got it, 20 Nov 2008
just got it will start reading soon :)

i got into a few lines and its quite addictive, niceee :D



Pretty good, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this recently, having never read (but often heard about) Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.

I'm only about a third of the way through, but it seems pretty good (although the author does seem to have swallowed a thesaurus - and a particularly gibbous and over-nourished one at that, most likely recovered from some Stygian Pit that the mortal mind was not meant to know of). Plus, he does have some rather - ahem - "old fashioned" attitudes to race and class that can seem rather jarring to a modern reader.

This particular edition also does, unfortunately, have a number of typos in the text, some of which ("Necroriomicon", "clay" instead of "day", and "Gthulhu") suggest to me that the publishers had the original text scanned and digitised, but imperfectly. (I'm keeping a note of them as I find them, and will inform the publishers when I've finished the book).

Still, all said, I don't regret getting the book, and if you don't mind those faults, I'd certainly recommend this to anyone interested in the genera.


Just as I remembered!!, 14 Sep 2008
Excellent, worth the wait!! I remember reading this as a child, it's just as good as I remembered. Real Classic stuff!!

I recommend it to anyone looking for some good old creepy stories.

JOIN THE DARKSIDE!!!!, 19 Jul 2008
What can i say that already hasn't been said.
This is truly awesome, a complete collection of lovecraft in a well bound casebound book with faux Leather cover, in black.
All your favorites are there. If you're a real lovecraft fan this is deffinately for you.
And for a very reasanoble price.
100% recommended, buy now & join us on a truly Dark venture into the world of the one & the only H.P.lovecraft


Beautifully produced edition, but -2 stars for horrible tacky price sticker on the back, 28 Jun 2008
Finally a beautifully produced and complete edition of H.P. Lovecraft's works, but whoever at Gollancz/Orion decided to spoil each book with a tacky price sticker - not even put on straight - that leaves a sticky residue when removed (and believe me, it's tenacious) should be punished by the elder gods, or at least someone senior at the publishers.

got it, 20 Nov 2008
just got it will start reading soon :)

i got into a few lines and its quite addictive, niceee :D



Pretty good, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this recently, having never read (but often heard about) Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.

I'm only about a third of the way through, but it seems pretty good (although the author does seem to have swallowed a thesaurus - and a particularly gibbous and over-nourished one at that, most likely recovered from some Stygian Pit that the mortal mind was not meant to know of). Plus, he does have some rather - ahem - "old fashioned" attitudes to race and class that can seem rather jarring to a modern reader.

This particular edition also does, unfortunately, have a number of typos in the text, some of which ("Necroriomicon", "clay" instead of "day", and "Gthulhu") suggest to me that the publishers had the original text scanned and digitised, but imperfectly. (I'm keeping a note of them as I find them, and will inform the publishers when I've finished the book).

Still, all said, I don't regret getting the book, and if you don't mind those faults, I'd certainly recommend this to anyone interested in the genera.


Just as I remembered!!, 14 Sep 2008
Excellent, worth the wait!! I remember reading this as a child, it's just as good as I remembered. Real Classic stuff!!

I recommend it to anyone looking for some good old creepy stories.

JOIN THE DARKSIDE!!!!, 19 Jul 2008
What can i say that already hasn't been said.
This is truly awesome, a complete collection of lovecraft in a well bound casebound book with faux Leather cover, in black.
All your favorites are there. If you're a real lovecraft fan this is deffinately for you.
And for a very reasanoble price.
100% recommended, buy now & join us on a truly Dark venture into the world of the one & the only H.P.lovecraft


Beautifully produced edition, but -2 stars for horrible tacky price sticker on the back, 28 Jun 2008
Finally a beautifully produced and complete edition of H.P. Lovecraft's works, but whoever at Gollancz/Orion decided to spoil each book with a tacky price sticker - not even put on straight - that leaves a sticky residue when removed (and believe me, it's tenacious) should be punished by the elder gods, or at least someone senior at the publishers.

Really good fun - well imagined, 28 Jun 2008
Neil Asher seems to have good and bad patches but this is one of the good ones (also see 'Africa Zero' I think by far his best). The crab-like Prador and their interesting family relationships are well imagined and a credible threat.

A let down, 03 Jun 2008
Given my enjoyment of the Agent Cormac series and Cowl I was expecting great things. Not so, at around 200 pages it's short, the cormac series spoils the plot in PRADOR MOON. It follows the same good writting I expect from ASHER but the book gives nothing more than an insight into the PRADOR and could have been so much better. It felt like a rushed piece of work just to keep the coppers coming in. Do better please mr ASHER - one to miss.

Another high quality novel of the polity, 02 Mar 2008
Again Neal Asher's delivers. Fast paced, multi plots, rich characters. You could kind-of see it coming (no pun intended) but the ending was fated and complete. Good stuff. Great author and this one is no let down.

A novella that doesn't mess around, 11 Feb 2008
The human Polity, a society run by AI's with technology allowing them to travel instantaneously throughout the galaxy through the use of Runcibles, planet based systems that are run by the AI's. The Polity lives in relative peace, but now the Prador, a species of huge crab-like creatures with technology equal to that of the Polity is discovered. The first meeting between the two has now been arranged and it is with this meeting that the true intentions of the Prador become apparent. Peace is not an option that they consider, they require the immediate surrender of humanity, starting with the station on which the meeting takes place.

Following on from this first meeting, the Prador are attacking planets in Polity space that border their kingdom. Agents from ECS (Earth Central Security) are among those fighting the Prador on the front line, with Jabel 'U-cap' Krong being the most prominent of these, his nickname saying it all: Up Close And Personal. Present on the Avalon Station during the first meeting, he now fights the Prador successfully with many kills to his name, something difficult enough to do to a species that doesn't die easily.

Events are now bringing all the players to one system: Trajeen. It is here that tests are being carried out on a new space based cargo Runcible. Moria is helping the AI with the work, seemingly able to compute far beyond what is normally known thanks to her privately fitted aug designed by a fugitive. The Prador, finally showing an interest in the Runcible technology that they don't possess, are heading to the system with contacts in the human separatist movement that they hope will help them achieve their goals. Jebel Krong is also there, knowing that the Prador are on their way and planning to stop them getting their hands on Runcible technology.

Prador Moon delivers everything that you should have come to expect from a Neal Asher story: wonderfully realised aliens, AI's with attitude and page after page of action that is delivered in so many different ways. Clearly, Neal has written a story set to specifics here, there's no going off into too much detail and the action focuses on the events at hand from a few perspectives. This is typically Neal and the story he is telling suits the format it's told in. I could well imagine this story told in over double the size - there is more than enough opportuniy to expand - but it's the compactness that makes it such an enjoyable and quick read.

Perhaps some of the drawbacks will only appear if you've yet to venture into Neal's Polity books. The story is set at a very specific time and although it should really be the beginning of the human-Prador experience, it does need expansion and back-story to fully explore this situation. Although this is done in both The Skinner and Voyage of the Sable Keech, it really is a book for those that know at least some other aspects of Neal's Polity universe. Although the positive to the above could be to put this novella at the starting point of Neal's work and continue to his other stories from there.

Bottom line, if you like fast-paced action and are looking for something to read over the weekend, this should be high up in the running, regardless of whether you're new to Neal or not.

Short and thin, 22 Jan 2008
Probably the least interesting piece of work Asher has published. 'Prador Moon' deals with mankind's first encounter with the almost parodically aggressive crustacean Prador species. Unfortunately it's a prequel, which pretty well guarantees that there will be no surprises for anyone who has followed Asher's work to this point. Like too many other popular writers, Asher seems to be reacting to success by following the path of least resistance and is busy turning his strengths into a formula, repeating the big effects of his earlier books without the benefit of novelty and so generating new clichés and steadily diminishing returns. 'Prador Moon' comes across as a pumped-up short story published as a gap-filler to capitalise on the success of a series.

If formula Asher is what you want, purchase with confidence, but don't expect anything more than a very fast, shallow and disposable read. Ominously, the recent 'Hilldiggers', a full-length work, shows similar signs of creative exhaustion.

'Prador Moon' is a disappointing book from a writer who has done much better in the past. On this evidence Asher would do better to take some time off.

Best known for his Sandman graphic novels about Morpheus, Lord of Dreams, Neil Gaiman has also written the standalone books Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett), Never Where from his BBC TV series revealing a fantastic realm under London, and Star Dust, a poignant fairy tale. His shorter fantasies are regularly picked for Year's Best collections. Smoke and Mirrors assembles 36 of his favourite stories, prose poems, and verse pieces. Among the imaginative inventions here are a murder mystery set among angels in heaven; the discovery of the Holy Grail at Oxfam; warped retellings of fairy tales and folklore, including a Snow White that's black beyond belief; several clever variations on vampirism; a firm of contract killers with a very remarkable discount scheme; homages to Michael Moorcock and H.P. Lovecraft (one splendidly funny) that avoid mere pastiche; an SF world of rapid and reversible sex changes; Beowulf retold as a Baywatch episode; a tasty amalgamation of computers and black magic; a new final book of the Bible; and the grim wedding present that's simply a manuscript telling a bleakly different story of the recipients' unfolding marriage. SF/fantasy professionals themselves envy Gaiman's perpetual flow of new ideas and ability to put a fresh spin on old ones. Smoke and Mirrors is a dazzlingly varied and rewarding collection. --David Langford

got it, 20 Nov 2008
just got it will start reading soon :)

i got into a few lines and its quite addictive, niceee :D



Pretty good, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this recently, having never read (but often heard about) Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.

