Astropolis: Earth Ascendant.

Advantages: Strong characters, tightly written
Disadvantages: The occasional glaring line, probably best to read Book One first...

...Science-fiction has come a long way since H G Wells first looked up at the night sky and thought how cool it would be to have giant Martian tripod war machines trampling all over the Home Counties. Now that the most daring innovations of even quite recent science-fiction can be found readily in your home - from videophones to genetically modified food - the genre continues to evolve and develop. 'Space opera' is just one of the newer sub-genres of science-fiction - and covers just about anything that involves a galactic empire while pretending frantically that it's not just knocking off Dune or Star Wars. Sean Williams manages to steer clear of the Herbert/Lucas influence better than most, as his Earth Ascendant focuses more on what it means to be human in a universe where you can live for tens of thousands of years and split...

Olly_Plimsoll 10.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Earth Ascendant - Sean Williams

Google Earth: The world's search engine, literally

Advantages: free covers the whole world fast uploading of pictures big range of features
Disadvantages: needs internet access

...***this review first appeared on dooyoo.co.uk*** Google Earth is almost undoubtedly the most powerful programme you can get on your personal pc/laptop. Google Earth allows you to zoom in on anywhere in the world and take a look around. There are also quite a few streets now that you can view multiple photographs of. This feature is called "street view" and has landed google in a lot of trouble over privacy rights etc. On Google Earth there is even the option to look at outer space, you can even zoom in on all the planets! So, lets start with the layout and ease of use. On the whole, Google Earth is quite easy to get the hang of. To be honest the only features you will be looking at at first is the search feature. The rest (zooming in, changing the camera angle and moving the camera) is all operated through your mouse. The more...

gavallan2020 20.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Google Earth

El Corte Ingles Store Restaurant, Malaga

Advantages: Very convenient when shopping
Disadvantages: Not exactly a scenic location but that is not why its there.

...I ate lunch here with my wife and two friends in October 07 We were there because we were shopping at El Corte Ingles, which beyond doubt is the superior supermarket chain in Spain. The service was quick, the waiter was attentive and the food was as good and comprehensive as the menu suggested. The menu itself consisted of typical Spanish fare, tenera (Calf) beef, various cuts of pork,a wide selection of fish, soups and salads, nothing that I remember in great detail, but what I do remember was the overall high quality of the food that was served up to me and my companions. Do you ever get that feeling when the food arrives at the table and your mind says either "wow, I think I'm really going to enjoy this," or "Oh no, I wish I'd chosen to eat someowhere else." Well they had the wow factor but not over the top. I recall my bass...

webfoot 24.12.2007 (25.12.2007) · Read review
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Review of Restaurante El Corte Inglés, Malaga

Life on Earth - David Attenborough

Advantages: So educational and interesting. Beautiful footage
Disadvantages: None what so ever!

...are really amazing and really fit in well with the theme of the series. The box set itself comes in a cardboard sleeve which has a large picture of a frog on the front. It has 'Life On Earth' written at the top in large white letters and then at the bottom 'David Attenborough' in smaller yellow letters. The box set opens out like a book so you can see all of the dvds at once to allow for easy selection! The front cover of the inner box set is identical to the cardboard sleeve. There are not many special features on the dvd, only a 'Wild Track with Tony Soper' which is quite interesting. It has an interview with David Attenborough on it and gives information about the filming and the content of the programs. This special feature is on disc 4 of the dvd box set. There is also the option to watch this dvd with English subtitles. Not...

ivytoad 08.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Life On Earth (DVD)

Battlefield Earth

Advantages: Sci-Fi
Disadvantages: Dull

...Battlefield Earth. I read this in its book form and it was a cracking read, sadly it lost something in its conversion to film, actually it lost quite a bit. The film is adapted from the book originally written by L.Ron Hubbard. The human race has been conquered by the Psyclos. The Psyclos have ruled the Earth for over a thousand years, with the use of their incredibly advanced technology they seem to the slave human almost like gods. The Psyclos despise humans for their weakness and actually despise each other. they spend most of their waking hours thinking of simply out doing each other in an attempt at advancement. The use human slaves to strip the Earth of all of its natural resources and kill any humans that show the slightest resistance or independent thought. Jonnie is a wild human living free in...

MaldivesHoliday 27.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Battlefield Earth (DVD)

Foundation and Earth: Solid Foundations, Weak Finish.

