Reviews | Penstricken

App Review: Storywriter

Posted on April 25, 2021 Leave a Comment

I, too, despair of the hope of ever finding such an app. It was in this context that I downloaded Storywriter by Raindrop for Android but the question is: did it deliver?

Book Review: The Pillars of the Earth

Posted on April 23, 2021 1 Comment

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is a hefty tome about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge in 12th century England. It’s full of lovable and deplorable characters, political intrigue, technical details about medieval construction and just a little bit more sex and sexual violence than was necessary.

Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Children’s Books Edition

Posted on April 22, 2021 Leave a Comment

I might have mentioned once or twice before that I have a little daughter….

‘And so,’ my wife suggested, ‘why not write a Super Snappy Speed Reviews post about books for children?’

App Review: Text Adventure

Posted on April 18, 2021 Leave a Comment

If you long for the glory days of graphics-free interactive stories then let me introduce you to Text Fiction by Onyxbits.

App Review: Goodreads Android App 2.0.2

Posted on April 16, 2021 Leave a Comment

Anyway, today I got an email asking me to download the new and improved Goodreads App.

‘Yes, I will.’ I thought. ‘And then I’ll tell all my faithful readers exactly what I thought of it, mwahaha!’

Book Review: Ready Player One

Posted on April 15, 2021 Leave a Comment

‘Enchanting. Willy Wonka meets The Matrix’ (USA Today). That’s what the little quotation says on the front cover of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

High praise indeed. High enough to make me buy it and read it. But I know what you’re thinking: ‘did it deliver?’

Super Snappy Speed Reviews – TV Edition (Vol. 2)

Posted on April 10, 2021 Leave a Comment

I’ve picked 5 TV shows entirely at random from my DVD rack/Now TV/Lovefilm/etc. accounts and reviewed them all in no more than four or five sentences.

Super Snappy Speed Reviews – Writing Apps for Android

Posted on April 3, 2021 Leave a Comment

As ever, the apps I have reviewed here are not necessarily apps that I particularly liked or disliked, but are simply a random selection of writers’ apps that I have tried out at one point or another. As usual, these reviews only reflect my own personal opinions and impressions, squished, squashed and squeezed into a few short sentences.

The Collapsing Empire: A Review

Posted on March 28, 2021 Leave a Comment

I love a good space opera and the manifold positive reviews I read all suggested that was exactly what I was going to get, so I thought it was a safe bet. But I’ll be perfectly honest. I have mixed feelings about this book.