REVIEW: The Eternal War (Time Riders #4) by Alex Scarrow (Book)

Occasionally, usually between "epics", I like to indulge in a little palette cleansing for the mind. My series of choice for these moments is Alex Scarrow's cheeky little number, Time Riders.

Three young kids, who should all have died, have been given a second chance at the moment of their supposed departure - to work for a top secret organisation whose goal is to make sure no-one can destroy the fabric of space-time via time travel.

The premise is interesting and fun, though there are some slight plot holes/inconsistencies which sometimes do allow Scarrow to escape from a hole he has somehow got into. Generally though, these tales do exactly what it says on the tin - they are marketed more towards Young Adults so maybe its not unsurprising that they aren't quite as developed plot wise.

The Eternal War is #4 in the series of (I think) 9, and we are starting to see an arc developing which wasn't quite so prevalent in the earlier books (though it was hinted at towards the end of #3). The first few felt like stand-alone tales but the last couple have really started to present more and more questions about the nature of the Time Riders, who recruited them, what the ultimate reason for their existence is and why is time travel so dangerous?

For the first time in the series you really sense something bigger lurking in the shadows, waiting to pop out and ramp up the intrigue a notch or two. Coincident with that is a further "layering" of the characters from what has been seen before. They are starting to feel more three dimensional and slightly more well rounded than they have been previously.

Another interesting difference in this particular story is the setting. Rather than our operatives having to operate from "the past" to try and fix what has gone wrong, Eternal War finds us in an alternative future, trying desperately to fix the necessary equipment in order to go back in time and repair the damage. This helps in allowing a number of the characters to get outside of the comfort zone they have been living in for the first few stories, further aiding their development and evolution.

Overall this feels like a very transitional book, the individual and loosely linked stories giving way to something which is a bit complex and over-arching than we though at first glance. These are never going to be towering epics, but they certainly clean the palette well whilst providing plenty of interest along the way.

Verdict: 4 stars out of 5

Till next time,
DT

A very pleasant surprise

So an unexpected bonus arrived earlier this week – I’m delighted, and a little stunned, to have been shortlisted for a Butterfly Award in the category of Committed Baby Loss Volunteer. It was a real shock for me and I’m very honoured to see my efforts noticed in this way.

The Butterfly Awards are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the positive which has arisen out of something which can be negative, distressing and so very cruel. They celebrate survivors and those that champion baby loss awareness causes – of which Friends of Serenity are proud to be included. Last year we had a few nominations and were lucky enough to be able to sponsor an award at the ceremony.

What I do doesn’t ever really feel like hard work, certainly not at the level that so many other people put themselves through for these causes. I run round a field every now and then getting covered in mud and cursing the fact that I have probably had comfortably more than my fair share of alcohol and takeaways over my nearly 35 years.

To be even considered for something like this is heart-warming and humbling at the same time, and it is a fantastic reward for everything that we have been working towards. The new Butterfly Suite is built and looks amazing, the Serenity Suite has been refurbished and, of course, Jo and Mark welcomed little Toby into the world a few weeks ago.

Times like these make you appreciate what you have, but also encourage you to strive for more. To never give up, to never say “we have done enough”. There is such a long way to go, and the journey may never end, but the trip is certainly one which it is an honour to be a part of.

There will be more to come on the Butterfly Awards soon, I’ll be posting a link to my nomination profile once I have it up and running, and there is a fair possibility that I will be begging each and every one of you to vote.

A vote for anyone is better than no vote at all. If you vote for me that’d be even nicer but the most important thing is to have people reading these posts, being made aware that these kind of awards are out there and showing an interest. The more awareness we can bring to baby loss and baby loss charities, the better it will be for those who need our help and our love.

So keep your eyes peeled for further details, and in the meantime please feel free to share with everyone and anyone.

Thank you as always.

Till next time,

DT

REVIEW: Judgement Day (Science of Discworld #4) by Terry Pratchett, Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart

It has been a long time since I've delved into Discworld, and even longer since attacking the hybrid Discworld/Roundworld "Science of Discworld" series. The three previous books have been an interesting mix of Discworld narrative and real-life science. The science has veered from the "simple" science that anyone with even a vague interest in could follow through to some slightly more difficult concepts that required a bit more background knowledge to understand fully. But it has always been relatively consistent and not too varied in the level of understanding required.

Science of Discworld #4: Judgement Day

I was expecting something similar from number four but I have to confess to a slight level of disappointment with this one. While it is true that the topics covered in this book are slightly more philosophical and "touchy-feely" than early books, this doesn't excuse some of the writing being very inconsistent. It jumps too far; from needing a simple background in science for some sections through to topics that require several advanced PhDs (or a willingness to simply turn the page and ignore that bit).

