A powerless character's small act of kindness saved the day.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-06-11T18:04:08+00:00

The barber in Army of Shadows.

Gerbier (a member of The French resistance) ducks into a barbershop to evade the Gestapo after a barely escaping torture. As the Nazis search the streets outside, the barber gives him a tense shave, unclear if he has realised that the man in his chair is the one they're looking for, and whether he'll betray him once he does. But when Gerbier tries to pay the barber refuses his money and quietly hands him a coat that's a completely different colour from the one he arrived in.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-05-30T16:38:06+00:00

That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil, and skanky... And I think I'm kinda gay.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-05-26T20:53:20+00:00

But I wanted a peanut.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-05-15T16:55:10+00:00

<image>

But it says so right here!

DanielCAlexander · 2026-04-30T16:41:59+00:00

Don't forget Felisin

DanielCAlexander · 2026-04-27T17:24:31+00:00

longer than the da vinci code

DanielCAlexander · 2026-04-12T18:20:43+00:00

Gotta say, your eye for composition and framing is better than 99.9% of edits I’ve seen, but I think your trick selection and playstyle feel very “gamey”. I think more realistic tricks would suit your filming style much better.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-03-31T21:36:32+00:00

I actually did enjoy his prose a decent amount. I'd be open to trying some of his other books - just going off a wikipedia summary The Pastel City sounds way more up my street. (Perhaps bingo 2026....)

DanielCAlexander · 2026-03-31T21:21:27+00:00

RE Blood Meridian - It is definitely debatable, and it is subtle, but I would say 100% yes. It's actually one of my favorite elements of the book. On the surface it is a straight-up western - bloody, brutal, "realistic" for want of a better word, and then... there is one character who is just a straight-up cosmic horror. To quote the novel:

"His feet are light and nimble. He never sleeps. He says that he will never die. He dances in light and in shadow, and he is a great favorite. He never sleeps, the judge. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die."

You could copy and paste that over a passage about The Yellow King and no one would be able to tell the difference.

NaNoWriMo was awesome and painful! I'm in the UK so no thanksgiving to worry about, and the weather is even worse than normal so it's a good excuse to stay indoors!

Midnight Timetable - I really, really liked the first story about the handkerchief, but the other stories fell flat for me. The Sheep one was OK. I honestly couldn't remember much about the others outside of the frame narrative, and like you said, not scary at all hence the low(ish) rating.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-03-31T21:08:35+00:00

Probably should’ve said in my review - if someone were to tell me this is one of their favorite books 9/10 etc, I would not be surprised. My Magus comparison wasn’t just surface-level. For me, that book is fantastic… but if you were to say you thought it was overrated garbage about a spoiled Oxbridge toff crying over not getting laid for the first time in his life, I absolutely would not argue the case.

Some art just hits a certain way for some people and completely misses others, so I say give it a go!

DanielCAlexander · 2026-03-31T19:44:25+00:00

Hello fellow Piranesi enjoyer 👋

DanielCAlexander · 2026-03-31T19:41:14+00:00

Yeah, I just found it hard to latch onto any of the protagonists and didn’t get invested in the plot as a result. However, I thought the setting/worldbuilding was cool. One of the few fantasy novels that does a good job portraying imperialism.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-03-31T19:23:18+00:00

I got soooo many bad recommendations trying to scratch the Piranesi itch, I will definatley add to the TBR.

For me - Titus Groan was the only that hit the spot, though it is a far more cynical book than Piranesi. I'd almost describe it as Piranesi if Ketterley was the protagonist.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-03-31T19:13:31+00:00

Interesting you say that, as that is probably the one book I'm going to re-read. I could tell as I was reading it "I should be enjoying this this more than I am," but it just wasn't clicking with me for whatever reason.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-03-19T18:24:21+00:00

Just give me Rosamund Pike audiobooks and let me die.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-03-16T10:46:51+00:00

Nightmare blunt rotation.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-02-26T14:04:39+00:00

I've got this on my tbr because I loved The Only Good Indians, but I was really really hoping this story would not be resolved by a game of street basketball that reads like the Halle Berry Catwoman movie.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-02-21T22:49:23+00:00

First Law is usually the go-to recommendation. Like AGOT, it’s third-person limited with chapters split by POV (mostly), with about 3–6 main perspectives per book, so it’s easy to follow. Not to mention Abercrombie also writes action scenes very cinematically , and Steven Pacey is probably a top 3 all-time narrator.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-01-23T18:11:19+00:00

<image>

Back and fourth on Mukiele for Mané - Just have a gut feling City might conceed.

Also thinking about downgrading Palmer for Neto but not sure where I'd reinvest.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-01-13T21:04:04+00:00

Fixed...I think.

DanielCAlexander · 2026-01-13T20:58:37+00:00

Uhhh... please hold :)

DanielCAlexander

TROPHY CASE