Arriving in Thailand

I guess most people’s first vision of Thailand is arriving at the airport in Bangkok and driving into the city. Not me.

I filled out some forms and was stamped out of Malaysia and into Thailand, crossing the Sadao border checkpoint in Thailand’s far south. The difference with Malaysia was distinct. The big wide road with dusty shop fronts either side was much busier and more chaotic than Malaysia. Big trucks and cars pumping down the street, motorcycles weaving in between, some with side-cars selling food, all of them kicking up big clouds of dust and smoke from the street.

Waterstones to Deliver Books Using Owls

It’s the 21st century, the time is nigh for innovation. Quirky is the new mainstream, and everyone is searching for that next gimmick to take the world by storm. Recently, that search has moved into online shopping delivery methods, which is about time; we’ve been using regular post forEVER now. It’s time for a change.

Review - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

It's The Hunger Games... but with more balls!

Undoubtedly, the best thing to have come out of the Twilight phenomenon was decision to make the The Hunger Games franchise, a series of films based on the popular and fantastic books written by Suzanne Collins.

New Harry Potter Book Announced

UPDATE: This is blatantly bollocks, and not actually news. But if you've got 5 minutes to kill then feel free to read on...

It’s been more than two years since Harry Potter graced the big screen in the darkly dramatic conclusion to a film franchise no one wanted to end. It’s been more than 6 years since we got our first look at how the epic battle of the wizarding world would end, with the release of the greatly anticipated book 7.

Whilst the book was hugely exciting news, that buzz died down a lot before the films came to pass (not that that stopped any of us from watching them in full dress up), as many felt the ending was lacklustre – your typical hero wins, gets the girl, happy ending. Given that J K Rowling was quite happy to devastate her readers with impossible hardships or the death of almost main-cast characters; the survival of all the major heroes, their relationships and reputations seemed almost out of place to some.

Many more just wanted to know what happened next. Al we really got was “everyone got married, got great jobs, had kids and lived happily ever after”. And whilst we’re happy for them all, we still have questions. What happened to our other beloved characters like Neville and Luna? Does Harry Potter’s reputation follow his kids to Hogwarts? Does Albus Severus Potter get bullied for that name?

Well, the prayers of millions have been answered today, as news has broken that will cause untold joy. Following the disappointing response to her foray into adult fiction, J K Rowling is back on the Hogwarts Express, rocking out Harry Potter part 8.

No details are known to us yet, but given where the last left off, it seems likely we’ll be learning more about the adult lives of the boy who lived and his friends, and maybe a little something about the younger generation of wizard folk too.

And to throw even more excitement out there, whilst it has not been confirmed whether this book will be adapted to film, Daniel Radcliffe is said to be on board with that idea, which has to be a pretty good omen.

So don’t pack up your wands or sell your Hogwarts robes on eBay just yet. Harry Potter is going to be enchanting us for a spell longer yet.

Words by Ari Carrington

Eulogy to Tom Clancy

The literary world was dealt a devastating blow this week as Tom Clancy, the author of hard hitting espionage novels such as The Sum Of All Fears, passed away near his home in Maryland aged 66.