on to your butts, because we're headed back to Ancient Rome, baby. It's time for Gladiator!

 

Talkie Tuesday: The Mummy

 

"No harm ever came from reading a book."

 

Hello everyone!

 

I'm back!

 

And I have a wonderful movie for you tonight.

 

This is for all of us who've seen this one so many times it's basically like the air we breathe, who reference quotes from it in our daily lives or just to have great fun, and of course, who look forward to watching it AGAIN just as soon as we possibly can.

 

There are some movies you can watch over and over again without so much as blinking an eye.

 

Some that stay with you no matter where you go or what you do.

 

Tonight's choice is among them, possibly in the top category, because honestly, what could be better than the hot sands of Egypt, a rugged explorer, and mummies?!?

 

Nothing, that's what (or, not a lot)!

 

So arm yourselves and bring your cats - we're stepping right into The Mummy.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Asoka

 

"Whose journey can be greater than that of an emperor?" 

Hello everyone!

And we are back with yet another Bollywood extravaganza.

I won't even apologize anymore, at this point I've come to resign myself to the fact that about half my blog posts will be about some Hindi movie or other, haha!

Tonight's choice is a historical, epic drama, however, something which I hope will appeal to a lot of the readers who click on these links.

How did I end up watching it? Well, considering the main actor isn't my personal favourite (he's alright, but nah), I kind of landed in it mostly by accident because I was bored, had nothing to do, and it popped up on Netflix (speaking of, Kalki just released on the same platform ...).

So there I was, liking the main actress, and deciding, sure, why not?

Which means we're headed back into the past tonight, everyone, to discuss a movie titled Asoka.

Talkie Tuesday: Mohenjo Daro

 

"To fight injustice is justice itself."

 

Hello everyone!

 

We continue - or we return, depending on how you look at it - to the Bollywood obsession that's currently happening with me.

 

And I know it's probably unbearable. I'm sorry!

 

But here we are, and here we'll stay for the foreseeable future.

 

... or at least, until I run out of good movies to watch, I suppose.

 

Right now, for tonight, we're taking a look at a movie which features a young man, a farmer, dreaming and yearning for something beyond his narrow horizon, but his uncle won't let him spread his wings to fly further than what he knows.

 

If you think this is Star Wars, you'd be wrong, although the premise is wildly similar - almost identical.

 

In fact, this is a 2016 BC kind of story, with no Death Star or Darth Vader in sight. This is Mohenjo Daro.

 

Tome Thursday: Bound by Blood

 

Hello everyone!

 

Yes, you're seeing this right, this is once again NOT an ARC that I' reviewing.

 

What news, huh?!?

 

LOL.

 

Anyway, a while back - and I think it was quite a while back - I picked up a retelling of the Arthurian legend and fell in love with it, for multiple reasons.

 

One, it felt much closer to what might have actually happened back in the day, in terms of realism and the fact that Arthur was not actually a medieval king riding around in full armour, and two, because it was a story in which he didn't want Guinevere, but her brother.

I mean COME ON.

I was hooked, but it took me a bit to return to the series, which is what I'm doing tonight as you can see. The Sons of Britain has six books overall so I play to go through all of them, slowly.

Tonight it's Bound by Blood's turn, the sequel one.

Tome Thursday: Hearts & Crowns Trilogy

 

Hello everyone!

 

I hope your week has been great thus far and hopefully you won't mind that my first words in this blog post are directed to all my friends across the pond.

 

Hurricane Ian was never going to take prisoners, but honestly it sounds as though it might have HOPEFULLY been a little less bad than projected and predicted? Or was it even worse? Either way, my thoughts and prayers go to you out there, who prepped and now need to deal with the fallout.

 

I sadly have nothing truly substantial to give as far as that goes, but at the very least good vibes help, or they should somewhat!

 

For us though, it's time to circle back around to the book we'll be reviewing tonight, or well, books really as it's a full trilogy.

 

I'm always excited when I see the word OMNIBUS stamped on a cover anywhere, so this was no exception. I'd never read anything by Natalie Murray before so I was also just excited to find another author I could potentially really enjoy.

 

So without further ado, let's have a look at the Hearts & Crowns trilogy omnibus, shall we? Don't forget to hold tight to that precious gem as we travel through time.

 

Outlander: I Am Not Alone

 

"Sing me a song of a lass that is gone ..."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Ugh, we FINALLY made it.

 

Listen, I have nothing against Outlander. In fact, it's one of my absolute favourite shows, and the cast has wormed its way into my heart and lives there on a permanent basis.

 

But it's no secret that I haven't been a massive fan of season six.

 

In fact, this is a season I've loved the least of the lot, despite the fact that there's definitely been questionable choices made back in the day in previous ones.

 

The problem has to be in its relative shortness, which I know couldn't have been prevented given circumstances - however, coupled with that came what the writers and producers wanted the story to focus on, which didn't help progression any.

 

When you have books as massive as the Outlander Series, then you need to pick and choose actions and situations which will help you move forward. I'm not convinced that season six managed.

 

Let's have a quick look at the finale, I Am Not Alone.

 

Outlander: Sticks and Stones

 

"Everything that happens here is everyone's business."

 

Hello everyone!

 

So after a brief pause and a week in between that had nothing to do with time travel but - on this blog at least - everything to do with Regency, we now return to the United States pretty much almost on the verge of the Revolution.

