A Game of Thrones!!!

The Front Cover

A Game of Thrones: (Kindle Edition) 5/5

Many people will have heard of ‘A Game of Thrones’, whether this is be through the hit HBO series based on the books or on the books themselves and it was something I had heard of but just dismissed. As I recently reviewed I got a kindle for Christmas and one of my work colleagues has been egging me on to watch or read the books, he has seen the TV series and is impressed. Well after ploughing through my usual post-Christmas reading material of James Patterson and many other crime authors I thought why not see how I find this book, well the first one at least.

The book series is actually called a song of ice and fire with the first book entitled a game of thrones, the blurb sounded interesting and although books set before modern technology came in are not normally my cup of tea I can normally take it with fantasy books.

I am not going to lie to you I was not gripped from the moment I opened the book (well opened the file containing the Kindle version of the book) as it took a while for me to get into it, you see we see the story from the point of view of multiple characters, mainly the Stark and Lannister families, but there are lots of characters, creatures and castles and a whole world with magic (not that there is really anything more than accusations of magic in the first book) and strange names to learn and plots / evil schemes to grasp.

Once you get up and running and get through the first beheading and the first sex scene you are well on your way to an enjoyable ride with a book that is clearly not aimed at children, do not mistake this for Harry Potter. The story soon picks up pace and you are thrown from city to forest, to boat, to castle, to faraway lands learning of each characters plots through the eyes of Kings, Princes, children, the poor and the soon to be dead waiting for each character to be delicately woven together in a deal, love or in all likelihood in a battle to the death.

You certainly cannot say that the author shies away from killing off a main character and therefore you soon have to realise that none of the characters you are beginning to love or hate are safe from the wrath of god, whether they believe in the old god or the seven god and nor does it matter how much they prey.

The header used for each chapter, nice to have something different. 

This book has gore, love, action, strange things that go bump in the night, plots, betrayal, mythical creatures, old stories that we know are going to be true, whores, knights, blood and it is so intense that you want to keep on reading to get to the next chapter on your favourite character and you are aware that if you put it down it is going to take 5 minutes to get back into the complex world that needs to fill your mind as you travel through the book.   

If you give this a fair chance you should not be disappointed though do go into it aware that the book is a long one and will not be completed until you have read the lot, currently this stands at 5 books with 2 more on the way this is an epic that will keep me going for some time.

Without giving too much away I think I can safely give you some background by saying that yes there is a throne and this is about the power struggle taking place between those who feel the thrown is rightfully theirs, those on the thrown and those who want it. The back story is told in a manner that makes it interesting and mysteries are implied that keep you intrigued and engrossed as you wonder who will be the next victim, what will be the next secret and ultimately who will win the game of thrones.

Have a great time bowling in your living.. Wii Sports

I first came across this game when it came free with my parents Wii, at a first glance I was not that impressed by the look of the graphics and thought nothing of it and that I would stick to being a PlayStation man and although that has stayed true this game did keep my entertained for a while and is still a party favourite, maybe more so than the PlayStation Move Sports Champion game.

I am sure that everyone knows what this game is about, you play a variety of sports and it is mainly aimed at playing multi-player rather than single player and although you can play this single player I can't recommend it as I got bored of it really quickly. I will now tell you about each of the sports that you can compete in, these are (in the order I am going to review them) Bowling, Tennis, Golf, Baseball and Boxing.

Bowling:

Bowling is my favourite of all of the games on this disc, it has the simple premise of you bowl to set the top score. I personally find the bowling experience quite easy if somewhat completely different to normal bowling and that's not just a bad thing, no lugging a heavy ball around although with my technique I still jar my arm when realising the ball. This game excels in the multi-player mode, normally I hate games where you have to take it in turns but here it works, you bowl your friend bowls then you bowl, this is like real life and great fun and no pins getting stuck or unregistered on the score sheet. One thing that can seem a bit sill is that the pins don't act with the quite right physics and you can get some falling over from the slightest of touches from another pin, great for the score if it's you though.

How easy is bowling to pick up I hear you ask? Well I played with someone who had never played before on Saturday and they managed to set a score of 150, much higher than they have achieved in real life, I was also playing for the first time in a year and it is fair to say it is about getting your groove back, in the first game I got something along the lines of 150 (the person above got around 120) but in the second game I managed to get a score of over 200 (only 15 off of my best) and at one point was on a run of 4 strikes in a row with a total of 6 strikes and I think 3 spares it is fair to say this is a game you can drop and come back to. In the single player bit you have to try and increase your ranking basically by setting higher scores, your ranking however is also adjusted by how well you perform in multi-player modes and whilst this is a good thing it also means that if you have some pride in your skill level then you are less likely to try to underperform to keep your friends and family happy. Do listen to the warnings and make sure everything is clear, not just from the sides but also from above as I have managed to smash a glass lamp shade that it then took my parents a year to find a replacement for (oops)

Tennis:

If you want a realistic tennis simulated then look further, this is a tennis game that at its best is ok and can result in a bit of a work out if you really give it some oomph. You can play this both singles and doubles, which means that again this can be a great multi-player game, you basically end up running around the room swishing your arm, that is until you realise that a flick of the wrist gives the same result. Ultimately this is not like real tennis but is still a good laugh for adults and kids which is what this game is about.

