Coal in the making: this small area of the forest is permanently wet, acting as a pool for several tiny streams and springs, before they overflow to join the larger brook that drains the valley. Fallen trees will eventually be preserved in oxygen-deprived mud and lie to await the geological millennia it will take for …
Continue reading #Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 08/Mar/22
The ground here is rarely dry, as witnessed by the growth of juncus. A little used track carries walkers, and the occasional mountain biker, to a wild plateau that overlooks a railway cutting last used over 60 years ago, and now seasonally swamped by a small stream that flows from the tunnel that leads from …
Continue reading #Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 04/Mar/22
Graffiti is so personal, and sometimes a little inexplicable. This piece, found inside a deserted and damaged home in a spot difficult to access on a Greek island, can only be seen by anyone adventurous enough, and curious enough to venture inside a building that is far from welcoming from the outside. So, who sprayed …
Continue reading #Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 03/Mar/22
Published on Medium here.
Another month closes, ending the meteorological winter of the UK and summoning the sunshine of the coming spring. A welcome change following a time of necessary restriction, incompetent governance, divisive political moves, and threats of war.So I give you a picture of hope for better weather, better places, better times to come. The sunset here …
Continue reading #Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 28/Feb/22
Autumn colours from beech and bracken linger to lap up the promising warmth of a winter sun shining on a rural lane. Passing through the forest, above the narrow way, its noise and steam no longer present, a railway bridge now forms part of a peaceful path permitting wanderers to walk through birdsong and the …
Continue reading #Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 27/Feb/22
Fiction Classics/Literary Fiction288 PagesJane Austen’s first published novel ‘Sense and Sensibility’ manages to capture all her humour and dissatisfaction with the age in which she lived. I felt the language was a little more convoluted and, occasionally, more obtuse than in the better known ‘Pride and Prejudice’, making it sometimes hard work to ascertain her …
Continue reading Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen: #BookReview.
Uneasy lies the truce between footfalls and wheels in the forest. Multitudes of narrow circles of rubber coated steel press harsh upon wet ground, forming grooves the rain cannot escape and making waterways of once sound walking paths. Slowly, those small streams erode the ground until the soil under walkers’ boots slips away to flood …
Continue reading #Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 11/Feb/22
https://medium.com/@stuartaken/whats-wrong-with-a-cardboard-box-e67cc63dd20f?sk=3320c2ee7e50f452709ee2ad6bc21739This is a link to the short article on Medium. Enjoy!
150 pagesEnvironment, Climate, Extinction. Subtitled ‘The Life (or Death?) of Planet Earth’, this extensively researched book was written by a man who has worked for 35 years at the BBC Natural History Unit, often working with David Attenborough. So, someone who has personally witnessed the decline of nature all over the world.The nineteen chapters are …
Continue reading Planet Crunch, by Richard Brock: #BookReview.
5 Star review from Mojgan Azar December 21, 2021 An Excess of … Stuart Aken’s “An Excess of” is a story about human nature and the conflicts we hold within each of us. The journey takes us from the deck of a sinking ship to the sands of a strange shore and deep into the …
Continue reading And Another 5-Star Review of ‘An Excess Of…’
Here’s another lovely review for my latest novel, posted to Goodreads. Aithal Aithal's review Jan 08, 2022 really liked it This book is not just a story but a very thought-provoking piece of work. Several times, I found myself nodding in agreement. The subject matter is interwoven as the story progresses. Stuart Aken masterfully makes …
Continue reading Another Great #Review for An Excess Of…
Subtitled, Extracts from the Diary, this is a selection of Pepys’s diary entries over the years from 1660 to 1669, when his eyesight deteriorated to such an extent that he could no longer spend the time needed to write in secret by candlelight. There is a useful introduction by the editor, explaining the way he …
Continue reading The Illustrated Pepys, Edited by Robert Latham: #BookReview.
I came across this review by Joshua Grant while doing a search for my book on Amazon to check on current progress. Despite the fact I entered the title of my book in its exact form, the search returned 75 pages of titles, none of which (apart from mine) had this exact title. In fact, …
Continue reading Another 5 Star Review.
This sci-fi short takes a wormhole as its escape route from the reality of the UK of the early 21st century. A time of confused politics and general unrest, it may well have been the first real step on the road we now follow, but that’s for a different written piece. The story is written …
Continue reading Footvote, by Peter F. Hamilton: #BookReview.
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Antidote to the Novel
Stuart Aken 