that no one can hear the whispers
they’ve lit the world so bright
that no one can see in the dark
they’ve told so many lies
that no one knows the truth now
they’ve ruined all of nature
and told us to play in the park
The Legend of Socket Greeny — Tony Bertauski
And so ends the Socket Greeny Saga, and what an ending it all turned out to be.
There was a point near the beginning of this final book where i thought it looked very clear how this was going to go, and i admit to feeling a little disappointed.
‘But wait, read on’, i told myself; ‘before jumping to conclusions.’
Tony does enjoy his plot twists and this one just seemed to keep on twisting, as further and further down the rabbit hole of Socket’s true nature we went. My little disappointment didn’t last long at all — sorry for ever doubting you Tony. 
And the final word is…
pause…
wait for it…
Awesome!
Yup, this whole saga has been totally enjoyable and very unputdownable. Which, although it’s been quite a while since i read Halfskin, is what i remember feeling about that series as well.
Yes folks, Tony is a great writer who, if you’re into his kind of sci-fi, will certainly keep you engaged all the way until the last page. Great characters, great writing, with a nice standard everyday lexicon that doesn’t leave you having to use look up at all: which does make the reading experience a lot more immersive.
All i can say is that i’m very much looking forward to next time the “Infinite Improbability Drive” picks one of Tony’s books to read.
Tony’s Page
#scifi #tonybertauski
Custard Coffee
Custard Coffee.
Into a big mug that holds at least 350ml place…
20ml Lavazza Prontissimo Espresso or your favourite instant coffee
15ml Billingtons Demerara or some other good raw cane demerara sugar (be aware that some shops sell Demerara sugar that’s made from beet sugar: check the package for “raw cane” stated on the label)
70ml Alpro Vanilla Soya cold from the fridge…stir well then add…
250ml boiling filtered or spring water.
If you use standard mains water it’s not gonna taste as good. Seriously people, stop drinking mains water and using it in cooking, it isn’t healthy and tastes shite.
…stir well again and enjoy.
It’s a rather strange taste at first because one isn’t really used to having ones coffee taste of vanilla custard, but once you get through that first mug it becomes a very enjoyable way to enjoy coffee.
#5t4n5 #coffee #recipes
Remaking ‘The Princess Bride’ — WTF!!!
I’d like to say that this “Remake The Princess Bride? Inconceivable!” article came as a bit of a shock; i’d like to say that some twat actually having the audacity to even imagine remaking The Princess Bride is beyond belief; but i can’t say either. Because it’s not a shock and it’s not beyond belief. Because, as we all know, nothing is more sacred these days than corporations making profit.
If the film industry thinks it can make a little bit of profit then they will shit all over everything that anyone loves, respects, admires and/or enjoys. The film industry, for the most part, does not care about quality, it’s nothing but a monster that continuously needs to consume anything and everything in its path to stay alive. But, at the end of the day, it only does this if you, the viewing public, keep feeding it. Ergo…
The Princess Bride is one of the most classic films ever made. There is nothing in this film that leaves space for improvement. It doesn’t need to be remade. It stands the test of time as it is. It will always be a fantastic film for all the family to enjoy, no matter what age or anything. It is, quite simply, film making at its very best.
Seriously, if you haven’t watched The Princess Bride then do so. Invite friends and family around to watch it with you.
And then, when you’ve watched the film and maybe want more of the similar, read the book!
Yes, the book complements the film perfectly. But whereas normally i would suggest reading the book before watching the film, with The Princess Bride i would wholeheartedly recommend watching the film before reading the book.
But whatever you do, please don’t watch any remake of this film. You’ll just encourage the film industry to continue shitting all over everything of quality that ever existed.
#5t4n5 #theprincessbride #tvandfilm
The Training of Socket Greeny — Tony Bertauski
Oh wow, that was rather exciting. I usually read for about an hour or so at bedtime but last night i picked up this story at 21% in and couldn’t put it down until i’d totally devoured the lot.
The first third of the book mostly deals with Socket’s training and how bad he’s getting it from his trainer, his mother’s interference, his own issues with it, etc.. Then, while supposed to be taking a break at home it all begins to unravel for Socket as he moves closer to his final test, and then, big badda kaboom!!! The last third of this book is relentless, and, for me at least, totally unputdownable.