I'm only about a third of the way through, but it seems pretty good (although the author does seem to have swallowed a thesaurus - and a particularly gibbous and over-nourished one at that, most likely recovered from some Stygian Pit that the mortal mind was not meant to know of). Plus, he does have some rather - ahem - "old fashioned" attitudes to race and class that can seem rather jarring to a modern reader.

This particular edition also does, unfortunately, have a number of typos in the text, some of which ("Necroriomicon", "clay" instead of "day", and "Gthulhu") suggest to me that the publishers had the original text scanned and digitised, but imperfectly. (I'm keeping a note of them as I find them, and will inform the publishers when I've finished the book).

Still, all said, I don't regret getting the book, and if you don't mind those faults, I'd certainly recommend this to anyone interested in the genera.


Just as I remembered!!, 14 Sep 2008
Excellent, worth the wait!! I remember reading this as a child, it's just as good as I remembered. Real Classic stuff!!

I recommend it to anyone looking for some good old creepy stories.

JOIN THE DARKSIDE!!!!, 19 Jul 2008
What can i say that already hasn't been said.
This is truly awesome, a complete collection of lovecraft in a well bound casebound book with faux Leather cover, in black.
All your favorites are there. If you're a real lovecraft fan this is deffinately for you.
And for a very reasanoble price.
100% recommended, buy now & join us on a truly Dark venture into the world of the one & the only H.P.lovecraft


Beautifully produced edition, but -2 stars for horrible tacky price sticker on the back, 28 Jun 2008
Finally a beautifully produced and complete edition of H.P. Lovecraft's works, but whoever at Gollancz/Orion decided to spoil each book with a tacky price sticker - not even put on straight - that leaves a sticky residue when removed (and believe me, it's tenacious) should be punished by the elder gods, or at least someone senior at the publishers.

Really good fun - well imagined, 28 Jun 2008
Neil Asher seems to have good and bad patches but this is one of the good ones (also see 'Africa Zero' I think by far his best). The crab-like Prador and their interesting family relationships are well imagined and a credible threat.

A let down, 03 Jun 2008
Given my enjoyment of the Agent Cormac series and Cowl I was expecting great things. Not so, at around 200 pages it's short, the cormac series spoils the plot in PRADOR MOON. It follows the same good writting I expect from ASHER but the book gives nothing more than an insight into the PRADOR and could have been so much better. It felt like a rushed piece of work just to keep the coppers coming in. Do better please mr ASHER - one to miss.

Another high quality novel of the polity, 02 Mar 2008
Again Neal Asher's delivers. Fast paced, multi plots, rich characters. You could kind-of see it coming (no pun intended) but the ending was fated and complete. Good stuff. Great author and this one is no let down.

A novella that doesn't mess around, 11 Feb 2008
The human Polity, a society run by AI's with technology allowing them to travel instantaneously throughout the galaxy through the use of Runcibles, planet based systems that are run by the AI's. The Polity lives in relative peace, but now the Prador, a species of huge crab-like creatures with technology equal to that of the Polity is discovered. The first meeting between the two has now been arranged and it is with this meeting that the true intentions of the Prador become apparent. Peace is not an option that they consider, they require the immediate surrender of humanity, starting with the station on which the meeting takes place.

Following on from this first meeting, the Prador are attacking planets in Polity space that border their kingdom. Agents from ECS (Earth Central Security) are among those fighting the Prador on the front line, with Jabel 'U-cap' Krong being the most prominent of these, his nickname saying it all: Up Close And Personal. Present on the Avalon Station during the first meeting, he now fights the Prador successfully with many kills to his name, something difficult enough to do to a species that doesn't die easily.

Events are now bringing all the players to one system: Trajeen. It is here that tests are being carried out on a new space based cargo Runcible. Moria is helping the AI with the work, seemingly able to compute far beyond what is normally known thanks to her privately fitted aug designed by a fugitive. The Prador, finally showing an interest in the Runcible technology that they don't possess, are heading to the system with contacts in the human separatist movement that they hope will help them achieve their goals. Jebel Krong is also there, knowing that the Prador are on their way and planning to stop them getting their hands on Runcible technology.

Prador Moon delivers everything that you should have come to expect from a Neal Asher story: wonderfully realised aliens, AI's with attitude and page after page of action that is delivered in so many different ways. Clearly, Neal has written a story set to specifics here, there's no going off into too much detail and the action focuses on the events at hand from a few perspectives. This is typically Neal and the story he is telling suits the format it's told in. I could well imagine this story told in over double the size - there is more than enough opportuniy to expand - but it's the compactness that makes it such an enjoyable and quick read.

Perhaps some of the drawbacks will only appear if you've yet to venture into Neal's Polity books. The story is set at a very specific time and although it should really be the beginning of the human-Prador experience, it does need expansion and back-story to fully explore this situation. Although this is done in both The Skinner and Voyage of the Sable Keech, it really is a book for those that know at least some other aspects of Neal's Polity universe. Although the positive to the above could be to put this novella at the starting point of Neal's work and continue to his other stories from there.

Bottom line, if you like fast-paced action and are looking for something to read over the weekend, this should be high up in the running, regardless of whether you're new to Neal or not.

Short and thin, 22 Jan 2008
Probably the least interesting piece of work Asher has published. 'Prador Moon' deals with mankind's first encounter with the almost parodically aggressive crustacean Prador species. Unfortunately it's a prequel, which pretty well guarantees that there will be no surprises for anyone who has followed Asher's work to this point. Like too many other popular writers, Asher seems to be reacting to success by following the path of least resistance and is busy turning his strengths into a formula, repeating the big effects of his earlier books without the benefit of novelty and so generating new clichés and steadily diminishing returns. 'Prador Moon' comes across as a pumped-up short story published as a gap-filler to capitalise on the success of a series.

If formula Asher is what you want, purchase with confidence, but don't expect anything more than a very fast, shallow and disposable read. Ominously, the recent 'Hilldiggers', a full-length work, shows similar signs of creative exhaustion.

'Prador Moon' is a disappointing book from a writer who has done much better in the past. On this evidence Asher would do better to take some time off.


Beautiful and Dangerous, 26 Nov 2008
Dark and edgy. This collection boarders on nightmareish horror at times but still retains beauty in Gaiman's writing. I think I prefer Gaiman in the short story form, his wonderfully lyrical writing seems all the more precious in small doses. This book is worth it for Murder Mysteries alone which I keep coming back to - something about it seems to call to my imagination and it lingers at the back of my consciousness inbetween readings.

A great place to begin , 21 Sep 2008
If you've not read this author before this is a really great place to begin, not all the stories featured are written in the same style or for the same purpose, there are stories from magazines and athologies and the author provides a short description on the choice of featured stories too.

However running through them all is a sort of content which is unmistakeably Gaiman, the fantastic and spellbinding is ever present, however people are often motivated by pretty human, sometimes base, instincts.

My favourite stories are the one the knight who has ranged across time looking for an artifact which an old lady has uncovered at a junk shop. I really had a sense of chivalry in the character and conduct of the knight, its all made extraordinary because its so removed from what you would imagine is its context, time and place.

The story written in tribute of a Moorcock's writing is fantastic and very evocative of the joys of reading, particularly when the central character decides that all the books, different genres of sci fi and fantasy are all of a kind because they are all by the same author and the style survives throughout them all. I was startled by this story too in that it features some pretty disturbing revelations between friends in a kind of "that's how things are" way. It made me think about whether it was a fantasy story or a kind horror story.

There's also a story about a photographer which deals with the nature of obsession which I've found totally unforgetable too and had all the usual elements of unease, disturbance and fantasy all in a very everyday matter of fact retelling in the first person.

This is an excellent place to start with this author, lots of shorter and medium length stories which you can read and digest before deciding whether or not you want to get involved with one of his full length works. I had this book in my car for a couple of weeks and read it any time I got a chance, I could see it being a really great book to read on train journeys or when commuting.

The Good The Bad and the Crappy, 19 Mar 2008
the story with the terrorized cat was good, another about -very short this one- JACK was its name, that was good. Another which starts out being about Venereal disease but has a twist. that one was good. A lady who picks up the holy grail was good too. The rest were either bad or very bad.

Spellbinding, 20 Jul 2007
Just fabulous.
It was this book that first pitched me headlong into the strange and scary world of Neil Gaiman's writing -- now I am a huge fan. I would recommend this to anyone, whether you like fantasy/sci fi or not, because Neil Gaiman's writing has more to do with how fantasy imitates real life than how it deviates from it.

The people who "didn't get" this book were obviously in the bathroom when the imagination van came around.

Upon Reflection - A Little Disappointing, 30 Jun 2007
Reading the good reviews I thought to myself - at last some short stories with teeth!
How wrong could they be? Many of the tales begin OK, and build up nicely, only to let us down at the end with a "non-ending" - which I hate. You know the ones - they just leave you hanging nowhere, unfinished, and you silently mouth the words "AND?"!!!
It was an interesting mix of poetry etc, and the introduction, showing us how he wrote each tale, was quite novel.
Where oh where has the satisfying short story gone?

got it, 20 Nov 2008
just got it will start reading soon :)

i got into a few lines and its quite addictive, niceee :D



Pretty good, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this recently, having never read (but often heard about) Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.

