Place of birth: London
Now living: Camden, London
3 favourite authors
3 favourite books
3 favourite films
Maréa is born during the midnight hour, with feathers growing from her body, she is born into a house of whores, and must be kept hidden from the people who visit the house. Maréa is also virtually a prisoner as she isn’t allowed to leave the house, and isn’t supposed to leave her room. Maréa’s world is ful...
7.0/10
Koli lives in a post-apocalyptic world, where there is little technology and many dangers beyond our comprehension. This is the first book in a series, which allows us to know about the world Koli grows up in, but also tells us the story of how Koli becomes estranged from that world, to one far stranger.The Book of Koli took me a while to...
9.0/10
The Sky Weaver is the third book in the Iskari series. This follows characters from The Last Namsara and The Caged Queen. I would recommend reading both of these firs...
8.0/10
Wonderland: An Anthology, edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul KaneWonderland is an anthology of nineteen short stories inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. These stories are from many well-known writers a...
7.5/10
Kingdom of Souls is a book filled with a rich mythology, where long ago the Orishas battled the Demon King and after destroying his demons trapped him in an everlasting prison. The Orishas lost a number of their brothers and sisters in this battle and stepped back from the humans they protected. In the tribal lands, Heka is above the Orishas as ...
8.0/10
This is the third novel in the Dominion of the Fallen series and follows on from the events of The House of Binding Thorns. This book is told from multiple character perspectives, most that we have met in the previous two novels and we get to see in some cases how they adapted to their lives or are looking to change their circumstances.Th...
7.0/10
Bright Ruin is the last book in The Dark Gifts Trilogy, which is sad in itself as all three books are gripping in their own ways, and this being the last one, every page was read with trepidation about who would survive this story and would the ending be worthy of the characters that we were rooting for. There may be spoilers for the previous tw...
8.5/10
This is the fourth book in The Song of Shattered Sands series, this series that does need to be read in order, so please don’t read on if you haven’t read the first three novels in order. The first review can be found here. Beneath the Twisted Trees continues on from the events in A Veil of Spears. Çeda continues her plan to f...
9.8/10
The Caged Queen is a sequel to The Last Namsara. When I first began reading The Caged Queen, I hadn’t yet read The Last Namsara, so after a couple of pages, I stopped and read The Last Namsara, as although I was intrigued to know more about Roa and Essie, some gaps needed to be filled to truly enjoy this story. My review of The Last Namsar...
7.0/10
Charlie Jane Anders writing is always gripping and complex, and in this story, she turns away from Earth and the possible end of the world to take us on a take into a dark dystopic future full of politics and speculation. On the tidally locked planet of January, where humanity exists in the twilight, routine and fear are just part of everyday li...
8.0/10
The Blue Salt Road is a new novella by Joanne M. Harris, with illustrations by Bonnie Hawkins. In this story we follow a male selkie from the Grey Seal Clan as he embarks on a dangerous adventure. Being young he feels invincible, and decides to not take his clan’s advice to stay away from the folk. It is his stupidity that will bring him f...
7.5/10
The Mermaid is a fascinating tale, about pushing your limits and always being true to yourself. After a chance encounter, a fisherman who accidentally caught a mermaid, decides to release her immediately. Due to his kindness, the mermaid becomes intrigued by the man and the land he lives on. As the mermaid has never been afraid of anything she t...
8.0/10
It’s incredibly rare for my lady and me to go straight on to the second in a series the moment we finish the first, especially if I need to be writing a review of the first book. Furthermore, on the rare occasions it has happened, it’s usually with authors like Robin Hobb, authors who leave their protagonists hanging off a particular...
9.0/10
A Veil of Spears is the third book in The Songs of the Shattered Sands series, you will need to have read the previous novels to be able to understand the intricacies of this story, my review for both of these can be found here: Twelve Kings & and ...
9.7/10
The City of Lost Fortunes is set in New Orleans six years after Hurricane Katrina. In New Orleans, the gods still dwell among mortals and demigods are still being created. New Orleans is a great setting for this world, as although the city is still dealing with the aftermath of Katrina, it is also a city rebuilding itself and its identity....
8.0/10
Idle Hands continues the story of Wild Alan after the events of Gleam. My review for Gleam can be found here. This is a direct sequel so you should read that before continuing with this review.(Wild) Alan now has a new quest, after the events of the last book, Alan n...
7.5/10
The Vorrh is a book of epic proportions, a multi-character tale with characters coming from all over the place, with intertwining stories that leave you wondering if their stories are told during the same time period or whether they overlap each other. This can make The Vorrh feel overwhelming at times, but I found that giving myself time to rum...
8.0/10
Paris Adrift starts with a story about anomalies that can be found in this world. These anomalies are waiting for their incumbents, human hosts, who will be able to travel through time via their anomalies. There is a very slim chance of incumbents finding their anomalies, but this story is much larger than one person stumbling into their anomaly...
9.0/10
In Under the Pendulum Sun we are introduced to Catherine, the sister of Laon, a missionary in Arcadia. Arcadia is the land of the Fae. The book is set in Victorian times, where there was a large push to promote Christianity in far-off lands and where better than in the Godless fairylands. Catherine arrives in Arcadia and is greeted by Ms Davenpo...
6.0/10
Tarnished City is the sequel to Gilded Cage, there will be spoilers for Gilded Cage going forward, my original review can be found here, you will need to have read that Gilded Cage to understand the events of Tarnished City.After the events of Gilded Cage, Luke is...
9.6/10
The Last Namsara is a story about discovering the truth when it comes to yourself and others, where learning to see things as they really are rather than how you have been told they are, can be the hardest lesson of all. The Last Namsara introduces us to Asha and the world she lives in. Asha is privileged, as the daughter of the king, yet the wo...
8.0/10
In the third novel of The Darkest Hand series, we get the conclusions and final validation of a well thought out trilogy, that went from an Inquisitor taking out werewolves alongside the events of the first World War in the first novel, to the revelation that the Antichrist was roaming the corridors of the Vatican. You will need to read...
