Difference between revisions of "Newest Fantasy Reviews"

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[[Category:Fantasy|*]]
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Daniel Godfrey
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|author=A G Slatter
|title=New Pompeii
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|title=The Briar Book of the Dead
|rating=4.5
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|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Classicist Nick Houghton is employed by Novus Particles to assist them with a reconstruction of Pompeii – a reconstruction that includes the original, living first century inhabitants. NovusPart have discovered a way to pull historical artefacts (and indeed people) through time; an amazing innovation.  The conspiracy theorists mumble about there being sinister reasons and the disappearance of key personnel helps to feed these rumours, but Nick needs a job and this is too good an opportunity to turn down. Anyway, that's what he tells himself to combat the repercussions of saying no.
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|summary='' There's a part of me that wants to keep this just to myself for however long I can. This secret magic of my own, all mine, at last. I just want to enjoy it for a while.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783298111</amazonuk>
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Within a remote mountain pass, far away from the world, lies Silverton; a town under the protection of the Briar's, a family of witches who protect the town and the wider world from the Darklands. Though she has always wished for magic, Ellie Briar is the first non-witch to be born into her family for generations and as such since she was young, her training as a steward revolved around letters and administration rather than spells and potions. When her grandmother suddenly dies, Ellie's cousin Audra becomes the Briar Witch, the town's leader, and Ellie takes her place beside her. As challenges come her way left, right and centre, Ellie uncovers the rare ability to communicate with the dead, putting her at the heart of a maelstrom of chaos. Reeling from one family secret to another, Ellie must decide who to trust and determine what to do as the Briar witches' legacy, everything they have sacrificed to survive, is under threat.
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|isbn=1803364548
 
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Rachel Greenlaw
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|title=Compass and Blade
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|rating=3.5
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|genre=Teens
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|summary=''I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.''
  
{{newreview
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Rosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks. Mira, like her mother before her, is one of the seven who swim out to survey the ruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. But when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father. Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is as charming as he is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, she sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. With only nine days to unearth what might save her father, as her journey takes her from the watched streets of foreign islands to the heart of the smuggler's territory, Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and the ones she holds most dear.
|author=Christopher B Husberg
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|isbn=0008664730
|title=Chaos Queen - Duskfall (The Chaos Queen Quintet)
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Winter and Knot's wedding is a brave move and not just because Winter is a Tiellan.  Knot was brought back to life after nearly drowning the year before, a fate that removed his memory. All he knows is that there are people chasing him and when Knot's angry… you just don't want Knot to get angry.  Meanwhile Cinzia is a devout priestess with a problem: her beloved sister is leading a religious revolt.  Neither woman will come out of this the same. Cinzia will need to think about her life afresh while Winter… Let's just say big changes lie ahead.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783299150</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Rebecca Alexander
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|author=T Kingfisher
|title=The Secrets of Time and Fate
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|title=Thornhedge
|rating=4.5
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|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Having killed Countess Elizabeth Bathory, the revenant from the 16th century, 21st century Jackdaw Hammond did something she's regretting.  By depriving it of its host, the spirit Saraquel has moved from the Countess to Jack. Can she get some help to banish it before someone else does it a little more terminally both for Jack and Saraquel?  Meanwhile back in the 16th century of Edward Kelley and Sir John Dee, Elizabeth Bathory still lives and Saraquel proves he can wreak havoc across time.
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|summary=''You had a right to retake your place.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>009195326X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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T Kingfisher's latest novella is a lovely reimagining of a fairytale that is well known and well beloved. But whilst there is a princess trapped in a tower, sleeping under an eternal enchantment, Thornhedge is not her story. Instead, our protagonist is Toadling, who was stolen away by fairies when she was a new-born baby and secreted away to the land of fairie where her childhood was spent being taught how to draw magic from her veins and cast spells.
|author=Tarn Richardson
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|isbn=1803364238
|title=The Fallen (The Darkest Hand)
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Horror
 