 

And boy, as we all know, things are heating up.

 

I'm still side-eyeing this particular plot like it's no tomorrow, because to be perfectly honest with you, A Breath of Snow and Ashes has a whole lot more going on in it than just 'Who's the baby daddy?'.

 

But the producers and show runners made the executive decision to focus solely on this one plotline for the sake of perfect drama, I suppose.

 

As such, I really wonder just how they're going to push and spin the threads further by the time we see season seven come about. HOPEFULLY we get to cover some more actual history again and not just this made-up nonsense.

 

It's Outlander; there's more to it than what we got this year.

 

Outlander: The World Turned Upside Down

 

"This too shall pass."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Well, we got to that point.

 

The one readers have been dreading ever since the announcement that no one had the brains to suggest the Christie subplot should (and ostensibly COULD) have been removed from the storyline altogether.

 

This was problematic in the books already, and the books are thousand pages long behemoths.

 

A show that's boxed into eight episodes that can really only cover SO MUCH before it runs out of time should, in my opinion, focus rather on the bigger picture.

 

And this one had nothing whatsoever to add to the bigger picture.

 

Plus, I still don't even get it. Maybe someone can enlighten me a little bit? I'm genuinely not trolling, I really just don't understand.

 

Now that my little Ted Talk is out of the way, let's have a look at Outlander's latest episode, The World Turned Upside Down.

 

Outlander: Temperance

 

"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Much to my personal delight, despite the fact I thought I'd end up being unable to do this blog post on time, yesterday turned out to be slightly better than expected, and thus here I am after watching the latest episode.

 

And, I will admit, as someone who's read the books, I can definitely see where this is going.

 

Or, I can see some of the kernels of where this is going.

 

It doesn't make me any happier but, alas, nothing to be done about it there!

 

In any event, the cast and crew are making this another exceptional season to remember, which does in fact count for something, and more.

 

It's the cast that makes it, and the crew that makes it happen, after all. That's what matters in the end!

 

So without further ado, let's stop my blabbering about and let's have a look at Outlander's latest episode, Temperance.

 

Outlander: Allegiance

 

"Come what may." 

Hello everyone!

I'm actually on time this week, which is a massive shock to just about anyone really. Or should be.

But I finally seem to have found a rhythm so let's hope that everything will now run like clockwork and there'll be no switching up for Saturday posts anymore.

... famous last words.

Anyway, we return for the second week in a row to the world of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander, if you haven't figured it out yet from the title or the poster image here on the side.

And boy, is it an episode!

There's a lot of things going on at once on Fraser's Ridge, and they'll probably keep on adding on to it in the next six weeks while this short season lasts.

But without further ado, let's jump right into Allegiance, shall we?

Tome Thursday: Robin Hood

 

Hello everyone!

 

I'm finally back after a bit of a break which unfortunately needed to happen because of some RL stuff I had going on BUT! I return!

 

And I have a book review for you all, first and foremost.

 

Tuesday's blog didn't get written up so it will be bumped to a Synopsis Saturday one, which you'll all hopefully read just as well, as I'm planning on recapping the premiere of Outlander's sixth season. Are we ready for what's undoubtedly going to be a bumpy ride? Hopefully!

 

In the meantime, this blog post is a sort of connected one? Maybe? But our own Fraser was an outlaw for a little bit of time there so I suppose the inspiration was certainly in the works.

 

However MY outlaw is probably the one that's basically the most known across literature and film if you think about it. When someone says rob from the rich and give to the poor, you usually know right off the bat who this is about.

 

There were many authors who wrote about him, but Henry Gilbert's Robin Hood was the first book I ever read about the famous archer.

 

Tome Thursday: The Barbarian's Vow

 

Hello everyone!

 

This is the last pre-Christmas book-related blog post that I'll be doing this calendar year, as next week begins the extravaganza that is running up until the holidays are over!

And as I promised you guys last week, it's time to wrap up the duology we started then.

Keira Andrews has ALSO promised another holiday romance coming around this time next week as well, so I'm pretty excited about that, I always am about the themed books she writes, because I normally fall in love with her characters and plots pretty easily.

I did with the Barbarian too, at least in the first book.

But I will warn you - and this is only fair - that I wasn't as enamored with this second one as I was with the first, and it'll probably show in the review.

Nothing against the writing (which is still superb), and everything against how the plot turns out, sadly! However I will say I enjoyed aspects of it, and at the very least there is a HEA in here as well.

So without further ado, let's just get right into it, shall we? The Barbarian's Vow has been waiting all week, after all.

Tome Thursday: Wed to the Barbarian

 

Hello everyone!

 

It's been a little bit since the last time I reviewed a book by Keira Andrews, and I'm super happy to be able to say tonight is the night again.

 

I accidentally stumbled across Ms Andrews's work when I was looking for something new and exciting to read, and since then, I've probably gone through most of her written works, if you ask me, though I don't think I have them all reviewed.

 

But every once in a while, usually before or around Christmas time, I do get back to it at least.

 

Tonight's book isn't exactly holiday-related - that one's coming in December! - but it IS amusing nonetheless.

 

You know how you always read stories about barbarians (usually Scottish) who come to sit on a council or whatever or they have to be appeased somehow, and the only solution everyone can think of is marrying one of them to one of their delicate ladies?

Well, this is about the same story, only it's a turnaround into gay romance.

Wed to the Barbarian, here we go!