8.5/10
I am never sure what to expect from novels that tell a different version of events from a classic story, in this case, a prequel to J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Sometimes these stories are told very well, whereas other times they are simply not needed. Luckily, Lost Boy is the former and exceeded my low expectations.Lost Boy begins nea...
8.0/10
Our Dark Duet continues the stories of Kate Harker and August Flynn, six months after the events of This Savage Song. You should read that novel before going any further with this review. The review for This Savage Song can be found here.Kate has moved to Pro...
8.5/10
Following on from The House of Shattered Wings, The House of Binding Thorns can be read alone, although it continues to tell the stories of Madeline, Asmodeus and Philippe after the events of the first novel. My review of The House of Shattered Wings...
7.0/10
With Blood Upon the Sand is the sequel to Bradley Beaulieu’s Twelve Kings. There will be spoilers for Twelve Kings going forward, so please do not read this until after you have read the first novel. My review of Twelve Kings can be found here. ...
9.0/10
This is the final part of the A Darker Shade of Magic Trilogy, there may be spoilers for the first two parts in the following chapters. Please read those books first before continuing with this review. Reviews of the previous novels can be found here - A Darker S...
9.5/10
Two years have passed since the events of Those Above and war is heading towards The Roost. In this story we continue to follow the four main protagonists from the previous book: Calla, the Seneschal of the Prime, formerly known as the Aubade; Pyre, once known as the street thug Thistle, he is now one of the leaders of the Five-Fingered; Eudokia...
8.5/10
The White City is Morden’s follow up to Down Station. If you haven’t read Down Station yet, please do not continue to read this review as there may be spoilers below. My review for Down Station can be found here.Following where we left our survivor...
8.0/10
The Fallen is the second novel in the Darkest Hand series and follows on from the events in The Damned. The review for that novel can be found here. Spoilers for The Damned follow so please do not read further if you haven’t started this series yet.The ...
7.5/10
Bradley Beaulieu’s Of Sand and Malice is set in the same world as Twelve Kings, the first novel in The Song of the Shattered Sands series. You do not need to have read Twelve Kings to read this novella, as Of Sand and Malice does a good job of introducing you to Çeda and her friends without making you feel like you have missed vital...
7.0/10
Rig is the final novel in Jon Wallace’s trilogy which started with Barricade and continued with Steeple, both reviews can be found here: Barricade and Steeple. If you haven’t read these...
9.0/10
Gilded Cage is the first book in The Dark Gifts Trilogy. It has an intriguing premise, where the UK has been split into two, with a very rich and privileged minority ruling the country, this minority are quite archaic in nature and are known as Equals (or those with Skill). The rest of the population, those without Skill, live quite similarly to...
9.2/10
The Watcher of Dead Time is the culmination of Edward Cox's The Relic Guild trilogy, previous reviews can be found here - The Relic Guild and The Cathedral of Known Th...
9.0/10
Set over six days in 1914, The Damned intricately weaves different character stories that stretch through time and continents. Allowing us to see different perspectives of not only World War I, but also how different groups of people decide to handle large amounts of bloodshed and loss of life. Within all of this is a deep conspiracy in the Cath...
8.0/10
V. E. Schwab begins a new series, that unlike A Darker Shade of Magic with its focus on magic, instead brings us a book about monsters. When it comes to monsters we generally grow up thinking that they lurk in the shadows waiting for unsuspecting victims, but in This Savage Song that isn't untrue, rather the people of Verity know that they s...
9.0/10
Sometimes you pick up a book with no expectations as to what it will contain, and in certain cases what you find is something truly magical. Twelve Kings is one of those books, I knew the basics, that the book would be following a girl and her life in the desert city of Sharakhai, but the book is so much more than that. Twelve Kings is a story a...
9.5/10
A Gathering of Shadows is the follow up to A Darker Shade of Magic and again follows Lila Bard and Kell on their continued journey into the limits of their magic and the boundaries they keep pushing against. There may be spoilers for A Darker Shade of Magic b...
9.0/10
What would it feel like to wake up and not remember who you were or where you are? This is what happens to Jess Moulson, when she wakes she struggles to remember what happened to her, having to slowly put the pieces together to discover the truth, before being blind-sided by the facts. Jess discovers that she is accused of murder and yet as she ...
9.5/10
Those Above is the first novel in The Empty Throne series. At the start I wasn't sure what I had let myself in for, with the prologue and the first chapter focusing on two very different battles, I had to wonder whether this was going to be the whole story. Luckily this was not the case and I was soon reading about a world that in just one c...
9.0/10
The Girl on the Liar’s Throne is the conclusion to the Erebus Sequence, which began with The Boy with the Porcelain Blade and continued with The Boy who Wept...
6.0/10
Charlie Jane Anders, All the Birds in the Sky is an engaging novel following the lives of two very different characters as they try to deal with the issues of growing up and trying to save the world that they live in. The novel is split into four books, with each section allowing us to see snapshots of both Patricia and Laurence's lives. All...
10.0/10
Drearcliff Grange is a school bound by rules and traditions, everyone knows their place and when to keep their head down, and if you are a new "bug" you will soon learn them for your own survival. Drearcliff Grange is also a school for unusuals, these are people with extraordinary abilities who are nurtured by a seemingly ageless headm...
9.5/10
Over the years, I have read stories about haunted houses and cursed people, but it is very rare that I have read a book about a cursed town and a curse is exactly what the town of Black Spring has. For over 350 years the people of Black Spring have been hiding a dark secret from the world, is it time for that secret to be revealed?Hex pul...
9.0/10
Torin Kerr is back in a new series after the final book in Tanya Huff's Confederation Series ended with The Truth of Valour. An Ancient Peace is a continuation of that series though, so if you haven't read these books yet, you should do so now as it gives you the history of these characters and how they got to this point. Spoilers for th...
9.0/10
What if, at the point when you most needed to escape your current situation, a portal could open that would lead you to a completely different place with its own set of rules? This is what happens to a group of survivors after a strange fire forces them into a disused Down Station, and from there into a strange new world full of deadly wonders....