|summary=1915 and the war continues, not just as the conflict that will come to be known as World War I but a more supernatural fight between good and evil. The dark forces continue to move across a darkened Europe, evidenced by the increase in demon possession and hideously misshapen babies.  When the Vatican fountain produces blood rather than water, the world knows that the events spoken of in Revelation may be underway.  Inquisitor Poldek Tacit still has the will to fight but he's just one man. Will one man be enough?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0715650599</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Tarn Richardson
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|author=Nicole Jarvis
|title=The Fallen (The Darkest Hand)
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|title=A Portrait in Shadow
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Horror
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|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=1915 and the war continues, not just as the conflict that will come to be known as World War I but a more supernatural fight between good and evil. The dark forces continue to move across a darkened Europe, evidenced by the increase in demon possession and hideously misshapen babies. When the Vatican fountain produces blood rather than water, the world knows that the events spoken of in Revelation may be underway.  Inquisitor Poldek Tacit still has the will to fight but he's just one man. Will one man be enough?
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|summary=''I want all of Florence to know my name''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0715650599</amazonuk>
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Cast out from Rome, Artemisia Gentileschi arrives in Florence seeking an oasis in which her art can find a home and where her future can thrive rather than stagnate. But as some as she enters Florentine society she faces great opposition from the powerful Accademia, the self-proclaimed guardians of the healing magics that through paintings have the power to protect the city and its citizens from plagues and curses. The all-male Accademia has hoarded power over art and architecture for centuries and guard it above all else. To them, Artemisia – an ambitious young woman who promises trouble and change – has no place amongst them and their society.
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|isbn=1803362340
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Paul Cornell
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|author=Thomas D Lee
|title= Who Killed Sherlock Holmes?
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|title=Perilous Times
|rating= 4.5
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|rating=3
|genre= Fantasy
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|genre= Fantasy
|summary=The Great Detecitve's ghost has walked London's streets for an age, given shape by people's memories. Now someone's put a ceremonial dagger throug his chest. But what's the motive? And who - or what - could kill a ghost? When policing London's supernatural underworld, eliminating the impossible is not an option. DI James Quill and his detectives have learnt this the hard way. Gifted with the Sight, they'll pursue a criminial genius - who'll lure them into a Sherlockian maze of clues and evidence. The team also have thier own demons to fight. They've been to Hell and back (literally) but now the unit is falling apart...
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|summary= ''Hate is the path of least resistance''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447273265</amazonuk>
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Set in the near-distant future, in a world on the verge of climate collapse, Britain is in great peril. The British Isles desperately needs a hero (or several) to save the day and rescue what little remains. What no-one expected was that one of the Knights of the Round Table would answer the call.
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|isbn=0356518523
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Guy Gavriel Kay
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|author=Amelia Estelle Dellos
|title=Children of Earth and Sky
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|title=Delilah Recovered
|rating=5
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|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Two spies employed by the Republic of Seresta are sent to the court of Jad's Holy Emperor Rudolfo, 'The Destroyer'.  The first, Leonora, knows what she's doing right down to hiding behind the cover of a sham marriage assigned for that purpose.  The second, Pero, is a young artist kidnapped for the task.  He has no previous experience but he's expendable so that's not completely necessary. Events transpire to ensure that both spies will need to rely on mariner and merchant Marin and Serjani fighter Danica more than they think. Yet even they can't stop the conflict that's on the horizon. Rudolfo has his eye on extending his empire globally and Jad help anything that gets in the way.
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|summary= We meet Dee at a point when her life isn't going as planned but things might, just might, be about to look up. Out of work, about to lose her flat, Dee is up for an accountant's job. But it's not to be. Dee is attacked by two men calling themselves witch hunters. She survives the attack but not unscathed. Witch hunters? What on earth has that to do with Dee? She's just an ordinary woman, living an ordinary life. Slivers of memory of things that are not ordinary at all return to her and things will never be the same....
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1473628105</amazonuk>
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|isbn=B0BKYFDLLV
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Aliya Whiteley
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|author=Hadeer Elsbai
|title= The Arrival of Missives
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|title=The Daughters of Izdihar
|rating= 4.5
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|rating=4
|genre= Literary Fiction
 