Tony is a fantastic writer with a great imagination and the writing ability to convey it.
So, with that said, i’m off to dive straight into The Legend of Socket Greeny.
Tony’s Page
#scifi #tonybertauski
La Vuelta a España — 2019
The last of the year’s 3 grand tours, La Vuelta usually throws up a fun 3 week adventure around the roads of Spain and, although in some ways it was a little disappointing this year, it was still a good race in many other ways.
Having lost a few good riders and teams in the first week due to crashes, illness, etc., the GC race basically came down to Movistar v Jumbo Visma with Movistar seeming more than happy to settle for second place. Although to be fair to Valverde and Quintana, they were raced in the Tour and then expected to come here and perfom against RogliÄ who had spent the summer doing nothing but get into perfect shape for this race. If Movistar had held Valverde back from the Tour and focused him totally on La Vuelta and made him absolute leader from the start without Quintana in the team then, oh, how things may have been so very different.
In the end the main battle was the white jersey between Miguel Ãngel López and Tadej PogaÄar. While everyone else seemed more than happy to just surrender to RogliÄ in the GC race, these two young whipper-snappers were most definitely not surrendering anything and were punching back and forth between stages all the way to the end with Tadej riding an awesome end to stage 20 that Miguel simply had nothing left in the tank to answer with. With hindsight it did look like Tadej may have deliberately held back on stage 19 while Miguel went charging off, thus leaving himself a lot fresher for stage 20 than Miguel.
And while the big GC battle teams weren’t going full gas mental, the breakaways were usually left to have it large on most days throwing up some wonderful moments for a few of the pro-continental riders — which we always love to see.
All in all, yes, it could have been better had it not been for those early misfortunes, but it was still plenty good enough.
#5t4n5 #lavuelta #tv
The Discovery of Socket Greeny — Tony Bertauski
So after a good start with The Making of Socket Greeny this book continues in very much the same high paced, action packed way.
All super good fun, with young people creating merry mayhem while saving humanity from the evil things. Well written and enjoyable — even for a 54 year old — so i’m just gonna dive straight into The Training of Socket Greeny and find out what happens next.
Tony’s Page
#scifi #tonybertauski
The Making of Socket Greeny — Tony Bertauski
As a short prequel to the main trilogy it sets the stage quite well.
We’re definitely dealing with teenagers running amok in full immersion virtual reality environments. It’s got aspects of Ready Player One and Anthea Sharp’s Feyland, so if you enjoyed those Socket Greeny may just be your thing.
At the end of the day, a prequel should serve one purpose and that’s to get you wanting to read the rest of the series, and this has definitely served it’s purpose as i dove straight into The Discovery of Socket Greeny. It could have used a little editing to get rid of a few typos, but other than that it’s well written with a fast flowing narrative.
Tony’s Page
#scifi #tonybertauski
The Monarch of the Glen — Neil Gaiman
An American Gods spin off novella which has Shadow getting mixed up in an ageless fight between Scottish monsters and those who want to keep them in their place.
All the usual Neil Gaiman excellence.
Available as a stand alone novella, as part of the Fragile Things collection and also included in the Kindle edition of American Gods.
Neil’s Page
#fantasy #neilgaiman
Melting Shlemiel — Jason Werbeloff
An interesting allegorical novella that has as a good metaphorical dig at those who build walls of exclusion around themselves.
Set in a very pious Jewish area of Jerusalem, during 2054, it’s pretty obvious who the author is pointing at and why. The Jewish state first build walls to separate and defend their country, then it’s walls to separate and defend each town, then each district, then each house, until each person has their very own impregnable, permanent second skin.
Can also be read as a fun little dystopian/cyberpunk thing if you don’t want to think too much.
Currently only available in the anthology, 2054.
Jason’s Page
#scifi #cyberpunk #dystopian #jasonwerbeloff
She Did It — JT Lawrence
A really good short story about a murder, through the mind of the detective investigating it.
It’s written in a kind of freeze frame style, like each paragraph is describing an image, a feeling, a thought. Each a separate entity, pieces in the puzzle. A little strange at first as it’s different from the normal narrative flow we get so used to expecting, but once you get used to it it really works.
This is my first read of Janita’s work and i have to say that i like it and i’m looking forward to reading more.
Janita’s Page
#jtlawrence
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