9.0/10
The Cathedral of Known Things is a sequel to The Relic Guild, the middle book of Edward Cox’s The Relic Guild trilogy, and if you haven’t read part one you can find my review here. Spoilers for The Relic Guild may follow, so if you haven&rsqu...
9.0/10
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7.5/10
This was one book I approached knowing I’d probably enjoy it. Even from the book’s description I could see that The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet was a tick list of some of my favourite things. Good old space faring sf, a journey story, alien aliens, and a heavy emphasis on very ordinary characters in an extraordinary situation. I...
9.8/10
Have you ever read a book that from the first paragraph you just can’t put down? The House of Shattered Wings is definitely one for me, set in a post- apocalyptic Paris it is full of the tattered remnants of once regal houses that have managed to survive a magical war that was driven by the need for power and dominance. Although the book f...
9.0/10
Steeple is the sequel to Jon Wallace's Barricade, if you haven't yet read that the review can be found here. Please note that spoilers for Barricade may be found below.Steeple begins not long after the end of Barricade and we meet Kenstibec in the mi...
9.0/10
This is the second book in the Shadow Watch series. I haven’t yet read the first book Night Terrors, but it took me a while to realise that Dream Stalkers wasn’t the first in the series. Although whilst reading Dream Stalkers I didn’t feel confused or lost when events from the past were mentioned, as Dream Stalkers was such an ...
8.0/10
The Machine Awakes is set in the same universe as Adam Christopher’s novel The Burning Dark, but this isn’t a continuation of that story. The Machine Awakes has completely different characters and instead of deep space, it is set in the heart of the Fleet back on Earth, where conspiracies are at the forefront, as the war with the Spi...
5.5/10
There seems to be a theme here, what with Weirder Shadows over Innsmouth edited by Stephen Jones being in the realm of Lovercraftian horror tomes, Harrison Squared by Daryl Gregory has Harrison, a teenager with a fear of the ocean since he was young after a sailing accident marked the loss of his beloved father. Harrison is classed as a "se...
8.4/10
Shipstar is the sequel to Benford and Niven’s book Bowl of Heaven, where, in the far distant future, Earth sent a ship SunSeeker and her crew on their way to a planet named Glory - deemed suitable for a new colony. If you have not yet read Bowl of Heaven, ...
8.0/10
This is the second novel by V. E. Schwab and for those of you who have read Vicious - it is a completely different story. A Darker Shade of Magic is set around the reign of King George III, and is a story of three unknown London’s and one that is vaguely familiar. Each London is itself almost unique from the others; some are filled with ma...
6.0/10
This is the second novel in the Erebus Sequence, following on from last year’s The Boy with the Porcelain Blade, although this is set ten years after the events in that book. The main character in The Boy with the Porcelain Blade, Lucien, i...
9.0/10
When I read Tad Williams I always think about his huge epics such as The Otherland or Shadowmarch series’, but in the last couple of years he has also begun writing an urban fantasy series based around an angel advocator named Bobby Dollar. This series started with the book: The Dirty Streets of Heaven. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlepig is a st...
8.0/10
With a title like The Death House you have to figure that this is going to be a dark story where bad things happen and you wouldn’t be wrong thinking that, but The Death House is also a coming of age story that reflects on how joyful life can be. This story could be set in our time or in the future, but it isn’t really importan...
9.0/10
Gleam is the first part of Tom Fletcher’s Factory Trilogy, but if you are suffering trilogy fatigue please don’t let this put you off starting this novel as you will be well rewarded by this interesting and fully realised world. Gleam is a world of the haves and have not’s, the world of The Pyramid is very different from The Di...
8.0/10
Breed is an interesting adventure story, full of characters making bad decisions and having to deal with the consequences. This is a world where magic still exists although it is now feared and revered, depending on who is wielding it. The novel begins 700 years after the Schism War which pitched Mage Lords against Demons for control of the worl...
6.5/10
This is the fifth book in the Case files of the Bureau of Supernatural Investigations, as usual it is best to read these in order as the books themselves mention events from previous instalments. Please do not read on if you haven’t read the previous books, reviews can be found ...
7.0/10
Bête starts with a dilemma; if the animal you are about to slaughter could talk back to you would you still kill it as that is your livelihood as a farmer? This is how we meet Graham, who is about to become famous for doing his job of butchering his animals to supply meat for consumers. This is a world of guerrilla warfare and animal right...
6.5/10
It’s been a while since I have read a book about a pandemic that hasn’t been about zombies; in fact it’s been a while since I have read a book where the story doesn’t start straight after a pandemic. Although Lock In is still dealing with the consequences of an incurable disease, the cause of the virus or as it is known i...
9.0/10
If you were offered a pill that would let you see God, would you take it? Although not the total premise of this book, it is a very interesting question with a lot of connotations to it. The story itself focuses on Dr. Lyda Rose, who after a traumatic overdose of NME 10 finds herself in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. This is where w...
8.0/10
J is a literary dystopia set in a low technology future, where the past is no longer talked about, but is only referred to in the vague manner: WHAT HAPPENED, IF IT HAPPENED. This is an interesting way to erase the past, so that within three generations people are unable to be certain that anything did happen in their grandparents’ time. T...
7.0/10
Welcome to Detroit, home to broken dreams and a loss of hope, but this city isn’t lifeless and in Broken Monsters we are welcomed into its dark heart. Lauren Beukes has written a novel where the following questions could be asked but may prove to be irrelevant by the time you finish the story: What kind of story am I reading? Is it a gritt...
9.0/10
When I first started reading The Relic Guild, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I soon found myself engaged in the richness of Labrys Town and its varied residents. The story structure itself was split between many different perspectives and two different timelines, but this never felt confusing. Instead it was this structure that drew me ...
8.5/10
This graphic novel has an interesting concept, not what if God (Judeo-Christian) came back, but what if the Gods came back to Earth. In 2015 it begins with Zeus coming back with these words “I will be WORSHIPPED again. I will be OBEYED”. Which sounds like an interesting concept, of course I said Gods and he isn’t the only one. ...
6.8/10
Tagline: Would you die to become young again?The Killer App is an interesting take on speculative fiction, set in an England not too far in the future most of the UK’s worst fears of today have become tomorrow’s reality. As the book starts we are told that 10,000 people have been killed in a fracking accident ...
6.2/10
Bowl of Heaven is the first novel in a new series of books collaboratively written by Gregory Benford and Larry Niven. In Bowl of Heaven humanity has achieved interstellar travel and is looking for new inhabitable planets. Humanity at this time is still trying to fix the climate problems of the 21st and 22nd centuries. This book follows the crew...
8.5/10
First off, California is not a fantasy novel per se, and yet this tale of survival can be placed firmly in a dystopic near future. Frida and Cal have left the remnants of Los Angeles to find a safe haven in the wilderness as the city further disintegrates. This is a grim future where money has no real value and yet you cannot join the safety of ...
8.5/10
This is the fifth novel in Tanya Huff’s Confederation series. Please do not read further than this paragraph if you haven’t yet read the previous books as there may be spoilers for these ahead. Reviews for the previous novels, starting with Valour’s Choice can be found ...
8.9/10
As you may have guessed The Serpent of Venice is set in Venice and mixes characters from three of Shakespeare’s plays: The Merchant of Venice, Othello and King Lear. The main character though is a Fool called Pocket, who is a character of the author’s earlier book called Fool. There is a slight crossover between this book and Fool bu...
7.5/10
The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey is a stand-alone zombie apocalypse novel that has plenty of action and adventure as expected, but also takes time to focus on ethical dilemmas in a post-apocalyptic world. The Girl With All The Gifts asks the question "How far would you go to save the world?" and the answers given by the chara...
8.9/10
The Three by Sarah Lotz is an engaging pre-apocalyptic thriller that centres on four plane crashes where three children miraculously survive. The book is written from witness accounts after the events, so there are interviews taken from first responders to the scenes to the families left looking after the survivors. The book has a time frame fro...
8.0/10
From reading Dreams and Shadows (Cargill’s debut novel) I went straight in to reading Queen of Dark Things as I was eager to see what had happened to Colby Stevens after the previous novel and I wasn’t disappointed.The story picks up 6 months after the circumstances of the previous book. Colby has developed as a character and ...
9.5/10
I really enjoyed the debut novel from C Robert Cargill. The novel focuses on the lives of two boys, Ewan and Colby. Both boys have a fantastical journey ahead of them, Ewan is stolen by fairies from his parents at an early age by a specialist child stealing fairy (Dithers) and Colby meets a djinn (Yashar) who agrees to grant him wishes which lea...
9.3/10
Valour’s Trial is the fourth novel of Tanya Huff’s Confederation Series and if you have never read any of the books in the series please don’t read any further as there are spoilers ahead.Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr has finally been allowed to re-join Sh’quo Company and get back to fighting The Others with no polit...
9.0/10
Barricade is an interesting novel. It is set in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world where battle still rages between the Ficials and the Reals (humans). This world is dark and grim with both sides dying exponentially, which leaves the reader with a lot of questions as to why and how this has happened. The novel follows a Ficial called Kentsibec,...
7.5/10
When I first read the synopsis for this book I was intrigued about what kind of story I would find. I can say that I wasn’t disappointed from the prologue to the final page, which made me believe that this story has not yet come to its conclusion. But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself…The Oversight is set in Victorian Lon...
9.5/10
The very best of Tad Williams is a collection of 17 different stories that will appeal to old and new fans alike. Whether you like Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Crime or Horror there is a story here for you. Williams has delivered another well-conceived and written book, that if nothing else is a great introduction to his works for new fans.It w...
8.3/10
Thursday Next is back. And this time it's personal… Officially, Literary Detective Thursday Next is off the case. Once a key figure in the BookWorld police force, she is concentrating on her duties as a wife and mother. Or so her husband thinks… Unofficially, Thursday is working as hard as ever - and in this world of dangerousl...
9.6/10
Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It's a pretty standard dried-up western town. There's a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There's a diner (people who are just passing through tend...
9.0/10
Charlotte Gale is a Wild Power, but there’s nothing wild about the life she is living. When her meddlesome aunts start interfering, Charlie ditches her cousin Allie and their grandmother’s Enchantment Emporium and joins a Celtic rock band on the summer festival circuit.All Charlie wants to do is play music and have a good time...
9.0/10
You know you’re going to enter a complex world when the book begins with an extensive dramatis personae. Den Patrick keeps this promise with his richly-imagined Demesne – a land not unlike an alternative Renaissance Italy. It definitely has all the power-broking and rivalry, intrigues and plots of that period.Our central...
9.0/10
Shunned by the scientific establishment, brilliant maverick Rodge Dukas works in a damp basement surrounded by outlandish equipment. His discovery could propel humanity to a new Golden Age. But his student friend Mike Barrett has other ideas - they can use it to make themselves incredibly rich. The ensuing crime spree has the police baffled....
6.0/10
Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr is a Confederation Marine's marine. Side-lined since her last mission, she jumped at the chance to go to Crucible - the Marine Corps training planet. While the exercise is underway, the drones begin acting aggressively, without regard to fail-safes or their programming. Kerr finds herself caught in a desperate fig...
9.0/10
This Hard Case Crime novel is set in Egypt, where Professor Barnaby has been given access to old papyrus to re-translate the hieroglyphics, whilst doing this he stumbles upon co-ordinates to what may be the last undiscovered tomb of a Pharaoh, and so begins this tale of intrigue, as he makes acquaintance with Pierce and work out how to steal los...
7.5/10
The Burning Dark by Adam Christopher is a sci-fi horror story set on a distant space station surrounding a very strange star. Adam Christopher is a guy with a brilliant imagination whose books I have enjoyed in the past, but for me this story is a case of what could have been.The story follows Captain Idaho Cleveland, a decorated starship...