I'm only about a third of the way through, but it seems pretty good (although the author does seem to have swallowed a thesaurus - and a particularly gibbous and over-nourished one at that, most likely recovered from some Stygian Pit that the mortal mind was not meant to know of). Plus, he does have some rather - ahem - "old fashioned" attitudes to race and class that can seem rather jarring to a modern reader.

This particular edition also does, unfortunately, have a number of typos in the text, some of which ("Necroriomicon", "clay" instead of "day", and "Gthulhu") suggest to me that the publishers had the original text scanned and digitised, but imperfectly. (I'm keeping a note of them as I find them, and will inform the publishers when I've finished the book).

Still, all said, I don't regret getting the book, and if you don't mind those faults, I'd certainly recommend this to anyone interested in the genera.


Just as I remembered!!, 14 Sep 2008
Excellent, worth the wait!! I remember reading this as a child, it's just as good as I remembered. Real Classic stuff!!

I recommend it to anyone looking for some good old creepy stories.

JOIN THE DARKSIDE!!!!, 19 Jul 2008
What can i say that already hasn't been said.
This is truly awesome, a complete collection of lovecraft in a well bound casebound book with faux Leather cover, in black.
All your favorites are there. If you're a real lovecraft fan this is deffinately for you.
And for a very reasanoble price.
100% recommended, buy now & join us on a truly Dark venture into the world of the one & the only H.P.lovecraft


Beautifully produced edition, but -2 stars for horrible tacky price sticker on the back, 28 Jun 2008
Finally a beautifully produced and complete edition of H.P. Lovecraft's works, but whoever at Gollancz/Orion decided to spoil each book with a tacky price sticker - not even put on straight - that leaves a sticky residue when removed (and believe me, it's tenacious) should be punished by the elder gods, or at least someone senior at the publishers.

Really good fun - well imagined, 28 Jun 2008
Neil Asher seems to have good and bad patches but this is one of the good ones (also see 'Africa Zero' I think by far his best). The crab-like Prador and their interesting family relationships are well imagined and a credible threat.

A let down, 03 Jun 2008
Given my enjoyment of the Agent Cormac series and Cowl I was expecting great things. Not so, at around 200 pages it's short, the cormac series spoils the plot in PRADOR MOON. It follows the same good writting I expect from ASHER but the book gives nothing more than an insight into the PRADOR and could have been so much better. It felt like a rushed piece of work just to keep the coppers coming in. Do better please mr ASHER - one to miss.

Another high quality novel of the polity, 02 Mar 2008
Again Neal Asher's delivers. Fast paced, multi plots, rich characters. You could kind-of see it coming (no pun intended) but the ending was fated and complete. Good stuff. Great author and this one is no let down.

A novella that doesn't mess around, 11 Feb 2008
The human Polity, a society run by AI's with technology allowing them to travel instantaneously throughout the galaxy through the use of Runcibles, planet based systems that are run by the AI's. The Polity lives in relative peace, but now the Prador, a species of huge crab-like creatures with technology equal to that of the Polity is discovered. The first meeting between the two has now been arranged and it is with this meeting that the true intentions of the Prador become apparent. Peace is not an option that they consider, they require the immediate surrender of humanity, starting with the station on which the meeting takes place.

Following on from this first meeting, the Prador are attacking planets in Polity space that border their kingdom. Agents from ECS (Earth Central Security) are among those fighting the Prador on the front line, with Jabel 'U-cap' Krong being the most prominent of these, his nickname saying it all: Up Close And Personal. Present on the Avalon Station during the first meeting, he now fights the Prador successfully with many kills to his name, something difficult enough to do to a species that doesn't die easily.

Events are now bringing all the players to one system: Trajeen. It is here that tests are being carried out on a new space based cargo Runcible. Moria is helping the AI with the work, seemingly able to compute far beyond what is normally known thanks to her privately fitted aug designed by a fugitive. The Prador, finally showing an interest in the Runcible technology that they don't possess, are heading to the system with contacts in the human separatist movement that they hope will help them achieve their goals. Jebel Krong is also there, knowing that the Prador are on their way and planning to stop them getting their hands on Runcible technology.

Prador Moon delivers everything that you should have come to expect from a Neal Asher story: wonderfully realised aliens, AI's with attitude and page after page of action that is delivered in so many different ways. Clearly, Neal has written a story set to specifics here, there's no going off into too much detail and the action focuses on the events at hand from a few perspectives. This is typically Neal and the story he is telling suits the format it's told in. I could well imagine this story told in over double the size - there is more than enough opportuniy to expand - but it's the compactness that makes it such an enjoyable and quick read.

Perhaps some of the drawbacks will only appear if you've yet to venture into Neal's Polity books. The story is set at a very specific time and although it should really be the beginning of the human-Prador experience, it does need expansion and back-story to fully explore this situation. Although this is done in both The Skinner and Voyage of the Sable Keech, it really is a book for those that know at least some other aspects of Neal's Polity universe. Although the positive to the above could be to put this novella at the starting point of Neal's work and continue to his other stories from there.

Bottom line, if you like fast-paced action and are looking for something to read over the weekend, this should be high up in the running, regardless of whether you're new to Neal or not.

Short and thin, 22 Jan 2008
Probably the least interesting piece of work Asher has published. 'Prador Moon' deals with mankind's first encounter with the almost parodically aggressive crustacean Prador species. Unfortunately it's a prequel, which pretty well guarantees that there will be no surprises for anyone who has followed Asher's work to this point. Like too many other popular writers, Asher seems to be reacting to success by following the path of least resistance and is busy turning his strengths into a formula, repeating the big effects of his earlier books without the benefit of novelty and so generating new clichés and steadily diminishing returns. 'Prador Moon' comes across as a pumped-up short story published as a gap-filler to capitalise on the success of a series.

If formula Asher is what you want, purchase with confidence, but don't expect anything more than a very fast, shallow and disposable read. Ominously, the recent 'Hilldiggers', a full-length work, shows similar signs of creative exhaustion.

'Prador Moon' is a disappointing book from a writer who has done much better in the past. On this evidence Asher would do better to take some time off.


Beautiful and Dangerous, 26 Nov 2008
Dark and edgy. This collection boarders on nightmareish horror at times but still retains beauty in Gaiman's writing. I think I prefer Gaiman in the short story form, his wonderfully lyrical writing seems all the more precious in small doses. This book is worth it for Murder Mysteries alone which I keep coming back to - something about it seems to call to my imagination and it lingers at the back of my consciousness inbetween readings.

A great place to begin , 21 Sep 2008
If you've not read this author before this is a really great place to begin, not all the stories featured are written in the same style or for the same purpose, there are stories from magazines and athologies and the author provides a short description on the choice of featured stories too.

However running through them all is a sort of content which is unmistakeably Gaiman, the fantastic and spellbinding is ever present, however people are often motivated by pretty human, sometimes base, instincts.

My favourite stories are the one the knight who has ranged across time looking for an artifact which an old lady has uncovered at a junk shop. I really had a sense of chivalry in the character and conduct of the knight, its all made extraordinary because its so removed from what you would imagine is its context, time and place.

The story written in tribute of a Moorcock's writing is fantastic and very evocative of the joys of reading, particularly when the central character decides that all the books, different genres of sci fi and fantasy are all of a kind because they are all by the same author and the style survives throughout them all. I was startled by this story too in that it features some pretty disturbing revelations between friends in a kind of "that's how things are" way. It made me think about whether it was a fantasy story or a kind horror story.

There's also a story about a photographer which deals with the nature of obsession which I've found totally unforgetable too and had all the usual elements of unease, disturbance and fantasy all in a very everyday matter of fact retelling in the first person.

This is an excellent place to start with this author, lots of shorter and medium length stories which you can read and digest before deciding whether or not you want to get involved with one of his full length works. I had this book in my car for a couple of weeks and read it any time I got a chance, I could see it being a really great book to read on train journeys or when commuting.

The Good The Bad and the Crappy, 19 Mar 2008
the story with the terrorized cat was good, another about -very short this one- JACK was its name, that was good. Another which starts out being about Venereal disease but has a twist. that one was good. A lady who picks up the holy grail was good too. The rest were either bad or very bad.

Spellbinding, 20 Jul 2007
Just fabulous.
It was this book that first pitched me headlong into the strange and scary world of Neil Gaiman's writing -- now I am a huge fan. I would recommend this to anyone, whether you like fantasy/sci fi or not, because Neil Gaiman's writing has more to do with how fantasy imitates real life than how it deviates from it.

The people who "didn't get" this book were obviously in the bathroom when the imagination van came around.

Upon Reflection - A Little Disappointing, 30 Jun 2007
Reading the good reviews I thought to myself - at last some short stories with teeth!
How wrong could they be? Many of the tales begin OK, and build up nicely, only to let us down at the end with a "non-ending" - which I hate. You know the ones - they just leave you hanging nowhere, unfinished, and you silently mouth the words "AND?"!!!
It was an interesting mix of poetry etc, and the introduction, showing us how he wrote each tale, was quite novel.
Where oh where has the satisfying short story gone?


A must-have for Tolkien fans, 22 Aug 2007
I have to say I loved this book! It filled in a lot more gaps in LOTR and Middle Earth and went through from The Silmarilion to beyond LOTR. It's amazing the amount of detail Tolkien went in to with these books. The histories, lineages and languages are so detailed and fascinating.