Cosmology is never an easy topic to cover, and it is even harder to cover it for the masses. But I felt the writers never really found the correct pitch for the target audience (in fact it seems sometimes they don't know who the target audience are). There are some fantastic sections, just not enough consistency.

The other main problem I had with this book was the slightly "lecturey" feel to it. The authors are scientific men, who just about keep their disdain for religious beliefs under control. A big part of the book is the difference between "human-centred" and "universe-centred" thinking, which seems to mimic quite well the difference between those of a religious persuasion and those from a more scientific world.

But it is all very preachy, along the lines of "How can you silly religious people believe so blindly in faith when the evidence is all to the contrary?". I get their point, but not the approach. It often feels patronising and rather petulant sometimes; like trying to explain to a child a complex problem and being frustrated that the child wants to just play (not that I am referring to those of great faith as children you understand)!!

It all comes across as a frustrated attempt to convert believers into sceptics, missing the point that the reason many believers believe cannot be put into simple scientific equations or concepts. They simply do, and all the scientific evidence won't make a jot of difference. The whole essence of the topics gets lost under this weight of frustration for me.

The Discworld sections too disappointed. They were a couple of strung together sections that in all reality brought nothing to the book and simply served to clean the intellectual palate between topics. The other books had a much better balance between the fiction and non-fiction sections but I'm afraid this one gets it woefully wrong.

Overall this really should have been better. The tried and tested concept has been amended too much for my liking and the complexity of the topics is possibly beyond what the typical reader would have expected. The Discworld elements don't work and this book is, I feel, trading on the success of that series without incorporating enough of those elements. It needs to be lighter and I think most people expected it to be.

Verdict: 3 stars out of 5 - A disappointing entry. Too focused on trying to push the world of science over religion and too inconsistent in its tone and approach. Lip-service paid to Discworld rather than using that part of the narrative to connect the dots in a more coherent manner.

Till next time,

DT

EVENT REVIEW: Manchester Spartan Sprint OCR

It’s been a wee while since we’ve been out in the OCR world. A slight hiatus since the failed attempt to conquer Dirty Weekend has been (a) frustrating but (b) probably for the best. I’ve managed to get some miles in the legs and also build up a bit more strength, always handy for taking on the myriad obstacles thrown at us by the race directors.

This week’s episode of Team MUBU’s “Seriously how good was that?” OCR review is the Sprint edition of Manchester Spartan. Clocking in at 3+ miles and 15ish obstacles this is the baby of the Spartan family, but still a critical part of that impressive trifecta medal that so many crave.

MANCHESTER SPARTAN SPRINT

3ish miles OCR

July 4^th 2015

Heaton Park, Manchester

Along with Tough Mudder, Spartan is probably one of the most recognisable and well-known OCR brands out there. There has been plenty of upheaval and change over the last few years as the company has grown and evolved , along with the OCR industry as a whole. Some changes have been good, some less well received. 

This is my second Spartan race after completing the now-defunct Yorkshire Sprint last year, it was always going to be interesting to see how it went.

Pre-Race Day Organisation

Plenty of emails from Spartan in the run-up to the event, making sure you were well prepared and full of all the information you needed. Throw in a free local Spartan training session for those who managed to get themselves out of bed (we failed) and you have a pretty good preparation for the race. Only thing I would say is that they need to sort out the pre-registration for the junior races (though this is more down to Trumin than Spartan). We had great difficulty registering our 7 year old because she didn’t have her own email account and we didn’t really have a spare one to register here against (you can’t use one that already has a Trumin account)!

8 – Very Good

Event Facilities

Slightly disappointing considering the Sprint and Super were both run on the same day. I think Spartan missed a trick really, they could have thrown plenty more stalls on the site as there were a good chunk of people at the site for most of the day. We had friends running both so hung around for a good few hours post-race, yet there was nothing really to spend money on – and no beer curiously! Still there were plenty of toilets and we parked very close to the main venue for free so no grumbles there.

7 - Good

Registration and Race Day Organisation

Generally pretty good provided you had your ID and waiver ready. Probably could have done with a few more people at the registration desks to make things move a bit smoother but it is very difficult to get staffing levels right for these things and it wasn’t too bad. Like the pre-race organisation, a bit more thought is needed with respect to the junior races as young children aren’t likely to have email accounts to themselves that often!

8 – Very Good

Location and Watchability
For us this was ideal, 15 minutes down the road rather than the usual 2 hour drive down to the Midlands. Plus you could see plenty of the course (including the rope climb and spear throw) from the event village and it wasn’t much of a wander to go and see other things if you wanted to.

9 - Excellent

On course facilities

One water station on the Sprint race (though apparently I ran right past it!. A distinct lack of distance markers or obstacle counts though (Reaper does a good thing were it tells you the number of each obstacle – I like this as it helps with pacing yourself). There seemed to be plenty of Crew around and everyone seemed relatively friendly and helpful.

