Barry Cunliffe

Advantages: a light and interesting read
Disadvantages: none

...It has long been the view of the ancient world that the population was fairly immobile, especially when it comes to maritime movement. Small ships hugged the shallows of the coast to fish or trade but long distance journeys through deep waters were the possession of a much later age. It has also long been the assumption that the ancient empires of the Mediterranean, whilst being familiar with the geography of their encircled sea, didn't venture much outside their sphere of control. As a general statement that may be true but Barry Cunliffe's book challenges those ideas, albeit in a small way. Sometimes exceptions provide the necessary proof to establish new ideas and that may be the case here, though the author limits himself to smaller speculations. He is not attempting to over through any general theory or established understanding... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Ties in with TV Series
Disadvantages: Not as good as the earlier stories

...***The Background*** The original writer of this story is John Cunliffe but it was written for the television series and the artwork is taken from the Woodland Animations team. John Cunliffe has been creating Postman Pat stories for over 20 years but he is also famous for his other characters Rosie and Jim who have also had a bit of a re-launch in the past few years. ***The Story*** Postman Pat notices that everyone in Greendale has lots of different types of transport and comes up with the idea of a race to see which one would win. As well as Pat's own bright red van, there is Ajay with his motorbike, Alf on a tractor, Ted in his lorry and PC Selby on his pushbike. Pat imagines that Ajay will win the race as his motorbike is very fast but Julia Pottage points out that there will be tests along the way to determine the driver... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Very witty, plot twists
Disadvantages: So funny it will hurt

...The title of this humorous spin-off of the Harry Potter books is called ‘Barry Trotter and the shameless parody’ and is written by the author with a great sense of humour Michael Gerber. The genre of this book (for those who don’t know!) is a fictional parody based on the fictional Harry Potter books. The main plot of this hilarious book is that Barry Trotter is so important to Hogwash’s bottom-line that he is allowed to stay there for as long as he likes, It has been announced that a film is being made of J.G Rollins’ books and Bumblemore sends Barry and his friends on a mission to stop the film and it’s cheap merchandise being made. This may all sound incredibly unusual, and it is, as there is many plot-twists and you have to read carefully to find out what is actually happening in the story as the plot changes dramatically as the book... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful