‘Game of Thrones’ S8E4: ‘The Last of the Starks’ (Analysis).

This week’s episode of Game of Thrones presents some of the most striking what-the-fuckery that this series has ever seen. I don’t know whether to be pissed off, or just confused. Political status quo. What in the actual fuck? To be honest, I haven’t got the foggiest idea what’s going on here. The forces that survived…

‘Game of Thrones’ S8E2: ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ (Analysis).

A horribly sad episode that doesn’t seem to serve much purpose besides torturing the viewer into insensibility, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms effectively consists of a large number of beloved characters asking us ‘will you follow me one last time?’ Please bear in mind that this review will contain spoilers. Political Status Quo. Winterfell. This…

‘Game of Thrones’ S8E1: ‘Winterfell’ (Analysis).

Winterfell is the best first episode of any season of Game of Thrones since the first. While it does demonstrate some symptoms of Game of Thrones First Episode Syndrome (too much touching base, too little action), the action itself is so moving and and so emotionally charged that one easily forgets the bits that drag. As Daenerys arrives…

‘The Glass Woman’ by Caroline Lea (Book Review).

Not only is Caroline Lea’s The Glass Woman the best book I have read this year; it also marks the first occasion in a really long time that a novel’s ending has left me crying hysterically into my pillowcase about the brutal, cruel unfairness of this world, and the devastating shortness of happy endings. In this novel…

‘Normal People’ by Sally Rooney (Book Review).

The hype is deserved, the rumours are true and the Booker snub is scandalous. Sally Rooney’s Normal People is the love story of the twenty-first century; big on ideas, sparse on words, and awash in the sexual and emotional politics of our generation. Sally Rooney has taken the age-old ‘boy from the wrong side of…

‘Ghost Wall’ by Sarah Moss (Book Review)

Obsessive love of ancient societies can lead to human sacrifice. It’s an idea that has been explored to great effect by William Golding and Donna Tartt, but Sarah Moss’ folk horror novella Ghost Wall offers a perspective on the issue that resonates much more in a world that has seen far-right extremism come back into fashion….

‘Melmoth’ by Sarah Perry: Book Review (of sorts)

The Monster’s Words to Melmoth To Melmoth the Witness Accept the homage of one who has no name, and who, like you, was born the child of an accursed creator and cast out in the hour of my first great sin. Your travels have bloodied your feet and mine my hands, but while you have…

‘Washington Black’ by Esi Edugyan (Book Review).

Slavery, marine biology, and raw artistic instinct collide in Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black, shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize and winner of the 2018 Giller Prize. George Washington Black’s very name is a mockery of his torment. An eleven-year-old slave on a sugar plantation in Barbados, Wash has not been brought up, but beaten…

‘Fantastic Beasts 2’: imperfect, but worth the wait.

Fantastic Beasts : The Crimes of Grindelwald is a feast for the eyes and the heart. Unfortunately, even the best efforts of J.K. Rowling and some excellent acting from Johnny Depp and Zoë Kravitz cannot save this overly-busy sequel from a schlocky script and a plot more confusing than Father’s Day on Game of Thrones.

Apostle (2018) : Review

If the point of Apostle was to purge Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey, then it has more than succeeded. While boasting some fine mythology and disturbing reflections on mankind’s love for inflicting pain, Gareth Evans’ bonkers folk horror suffers from a weak script, a shoddy supporting cast, hideous violence, a lamentable lack of subtlety and the stupidest ending…