50 Shades of Sand

Yes, the whole world has gone mad for 50 Shades of Grey s

o I thought I'd direct a rant in its direction. I've read it and whilst it's entertaining it really isn't all THAT good. It was origianlly written as a Twilight fan fiction and you can tell because it apes Stephanie Meyer's style very closely. The characters and their drives are very similar, almost identical in fact. For example neither Edward Cullen nor Christian Grey can 'stay away' from the female protagonist. The book's selling point is the dum-dum-dum... kinky sex. BDSM they call it. And literally that is all that really happens. There are some good scenes and you do find yourself turning pages but it all boils down to; Will she or won't she agree to it? Girl meets rich man, he wants to spank her, he does, that's about all. I'm not meaning to demean that sort of plot at all, but I keep hearing so much about the book you'd think there was something MORE. Okay Christian has a dark past but it's really not interesting enough for me to want to read the sequel. And I really can't see where the plot could go, apparently it doesn't go very far but I can't comment as I've not read them. Now, I'm aware the people buying the book (acording to the Guardian's website) are people who don't usually read books, or know a lot about bondage so maybe they are surprised at what they find. It's labelled 'mummy porn' for a reason. So let me just say there are more interesting dirty books out there. I work in an office where the reading matter of choice is 'filthy vampire books' by J.R. Ward, and I'm reliably informed these are far more satistfiyng for the amateur porn reader than 50 Shades. Also if the attraction is a description of kinky sex then please seek out Ben Elton's Past Mortem, that is FAR dirtier and has a very descriptive f*sting scene that is far more risque. Not quite so thrilling for the target audience perhaps, but more interesting to talk about that the office. Plus Past Mortem has a really good plot :-) So, anyway the reason 50 Shades sells so well is because of it's kinkiness. There isn't anything else in there. That is all the book is about. So in response I'm going to rewrite The Whispering Sand and have Glob, not just as a biscuit-snitching octopus, but as a biscuit-snitching-bondage-loving octopus! I'm convinced I'll have a bestseller on my hands! Keep your eyes open for 50 Shades of Sand! Coming Soon..erm yes. Ian xxx

Thrice

I don't often post about music. I find music very much a personal taste thing. Particularly the sort of music I love. I have a varied taste but it is very specific. If it's not in my collection I don't want to hear it. Anyway, Thrice one of my favourite bands, a very inspiring band as far as my writing goes, have called it a day. Here is the setlist for their final gig. Check out their Alchemy Index records, four cds each evoking an element. Stunning. Thanks Ian

If you want a really really fast paced book then I suggest reading Matthew Reilly's work. It's like reading an action movie. All guns and gore. You can't help but turn the page because so much is happening. It's cliff hangers all the way! True, it's not for everyone but you can't beat them for a bit of variety. Ice Station is the first I read and my favourite as some of the others (Scarecrow particularly) get so high octane they stop being fun and go completely trashy (riding a missile...erm yes). Anyway he's at least worth a look. The Seven Ancient Wonders series is pretty good too and more conisitantly good :-)