The Sarcophagi of the Sixth Continent (part 2)

Blake & Mortimer books usually have sumptuous covers but they have really gone to town on this one, it is a classic of comic art. The ligne claire artwork inside is pretty good too, being to the usual B&M standard. The artwork is very well drawn and accurate depicting an idealised view of the world of the 1950s, beautifully coloured... and of course (as it is a B&M story) with plenty of words!

The story continues the one begun in part 1, which involved a mysterious Indian living god launching an electrical attack on the Brussels Universal Exposition. In part 2 our heroes travel to Antarctica to track down the source of the attacks. If you like secret bases at the South Pole and mysterious retro-future technology then you will be sure to love this. It is packed full of action and weird science...

The best part of the story though, to me, is the backstory these two volumes have provided to Professor Mortimer. Part 1 showed us some of his adventures in India as a young man and this all comes to a conclusion here where his past and present collide.

Skeleton in search of a cupboard

Another enjoyable crime novel by Elizabeth Ferrars, who has fast become one of my favourite authors. This is not a book in one of her series with recurring characters though, it is a stand alone story involving a young couple and their rather large family. The family have gathered for their step-mother's 80th birthday but thats when things start to go wrong.

The step-mother's house catches fire, a couple of her valuable paintings go missing, but worst of all: in the smouldering debris of the house a hidden cupboard is revealed which contains a female skeleton! The investigation into crimes in the past and the present day (a number of murders) begins.

A good story that, once it got going, was very easy to read however, i did not think this was Ferrars' best book. A lot of the story, especially at the end, seems rather overly convenient and the actions of the characters are often a bit strange. For example, one of the characters - a young pregnant woman - implies she has gone off to kill herself and no one seems bothered to try and stop her.

The concept - the discovered skeleton - is great but the story itself did not quite live up to it.

A trip to Liverpool

At the weekend i made my first trip of the year to Merseyside. I wanted to cross off three more stations in the Liverpool area so travelled first to West Allerton, then Mossley Hill and finally Halewood. My uncle and auntie lives in Halewood and when we came up to Liverpool when i was a kid we always used to visit them. I never came to the station though, until now!

You can see my photos here.

Prime target

Prime target by Martin Russell is an intriguing tale of crime, psychology and terrorism. Our main character Pitt starts to get confused when people begin mistaking him for someone else. This continues for some time and he starts to question his own sanity and his reality.

Finally, it is revealed that it is all a trick (a somewhat elaborate one to honest) to unnerve and ultimately control him, and he is the captive of terrorists who want him to plant a bomb in Downing Street!

The story has many twists and turns though some are a bit obvious in the end, such as Karen. However, a dog saves the day and that always makes a good story even better.

A trip to two new stations

There are five new railway stations opening in the West Midlands this year. Two in fact have already opened, last week (Darlaston and Willenhall). Three more will open after Easter. Last Friday i visited the two new stations, the day after they opened. There were still quite a few enthusiasts around, checking the new stations out. I met a YouTuber who was doing a video on them and we had a chat. A really nice guy.

You can see my photos here.

The London Underground Electric Train

There are many books on the development of the rolling stock of London Underground, quite a few of them are really good too and this is another one to add to that list. Maybe even the best, certainly one of the most technical.

This excellent book by Piers Connor approaches the subject from a novel direction: instead of a standard history of the London Underground network and its rolling stock, this book instead describes the development of the many technologies that went into the London Underground train as we know it and how the technologies all fitted together. So, starting with the earliest electric traction in the first Underground trains we see how electric motors and control systems, bogies, bodywork, brakes et cetera developed over the decades.

The book is well illustrated throughout, with a number of diagrams that explain how the various systems work. The London Underground was the first deep-level underground system in the world but it owes so much to early developments in the United States as well as decades of evolution and different paths (not all of which worked). Much development work is ongoing and the book is very up-to-date with the latest details of the future tube trains which will finally replace my beloved 1972 Stock in the late 2020s (perhaps).

A trip to Winsford

At the weekend i headed back up north, to Cheshire again. I haven't been to Winsford for a number of years, to be honest it wasn't high on my list of places to re-visit but i needed to get some up-to-date imagery of the station. I did think of walking to Middlewich but in the end decided not to as it was a little too far away. As Winsford is pretty hilly, i got plenty of exercise!

You can see my Winsford photos here.