A must for any Tolkien fan.

Depth and imagination, 07 Jul 2007
J.R.R. Tolkien was a man with the utmost respect for the genre in which he reigned as king. This stunning book simply adds to the incredible tapestry that he has woven so expertly, allowing for a greater understanding of the fantastic tales of Middle-earth. The stories span from a very in depth view of the meeting Galadriel and Celeborn in Doriath to an extended version of the Children of Hurin, which was covered in brief in the Silmarillion and which has now been expanded even further to comprise a whole book of it's own, something the story certainly merits. Further chapters of interest are those concerning the Istari (Wizards) and the history of the Palantiri.

This is a book that adds to the history of Middle-earth, a must have for any budding Tolkienist.




Utterly brilliant, 10 Feb 2007
Best included as an element in a complete read of all Tolkien's Middle-earth writings but if nothing else is worth the money simply for the tale of 'The Faithful Stone' which is perhaps the lovliest and most moving piece JRRT ever wrote.

Excellent reading for those who enjoyed LotR, 29 Dec 2006
I'd been putting off reading this for years, fearing that it would be as big a disappointment as The Silmarillion. But in fact, taken on its own merits, there are some excellent bits here. The first half of the book, which is basically three chunks of narrative which didn't quite make it into The Silmarillion, is especially good, although the very first part, a lovely description of Tuor's journey to Gondolin, is a bit short on narrative action.

But then we get to the out-takes from the tale of Túrin Turambar, always my favourite bit of The Silmarillion. We get a new insight into Túrin as flawed hero (and what made him flawed), and new details of the story of his life and death. It is a real shame that significant parts of the narrative are left out, with a note that we should see The Silmarillion for the relevant text. Is it beyond the wit of Tolkien's estate to produce a canonical version of the Tale of the Children of Húrin, pulling together all the relevant material and published as a single volume? There would be a market for it.

The last substantial piece of narrative is the story of an early king of Númenor, whose family disintegrates as a result of his neglecting them to pursue his own personal obsession. Having read Tom Shippey, it's not too difficult to see this as an expression of the author's own fears, if you substitute Tolkien's exploration of Middle-Earth by pen for Tar-Aldarion's explorations by ship. I can't offhand think of another example of marital estrangement in Tolkien's works, certainly not one explored in such depth.

The second half of the book consists of much shorter pieces, some of which are little more than Christopher Tolkien's attempts to retcon his father's unpublished notes with the published material on this or that historical point. I found it interesting that in the last years of his life the elder Tolkien was trying to rewrite Galadriel as almost a more feminist figure. The story of the lead-up to the events of The Hobbit, as told from Gandalf's point of view, was also rather fun. And the pieces on the Woodmen, the Wizards and the Palantírs made for decent extended footnotes to The Lord of the Rings.

Response to previous reviews, 07 Jun 2006
As other reviewers have made clear, this is most assuredly not a book for Tolkien neophytes. Therefore I shall assume the prospective buyer has a basic knowledge of the Middle Earth saga.

Unfinished Tales is indeed "the one truly essential set of supplementary/outtake material", and Tolkien scholars are strongly advised to pick this up as soon as they finish reading The Silmarillion. For two reasons:

1. "The Sil" is hard work - its presentational style, half-Bible/half-history-textbook, renders it inaccessible to a lot of people. But if you manage to finish it you can reward yourself with Unfinished Tales, which deepens your enjoyment of "the Sil" by providing more detailed (more gripping, more compulsively re-readable!) accounts of the same events, even though they are fragmentary and at-variance-with-other-writings.
The first section of the book begins with the expanded account of Tuor's early life and his mission to Gondolin which, for some, is the greatest of all Tolkien's obscure writings. But the piece that follows it, "Narn i hin Hurin" (tale of the children of Hurin), is certainly another candidate for the title - an extensive recounting of the disaster-ridden lives of Turin and Nienor. Even with a large section of the story (including the whole of Turin's sojourn in Nargothrond) missing, it winds up being the most emotionally draining thing Tolkien ever wrote.
The third section gives a more detailed background to the events at the end of the Third Age (i.e The Lord Of The Rings). There are accounts of "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields" and of the past tribulations of Rohan, and its special relationship with Gondor. There is Gandalf's perspective on the background to "The Quest of Erebor" (i.e The Hobbit), and, perhaps of most interest, Saruman's "Hunt for the Ring", or how lucky Frodo and Sam were even to get out of Hobbiton and begin their quest.
The fourth section contains almost all the existing data on the origin of the Palantiri, the histories of the Druedain (aka the woses) and the Istari (aka the wizards).
And what of the second section? Well, for one thing, it collects assorted writings on the subject of Galadriel and Celeborn - Tolkien's view of them continually shifting, a congruent history never quite emerging, even though he fills in a few gaps in the history of the Third Age in the process. The second section also fleshes out the history of the island of Numenor. Which brings us to...

2. Most of these posthumously published "archaelogical" volumes contain at least one "revelation" - a complete one-off in amongst all the spot-the-difference first and second drafts. And in this instance it's the the tale of "Aldarion and Erendis". It interrupts a capsule history of Numenor (a description of the island and a brief history of its ruling dynasty), shifting the focus from affairs of state to affairs of the heart, specifically the doomed romance between the sixth king of Numenor and a woman from the lower classes (so to speak: her shorter life-expectancy becomes an issue here). Where to begin describing this great tale? Well, if I may step out of character and oversimplify, Aldarion and Erendis began like Tristan and Isolde and ended like Charles and Diana. Which means two things become apparent here: Tolkien's flair for romance and his deficient social politics. In the end, whether Tolkien intended this or not, it works as a parable against arranged marriages.

Summary: Unfinished, but definitely not Unnecessary.

got it, 20 Nov 2008
just got it will start reading soon :)

i got into a few lines and its quite addictive, niceee :D



Pretty good, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this recently, having never read (but often heard about) Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.

I'm only about a third of the way through, but it seems pretty good (although the author does seem to have swallowed a thesaurus - and a particularly gibbous and over-nourished one at that, most likely recovered from some Stygian Pit that the mortal mind was not meant to know of). Plus, he does have some rather - ahem - "old fashioned" attitudes to race and class that can seem rather jarring to a modern reader.

This particular edition also does, unfortunately, have a number of typos in the text, some of which ("Necroriomicon", "clay" instead of "day", and "Gthulhu") suggest to me that the publishers had the original text scanned and digitised, but imperfectly. (I'm keeping a note of them as I find them, and will inform the publishers when I've finished the book).

Still, all said, I don't regret getting the book, and if you don't mind those faults, I'd certainly recommend this to anyone interested in the genera.


Just as I remembered!!, 14 Sep 2008
Excellent, worth the wait!! I remember reading this as a child, it's just as good as I remembered. Real Classic stuff!!

I recommend it to anyone looking for some good old creepy stories.

JOIN THE DARKSIDE!!!!, 19 Jul 2008
What can i say that already hasn't been said.
This is truly awesome, a complete collection of lovecraft in a well bound casebound book with faux Leather cover, in black.
All your favorites are there. If you're a real lovecraft fan this is deffinately for you.
And for a very reasanoble price.
100% recommended, buy now & join us on a truly Dark venture into the world of the one & the only H.P.lovecraft


Beautifully produced edition, but -2 stars for horrible tacky price sticker on the back, 28 Jun 2008
Finally a beautifully produced and complete edition of H.P. Lovecraft's works, but whoever at Gollancz/Orion decided to spoil each book with a tacky price sticker - not even put on straight - that leaves a sticky residue when removed (and believe me, it's tenacious) should be punished by the elder gods, or at least someone senior at the publishers.

Really good fun - well imagined, 28 Jun 2008
Neil Asher seems to have good and bad patches but this is one of the good ones (also see 'Africa Zero' I think by far his best). The crab-like Prador and their interesting family relationships are well imagined and a credible threat.

A let down, 03 Jun 2008
Given my enjoyment of the Agent Cormac series and Cowl I was expecting great things. Not so, at around 200 pages it's short, the cormac series spoils the plot in PRADOR MOON. It follows the same good writting I expect from ASHER but the book gives nothing more than an insight into the PRADOR and could have been so much better. It felt like a rushed piece of work just to keep the coppers coming in. Do better please mr ASHER - one to miss.

Another high quality novel of the polity, 02 Mar 2008
Again Neal Asher's delivers. Fast paced, multi plots, rich characters. You could kind-of see it coming (no pun intended) but the ending was fated and complete. Good stuff. Great author and this one is no let down.

A novella that doesn't mess around, 11 Feb 2008
The human Polity, a society run by AI's with technology allowing them to travel instantaneously throughout the galaxy through the use of Runcibles, planet based systems that are run by the AI's. The Polity lives in relative peace, but now the Prador, a species of huge crab-like creatures with technology equal to that of the Polity is discovered. The first meeting between the two has now been arranged and it is with this meeting that the true intentions of the Prador become apparent. Peace is not an option that they consider, they require the immediate surrender of humanity, starting with the station on which the meeting takes place.

Following on from this first meeting, the Prador are attacking planets in Polity space that border their kingdom. Agents from ECS (Earth Central Security) are among those fighting the Prador on the front line, with Jabel 'U-cap' Krong being the most prominent of these, his nickname saying it all: Up Close And Personal. Present on the Avalon Station during the first meeting, he now fights the Prador successfully with many kills to his name, something difficult enough to do to a species that doesn't die easily.