7.0/10
The Gale family can change the world with the charms they cast, and they like to keep this in the family. Alysha Gale is tired of having all her aunts try to run her life, both personally and magically. So when the letter from her Gran arrives willing her a "junk" shop in Calgary, Alysha jumps at the chance. It isn't until she gets...
9.0/10
Respected horror anthologist Stephen Jones edits this collection of twelve stories by some of the worlds most prominent Lovecraftian authors, including H.P Lovecraft himself, Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman, Michael Marshall Smith, John Glasby, Paul McAuley, Steve Rasnic Tem, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Brian Lumley, Basil Copper, Hugh B. Cave, and Richard ...
9.0/10
The concept of this book is very intriguing, the Norse mythology that is so widely known retold from the perspective of the one who brought down Asgard – Loki the Trickster. Will we discover that Loki is actually a misunderstood soul rather than the backstabbing traitor that the original stories portray him as?The story is told thro...
7.4/10
This post-apocalyptic novel by Angela Carter is an interesting literary fable. It is set after what can only be a nuclear event that almost wipes out society as we know it, yet the characters we follow barely think about the past.Heroes and Villains juxtaposes between who are heroes and who are villains; can anyone ever be defined by one ...
9.0/10
When Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr makes the mistake of speaking her mind to a superior officer, she finds herself tagged for a special mission to act as protector to a scientific exploratory team assigned to investigate an enormous derelict spaceship. Along with her crew Kerr soon finds herself in the midst of danger and faced with a mystery that t...
8.8/10
Michael Cricthon's Binary is a Hard Case Crime novel, originally written under the pen name of John Lange. Set in San Diego, I found this book fairly interesting as, unlike the other books of his that I have read in this series, this isn’t set somewhere exotic and isn’t filled with beautiful but deadly women. This book focuses on...
7.0/10
In the distant future, two alien collectives vie for survival. When the peaceful Confederation comes under attack from the aggressive Others, humanity is granted membership to the alliance - for a price. They must serve and protect the far more civilized species, fighting battles for those who have long since turned away from war.Staff Se...
8.0/10
Victor and Eli, due to a research project gone wrong, become ExtraOrdinaries (referred to as EO's from here on in) with supernatural powers. Ten years later Victor escapes from prison, determined to get his revenge on the man who put him there, while Eli has spent the years hunting down and killing other EOs. Driven by the memory of betrayal...
9.0/10
Tanya Huff's The Silvered has to be one of the best books I have read in 2013, which is saying something as I read a lot of good books last year. Set in the land of Aydori, the book focuses on Mirian Maylin, a low level mage whose parents are trying to marry her off to any member of The Pack in order to raise their social standing. The Pack ...
9.5/10
Only very special people are chosen by children's author Laura White to join 'The Society', an elite group of writers in the small town of Rabbit Back. Now a tenth member has been selected: Ella, literature teacher and possessor of beautifully curving lips. But soon Ella discovers that the Society is not what it seems. What is its my...
9.0/10
Diver James McGregor is used to exploring sunken ships. But there's something strange about the wreck of the Grave Descend. No one aboard tells quite the same story about what happened. Then there's the mysterious cargo they were carrying… In one of the most beautiful places on Earth, a sinister plot is about to unfold. And if McG...
6.0/10
Something Rotten is the fourth novel in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. If you have not read the previous novels in order please go and start with The Eyre Affair, followed by Lost in a Good Book and then the Well of Lost Plots.The resourceful literary detective Thursday Next returns to Swindon from the BookWorld accompanied by ...
10.0/10
The plan: to rob the Reina, a super-luxury hotel off the coast of Spain. The crew: three seasoned criminals with the skills to pull off the heist of the century. The edge: every aspect of the scheme has been simulated in a computer, down to the last variable. The complication: three beautiful women with agendas of their own and the sort of varia...
8.0/10
John Steed and Emma Peel are right back to work, and the threats are bigger than ever. After the shocking return of the Hellfire Club, our swinging super spies realize their mortal foes have infiltrated all aspects of British society, and Steed and Peel cannot trust anyone - except one another.This graphic novel is based on the 1960&rsquo...
6.0/10
Kal Hakala is the Bureau of Supernatural Investigation’s best agent, but even he needs a break after his last case, which brought him a hair’s breadth from death and killed the fiancée of his best friend, a Mescalero Apache agent named Canton Asate. Kal’s temporary desk-job is nothing less than leadership of the entire B...
8.5/10
Leaving Swindon behind her to hide out in the Well of Lost Plots (the place where all fiction is created), Thursday Next, Literary Detective and soon-to-be one parent family, ponders her next move from within an unpublished book of dubious merit entitled 'Caversham Heights'. Landen, her husband, is still eradicated, Aornis Hades is meddl...
9.0/10
Thursday Next, literary detective and newlywed, is back to embark on an adventure that begins, quite literally on her own doorstep. It seems that Landen, her husband of four weeks, actually drowned in an accident when he was two years old. Someone, somewhere, sometime, is responsible. The sinister Goliath Corporation wants its operative Jack Sch...
9.0/10
This second novel from Pip Janssen is very different from Darkness Visible, this novel is set in the World of Vertiga, which is a world with Magic, Dragons and Leaves (non humans).The story is focused on a girl called Evie Moon, who has accepted that her life revolves around being a washer-woman for the prison population of Verenth, which...
8.0/10
It’s a shame that the title of this book is similar to another very famous title as the subject matter is completely different and this book to most people will be much more satisfying to read. Shades of Grey is set in a fairly dystopian world after the “Something that Happened” which is never explained and so this could be a f...
9.0/10
In an alternate version of London in 1895, a few talented people can travel instantly between locations through Thresholds - tears in the fabric of reality. Lord Henry Lewis is a Warden, working to close dangerous Thresholds to prevent the sickness that flows from the darkness outside reality. William Marsh loses his family to the sickness when ...
