#AmReading + #AmWatching - September 19th 2019 #Reviews

A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.
~William Styron

It's time to take a look at what I've been reading and watching during this past week.

If you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question. Please bear in mind that the format I've reviewed on Goodreads may not be the format I actually read.

Alternatively, if it's a movie or TV show you want to know more about, just click on the title to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Don't forget: I read and watch things across multiple genres, as well as for different age ranges, so you should always check before reading or viewing, to make certain something is suitable for the intended audience, especially when children are involved.

OK...

Here's what I read this week:

Dark Age by Pierce Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm torn with this book between wanting to give it a full five star rating, and refusing to do so, so I'm giving it 4 stars.
Firstly: WOW! I had to keep putting this book down just so I could catch my breath. Also, this book was certainly well titled, because it really does tell of dark times for the characters; if you got atatched to characters in previous books, you're going to need a box of tissues handy, because you're in for an emotional ride. So, I'm sure you're asking why, if I'm saying, "WOW!" am I refusing to give it the full five stars? Because the violence and gore were plastered across the pages, so to speak, and sometimes it felt like a bit much. Still, it was a great read, and I'm looking forward to the next book.

Nano Z by Brad Knight
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
My actual rating is 3.5 stars, but I rounded up. Honestly, if it wasn't for two issues I have, this book would have stood a chance of being a five star read. So, why wasn't it? Well, firstly, the "zombies" were being called "meat puppets" even before the main characters new of the cause of them being the way they were, and it got irritating quickly. Secondly, the writing felt a bit clunky, and there was too much telling, and not enough showing. Other than those things, this was a fantastic action-packed read, with great characters.

Nano Z: Salvation by Brad Knight
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Though it was a kind of good read, I wasn't as impressed with this book as I was with the first one in this series. This book suffers from the same issues the first book has with clunky writing, too much telling instead of showing, and "meat puppets" being an annoying and over-used term. On top of that, there are a few things that don't make sense with how they happened, and others where the way things lined up was almost too perfect, making it harder to fully appreciate the story. So, I liked it, but most definitely did not love it.

As for what I've been watching:

I only watched one DVD during the past week: the third, and final, disk of season one of The Shannara Chronicles. I don't have season 2 on DVD, so can't continue with that just yet. I do plan to get it at some point though.

I had intended to watch more DVDs - maybe a movie or two from my pile - but it didn't end up happening. However, I did also watch a couple of episodes of "Voyager" that were on TV when I was in the living room doing things one day during the past week. It's my favourite Star Trek version, so I was glad those were on, and paid proper attention to them. I even sat down to finish watching the second one when I'd done what I was in there doing, and it hadn't ended yet, which is something I don't do very often these days.