Events are now bringing all the players to one system: Trajeen. It is here that tests are being carried out on a new space based cargo Runcible. Moria is helping the AI with the work, seemingly able to compute far beyond what is normally known thanks to her privately fitted aug designed by a fugitive. The Prador, finally showing an interest in the Runcible technology that they don't possess, are heading to the system with contacts in the human separatist movement that they hope will help them achieve their goals. Jebel Krong is also there, knowing that the Prador are on their way and planning to stop them getting their hands on Runcible technology.

Prador Moon delivers everything that you should have come to expect from a Neal Asher story: wonderfully realised aliens, AI's with attitude and page after page of action that is delivered in so many different ways. Clearly, Neal has written a story set to specifics here, there's no going off into too much detail and the action focuses on the events at hand from a few perspectives. This is typically Neal and the story he is telling suits the format it's told in. I could well imagine this story told in over double the size - there is more than enough opportuniy to expand - but it's the compactness that makes it such an enjoyable and quick read.

Perhaps some of the drawbacks will only appear if you've yet to venture into Neal's Polity books. The story is set at a very specific time and although it should really be the beginning of the human-Prador experience, it does need expansion and back-story to fully explore this situation. Although this is done in both The Skinner and Voyage of the Sable Keech, it really is a book for those that know at least some other aspects of Neal's Polity universe. Although the positive to the above could be to put this novella at the starting point of Neal's work and continue to his other stories from there.

Bottom line, if you like fast-paced action and are looking for something to read over the weekend, this should be high up in the running, regardless of whether you're new to Neal or not.

Short and thin, 22 Jan 2008
Probably the least interesting piece of work Asher has published. 'Prador Moon' deals with mankind's first encounter with the almost parodically aggressive crustacean Prador species. Unfortunately it's a prequel, which pretty well guarantees that there will be no surprises for anyone who has followed Asher's work to this point. Like too many other popular writers, Asher seems to be reacting to success by following the path of least resistance and is busy turning his strengths into a formula, repeating the big effects of his earlier books without the benefit of novelty and so generating new clichés and steadily diminishing returns. 'Prador Moon' comes across as a pumped-up short story published as a gap-filler to capitalise on the success of a series.

If formula Asher is what you want, purchase with confidence, but don't expect anything more than a very fast, shallow and disposable read. Ominously, the recent 'Hilldiggers', a full-length work, shows similar signs of creative exhaustion.

'Prador Moon' is a disappointing book from a writer who has done much better in the past. On this evidence Asher would do better to take some time off.


Beautiful and Dangerous, 26 Nov 2008
Dark and edgy. This collection boarders on nightmareish horror at times but still retains beauty in Gaiman's writing. I think I prefer Gaiman in the short story form, his wonderfully lyrical writing seems all the more precious in small doses. This book is worth it for Murder Mysteries alone which I keep coming back to - something about it seems to call to my imagination and it lingers at the back of my consciousness inbetween readings.

A great place to begin , 21 Sep 2008
If you've not read this author before this is a really great place to begin, not all the stories featured are written in the same style or for the same purpose, there are stories from magazines and athologies and the author provides a short description on the choice of featured stories too.

However running through them all is a sort of content which is unmistakeably Gaiman, the fantastic and spellbinding is ever present, however people are often motivated by pretty human, sometimes base, instincts.

My favourite stories are the one the knight who has ranged across time looking for an artifact which an old lady has uncovered at a junk shop. I really had a sense of chivalry in the character and conduct of the knight, its all made extraordinary because its so removed from what you would imagine is its context, time and place.

The story written in tribute of a Moorcock's writing is fantastic and very evocative of the joys of reading, particularly when the central character decides that all the books, different genres of sci fi and fantasy are all of a kind because they are all by the same author and the style survives throughout them all. I was startled by this story too in that it features some pretty disturbing revelations between friends in a kind of "that's how things are" way. It made me think about whether it was a fantasy story or a kind horror story.

There's also a story about a photographer which deals with the nature of obsession which I've found totally unforgetable too and had all the usual elements of unease, disturbance and fantasy all in a very everyday matter of fact retelling in the first person.

This is an excellent place to start with this author, lots of shorter and medium length stories which you can read and digest before deciding whether or not you want to get involved with one of his full length works. I had this book in my car for a couple of weeks and read it any time I got a chance, I could see it being a really great book to read on train journeys or when commuting.

The Good The Bad and the Crappy, 19 Mar 2008
the story with the terrorized cat was good, another about -very short this one- JACK was its name, that was good. Another which starts out being about Venereal disease but has a twist. that one was good. A lady who picks up the holy grail was good too. The rest were either bad or very bad.

Spellbinding, 20 Jul 2007
Just fabulous.
It was this book that first pitched me headlong into the strange and scary world of Neil Gaiman's writing -- now I am a huge fan. I would recommend this to anyone, whether you like fantasy/sci fi or not, because Neil Gaiman's writing has more to do with how fantasy imitates real life than how it deviates from it.

The people who "didn't get" this book were obviously in the bathroom when the imagination van came around.

Upon Reflection - A Little Disappointing, 30 Jun 2007
Reading the good reviews I thought to myself - at last some short stories with teeth!
How wrong could they be? Many of the tales begin OK, and build up nicely, only to let us down at the end with a "non-ending" - which I hate. You know the ones - they just leave you hanging nowhere, unfinished, and you silently mouth the words "AND?"!!!
It was an interesting mix of poetry etc, and the introduction, showing us how he wrote each tale, was quite novel.
Where oh where has the satisfying short story gone?


A must-have for Tolkien fans, 22 Aug 2007
I have to say I loved this book! It filled in a lot more gaps in LOTR and Middle Earth and went through from The Silmarilion to beyond LOTR. It's amazing the amount of detail Tolkien went in to with these books. The histories, lineages and languages are so detailed and fascinating.

A must for any Tolkien fan.

Depth and imagination, 07 Jul 2007
J.R.R. Tolkien was a man with the utmost respect for the genre in which he reigned as king. This stunning book simply adds to the incredible tapestry that he has woven so expertly, allowing for a greater understanding of the fantastic tales of Middle-earth. The stories span from a very in depth view of the meeting Galadriel and Celeborn in Doriath to an extended version of the Children of Hurin, which was covered in brief in the Silmarillion and which has now been expanded even further to comprise a whole book of it's own, something the story certainly merits. Further chapters of interest are those concerning the Istari (Wizards) and the history of the Palantiri.

This is a book that adds to the history of Middle-earth, a must have for any budding Tolkienist.




Utterly brilliant, 10 Feb 2007
Best included as an element in a complete read of all Tolkien's Middle-earth writings but if nothing else is worth the money simply for the tale of 'The Faithful Stone' which is perhaps the lovliest and most moving piece JRRT ever wrote.

Excellent reading for those who enjoyed LotR, 29 Dec 2006
I'd been putting off reading this for years, fearing that it would be as big a disappointment as The Silmarillion. But in fact, taken on its own merits, there are some excellent bits here. The first half of the book, which is basically three chunks of narrative which didn't quite make it into The Silmarillion, is especially good, although the very first part, a lovely description of Tuor's journey to Gondolin, is a bit short on narrative action.

But then we get to the out-takes from the tale of Túrin Turambar, always my favourite bit of The Silmarillion. We get a new insight into Túrin as flawed hero (and what made him flawed), and new details of the story of his life and death. It is a real shame that significant parts of the narrative are left out, with a note that we should see The Silmarillion for the relevant text. Is it beyond the wit of Tolkien's estate to produce a canonical version of the Tale of the Children of Húrin, pulling together all the relevant material and published as a single volume? There would be a market for it.

The last substantial piece of narrative is the story of an early king of Númenor, whose family disintegrates as a result of his neglecting them to pursue his own personal obsession. Having read Tom Shippey, it's not too difficult to see this as an expression of the author's own fears, if you substitute Tolkien's exploration of Middle-Earth by pen for Tar-Aldarion's explorations by ship. I can't offhand think of another example of marital estrangement in Tolkien's works, certainly not one explored in such depth.

The second half of the book consists of much shorter pieces, some of which are little more than Christopher Tolkien's attempts to retcon his father's unpublished notes with the published material on this or that historical point. I found it interesting that in the last years of his life the elder Tolkien was trying to rewrite Galadriel as almost a more feminist figure. The story of the lead-up to the events of The Hobbit, as told from Gandalf's point of view, was also rather fun. And the pieces on the Woodmen, the Wizards and the Palantírs made for decent extended footnotes to The Lord of the Rings.

Response to previous reviews, 07 Jun 2006
As other reviewers have made clear, this is most assuredly not a book for Tolkien neophytes. Therefore I shall assume the prospective buyer has a basic knowledge of the Middle Earth saga.

