Marvel — The Blank Page

The Book of the New Sun Vol. 1 by Gene Wolfe

I can’t tell you exactly what drew me to Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun. I didn’t start looking up lists of fantasy epics. I know I started from a place of loving Stephen King’s The Dark Tower and remembering how much fun I’d had reading the first four Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R.R. Martin.

Somewhere, in looking up those books online and seeing what other readers had enjoyed, I first stumbled across references to Wolfe’s travelling torturer Severian. Something in the way people talked about these four books appealed to me. Although a lot of people, even fans of the series, did warn any prospective newcomer that they weren’t easy reads. A few of reviews and articles made it very clear that you need to re-read Wolfe’s saga a few times to really see what he’d been building around you. That definitely intrigued me.

Top Desk

Back in the early 80s, when I was knee high to most of the population, two unrelated events occurred across my relations. My aunt bought my cousin a small, white, plain desk as part of a plan to redecorate his bedroom. Meanwhile one of my uncles, living down south, continued to collect comics. In particular, 2000 A.D.

These Seats are Great

Before Fluff became available to buy. Before May Day appeared in Britain and mysteriously brought with it the one thing we British were never expecting, sun. Before I walked out of a cinema and declared Infinity War to be one of the best blockbuster experiences I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy, the universe taught me a valuable lesson.

Fluff, Overthinking, Movies, Comic booksChristopher Long10 May 2018Marvel, Showcase, XLR, Thanos, Brian BlessedComment

The Denmark Rot

A few weeks ago, on Easter Sunday, we were flicking around and passed a rather intense looking programme. It was clearly a drama, being performed on a stage and in front of an audience. A well dressed, well behaved audience at that. I recognised a couple of faces in the cast and was relatively intrigued until I spotted a grave digger and heard the name Horatio.
“Alas…” said the TV.
“Oh, not again.” I said as I quickly hopped to another channel.

Adaptations, Comic books, Movies, Multiverse, HamletChristopher Long12 April 2018Shakespeare, The Globe, RSC, Infinity War, Marvel, DC, Ian McKellenComment

The Beggar's Wheel

My apologies, it’s going to be a fast big of blogging this week. Which is annoying, as there’s a really a lot I should be talking about. I could talk about going to my first night of live readings on Monday and the wonderfully odd index of authors I met there. Let alone something strange I picked up about the mechanics of live storytelling and recital. I could talk about the fact I’ve been off work all week and I’ve spent a lot of that time wrestling with final rewrite of my second novel. Which, for the record, can either be going really well or really badly depending on which way the wind’s blowing.

Holidays, Overthinking, Novel writing, WritingChristopher Long22 September 2017Wedding anniversary, Holiday, Story, Thor, Marvel, Wes Anderson, Isle of DogsComment

Spoiler

I’m a comic book fan. It’s not something I try to hide from the world. If you’ve taken a wander around this site, you’ll have seen a photo of me by now. You’ll know what I mean. I’m slightly overweight. I’ve got a scruffy beard and glasses. I’m an old-school comic book geek.

TV review, Comic books, MoviesChristopher Long26 March 2017Writing, Review, Marvel, Iron FistComment