8.0/10
This may sound slightly biased, but I am always excited to read a Neil Gaiman story and as soon as I had read the prologue to this story I knew I was already hooked and looking forward to the adventure this book would take me on. The prologue itself serves as a reminder that some memories, however hidden, are not truly forgotten, but may just ne...
9.2/10
A legend is about to become all-too real! When a prank goes deadly wrong, those responsible will learn the truth behind the legend as the Headless Horseman returns to exact a horrifying vengeance none will never forget! From the writer of Salem's Daughter: The Haunting comes a tale of horror and terror that will leave you on the edge of your...
6.0/10
At the heart of Ryhope Wood, Steven and the mythago Guiwenneth live in the ruins of a Roman villa close to a haunted fortress from the Iron Age, from which Guiwenneth's myth arose. She is comfortable here, almost tied to the place, and Steven has long since abandoned all thought of returning to his own world. They have animals, protection an...
9.0/10
As tattoo artist Star begins to ink her first client on a spring Sunday morning, something goes horribly wrong with the world... Belfast’s hung-over lapse into a deeper sleep than normal, their sudden deaths causing an unholy mess of crashing cars, smouldering televisions and falling aircraft. In the chaotic aftermath a group of post-apoca...
6.0/10
The girl who wouldn't die, hunting a killer who shouldn't exist.Chicago 1931. Harper Curtis, a violent drifter, stumbles on a house with a secret as shocking as his own twisted nature - it opens onto other times. He uses it to stalk his carefully chosen 'shining girls' through the decades - and cut the spark out of them. H...
9.5/10
Zinzi December has a Sloth on her back, a dirty 419 scam habit, and a talent for finding lost things. But when a little old lady turns up dead and the cops confiscate her last pay check, she's forced to take on her least favourite kind of job: missing persons.I found this book really throws you into the deep end, leaving you guessing ...
9.5/10
In the land of Myst, a tyrant rules the city of Bree with an iron fist, leaving its citizens living in fear and terror. But all hope is not lost as a young orphan girl from another world discovers her destiny and becomes the legend she was meant to be.I haven’t read much of the main stream Zenescope output of graphic novels and comi...
7.0/10
Ryhope Wood holds ancient secrets and memories – from legend, history, real and believed – that manifest themselves in physical form. Known as mythagos, they are unpredictable, dangerous and transient… because they are versions of famous heroes and heroines changeable according to how we see and think about them.As a bo...
9.0/10
After avenging himself on the mythical monster that killed his sister, Kal Hakela is back at the Bureau of Supernatural Investigation. But, with only a few months left on his contract, he's tempted to retire along with his new love, former MI-7 agent Jeanie.When a friend and former BSI agent in San Francisco kills himself, he leaves K...
8.8/10
Some of the locals in Ballantrae still tell tales about haunted Bennane Head, the cliffs just up the coast where mythical mass murderer and cannibal Sawney Beane is said to have dwelt with his inbred family during the seventeenth century. Never walk past there at night, they say, or heaven help you. Just a ghost story to give the tourists a thri...
7.8/10
Chatwin has visions of a parallel world where a couple are fleeing some terrible event pursued by an enemy and are seeking a gate to freedom. Chatwin is the gate, and when only one of the pair manages to escape, a struggle ensues between the other world and that of Chatwin.Although this book is not part of the Mythago Cycle, there is stil...
9.6/10
Is Sophie Fevvers, toast of Europe's capitals, part swan... or all fake?Courted by the Prince of Wales and painted by Toulouse-Lautrec, she is an aerialiste extraordinaire and star of Colonel Kearney's circus. She is also part woman, part swan. Jack Walser, an American journalist, is on a quest to discover the truth behind her ide...
9.4/10
Moscow, 1929: a city that has lost its way amid corruption and fear, inhabited by people who have abandoned their morals and forsaken spirituality. But when a mysterious stranger arrives in town with a bizarre entourage that includes a giant talking cat and a fanged assassin, all hell breaks loose. Among those caught up in the strange and inexpl...
9.5/10
For the last two volumes of this superb series, I have combined my review, as I realised that the series was coming to a conclusion.Volume 7 is called Conception, Fig who we have been following through the House of Mystery, seeing how all these stories have been weaving together is now on her own and having to face her fears, what is her ...
9.0/10
The last of an ancient group of wizards leaves a gift to the newly arrived race of men. It is revered and cared for by a line of priests until it is stolen, and the high priest and his sovereign murdered by a king who believes himself destined to be a great wizard. But from ancient writings the high priest had discovered that the gift is not ben...
4.0/10
To be honest, before beginning this book I was unsure of the story and concept Williams was portraying. However, I have always enjoyed Tad Williams books and I know he does like to mix up his writing style so thankfully I was pleasantly surprised in The Dirty Streets of Heaven. I found the main characters and view to be engaging. The principle c...
9.1/10
Back into the House of Mystery where countless stories await. If you haven’t been reading the series then please turn back here and start from Volume 1. The series does need to be read in order so please stop reading this review as I don’t want to spoil anything for the uninitiated...The House of Mystery’s lead character...
9.5/10
As I read this collaboration between Pratchett and Baxter I found myself drawing comparison with the marvellous “Eon” by Greg Bear and anything written by S M Stirling. Both of these authors produced excellent novels, the former dealing with the now-fairly-common theme of multiple human worlds/time threads being on a linear “co...
8.8/10
The outbreak tore the USA in two. The east remains a safe haven. The west has become a ravaged wilderness. They call it the Evacuated States.It is here that Henry Marco makes his living. Hired by grieving relatives, he tracks down the dead to deliver peace.Now Homeland Security wants Marco, for a mission unlike any other. He must r...
9.2/10
Everyone accepted that people were different physically. But inside? Inside, they were different too. You just had to know how to tell, what to look for.Evil has been eradicated. The City has been established. And citizens may only enter after having the 'evil' part of their brain removed. They are labelled on the System according...