Railway stations in Warwickshire

I have already seen the proofs of course but it is not until you hold the finished printed book in your hands that you truly feel that the project is over. I received complimentary copies of my second book a couple of days ago. The book is a survey of the railway stations of Warwickshire and took a lot of work to complete last year, including a 5am train from Birmingham in order to get to Polesworth for the one train a day!

It will be available on sale in all good bookshops from next month, though you can buy it online now!

The Fenokee Project

The Fenokee Project by Roy Lewis takes place mainly in the frozen wastes of Canada and takes quite a while to get going. This is a slow moving tale of a cold (in more ways than one) case.

A man tries to find out how his wife died eight years before. What may have seemed an accident now seems to be mixed up in something murkier, with paid off witnesses and big business corruption.

It takes a while to warm up but when it does you are rewarded by a complicated but logical plot.

Book 3 emerges

With my second book now just weeks away from hitting the shelves, focus can turn to book 3. This is also on railway stations, but this time in the West Midlands. My publisher sent me a draft of the cover of the book yesterday. I don't think it will be released until the late Summer or early Autumn but the cover looks pretty good.

A trip to Warwick

At the weekend i went to Warwick, i haven't been to the county town for a couple of years. I have been waiting for the rebuilding works at the railway station to be completed before i went there to update my photography. The works are almost complete (why does everything take so long in this country?) and so i went there, i had another visit to the Warwick Marketplace Museum too. I love a fossil and some ancient (looted) knick knacks me.

You can see my Warwick photos here.

American Warplanes

I love a big Salamander book, they were the backbone of my book collection when i was in my teens. This volume by Bill Gunston is on American military aircraft from the earliest of days until the 1980s. 

So, this is standard fare for a Salamander book. Aircraft profiles with good information, technical specifications and plenty of photographs and illustrations. As the book was by Bill Gunston then you know it is informative and very well written.

This is an interesting book, covering all types from the famous like the Mustang and Eagle to the obscure. The latter are more fun of course. By now the book is very dated of course but still very enjoyable.

Gently where the roads go

After a man is brutally murdered by a maniac with a sten gun, Superintendent George Gently is bought in to investigate a murky tale of stolen military supplies, enemy agents and a fair amount of sleaze. Gently also finds himself in danger as the gun man tries to cover his trail by also filling Gently with lead.

This is quite a respectable crime romp by Alan Hunter, though at times the story is a little dense with clues and plot points, some of which seem to be going nowhere fast. It is well written and pretty gritty. The ending is a surprise though, but not completely in a good way. The resolution did surprise me though as i was becoming pretty sure the culprit was one of the characters, but in the end they only had a supporting role.

I have a few other George Gently books in my large to-read pile, and i am looking forward to them.

Sowing some seeds

With the spider plant and some garlic bulbs seemingly taking to the mini-greenhouse, it was time to sow some seeds and try and grow something from scratch. I has sown some daisies, dahlias and poached egg plant seeds in trays. Hopefully i will soon have plenty of flowers which i can pot outside the front of the house to try and brighten it up a bit!

22 Pans

I have a big pending list of fiction books to read so of course the most natural thing is to greatly increase it! I have bought a job lot of 22 Pan paperbacks from the 1960s. They include some authors i am familiar with such as John Creasey though a lot that are new to me. Exploring them will be fun, when i finally get around to them. That may be some time!

A trip to the Severn Valley Railway

At the weekend i headed up to the Severn Valley Railway for their branch line weekend. I usually go the SVR at least once a year (though last year i didn't go due to reasons). The branch line weekend was a great event involving smaller trains running more frequently. I visited Northwood Halt for the first time, this is one of the line's request stops and i need it for one of my future books. A great day, hopefully i will visit again later in the year.

You can see my photos from the SVR here.

The Gondwana Shrine

This Blake & Mortimer volume follows on from the excellent Sarcophagi of the Sixth Continent two-parter, although it can't quite be considered "part 3" it does follow up on quite a lot of the plot... though everything is recapped so you can read this on its own and understand whats going on!

At the heart of this story is that staple of books of Blake & Mortimer's ilk : lost civilisations. Though in the case of the Gondwana Shrine, the civilisation is truly very ancient (as in millions of years old) and that does stretch credibility a bit. 

Professor Mortimer takes the lead in this story though of course Blake is never far away and a certain persistent villain also makes a reappearance. To be honest it would be nice for Blake & Mortimer to have some other enemies to face...

As with all Blake & Mortimer books, it has a dense storyline and full of intrigue and adventure, and of course very well drawn. However, as the central concept of the story is a little too far-fetched it did detract from the story a little but it is still well worth your time.