Advantages: If you've read the others, you might enjoy reading more.
Disadvantages: If you've read the others, this will probably come as a let down.

...When I was a kid I always had a pile of my parents' books under the shelving in my room. Some of it wasn't exactly the sort of stuff you wanted to get caught reading as a kid ? The Joy of Sex, anyone? - but there were some good things in there. For instance, I discovered Frank Herbert's epic Dune in that pile. It surprises me a bit that I'd never read any of the Foundation books then, given that I remember them being in there. Maybe something to do with the old-school cover art, which, quite frankly, bears absolutely no relation whatsoever to the content and makes it all look a bit... what's the word? Dull. Recently, however, I took it upon myself to read the Foundation books and, more recently, I've finished Foundation and Earth, the fifth book in the series (in release order, not chronological; there're a further two books that...

robcauson 01.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Foundation and Earth - Isaac Asimov

The Day The Earth Got Bored

Advantages: Showy visual effects
Disadvantages: Incredibly preachy message and too slow to get anywhere

...This review contains SPOILERS! Keanu Reeves plays a man whose DNA is sampled in 1928 in the Karakoram Mountains in India (no, its never explained why) and used in the "present day" (conveniently allowing for the film makers to not let the film feel dated by setting a specific year) to create a body for Klaatu, an alien who represents a group of other worlds who have come to Earth to stop Humans destroying the planet by eradicating all human life and using spheres as modern day arks to save the animal life. Jennifer Connelly plays Helen Benson a sexy scientist who is called in by the government when they detect an object on collision course with Manhattan that they expected to destroy all life only for it to slow down and land in New Yorks Central Park, she is also the "wicked" stepmom to her dead husbands son Jacob (played by...

atytyut2434 15.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Day The Earth Stood Still (DVD)

L.Ron.Hubbard - Battlefield Earth

Advantages: It's Ok
Disadvantages: It's ONLY Ok

...Battlefield Earth. Introduction **************** Originally written by L. Ron. Hubbard. Have read a few of his books and so I thought I'd give the film a go. The review will be short and concise, so you can probably already guess what I thought of the film. The Movie. ************* For over a thousand years Earth has been conquered and ruled over by a race of humanoid beings called the Psychlos. Free humans live in only the remotest parts of the planet and number only in the thousands. But the Psychlos are always in need of new slaves and hunt the remaining humans mercilessly. They need them to mine and strip the Earth of all its mineral wealth and resources. Enter our hero, Jonnie, who is restless and leaves the mountains to explore the nearby valley. However, Jonnie is captured by Terl, the Psychlo...

Maximus-Qualitus 14.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of Battlefield Earth (DVD)

Face your enemies in Earth 2160

Advantages: Great graphics, easy to control 3d environment, extra cd with soundtracks, downloadable extra maps
Disadvantages: can't see any

.... The number of strategy games on the market is multiplying very fast. Some of them are simply boring or end too quickly. Because of that it is not easy to find a really good game and enjoy it every single time. With Earth 2160 does not matter if you play a few hours every day, once a week or month. Each time you find something new. When I say new I mean for example terrain, number of opponents and their type, difficulties level and so on. The most important and valuable thing of this game is skirmish mode. Thanks that option each game is different and gives you opportunity to challenge yourself against computer's IQ. Each time when changing the difficulties level, opponents behave cleverer. What I Found very valuable in Earth 2160 is that computer is not repeating the same moves all the time or not placing same building in same place...

panther23 14.10.2008 (01.12.2008) · Read review
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Review of Earth 2160 (PC)

Google Earth - Please Read and Rate

Advantages: Free, Easy to use
Disadvantages: Slightly slow at times

...I was recommended by a friend to use Google earth as i have a big interest in travelling around and wanted to plan my next trip. I downloaded the program for free and was not disappointed when i started using it. This program allows you to view the world from space or more specifiically satelites around the world. I have found many major places around the world are shown quite clearly whereas on the otherhand,some places are merely shown as a blur on the map and after staring at that for a long time it would probably make you feel dizzy. The program itself is a relatively small program to download if you have a broadband connection but if you have dial-up then it will take quite a while. If you have the patience for downloading it with broadband then i would certainly recommend it. Once the program has finsihed downloading...

matty168 08.05.2007 (18.09.2007) · Read review
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Review of Google Earth