2.0/10
Jude Oliver hails from a long line of assassins. Tired of his family's treachery and wanting more from life than power, he escapes with their secret weapon, the Silver--an ancient artifact so potent, so evil, that it could plunge mankind into a permanent state of ruin and despair.After fifteen years on the run, Jude receives a surpris...
8.5/10
In this new volume, Fig and her companions have to deal with the new circumstances and location of the House of Mystery which is now situated in the Goblin Market, as well as dealing with Fig’s new co-partner Cain, in the deal she made with the Conception in the last issue. Fig needs to find a way to control Cain’s murderous urges as...
8.7/10
Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana. Now the vampires and the shapeshifters are 'out', you'd think the supernaturals would get on with each other. But nothing is that simple in Bon Temps!Another novel on Sookie Stackhouse and her enduring vampire, werewolf and Fae problems in Bon Temps. I love thes...
9.0/10
The House of Mystery has moved to another dimension in a last ditch effort to save them all. The house is now in a dead land with new enemies surrounding them and old enemies trying to track them. Again, with different purposes, some still want the house and others still want Fig for powers which have not yet been fully explained.In this ...
8.5/10
Authors: Bill Willingham, Luca Rossi and Matthew SturgesThe newest volume features sex, suspicions and treachery as the characters trapped in a supernatural House of Mystery finally discover how and why they re imprisoned there. This title features the special issue #13, with art by comics superstars Neal Adams and Gilbert Hernandez....
9.0/10
In the depths of Broceliande - an ancient French woodland - Merlin and the enchantress Vivien play out their deadly feud. Meanwhile, a child is born deaf, dumb and blind. His senses return at the expense of his mother's, who must discover the wood's mystery and set the combatants free.I initially picked up this book as it seemed t...
8.8/10
The years have passed quickly for The Charmed Ones since they learned of their magical heritage. In only one decade they have experienced so much love and loss, joy and sorrow, failure and success. But time marches on and new challenges will be met as Phoebe is haunted by her past, Piper must deal with the present, and Paige is forced to cope wi...
8.9/10
The Hollowing is the fourth book in Robert Holdstock's Ryhope Wood series. The book is set around a year after the events of Lavondyss and follows Alex Bradley and his father Richard’s time in the wood.With each book in the series we learn more about the way the forest absorbs the t...
9.8/10
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breath-taking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.But behind the scenes, a fierce competi...
8.7/10
Chris Beckett has a good concept in the overall structure of this book, with the overlying question of: If you landed on a planet with less than a 50% chance of getting back to Earth, would you take the risk of dying or would you stay on an unknown world hoping that the people who did go back would make it? This is the main theme throughout the ...
6.0/10
Matthew Sturges, writer of the Eisner-nominated JACK OF FABLES, and his JACK co-writer Bill Willingham, the creator of FABLES, proudly unlock the doors to the HOUSE OF MYSTERY, a new graphic novel series that reinvents the classic DC Comics concept. It focuses on five characters trapped in a supernatural bar, trying to solve the mystery of how a...
9.0/10
This is the second volume of the Charmed Graphic novel, following the story of Piper, Phoebe and Paige after the end of the TV show. This is a great follow up to the first volume which set the sisters up on a new adventure and showing that evil was still out to get them.This volume collects issues 6-12 with the first story going back to a...
8.9/10
Shadowheart is the concluding book of Tad Williams's Shadowmarch Quartet and I can happily say that I it was a wonderful and fulfilling journey from the beginning of the first book all the way up until the completion of this fourth and final instalment. We finally see all the plot lines come beautifully together and also find out just how bi...
10.0/10
Lavondyss is the critically acclaimed sequel to the World Fantasy Award winning novel, Mythago Wood.In this, the second part of Robert Holdstock’s Ryhope Wood series, we are drawn into the world of Tallis Keeton, the sister of Harry Keeton, who disappeared in Mythago Wood. Tallis is ...
9.5/10
This is book two from the Files of the BSI and if you’re not sure you have heard of BSI (Bureau of Supernatural Investigations), it’s probably a good idea to read Things to do in Denver when you’re Un-Dead first as this is a direct sequel following the events of the first book.We are back with Kal and his new team after ...
8.3/10
This is the first volume of a new series by Vertigo Comics which revolves around the said House of Mystery. You can tell from the start that not everything is going to be explained as the inhabitants of the house don’t fully understand the reason they are in the house, but nevertheless trapped they are.If you have read Vertigo Comic...
8.0/10
Torn between her father's Catholicism and her mother's Pagan beliefs, Eva finally chooses Paganism. She accepts the name of Arethusa but learns too late that her life will mirror the Greek nymph's tragic fate. When they sail to the Azores Islands, her mother tells her that her destiny rests with Diogo, the ship owner's ...
6.0/10
Mythago Wood, set after the Second World War, tells the story of how a father’s obsession drags his two sons into a world of myths and legends. Of course this is not the only interesting point about this story. The two brothers Christian and Steven inherit their father’s house after his death and with it his obsession with Ryhope Woo...
9.8/10
This story, the first of 4 books, is one that grows on you. I didn’t enjoy the way the book had been structured into very short chapters, some only 3 pages long, and most of these chapters seemed to be changing from one character’s perspective to another, or to another scene, which can be quite jarring as it didn’t feel like th...
6.8/10
Shadowrise is the third book in a four part series so I shouldn’t need to say don’t read this book before the other two as you will not understand what is happening here. I also do not want to write something that might spoil it for someone who hasn’t read what comes before.As shadows threaten to consume the kingdom of S...
9.8/10
It wasn't that she feared death. She just despised losing.Genetically engineered warrior Sephti would go to any lengths to destroy the fae that made her their killing machine. Finally escaping servitude, she has meticulously planned revenge against her former masters, and time is running out. The last thing she needs is to be taken ca...
9.2/10
All of the world’s dreams are about to die. The Shadow People have come. Always near, they linger in the darkness, ready to devour dreams, hopes, aspirations and desires…Aisling, having lost her dream of becoming a fashion designer, learns that she’s a Faerie changeling. Disquieted by the fact that her faerie parents ar...
