Martin McGrath
Welcome to my website. I intend to use this space to hold forth on things like politics, books, technology, films and anything else that interests or irritates me.
You can also use this site to see examples of some of the work I've done as journalist, writer and designer. I'm available for freelance work and my rates are competitive and negotiable for good causes.
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Category Archives: Blog reviews
REVIEW: THE HIGH GROUND BY MELINDA SNODGRASS
The High Ground by Melinda Snodgrass (Titan Books, 2016) When I was a child I loved the breakfast cereal Ready Brek – instant porridge whose television advertisements used to feature a young boy protected from the winter elements by a … Continue reading
Posted in Blog reviews, Review
Tagged 2017, bsfa, review, reviews, science fiction, sf, Vector
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‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BSFA NOMINATION DEADLINE…
Okay, so, if I wanted this to be any use to anyone I’d have done it weeks ago, but I didn’t and there was always just one more book to try and squeeze in… And if I wanted this to … Continue reading
FILM REVIEW: IRON SKY – FALLING FOR FASCISM
The best joke in the Finnish Nazis-on-the-moon movie Iron Sky is, ironically, also the one that best demonstrates the film’s weaknesses. Idealistic Nazi teacher, Renate Richter (Julia Dietze), shows her young class a sharply edited (ten minutes long) version of … Continue reading
REVIEW: STINA LEICHT’S THE FEY AND THE FALLEN (OR “POOR OULD IRELAND, AGAIN”)
I want to start this post by saying plainly that I believe that it is possible for writers to create important and insightful work about cultures to which they do not belong. There is a somewhat crude (but, it seems … Continue reading
REVIEW: DARK EDEN BY CHRIS BECKETT
Chris Beckett’s third novel, Dark Eden, is a complex thing. It draws, as the title suggests, on the ur-biblical theme of the fall from innocence but it is also the story of an isolated human community culturally (and physically) devolving. … Continue reading
REVIEW: DARK LIES THE ISLAND BY KEVIN BARRY
Dark Lies the Island (Jonathan Cape, 2012) is Kevin Barry’s second collection of short stories, following There are Little Kingdoms (2007) and his spectacular first novel, City of Bohane (2011). Given the long and rich history of Irish writers exploiting … Continue reading
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Tagged books, review, reviews
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REVIEW: CITY OF BOHANE BY KEVIN BARRY
This piece was written as part of the BSFA’s Vector Reviewers’ Poll for 2011. Vector reviewers get to nominate their five favourite books of the previous year. In 2011 my five were: Silver Wind, Nina Allan (Eibonvale Press) City of … Continue reading
BOOK REVIEW: IN THE MOUTH OF THE WHALE
I always have more than one book on the go at any given time. There is always one novel and one work of non-fiction work (usually something on politics, history or economics) on the go. Actually, I’m usually part way … Continue reading
FILM REVIEW: GHOST RIDER – SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE
Generally, when someone says a Hollywood blockbuster is “the worst film ever” my reaction is to ball my fingers into a fist and beat him soundly. It’s not that I want to defend big studio releases or even that I … Continue reading
FILM REVIEW: JOHN CARTER OF MARS
John Carter of Mars is going to go down in the history books as one of the biggest flops in cinema history . It might have been cheaper for Disney to actually build a pile of money and climb to … Continue reading