7 – Good

Warm-up and briefings

Pretty poor really considering the history of Spartan Race and it’s beliefs and ideals. A few chants of “Arooooooo” is all fun but I always like to see a good warm up before the race (especially for the Sprint race which has less, er, “athletes” in it ). I don’t mind the Super not needing one as I saw most people warming themselves up ahead of it but the Spring needed one.

4 – Below Average

Variety of obstacles

A reasonable mix of up, down, over, round and through here. Spartan always has some unique obstacles that I haven’t seen anywhere else (spear toss, pulley lift etc..) so there is usually something different here. Probably could have done with a few more of the ones we saw at Yorkshire last year but generally this was good.

7 - Good

Obstacle-to-run Mix

Probably 2 or 3 obstacles short of being the ideal mix. You didn’t really have any massively long and tedious running-only sections in the Sprint race (mainly as it isn’t really long enough for that). But I felt like we got slightly short-changed with the obstacles this year and could have done with a few more. We had a frustratingly long queue at the first obstacle but generally were ok after that.

7 - Good

Usage of Terrain and Nature

Heaton Park is relatively flat and a public park so it is always difficult to have full control over the terrain and the facilities. I thought they did a reasonable job of utilising what was there (though a nice lake dip would have been welcome considering the temperature) and the route seemed to have been quite well thought out once everyone got over the first wall and away.

7 - Good

Post-Race Pack

A bit disappointing really, especially considering the Post-Race Pack at Spartan Yorkshire last year was top quality. Everything seems to be about the medal (and I’ll admit it is a cracker) but other than that it wasn’t great. The T-shirt is nice enough (if non-tech) but a bag of Haribo lookalikes and a plastic cup of water felt a bit disappointing when compared to other offerings. You did get a card which allowed you to get a freebie from five different stalls around the venue but none of it was stuff that you really want after a race!

6 – Above Average

Course Difficulty: 5

Obstacle Difficulty: 6

Surprisingly considering its reputation I found this one to be quite easy. The lack of real hills makes a huge different to the course difficulty, compare this with something like Total Warrior Lakes and you begin to understand how much that matters. Obstacle wish I pretty much managed anything with no bother (except the rope climb). I do think Spartan need to reconsider the burpee penalty though, it just seems disproportionate and, TBH, most people not in the elite waves can’t do 30 one more than a couple of occasions, so they don’t.

Overall Thoughts

The lure of the Trifecta will always bring people back to Spartan (and I’ll be honest and say that I’m already committed to next year for that very reason). But taken in isolation I think Spartan need to do a bit more to keep up with those OCRs that are coming along with similar concepts (Pain and Suffering, Dirty Dozen etc..), they can’t stand still and rely on reputation. This was fun, friendly and still a good challenge – but your rivals are catching you (and in some cases have already passed you).

Overall Score

7.0 – Still an enjoyable bit of “Aroooooooooo”ing – but I’d like to see Spartan up their game for next year.

A reminder of the system

10.0 Nothing will ever get 10.0, you should always strive for better

9.5 Sell organs AND children. And everything you own. About as good as it gets

9.0 Sell organs and/or children to do this event every single time

8.5 Highly recommended indeed, this gets booked as soon as it is released

8.0 A very good event, only money or illness would stop this being a yearly thing

7.5 Definitely one to recommend. Not much would keep me away

7.0 On the list for another go, though not necessarily an automatic selection

6.5 Would do this one again if the stars aligned, but wouldn’t break the bank for it

6.0 Was fun but only a very cheap deal and a free weekend would tempt me again

below 6.0 Not for me for one reason or another.

EVENT REVIEWS SO FAR

8.0 Tough Guy

7.5 Reaper Day Race

7.5 Dirty Weekend

7.5 Yorkshire Warrior (Year 1)

7.0 Tough Mudder North West

7.0 Iron Run

7.0 Survival of the Fittest Manchester (Years 1 and 2)

7.0 Spartan Sprint Yorkshire

7.0 Total Warrior Lake District

7.0 SPARTAN SPRINT MANCHESTER

7.0 Yorkshire Warrior (Year 2)

7.0 Avalanche - Chase the Yeti

7.0 Deerstalker

6.5 Mighty Deerstalker

6.5 Pandemonium Iced

6.5 Stockton River Rat Race

6.0 Ram Run

Next up is Mudnificent 7 on 1^st August. The first “multi-branded” OCR, this should be cracking as all 7 brands will be desperate to showcase the best of their race in each kilometre. It’ll be obstacle-tastic! Plus I’ve been to the venue before for Reaper and loved it; all-in-all I can’t wait.

Till next time,

DT