3.9/10
This is the second book in the Shadowmarch series and we see the continuation of the characters from the previous book as well as meeting new ones.You will definitely need to read the first book to enjoy this one. Please do not read further than this first paragraph if you haven’t. Because the first book is setting the stage of this...
9.8/10
For ten years Kal Hakala has been the Bureau of Supernatural Investigation's top man, the longest surviving agent in its blood-soaked history. There has been no case he couldn't crack, no monster he couldn't kill. Until a plague of zombies in Denver turns into an investigation of a vicious serial killer dubbed The Organ Donor. Fuelle...
8.2/10
Although, I have managed to read all of Elisa Paige’s books in an odd order, this has not detracted from any of the stories, although it may help if you choose to read the books from my reviews to read them in the following order: Stealing Time, Maelstrom, and Shadowplay. There are two more books to come which I am looking forward to as I ...
8.0/10
This is the first of 4 books in the Shadowmarch Trilogy (The 3rd book was split into 2). Like all Tad Williams books, this is multi-thread as well as character. In this world, the northern continent seems almost medieval in context, whilst the southern continent, is more like the Persian Empire. With both stories there are similarities such as t...
8.7/10
The world's first Fae trouble-shooter, Mia has survived the centuries by trusting no one and by pounding the bleeding hell out of her enemies. Then she meets Roddie, an Irish immortal with the skill to dodge even her most lethal attacks. Intrigued by the spirit beneath Mia's warrior exterior, Roddie resolves to recruit her for a new, cro...
7.9/10
Abithica by Susan Goldsmith is an ebook, first published by Twilight Times Books on April 14, 2011.What if you knew you were about to be torn from your body and replaced by an imposter in a seamless switch, forever separating you and the one you love? Would you do whatever it took to stay?This book had quite a good set-up, with 2 s...
5.0/10
Constable Dallin Brayden knows who he is, what he's about, and he doesn't believe in Fate. Wilfred Calder has no idea who he is, what he's about, and has been running from Fate for as long as he can remember. When Wil is brought in for questioning as a witness to a brutal murder, and subsequently flees, Dallin is dragged by dut...
6.0/10
It wasn't that she wanted to live forever. She just didn't want to die.When artist James Wesley realizes Evie Reed is dying, he is so moved by the beautiful reporter's determination to live that he makes her immortal - a vampire, like him. She's the woman he's been waiting over 150 years for. Though initially shocked b...
8.0/10
Like all the other Sookie Stackhouse novels, this is thoroughly addictive. The True Blood novels form a long story which continues to twist and turn from Dead until Dark until Dead Reckoning, where we are constantly learning about Sookie and the inhabitants of Bon Temps and the Surrounding Areas. If you haven’t read any of the books you wi...
9.8/10
The Mall is the latest work by the enigmatic, genderless author named SL Grey. Set in Johannesburg, South Africa, it is a creepy novel that talks about the futility of the consumer culture.The Mall is due to be published by Atlantic Books on Jun 1, 2011Dan works at a bookstore in a shopping mall where nothing ever happens. He hates...
7.9/10
Sebastian Fitzek is a bestselling author in his native Germany where, in 2006, his first book Therapy toppled Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code from its number one position.In Splinter - his latest work to be translated into English – Fitzek has written one of those thrillers that draws you in while twisting the story over and ove...
8.4/10
Charmed Comics 0-5 (read as an almost complete Vol. 1), Dave Hoover and Paul RuditisCharmed, a series that chronicles the life of a trio of witches, is one of the longest and most popular fantasy television programs ever.The first five issues chart the fortunes of Piper, Phoebe and Paige where the TV show left off. If you didn&rsqu...
8.2/10
In Scotland, in the years after an apocalyptic disaster, the surviving people have reverted to clan life and are living off the carcass of the old world. But not everyone has forgotten the technology of the past and not everyone has forgotten the mystical secrets of the ages gone before. Propelled by an act of compassion, Malcolm, a young clansm...
7.6/10
This book is a cross between A Brave New World and the Russian Dystopic Novel WE, it is an interesting book to read. I would have to say the books above are better in concept and thought although the underlying twist is infinitely enjoyable.The book was written in the 1970’s which seems to have affected its tone. This can be seen he...
8.0/10
For a first novel, I found this an enthralling read with enough loose ends to want to know how this story continues. The world of Rune seemed to be fully conceptualised as much as any fictional words can be real. You could imagine the different parts of the world and the differences between the cities and countryside. The earlier chapters, after...
7.0/10
Things have changed for Ever since she met her beloved Damen – not least because she's got a whole new set of powers, courtesy of her new Immortal status. Just as she's getting stronger, though, Damen seems to be weakening. Panicked at the thought of losing him, Ever finds a path to the in-between world known as Summerland, where s...
5.0/10
Cursed by God, hunted by demons, desired by Cain and Abel... All in a day's work.It's always good to read a story about a strong female character, who although is not in control of the circumstances surrounding her strives to control her life. Evangeline Hollis is not what you would call a victim and has more than enough to deal w...
7.8/10
Meet the Ushers. The parents, Ted and Biddy. Grandma Martha. The three kids, William, Amy and Sam. Just a normal, middle-class family gathered around the table on Christmas Day. Until they start dying. Violent deaths. One by one. Is there a curse on their house, as recently unearthed history of witchcraft in the area would suggest? Or has one me...
7.5/10
Guided by Neil Young and based on his Greendale album, writer Joshua Dysart (Unknown Soldier) and artist Cliff Chiang (Human Target) compose its graphic novel counterpart. In the Fall of 2003, as the nation blindly gallops into a war most of the world doesn't seem to want, a politically active teenage girl named Sun Green lives, loves and dr...
5.8/10
Seventeen-year-old Ever is the sole survivor of a car crash that killed her entire family. Living with her aunt in Southern California, she's plagued by the ability to hear the thoughts of those around her, and haunted by the ghost of her little sister. She tries to tune everyone out, shunning her old lifestyle as the pretty, popular cheerle...
5.0/10