Skip to main content
Category

Reviews

Book Review: Villain by Michael Grant

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
Villain-Michael-Grant-Book-Cover
View on Amazon.co.uk
Villain is the captivating second book in a trilogy that follows on from the superb and super selling Gone Series.

The first book in the trilogy was Monster which I reviewed here.

The Gone Series had six books:

  1. Gone which I reviewed here.
  2. Hunger which I reviewed here.
  3. Lies which I reviewed here.
  4. Plague which I reviewed here.
  5. Fear which I reviewed here.
  6. Light which I reviewed here.

In Villain we meet Dillon Poe, a boy who once morphed, can command anyone to do anything. Anyone who hears his voice must obey his every command, even if it means hurting themselves or others.

Dillon is a survivor of the Perdido Beach Anomaly. But unlike some of the other kids in Perdido Beach, Dillon didn’t get any special powers there. After Perdido Beach Dillon’s parents moved to Las Vegas – which is where most of the book is set.

Dillon buys some Perdido Beach Magic Stone online and after he consumes it. Afterwards he discovers he can morph into a greener and better version of himself. He discovers that when he’s morphed people must obey his every order. Dillon is a wannabe Comedian and when he morphs he has an audience, the dark watchers. Dillon sets out to do whatever he wants and to entertain his new audience. This inevitably leads to chaos in the streets, casinos and hotels that make up Las Vegas.

Then we catch up with Malik Tenerlife, Shade Darby and Cruz. Malik is in agony after most of his body was burnt in a battle at the end of Monster. Shade and Cruz make the decision to give some of the space rock to Malik, but it doesn’t work out quite as they had both hoped.

Shade, Cruz and Malik hear about Dillon’s antics and decide to be heroes. They team up with Dekka Talent and Armo and all make their way to Las Vegas.

Along the way a secret Army base, known as the Ranch, hopes to fight powers with powers. They have also been experimenting on soldiers, adding technology to their damaged bodies. It resembles a shop of horrors and the new heroes, with Dekka and Armo decide to close down the Ranch for good.

Tom Peaks, the Monster, wakes up with a hangover from hell. He finds himself in a cave, which is the torture chamber of Drake. Also known as Whip Hand.

Drake holds a grudge and still wants revenge on Sam Temple and Astrid Eillson. His anger seems to be targeted at Astrid. He really hates her.

Dekka visits Sam and Astrid. Dekka secretly gives Astrid some of the space rock.

Villain ends with an epic battle in Las Vegas and leaves the reader with lots of excitement for the next book in the series.

Villain is an addictive and page-turning read. The characters are brilliantly developed, they have a great level of depth and develop as the plot does.

The plot is good, but focused only on Las Vegas and parts of the United States. Pieces from the meteorite are falling to earth in locations all over the world. It would have been great to have characters that come together from all over the world.

Grant’s use of description enables the reader to imagine everything perfectly. Grant’s pacing expertly flows from fast action scenes to more moderate character and plot development scenes.

Villain is available to buy at all good book shops and on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

mental-health-wisdom-banner

Share on Social Media:

Book Review: Wilful Blindness by Margaret Heffernan

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
wilful-blindness-book-cover-margaret-heffernan
View on Amazon.co.uk
Wilful Blindness is when a person or people chose to deliberately pretend not to know about or ignore ethically dubious acts.

It happens on both a micro and macro scale. It spans all parts of society. It can have devastating consequences to both individuals and communities.

Wilful Blindness was originally a legal term, but once Heffernan heard the term she started seeing Wilful Blindness everywhere.

In our collective history of the past and in how governments and businesses operate today.

Heffernan started talking to people, lots of people, from different professional backgrounds and they all knew what she was talking about.

They were all able to give examples of Wilful Blindness in their lives.

In Wilful Blindness, Heffernan identifies the causes and gives examples of the negative consequences of Wilful Blindness. She explains how to expand your mind to be less susceptible to the epidemic of Wilful Blindness.

Heffernan uses psychology to explain human behaviour when it comes to Wilful Blindness and suggests that:

  • We like people that are the same or similar to ourselves. This can lead to blindness to difference and diversity and the benefits of the challenges that they bring.
  • Love of people, ideas, money, things, values, can make us blind.
  • Holding on to deeply held beliefs can mean we miss or ignore evidence that is contrary to these deeply held beliefs.
  • Everyone’s mind has limits and these limits are stretched to make some very complex organisations, which make it difficult to see the truth or know what’s going on.
  • We bury our head in the sand. We hope that difficult issues will go away. We even delude ourselves by not looking, acknowledging or talking about issues.
  • We blame external sources for ethically difficult decisions and justify it to ourselves and other by stating: I was just doing my job.
  • Cultures, conformity and the craving for acceptance from our peers can make us blind to other, broader or different perspectives.
  • People that see what others are blind to and do nothing reinforce the status quo. Not only that, but they also imply through omissions that everything that makes up the status quo is acceptable.
  • Physical distance from a situation or problem can lead to cognitive dissonance and make someone blind.
  • Money and the removal of ethics from work makes people obey and conform. They are much less likely to notice issues or be brave enough to make a stand.
  • People who challenge Wilful Blindess have a tough time. But common qualities in these people include: a sense of social justice, they are generally nonconformists, they are often trendsetters, they feel compelled to raise an uncomfortable truth, they have determination, a high level of resilience, they obsess about the truth and the truth others are ignoring, they have an eye for detail and are willing to suffer both personally and professionally to get others to see the truth.