Unfinished Tales is indeed "the one truly essential set of supplementary/outtake material", and Tolkien scholars are strongly advised to pick this up as soon as they finish reading The Silmarillion. For two reasons:

1. "The Sil" is hard work - its presentational style, half-Bible/half-history-textbook, renders it inaccessible to a lot of people. But if you manage to finish it you can reward yourself with Unfinished Tales, which deepens your enjoyment of "the Sil" by providing more detailed (more gripping, more compulsively re-readable!) accounts of the same events, even though they are fragmentary and at-variance-with-other-writings.
The first section of the book begins with the expanded account of Tuor's early life and his mission to Gondolin which, for some, is the greatest of all Tolkien's obscure writings. But the piece that follows it, "Narn i hin Hurin" (tale of the children of Hurin), is certainly another candidate for the title - an extensive recounting of the disaster-ridden lives of Turin and Nienor. Even with a large section of the story (including the whole of Turin's sojourn in Nargothrond) missing, it winds up being the most emotionally draining thing Tolkien ever wrote.
The third section gives a more detailed background to the events at the end of the Third Age (i.e The Lord Of The Rings). There are accounts of "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields" and of the past tribulations of Rohan, and its special relationship with Gondor. There is Gandalf's perspective on the background to "The Quest of Erebor" (i.e The Hobbit), and, perhaps of most interest, Saruman's "Hunt for the Ring", or how lucky Frodo and Sam were even to get out of Hobbiton and begin their quest.
The fourth section contains almost all the existing data on the origin of the Palantiri, the histories of the Druedain (aka the woses) and the Istari (aka the wizards).
And what of the second section? Well, for one thing, it collects assorted writings on the subject of Galadriel and Celeborn - Tolkien's view of them continually shifting, a congruent history never quite emerging, even though he fills in a few gaps in the history of the Third Age in the process. The second section also fleshes out the history of the island of Numenor. Which brings us to...

2. Most of these posthumously published "archaelogical" volumes contain at least one "revelation" - a complete one-off in amongst all the spot-the-difference first and second drafts. And in this instance it's the the tale of "Aldarion and Erendis". It interrupts a capsule history of Numenor (a description of the island and a brief history of its ruling dynasty), shifting the focus from affairs of state to affairs of the heart, specifically the doomed romance between the sixth king of Numenor and a woman from the lower classes (so to speak: her shorter life-expectancy becomes an issue here). Where to begin describing this great tale? Well, if I may step out of character and oversimplify, Aldarion and Erendis began like Tristan and Isolde and ended like Charles and Diana. Which means two things become apparent here: Tolkien's flair for romance and his deficient social politics. In the end, whether Tolkien intended this or not, it works as a parable against arranged marriages.

Summary: Unfinished, but definitely not Unnecessary.

Gripping stuff , 26 Sep 2008
This is a re-read. It is a very good adventure, one of his best, maintaining a real sense of threat and suffocating claustrophobia under the ground. There are some internal inconsistencies in dates and timings which would probably not get past a modern editor. Good stuff.

short but not sweet, 06 Jul 2008
Axel Lindenbrock's uncle, Professor Otto Lindenbrock, has found a piece of paper written in Old Icelandic. Axel shortly manages to make sense of it, and it leads him and his uncle to Iceland to an extinct volcano called Sneffells. There, they go down into its crater with the help of an escort named Hans Bjelke, in hope to get to the centre of the earth! They will face hunger, thirst, and tiredness, but odd Professor Lindenbrock will not give up until he is at the earth's core...or until he is dead!

This is not the whole story but only a shortened version that takes only about 40 minutes to read if you do not want to read the whole story or you want to tell a friend about the book.

Great book, Wrong description!, 03 Jul 2008
The book is fantastic, and if a real review is wanted, then read one of the other ones. I'm just here to say that the book is not hardcover as it states in the product description, and is one of those crappy recycled green covers!

Deserved classic- science fiction with character, 21 Oct 2007
As well as being the gripping high-adventure story that other reviewers have written about, when I re-read this novel recently I was struck by another side to the story that I hadn't noticed before- it reads, especially at the beginning of the book, as a satire. Verne is not content with helping to invent science fiction in terms of the science- some of which is consciously out-of-date even as Verne writes it, as he explains away science facts such as why inside the Earth's core is not flesh-meltingly hot in a manner not dissimilar to those bits of Star Trek where they tell you how the teleport works. In addition to the science, Journey To The Centre Of The Earth has character. Verne invents in this story the very concept of the mad scientist, in this case Professor Lidenbrock, who struggles to teach coherently at a German university and who is sent on a wild goose chase to Iceland because of one scrap of paper found in a library book. The interplay between our narrator Axel, his mad professor uncle and the reliable but non-verbal Icelandic guide Hans has things to say about the self-importance of science as well as about class and social standing. The science of this book is horrendously flawed but I believe it's the strength of character as well as Verne's fantastically imagined underground worlds that makes this novel not an out-dated joke but deservedly a classic.

4 stars, 05 Jul 2007
Verne captures real drama and human response in this fictitious masterpiece.It's a book for those who like the somewhat sureal adventure story. The plot thickens as the book progresses and i've read it twice in very different circumstances leading me to give it 4 stars. Firstly i read it one summer holiday in one big reading session as i really couldn't put it down, it was magic. The second time i read it on the bus on the way to work and found that having to read it on and off i didn't enjoyit nearly as much and found it hard to get back into. Not a book to read on and off from night to night in bed even but great if you've got a few hours to kill and you want to make the very mos of them.great book.

got it, 20 Nov 2008
just got it will start reading soon :)

i got into a few lines and its quite addictive, niceee :D



Pretty good, 28 Sep 2008
I bought this recently, having never read (but often heard about) Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.

I'm only about a third of the way through, but it seems pretty good (although the author does seem to have swallowed a thesaurus - and a particularly gibbous and over-nourished one at that, most likely recovered from some Stygian Pit that the mortal mind was not meant to know of). Plus, he does have some rather - ahem - "old fashioned" attitudes to race and class that can seem rather jarring to a modern reader.

This particular edition also does, unfortunately, have a number of typos in the text, some of which ("Necroriomicon", "clay" instead of "day", and "Gthulhu") suggest to me that the publishers had the original text scanned and digitised, but imperfectly. (I'm keeping a note of them as I find them, and will inform the publishers when I've finished the book).

Still, all said, I don't regret getting the book, and if you don't mind those faults, I'd certainly recommend this to anyone interested in the genera.


Just as I remembered!!, 14 Sep 2008
Excellent, worth the wait!! I remember reading this as a child, it's just as good as I remembered. Real Classic stuff!!

I recommend it to anyone looking for some good old creepy stories.

JOIN THE DARKSIDE!!!!, 19 Jul 2008
What can i say that already hasn't been said.
This is truly awesome, a complete collection of lovecraft in a well bound casebound book with faux Leather cover, in black.
All your favorites are there. If you're a real lovecraft fan this is deffinately for you.
And for a very reasanoble price.
100% recommended, buy now & join us on a truly Dark venture into the world of the one & the only H.P.lovecraft


Beautifully produced edition, but -2 stars for horrible tacky price sticker on the back, 28 Jun 2008
Finally a beautifully produced and complete edition of H.P. Lovecraft's works, but whoever at Gollancz/Orion decided to spoil each book with a tacky price sticker - not even put on straight - that leaves a sticky residue when removed (and believe me, it's tenacious) should be punished by the elder gods, or at least someone senior at the publishers.

Really good fun - well imagined, 28 Jun 2008
Neil Asher seems to have good and bad patches but this is one of the good ones (also see 'Africa Zero' I think by far his best). The crab-like Prador and their interesting family relationships are well imagined and a credible threat.

A let down, 03 Jun 2008
Given my enjoyment of the Agent Cormac series and Cowl I was expecting great things. Not so, at around 200 pages it's short, the cormac series spoils the plot in PRADOR MOON. It follows the same good writting I expect from ASHER but the book gives nothing more than an insight into the PRADOR and could have been so much better. It felt like a rushed piece of work just to keep the coppers coming in. Do better please mr ASHER - one to miss.

Another high quality novel of the polity, 02 Mar 2008
Again Neal Asher's delivers. Fast paced, multi plots, rich characters. You could kind-of see it coming (no pun intended) but the ending was fated and complete. Good stuff. Great author and this one is no let down.

A novella that doesn't mess around, 11 Feb 2008
The human Polity, a society run by AI's with technology allowing them to travel instantaneously throughout the galaxy through the use of Runcibles, planet based systems that are run by the AI's. The Polity lives in relative peace, but now the Prador, a species of huge crab-like creatures with technology equal to that of the Polity is discovered. The first meeting between the two has now been arranged and it is with this meeting that the true intentions of the Prador become apparent. Peace is not an option that they consider, they require the immediate surrender of humanity, starting with the station on which the meeting takes place.

Following on from this first meeting, the Prador are attacking planets in Polity space that border their kingdom. Agents from ECS (Earth Central Security) are among those fighting the Prador on the front line, with Jabel 'U-cap' Krong being the most prominent of these, his nickname saying it all: Up Close And Personal. Present on the Avalon Station during the first meeting, he now fights the Prador successfully with many kills to his name, something difficult enough to do to a species that doesn't die easily.

Events are now bringing all the players to one system: Trajeen. It is here that tests are being carried out on a new space based cargo Runcible. Moria is helping the AI with the work, seemingly able to compute far beyond what is normally known thanks to her privately fitted aug designed by a fugitive. The Prador, finally showing an interest in the Runcible technology that they don't possess, are heading to the system with contacts in the human separatist movement that they hope will help them achieve their goals. Jebel Krong is also there, knowing that the Prador are on their way and planning to stop them getting their hands on Runcible technology.

Prador Moon delivers everything that you should have come to expect from a Neal Asher story: wonderfully realised aliens, AI's with attitude and page after page of action that is delivered in so many different ways. Clearly, Neal has written a story set to specifics here, there's no going off into too much detail and the action focuses on the events at hand from a few perspectives. This is typically Neal and the story he is telling suits the format it's told in. I could well imagine this story told in over double the size - there is more than enough opportuniy to expand - but it's the compactness that makes it such an enjoyable and quick read.