Golf

The golf game is an interesting one, clearly the game is perfect for this kind of format, what with the swing being the key part of golf (so I am told, I have never played once for real in my life). This game is quite easy to pick up, at least the basics are... You swing, you hit the ball, you try to get it in the hole. There is one big flaw with the game though and that is that the Wii controllers are just not sensitive enough for you to be able to hit the ball as you want to, it is far too easy to over hit and have the ball fly off to the side and equally when trying to put getting the Wii to register that you are trying to hit it super duper lightly can result in frustration and the shot gets over hit.

Another thing here is that there are not many holes, just 9, now I have played Sports Champion of the PS3 move and not only is their version of golf (Frisbee golf) more sensitive but you also have 18 holes that you can play in either day or night and you can unlock reverse as well, this gives a huge selection compared to this and honestly I think they should be compared as they are both multi-sports games aimed primarily at the multi-player / party market.

Baseball

I hate Baseball on here, mainly because I am competitive and I cannot play it very well, then again nobody I know can play it very well, even the genius gamer that is my nephew struggles with this one. Ok the idea of this is that you can be the batter or pitcher, pitching is simple, you just throw the thing and it goes in basically the right direction and all is good. Batting however very much has an art to it, I have managed to hit about 15 home runs or so in my time and at least 12 of them came in one game where I was just in the groove and it worked, not only did they come in one game but they came in one innings. Since then though no luck and I have all but given up on playing this either by myself or with others. Annoying and boring (also not being American I probably don't fully appreciate it).

Boxing

This game is just a case of thrashing your arms about as fast as you can, do I like it, no, if I wanted a work out I would just do some exercise, I have never found that there was much skill in this game and never really enjoyed playing it either single or multi-player.

Training:

Everyone of the above game has a training bit so that you can learn how to do it, this is useful if you are all new to the game but I would recommend just to get someone to teach you if they already no how.

Overall

Overall this is probably one of the best family fun games on the Wii, mainly because of the fun factor of the bowling game that I have yet to find matches on the PS3 move and still enjoy playing this the most on the Wii. I never play single player and I rarely play any of the games other than the bowling, we got this game for free with our Wii so can't complain, if you can find it for £10 or less then I would consider buying it.

Summary: Worth it for the bowling, though I now have sports champion 2 for the PS3 which also has a very good bowling game on it. You can buy this game from here:
Wii Sports - Game Only (Wii)
 
Many of my reviews have already been posted as the user Kary on Dooyoo. 

Val McDermid - The Mermaids Singing:

I had heard of Val McDermid a long time ago and I am sure I can remember reading one of her books a while back, A Distant Echo was, I think the name of the book. I was sure I could remember it being a really enjoyable read but at the time I was engrossed with some of my other favourite authors like Michael Connelly and Jeffery Deaver. However a few years passed and my backlog of books disappeared and I felt it was time to revisit Val McDermid and after doing some research I discovered that this was the first book in a series. 

This book, entitled,"The Mermaids Singing" has nothing to do with mermaids and it definitely aimed at an adult audience and I would only recommend it to those that enjoy crime thriller books and I have recommended this book to several people who have all enjoyed it. 

"The Mermaids Singing" is set in the North of the country (England) in a town called Bradfield and is centred around the character of Tony Hill, a clinical psychologist who is known for his expertise on studying serial killers, though captured serial killers are his really area of prowess. The back of this book states (also the first lines) "You always remember the first time. Isn't that what they say about sex? How much more true it is of murder" not only do I think this helps draw the reader in but I also think that this is the case for Tony as he tackles his first serial killer outside of the confines of a prison. I think this is a good way to start the series as although there is a lot of background for you to learn you get to tackle things with him from the start. The case really hits home for Tony who has sexual problems of his own, this adds another element to the book and the depth of the character but you should really read the book for details. 

Tony of course has a partner in crime, for lack of a better saying; this is Carol Jordan, a police detective that is chucked into the case with Tony, she and Tony being to get along, maybe a bit too well. Carols brother, a computer whiz, also has a part to play in this thrilling story. You do hear things both from the point of view of the killer and Tony and I think this helps you feel part of the story and it is better than just following one character throughout. 

The stage is set when bodies are discovered, but this is no usual case, the bodies are of men that have all been severely tortured and mutilated, if you do not like gruesome books then stay away from this one as McDermid does not hold back and many a time I winced or even looked away from the book, yet, at the same time I was enthralled. (If you do turn out to like this book then also give Mo Hayder a try). 

Things in this book really heat up when it is discovered that one of the victims is a police colleague and the stage is set to profile not only the killer but also the victims, are they straight? Gay? Selected? Random? ... Hill of course is in charge of profiling the case for the police to help catch the killer, little did he know that a war will develop between him and the madman leading to a typical battle of good vs evil. 

Unlike a lot of other books I have read I find that the Mermaids Singing and Val McDermid books in general have a great balance or detail and action. Let me further explain what I mean here, some authors like say Stephen Booth do one of the things I hate and that is put in too much detail, I find that this means it can take me ages to get into the book and as much as I enjoy them this annoys me and others will be like James Patterson where I feel that details are left out in favour of a quick thrill that can be read really quickly. McDermid though explains everything perfectly, you get the details you need to feel that you can solve the case first and to get the atmosphere and tension but it is not over the top so you don't get bored. 

This book is tense, well written, has twists and character depth to match with its fast pace it is extremely enjoyable and I found that it captured my attention to the point that I didn't want to put it down. 

At 443 pages in a good sized font and unlike many other books decent sized chapters (only 18 in total) it is a really nice size and will take a while to read. It is well worth the full price of £5.99 on Amazon. I actually have an older copy of the book which is now available through Amazon marketplace new for under 50p - a great bargain.

Summary: A great book which you can buy from here:

The Mermaids Singing