Throughout Wilful Blindness Heffernan presents a compelling argument and engaging narrative, which is enhanced with fully referenced examples. Examples include: child abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, problems in BP, the banking crash caused by subprime mortgages and derivatives (2007-2010), the Nazis in World War 2 and post operative child deaths in Bristol.

Overall the book is a fascinating exploration of human psychology and why we often fail to see the obvious. If you’re interested in psychology, self-awareness, leadership or business you should read this book.

Review soon,

Antony

mental-health-wisdom-banner

Share on Social Media:

Tech Review: WD My Passport (Yellow) 4TB Portable Hard Drive

By Amazon, Reviews, TechnologyNo Comments
Years ago, I bought an Iomega StorCenter Home Media Server.

Iomega was bought out by Lenovo whom only offered limited support for Iomega products. I updated it a few years ago and since its never been able to connect over the Wifi, only by ethernet cable.

Then recently the Server started making hard drive failure sounds. It had all of my downloaded TV series and films on. So I decided it was time to update.

Instead of opting for another media server, I went for a WD My Passport (Yellow) 4TB (photoed above and below). Here’s the My Passport features:

  • It’s Plug and Play, meaning that it doesn’t require its own power source but is instead powered through USB.
  • It’s portable.
  • It is made by Western Digital (WD) whom have an excellent reputation for making high quality hardware products.
  • It comes in various hard drive sizes: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB & 4TB.
  • It has a funky design.
  • It comes in various colours: black, white, blue, red, yellow & orange.
  • It runs silently.
  • It is relatively cheap, available on Amazon for just under a £100 for a 4TB model.
  • It has Built-in 256-bit AES Hardware Encryption meaning that you can set it so that a password is required for access. This feature cleverly allows someone to use the drive on any computer – even one that doesn’t have the WD software installed and without having to install any software.
  • Auto Backup software is installed. Or you can use other software for backups including Apple’s Time Machine.

I decided because my new drive is portable that I wanted a solid case to protect it when not in use. I found this AmazonBasics Case:

wd-my-passport-yellow-4td-in-amazon-basics-case

I found this great solid Amazonbasics Case for the external hard drive.

If you’re looking for an external and portable hard drive to give yourself more disk space on your laptop or PC, I can highly recommend the WD My Passport (Yellow) 4TB on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

mental-health-wisdom-banner



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


Share on Social Media:

Book Review: The Witch’s Bag of Tricks by Melanie Marquis

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Paganism, ReviewsNo Comments
the-witches-bag-of-tricks-melanie-marquis-book-cover
View on Amazon.co.uk
The Witch’s Bag of Tricks is not a book for the initiate or new Witch.

It’s a book for the knowledgeable and experienced Witch. Witches who’ve reached a learning plateau and were spells have began to lose their effectiveness. (We’ve all been there.)

In The Witch’s Bag of Tricks Marquis covers:

  • Magick’s Seven Functions: Giving Energy Initial Purpose, Transforming Energy, Combining Energy, Separating Energies, Containing Energy, Releasing Energy & Redirecting Energy
  • Increasing your Power Potential
  • Removing Blocks to Great Power
  • Discovering Affinities
  • Spiritual Development
  • Psychic Spell Work & Psychic Development
  • Three Aspects of ESP: Perceiving the Whole, Perceiving the Parts & Perceiving the Connections
  • Magickal Development
  • The Difference between Charms, Spells & Rituals
  • Positive Binding Magic
  • Imitative Magick
  • Prosperity Magick
  • Love Magick
  • Advanced Defense Magick
  • Principles of Defensive Magic – Containing, Binding, Banishing & Shielding
  • Mood-Lifting and Luck Magick.

Marquis’ writing style reminded me of one that you would read in a magazine. This made The Witch’s Bag of Tricks feel superficial.

This wasn’t helped by Marquis trying to cover a large number of topics in the one book. There were parts of the book I would have loved Marquis to explore in more detail.

Reading The Witch’s Bag of Tricks was a pleasure. It reinvigorated my love of learning in the Craft – which is no small achievement. It’s great to see a book on the market and aimed at practiced Witches. I hope to find other books like this.

So far I’ve found the following books useful for an experienced Witch: Advanced Witchcraft by Edain McCoy, Witchcraft: Theory and Practice by Ly De Angeles, Utterly Wicked: Curses, Hexes & Other Unsavory Notions by Dorothy Morrison.

The Witch’s Bag of Tricks is available to buy on Amazon and at all good bookshops.

Review soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


Share on Social Media:
×