Perhaps some of the drawbacks will only appear if you've yet to venture into Neal's Polity books. The story is set at a very specific time and although it should really be the beginning of the human-Prador experience, it does need expansion and back-story to fully explore this situation. Although this is done in both The Skinner and Voyage of the Sable Keech, it really is a book for those that know at least some other aspects of Neal's Polity universe. Although the positive to the above could be to put this novella at the starting point of Neal's work and continue to his other stories from there.

Bottom line, if you like fast-paced action and are looking for something to read over the weekend, this should be high up in the running, regardless of whether you're new to Neal or not.

Short and thin, 22 Jan 2008
Probably the least interesting piece of work Asher has published. 'Prador Moon' deals with mankind's first encounter with the almost parodically aggressive crustacean Prador species. Unfortunately it's a prequel, which pretty well guarantees that there will be no surprises for anyone who has followed Asher's work to this point. Like too many other popular writers, Asher seems to be reacting to success by following the path of least resistance and is busy turning his strengths into a formula, repeating the big effects of his earlier books without the benefit of novelty and so generating new clichés and steadily diminishing returns. 'Prador Moon' comes across as a pumped-up short story published as a gap-filler to capitalise on the success of a series.

If formula Asher is what you want, purchase with confidence, but don't expect anything more than a very fast, shallow and disposable read. Ominously, the recent 'Hilldiggers', a full-length work, shows similar signs of creative exhaustion.

'Prador Moon' is a disappointing book from a writer who has done much better in the past. On this evidence Asher would do better to take some time off.


Beautiful and Dangerous, 26 Nov 2008
Dark and edgy. This collection boarders on nightmareish horror at times but still retains beauty in Gaiman's writing. I think I prefer Gaiman in the short story form, his wonderfully lyrical writing seems all the more precious in small doses. This book is worth it for Murder Mysteries alone which I keep coming back to - something about it seems to call to my imagination and it lingers at the back of my consciousness inbetween readings.

A great place to begin , 21 Sep 2008
If you've not read this author before this is a really great place to begin, not all the stories featured are written in the same style or for the same purpose, there are stories from magazines and athologies and the author provides a short description on the choice of featured stories too.

However running through them all is a sort of content which is unmistakeably Gaiman, the fantastic and spellbinding is ever present, however people are often motivated by pretty human, sometimes base, instincts.

My favourite stories are the one the knight who has ranged across time looking for an artifact which an old lady has uncovered at a junk shop. I really had a sense of chivalry in the character and conduct of the knight, its all made extraordinary because its so removed from what you would imagine is its context, time and place.

The story written in tribute of a Moorcock's writing is fantastic and very evocative of the joys of reading, particularly when the central character decides that all the books, different genres of sci fi and fantasy are all of a kind because they are all by the same author and the style survives throughout them all. I was startled by this story too in that it features some pretty disturbing revelations between friends in a kind of "that's how things are" way. It made me think about whether it was a fantasy story or a kind horror story.

There's also a story about a photographer which deals with the nature of obsession which I've found totally unforgetable too and had all the usual elements of unease, disturbance and fantasy all in a very everyday matter of fact retelling in the first person.

This is an excellent place to start with this author, lots of shorter and medium length stories which you can read and digest before deciding whether or not you want to get involved with one of his full length works. I had this book in my car for a couple of weeks and read it any time I got a chance, I could see it being a really great book to read on train journeys or when commuting.

The Good The Bad and the Crappy, 19 Mar 2008
the story with the terrorized cat was good, another about -very short this one- JACK was its name, that was good. Another which starts out being about Venereal disease but has a twist. that one was good. A lady who picks up the holy grail was good too. The rest were either bad or very bad.

Spellbinding, 20 Jul 2007
Just fabulous.
It was this book that first pitched me headlong into the strange and scary world of Neil Gaiman's writing -- now I am a huge fan. I would recommend this to anyone, whether you like fantasy/sci fi or not, because Neil Gaiman's writing has more to do with how fantasy imitates real life than how it deviates from it.

The people who "didn't get" this book were obviously in the bathroom when the imagination van came around.

Upon Reflection - A Little Disappointing, 30 Jun 2007
Reading the good reviews I thought to myself - at last some short stories with teeth!
How wrong could they be? Many of the tales begin OK, and build up nicely, only to let us down at the end with a "non-ending" - which I hate. You know the ones - they just leave you hanging nowhere, unfinished, and you silently mouth the words "AND?"!!!
It was an interesting mix of poetry etc, and the introduction, showing us how he wrote each tale, was quite novel.
Where oh where has the satisfying short story gone?


A must-have for Tolkien fans, 22 Aug 2007
I have to say I loved this book! It filled in a lot more gaps in LOTR and Middle Earth and went through from The Silmarilion to beyond LOTR. It's amazing the amount of detail Tolkien went in to with these books. The histories, lineages and languages are so detailed and fascinating.

A must for any Tolkien fan.

Depth and imagination, 07 Jul 2007
J.R.R. Tolkien was a man with the utmost respect for the genre in which he reigned as king. This stunning book simply adds to the incredible tapestry that he has woven so expertly, allowing for a greater understanding of the fantastic tales of Middle-earth. The stories span from a very in depth view of the meeting Galadriel and Celeborn in Doriath to an extended version of the Children of Hurin, which was covered in brief in the Silmarillion and which has now been expanded even further to comprise a whole book of it's own, something the story certainly merits. Further chapters of interest are those concerning the Istari (Wizards) and the history of the Palantiri.

This is a book that adds to the history of Middle-earth, a must have for any budding Tolkienist.




Utterly brilliant, 10 Feb 2007
Best included as an element in a complete read of all Tolkien's Middle-earth writings but if nothing else is worth the money simply for the tale of 'The Faithful Stone' which is perhaps the lovliest and most moving piece JRRT ever wrote.

Excellent reading for those who enjoyed LotR, 29 Dec 2006
I'd been putting off reading this for years, fearing that it would be as big a disappointment as The Silmarillion. But in fact, taken on its own merits, there are some excellent bits here. The first half of the book, which is basically three chunks of narrative which didn't quite make it into The Silmarillion, is especially good, although the very first part, a lovely description of Tuor's journey to Gondolin, is a bit short on narrative action.

But then we get to the out-takes from the tale of Túrin Turambar, always my favourite bit of The Silmarillion. We get a new insight into Túrin as flawed hero (and what made him flawed), and new details of the story of his life and death. It is a real shame that significant parts of the narrative are left out, with a note that we should see The Silmarillion for the relevant text. Is it beyond the wit of Tolkien's estate to produce a canonical version of the Tale of the Children of Húrin, pulling together all the relevant material and published as a single volume? There would be a market for it.

The last substantial piece of narrative is the story of an early king of Númenor, whose family disintegrates as a result of his neglecting them to pursue his own personal obsession. Having read Tom Shippey, it's not too difficult to see this as an expression of the author's own fears, if you substitute Tolkien's exploration of Middle-Earth by pen for Tar-Aldarion's explorations by ship. I can't offhand think of another example of marital estrangement in Tolkien's works, certainly not one explored in such depth.

The second half of the book consists of much shorter pieces, some of which are little more than Christopher Tolkien's attempts to retcon his father's unpublished notes with the published material on this or that historical point. I found it interesting that in the last years of his life the elder Tolkien was trying to rewrite Galadriel as almost a more feminist figure. The story of the lead-up to the events of The Hobbit, as told from Gandalf's point of view, was also rather fun. And the pieces on the Woodmen, the Wizards and the Palantírs made for decent extended footnotes to The Lord of the Rings.

Response to previous reviews, 07 Jun 2006
As other reviewers have made clear, this is most assuredly not a book for Tolkien neophytes. Therefore I shall assume the prospective buyer has a basic knowledge of the Middle Earth saga.

Unfinished Tales is indeed "the one truly essential set of supplementary/outtake material", and Tolkien scholars are strongly advised to pick this up as soon as they finish reading The Silmarillion. For two reasons:

1. "The Sil" is hard work - its presentational style, half-Bible/half-history-textbook, renders it inaccessible to a lot of people. But if you manage to finish it you can reward yourself with Unfinished Tales, which deepens your enjoyment of "the Sil" by providing more detailed (more gripping, more compulsively re-readable!) accounts of the same events, even though they are fragmentary and at-variance-with-other-writings.
The first section of the book begins with the expanded account of Tuor's early life and his mission to Gondolin which, for some, is the greatest of all Tolkien's obscure writings. But the piece that follows it, "Narn i hin Hurin" (tale of the children of Hurin), is certainly another candidate for the title - an extensive recounting of the disaster-ridden lives of Turin and Nienor. Even with a large section of the story (including the whole of Turin's sojourn in Nargothrond) missing, it winds up being the most emotionally draining thing Tolkien ever wrote.
The third section gives a more detailed background to the events at the end of the Third Age (i.e The Lord Of The Rings). There are accounts of "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields" and of the past tribulations of Rohan, and its special relationship with Gondor. There is Gandalf's perspective on the background to "The Quest of Erebor" (i.e The Hobbit), and, perhaps of most interest, Saruman's "Hunt for the Ring", or how lucky Frodo and Sam were even to get out of Hobbiton and begin their quest.
The fourth section contains almost all the existing data on the origin of the Palantiri, the histories of the Druedain (aka the woses) and the Istari (aka the wizards).
And what of the second section? Well, for one thing, it collects assorted writings on the subject of Galadriel and Celeborn - Tolkien's view of them continually shifting, a congruent history never quite emerging, even though he fills in a few gaps in the history of the Third Age in the process. The second section also fleshes out the history of the island of Numenor. Which brings us to...

