Warrior [Paperback]

This is a strange review to write - not because this is a poor quality book (far from it) but because it should feel like a new chapter in the authors life (I think it's his first time with a new publisher, and the book looks pretty spectacular in terms of design and style - it feels totally fresh).

However, what this feels like instead is not something totally new, but more a distillation of everything Mr Thompson has written about before or mentioned in his bi-weeky podcasts, but with a new found focus and drive to hammer home not only a message but an actual way of living that can totally change your life for the better.

Am I a long time reader of his? Yes - and I'm also a prime candidate for this book and the wisdom that is splattered within its relatively short 280 pages. A wealth of life changing and life affirming information is contained within it, some of it repeated from earlier tomes (which is no bad thing really - just reinforcing his/your belief) and if you are looking to change not only your life but your physique as well this is a detailed and above all honest account of what you need to do to begin and ultimately complete that journey.

In many ways Warrior feels like the last book in a fantastic series of three (his previous books Shadow Hunter and Beginners Guide to Darkness are certainly companion pieces to this one) and its interesting that following on from those ground breaking texts this is the book that pulls all that information together into a workable format that gives you an actual plan to follow for improving yourself at the end of each chapter - something that has been lacking in previous outings.

It is brutally unforgiving in it's honesty in places, and at times you may have to put the book down as you realise the scale of the job at hand as the truth stares you back in the face.

If you have been challenged by a hard and difficult life (as the author would say - 'that's brilliant - it's all fuel for the journey') and are looking for ways to break out of a depressive or abusive cycle of addiction or self loathing, I can highly recommend the aforementioned books to show you the light, but if you have read those then this is the one to hone yourself into the kind of person you really believe you can be. In the film the Matrix, where Neo first sees his 'digital self' and is told that it's a computer simulated version of perfection - how many people sat in the cinema and winced a little? I know I did.

Well guess what - your perfect self is achievable here and now - you just have to want it bad enough. I finished the last of this book at 5.30am, and I'm writing this review at 6.05am. I haven't been so energised in years - and I know that if I follow the path this book sets out that anything is achievable - If I am diligent enough to take the 'middle way' and curb my excesses.

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank the author for sharing his amazing journey and providing a platform of inspiration and a path to self sovereignty. There are plenty who will say that this another self help book that will sit nicely on the shelf next to all the rest - but frankly what is the alternative? Staying in the shadows locked in another booze fuelled depression?

The year is 2010. The United Kingdom (so we are told) is in disarray, in the grip of damning recession and that we are all doomed to failure and monetary uncertainty. I don't know about you, but I'm sick of the media ramming that particular message down my throat, cos it makes my lazy and above all else it makes me scared sometimes - and I'm sick of feeling scared.

Well here's my answer back to that parasitic media and indeed to the government - you want me to take responsibility for my life? Fine, no problem with that. But every day I come home from work and see legions of the unemployed and the work shy sitting outside of pubs getting wasted on the tax I pay - if this book were given away free to the unemployed (a worthwhile endeavour for my hard fought taxpayers cash) then maybe there would be a lot less of them.

Simplistic you say?

Maybe.

But we'd all be a lot fitter, happier and able to deal with the stresses that life throws at us. Surely that would be the real saving from this recession - contented people (either spiritually, physically or fiscally) equals less money wasted by those holding the purse strings of the NHS/Police/Courts.

If the government adopted a programme of change instead of cuts, then this surely is the place to start.

People need some optimism, and above all some hope. Government needs to provide that as well as good economic management - even if the jobs are not out there, then change people's lives for the better - give them a template to live by instead of watching them flounder in the pubs and causing mayhem at the weekend.

We'd all be a lot healthier, happier and more emotionally centred. We are Great Britain - and this book is a reminder of what our fore fathers did to give us that title. Don't look to footballers to change your life - do it yourself!

this book reads like a manual for life. i'd recommend all of Geoff's back catalogue, and i'd certainly recommend this one. it's gutsy and full of love, muscular and cerebral, meat and potatoes yet spiritual. this is countless years of research, experience and wisdom presented in a way accessible to all. it is a passport out of darkness, illness, mediocrity, but a passport doesn't necessarily grant you a good holiday - there is work to be done, set at the end of each chapter, and this is another of the books strengths.

The book makes valid points initially but I found it a bit repetitive
and a little cult like in places. The places where God and Money are
covered I found a little strange. At one point the author also discusses
leaving old friends behind and making new ones who are more in line with
your positive attitude.