Geek of Oz

The following piece contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season seven, so if you are not up to date then read on at your own risk! If Game of Thrones’ action-packed season seven finale made anything clear, it’s that the dead are coming, oh boy are they coming. Accompanying the shambling army of the recently deceased - as well as the logic-defying-fire-breathing-undead-ice-dragon-thingy - will be a dramatic shift in the show’s focus. From here on out there will be no more leisurely conversations overlooking the sunny vistas of King’s Landing, significantly less political intrigue, and very little ambiguity as to what comes next. We stand at the beginning of GOT’s end game which we can only assume will be like The Walking Dead, but with more incest and C bombs. This shift for the show primarily means a move toward a genuinely evil antagonist, rather than Cersei’s homespun brand of trying to maintain power no matter the cost. Sure, Cersei will no doubt continue to be a gr...

It's difficult to discuss Joe Abercrombie's excellent The First Law series without treading on George R.R. Martin's toes via the expected Game of Thrones comparison. It's true that both writers adopt the term 'grimdark' in similar ways, presenting European-influenced medieval fantasy that's light on the magic and heavy on the shock-value gore festivals. It's also true that both sets of narratives are sprawling exercises in superlative worldbuilding, where stories can be told at the farthest points of the world and still feel like they're all interconnected. Also, both authors really like their swearing characters. I would, however, argue that Abercrombie has this realm of writing locked down far better than Martin does. Most of that's because Abercrombie has a penchant for well-drawn and investing characters, while Martin relies a lot more on plot movement and external circumstance to shape our understanding of the main characters. Pit someo...

Man, this book is fun . I just want to get that out of the way early on. It's true, as a story set in Westeros, that there's still violence, the occasional swearing and corrupt political machinations, but overall A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a thoroughly enjoyable, delightful, really bloody fun book. Well, it's actually three thoroughly enjoyable, delightful, really bloody fun  novellas put together into one book, but you get the idea. Set over a century before A Game of Thrones , the story follows the exploits of hedge knight Duncan - nicknamed Dunk - and his young squire Egg. They're basically walking the earth, offering their services to whomever needs them and meeting an interesting cross-section of Westerosi inhabitants both noble and nefarious. The only thing is that Egg is actually Aegon Targaryen, future King of Westeros and child of the country's most powerful House, who follows Dunk around as a way of learning more about the world that he'll...

Hey Guys! Thanks to our pals over at Oz Comicon  we have two double weekend pass for both days of their Perth event (11-12th of April) to give away! Featuring a stellar line up of guests including Buffy's Amber Benson, Nicholas Brendon, Sarah Hagan and Emma Caulfield; Finn Jones and Daniel Portman from GoT; Doctor Who's Billie Piper and Hercules himself, Kevin Sorbo; Oz Comicon is sure to have something for everybody. For a full guest list be sure to checkout the Oz Comicon website. To be in for a chance to win all you have to do is caption this photo of me and this oversized teddy at last years SMASH convention: Send your entries to christof@geekofoz.com with the subject line 'Oz-Comicon Perth Give away'. Competition closes on Tuesday the 24th of March 2015.

 Oz. Comic-con is nearly here. It's a. Con in. Oz.... Ok, I just realised how hard it is to write in the voice that Shatner speaks. That said, SHATNER! Tickets are now on sale for the Sydney and Brisbane cons with plenty of talent to be seen. The countdown is on – Australia’s biggest and best pop culture event is headed to Brisbane (September 6 and 7) and Sydney (September 13 and 14), and tickets have just gone on sale. For the first time ever, Oz Comic-con is bringing Queensland and New South Wales fans the epic celebration of everything making waves in the pop culture world. Now in its  third  year, Oz Comic-Con has already wrapped two incredible events in Perth (March 29 and 30) and Adelaide (April 5 and 6) as well as sold out events with Benedict Cumberbatch in Sydney (April 12 and 13) so far in 2014. The standard has been set, and anticipation couldn't be higher for Oz Comic-Con Brisbane and Sydney. Headlining the Brisbane and Sydney shows will be sci-fi l...