2. Most of these posthumously published "archaelogical" volumes contain at least one "revelation" - a complete one-off in amongst all the spot-the-difference first and second drafts. And in this instance it's the the tale of "Aldarion and Erendis". It interrupts a capsule history of Numenor (a description of the island and a brief history of its ruling dynasty), shifting the focus from affairs of state to affairs of the heart, specifically the doomed romance between the sixth king of Numenor and a woman from the lower classes (so to speak: her shorter life-expectancy becomes an issue here). Where to begin describing this great tale? Well, if I may step out of character and oversimplify, Aldarion and Erendis began like Tristan and Isolde and ended like Charles and Diana. Which means two things become apparent here: Tolkien's flair for romance and his deficient social politics. In the end, whether Tolkien intended this or not, it works as a parable against arranged marriages.

Summary: Unfinished, but definitely not Unnecessary.

Gripping stuff , 26 Sep 2008
This is a re-read. It is a very good adventure, one of his best, maintaining a real sense of threat and suffocating claustrophobia under the ground. There are some internal inconsistencies in dates and timings which would probably not get past a modern editor. Good stuff.

short but not sweet, 06 Jul 2008
Axel Lindenbrock's uncle, Professor Otto Lindenbrock, has found a piece of paper written in Old Icelandic. Axel shortly manages to make sense of it, and it leads him and his uncle to Iceland to an extinct volcano called Sneffells. There, they go down into its crater with the help of an escort named Hans Bjelke, in hope to get to the centre of the earth! They will face hunger, thirst, and tiredness, but odd Professor Lindenbrock will not give up until he is at the earth's core...or until he is dead!

This is not the whole story but only a shortened version that takes only about 40 minutes to read if you do not want to read the whole story or you want to tell a friend about the book.

Great book, Wrong description!, 03 Jul 2008
The book is fantastic, and if a real review is wanted, then read one of the other ones. I'm just here to say that the book is not hardcover as it states in the product description, and is one of those crappy recycled green covers!

Deserved classic- science fiction with character, 21 Oct 2007
As well as being the gripping high-adventure story that other reviewers have written about, when I re-read this novel recently I was struck by another side to the story that I hadn't noticed before- it reads, especially at the beginning of the book, as a satire. Verne is not content with helping to invent science fiction in terms of the science- some of which is consciously out-of-date even as Verne writes it, as he explains away science facts such as why inside the Earth's core is not flesh-meltingly hot in a manner not dissimilar to those bits of Star Trek where they tell you how the teleport works. In addition to the science, Journey To The Centre Of The Earth has character. Verne invents in this story the very concept of the mad scientist, in this case Professor Lidenbrock, who struggles to teach coherently at a German university and who is sent on a wild goose chase to Iceland because of one scrap of paper found in a library book. The interplay between our narrator Axel, his mad professor uncle and the reliable but non-verbal Icelandic guide Hans has things to say about the self-importance of science as well as about class and social standing. The science of this book is horrendously flawed but I believe it's the strength of character as well as Verne's fantastically imagined underground worlds that makes this novel not an out-dated joke but deservedly a classic.

4 stars, 05 Jul 2007
Verne captures real drama and human response in this fictitious masterpiece.It's a book for those who like the somewhat sureal adventure story. The plot thickens as the book progresses and i've read it twice in very different circumstances leading me to give it 4 stars. Firstly i read it one summer holiday in one big reading session as i really couldn't put it down, it was magic. The second time i read it on the bus on the way to work and found that having to read it on and off i didn't enjoyit nearly as much and found it hard to get back into. Not a book to read on and off from night to night in bed even but great if you've got a few hours to kill and you want to make the very mos of them.great book.

excellent to be sure, 05 Aug 2008
this book, a collection of poems and short stories i came across simply in the attempt to gather as much tolkein as i could to myself, has quickly and completely replaced the LOTR and the silmarilion in my esteem, and is certainly the equal of the hobbit. the first story is perhaps the most light hearted, and an excellent example of tolkeins indoubtable powers as an author; it is, however excellent in its own right, a story that pales in comparison to what follows. the adventures of tom bombadil, leaf by niggle and smith of wooton major are truly beautiful, haunting pieces; each time i have read them in the short time ive owned the book they have genuinly moved me, they are disquieting, honestly strange, haunting and so utterly amazing that they are simply beyond comparison. these stories have genuinly changed me, though i cannot quite understand how.

I have not read this version, but I have all the stories in other anthologies., 30 Mar 2007
"Leaf by Niggle" is the closest JRRT ever came to true allegory, and is something of a spiritual autobiography. The tree that Niggle tries to paint but keeps being distracted by details represents his Middle Earth Legendarium, particularly the Silmarillion; Mr. Parish represents his 'secular' responsibilities as a professor, husband, father, citizen, etc. The Journey is, of course Death. The Workhouse is Purgatory. The valley with the tree is the Earthly Paradise, and the land beyond the mountains is Heaven.

"Farmer Giles of Ham" on the surface seems to be a pleasant Midaeval adventure tale, but there are subversive elements to it. In this sort of story one expects the Brave Knight to be the hero; however, in dealing with the dragon the King and his Knights are worse than useless, and the person who is able to take care of the matter is a fat, redheaded farmer who doesn't like tresspassers.

"Smith of Wooton Major" is also semiallegorical, with smithcraft standing in for JRRT's professional obligations as a professor at Oxford (in which his son Christopher followed his father's footsteps, as Smith's son became a blacksmith, too.) Some of the images are odd and disturbing, but beautiful, too.

The miscellaneous poems are great fun. Some, of course, refer to his private mythology; many had appeared in different forms in various magazines and private printings over the years before they were assembled in this anthology. "Princess Mee" is a retelling of the Narcissus story; "The Shadow Bride" is evocative of several old myths, including Persephone, but doesn't quite fit with any of them. "The Hoard", although using tropes from Norse and Celtic mythology is, essentially, an antimaterialist statement--the gold, silver and precious gems that are taken from the earth cause nothing but misery, corrupting everyone who comes to own them; peace comes only when they are returned to the earth in the old King's tomb. "The Sea Bell" and "The Last Ship" are to be read together. Both the speaker in the first poem and Firiel in the second have a vision of another world that stands over against our own--a world of enchantment and beauty in contrast to our mundane existance; the speaker in "The Sea Bell" tries to snach and cling to that other world, and so looses the good of both that world and this, while for Firiel it is enough for her to know that it exists. (Neurotics build castles in the air, as the old saying goes, while psychotics try to live in them.)
The two poems about the Man in the Moon are expansions of two nursery rhymes, allegedly the original forms thereof, and great literary fun. Of the two poems about the trolls, one is from LOTR and the other fits well into it as it refers to places in the Shire. Of the two animal poems, "Oliphaunt" and "The Cat", both are great fun, and the latter is one of the best cat poems I know (more about that below.) "The Mewlips" is a creepy-fun piece, good for a Hallowe'en recitation.

"The Cat", although it seems like a simple little animal poem, is a lot more. The Roman poet Horace said that a poem "begins in delight and ends in wisdom", and this is a perfect example. "The fat cat on the mat. . " contains about the first rhymes a child learns to make, but the poem ends--after a description of various large felines (lions, leopards) ends: "Far now they be/and fierce and free/and tamed is he;/but fat cat/on the mat/kept as a pet/he does not forget." When you put aside considerations of size, long hair or short, striped spotted or solid, a cat is a cat is a cat; the most pampered housecat is a miniature leopard, and the fiercest tiger is a great big kitty.

"Farmer Giles", "The Hobbit" and to a great extent "The Lord of the Rings" are all the stories of small, ordinary people who are placed in extraordinary situations, where they find that they are a lot braver and cleverer than anyone (including themselves) thought they were capable of being. This refers back, I think, to JRRT's WW I experience; he was an officer in a Birmingham-area militia; the men in his company were farmhands, factory workers, shop assistants, schoolteachers, bank clerks, college students--very ordinary young men, thrown into an extraordinary situation; they found themselves doing all sorts of things that they never expected to do--some of them wonderful, many of them horrible, but all of them outside of their normal sense of what should be. The three stories above are all like that. "The Cat" comes into it thus: your ordinary Englishman who might be teaching school or working in a bank or keeping a shop probably has among his ancestors Norman crusader knights, Viking longboatmen, Celtic and Saxon warriors, and perhaps even Roman legionnaires, and the spirit of those ancestors, although deeply buried, under the proper circumstances can come out.

More class from the genius, 15 Mar 2007
If some people (and i understand this truthfully) find the likes of The Silmarillion and to an extent Unfinished Tales a bit hard to digest, then Tales from the Perilous Realm is a great alternative.

A selection of four short stories based in and around a land called Faerie that are inclusive of old faithfuls (the Hobbits) and a rather mean old dragon or wyrm, a strange painting that...I've said enough i dont want to wreck the plots.

Though considered short stories these four works of literary art are surprisingly in