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Well I've taken the plunge and ordered the first book on the strenght of DXB's enthusiasm. Im a fan of 50s childrens fiction (WE Johns ect) anyway so old fashioned morals and a bit of melodrama shouldn't put me off. I'll put my own thoughts up once digested.

Might want to jump then to 'the man from nowhere' through 'reign of the robots'.  Artwork was always sumptuous ( personal view ) but the stories could sometimes be a bit ropy, largely because of the change in sensibility.  Currently working through the 80's Eagle Dares, some really horrible stuff in places!

(Pity the Don Lawrence Trigan Empire stuff hasn't been given the same treatment. I couldn't even pretend to be able to afford the last collections.)

I'm hoping that Titan will pick these up like they did with Dare after Hawk books finished their run.  Certainly I hope so, some of the prices are scary!  

Are the publishers actually considering now after making me buy 13 releases of 'THE COMPLETE JUDGE DREDD CASE FILES' that they might not actually be putting in the COMPLETE Judge Dredd Case Files?

I have to assume that we are glossing over the obvious incompleteness for copyright reasons of the 'banned issues'.  

Could I have some shortbread with my tea please?

I'm surprised that the ultimate lack of explanation in Cradlegrave didn't annoy me. I wanted to know what had infested Mary, how it had started and when, etc etc - and in a sense I still do - but at the same time, we didn't really need to know. The ending was nearly perfect as it was - especially as it tied up one of the best self-contained thrills in years. No sequel please, let it stand as it is, unanswered questions and all.

On the first reading of this conclusion I felt a bit cheated but having sat down and reread it from start to finish I have to agree completely.  For me this has to be the perfect horror story.  The slow simmering pressure, the growing sense of unease at the actions of the characters, the hinted at actions that are never fully revealed.  This puts me in mind of the original Alien, all tension derived from what we don't see as much as what we do.  Disturbing!

besides, no doubt they would want the lucky b'stard to work in Oxford.  Appealing as the opportunity might be I know I couldn't afford that, even if they could afford me ( which they could easily! ).  

Future Shock:  Lovely artwork. Ben Willsher can certainly draw pretty ladies! I don't get the story though. It's not a dislike, I just don't understand it, or the twist. I know theres terrorist stuff going on, things are blowing up regularly so going to work is a hazard and the CIA and FBI are apparently at war, even responsible in cases ... but... (I'm probably just being a dunce-breed.)

Know what you mean, plus it puts me in mind of an elderly FS about customer loyalty ... some old granny getting ready to go shopping and kitting out in full battle gear and BFG.  The other one it reminded me of was Richard Morgan's Market Forces, right down to the part where the ending felt like a bit of a damp squib!  Felt like it was trying to be a little bit too clever and cramming in too many ideas at once so like you say, the denouement just didn't work the way it should.  

Going to add my agreement on the cover, nice.  Would also like to add my vote for more wraparounds.  

Not sure about this re-imagining of ro-busters but if it's anything like what Mills has done with Savage then lets have a look see.  Just now with Langley please, that artwork just hurts the eyes!  Would like to see Adlard back on Savage with the next book, some of his images for the first series were stunning ( the helmet cover ranks as one of my favourites of the past few years ).

Defoe is one I'm now starting to warm to.  Some of the earlier stuff just didn't work for me personally but this seems to be getting into its stride nicely now.  As for Cradlegrave, nice to have something in here that doesn't shove it straight down your throat for a change.  The only reason I'm looking forward to the ending of this is to be able to sit down and read it in one sitting like it seems to deserve.

Any Neal Stephenson fans got an idea of what Enoch Root is all about? Who/what is he?

knowing Stephensons penchant for Mathematical and IT jokes I wonder if it has something to do with the Eroot class used to handle persistant objects between uses of applications.  Considering the manner in which the character seems to turn up and interact within the books this seems plausible.  Of course there could be something in the Wikepedia comments!

BTW anyone else tried Grimwood's Arabesque?

Currently re-reading Stephenson's Cryptonomicon - absolutely hysterical, still one of the best he has done - think I'll have to check out Anathema looking at one or two of the recommendations above.

Working through tooth into the mid hundreds ( early ABC, still brings back fond memories, Disaster 1990 - the most accurately named story in tooth ever? )

Just received the latest two volumes of Barefoot Gen - a history of Hiroshima.  The only manga outside of Akira I have ever read and one that I would heartily recommend to anyone.  Most harrowing comic I've ever had the pleasure of.