|summary=In the aftermath of the Great War, Shirley Fearn dreams of challenging the conventions of rural England, where life is as unchanging as the seasons. The scarred veteran Mr Tiller, left disfigured by an impossible accident on the battlefields of France, brings with him a message: part prophecy, part warning. As Shirley's village prepares for the annual May Day celebrations, where a new queen will be crowned and the future reborn, she must choose between change and renewal – will the missives Mr Tiller brings prevent her mastering her identity?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907389377</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ben Peek
 
|title=Leviathan's Blood (Children)
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=BEWARE, spoilers for Book 1 ahead:
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|summary= Drawing inspiration from Egypt, ''The Daughters of Izdihar'' explores the lives of two women who could not be more different, yet find themselves fighting for the rights of women and weavers – those with magical abilities - in a society pitted against them. Nehal, born into the upper class, wishes to attend the Weaving Academy to learn to control her abilities and then join the military, but instead she is forced into an arranged marriage with Nico. Giorgina on the other hand did not have a privileged upbringing like Nehal and feels great pressure to provide for her family and maintain their reputation, whilst secretly attending meetings of the Daughters of Izdihar – a group campaigning for women's rights. Giorgina also happens to be in love with Nico. What follows is a story of an unjust society, filled with hypocrisy and cruelty, from which blossoms a group of admirable women fighting for their rights and overcoming their personal obstacles.
The immortal Zaifyr is now in prison on Wila where he's facing trial for the murder of Keepers Fo and Bau. Ayae, the former apprentice is no longer the small child who walked unscathed from a burnt out shop.  All she wants to do now is save lives but she's frustrated at every turn. Captain Aned Heast is on a mission he won't let drop; he wants a name for his band of mercenaries but not just any name. Meanwhile be afraid; somewhere out there is the Child. The Child is coming.
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|isbn=0356520471
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447251318</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jenni Fagan
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|author=Heather Fawcett
|title=The Sunlight Pilgrims
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|title=Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
|rating=4.5
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|rating=4
 
|genre=General Fiction
 
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Dylan walks away from this family's small London indie cinema in 2020 to live on a Scottish caravan siteHis new neighbours Constance and her transgender 12 year old Stella have troubles of their own, but the odd British winter isn't helpingAs the country faces true Arctic temperatures life goes on… or at least it tries to.
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|summary=Emily Wilde is an expert academic scholar on faerie lore, and she has travelled extensively, and researched meticulously, to write her life's work, the very first encyclopaedia of faeries.  Whilst she is brilliant at research and speaking to faeries, she is not so good with people.  So when she finds herself far, far North in the small village of Hrafvsnik, having somehow offended the village matriarch, she is not sure what she has done, nor how to redeem herself and put her final investigations for her book back on the right trackEnter Wendell Bambleby, her dashingly handsome and insufferable rival who arrives unexpectedly, all charm and delight, much to Emily's frustrationBut why is he here?  What does he want?  And what exactly is going on with the faerie folk around Hravsnik?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434023302</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356519120
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Mark Lingane
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|author=Christopher Golden
|title=Fault/lines (Hadron Damnation Book 0)
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|title=Road of Bones
|rating=4.5
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|rating=3.5
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=Horror
|summary=What starts off as a day that should be remembered for a medical appointment soon becomes anything but for DCI Tracey HansonWhen planes start falling from the sky she and DI Reggie Chambers are thrown together in the thick of it.  In the midst of the carnage, a teenager is orphanedDefinitely a tragic event but is there more to it than that?
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|summary=The Kolyma Highway… the 'Road of Bones'… the R504.  Stretching for over a thousand miles across Siberia, it's one of the world's most notorious routesFor months of the year it's a spread of sheet ice suspended above the permafrost surrounding it, while its 'spring' sees it turn into a huge blodge of unremitting, apocalyptic-level mud, which dries into rutted, puddly dust.  I don't think google streetview updates it very oftenBuilt because Stalin wanted so much uranium and other Siberian minerals, and because he wanted to give too many people a lesson, it legendarily cost a life every metre it coversYou can easily find documentaries about it online, but that's a bit rich, for one of our main characters, Felix 'Teig' Teigland, is a film-maker, doing a recce with his cameraman buddy, John Prentiss – who's mostly there to encourage the project to fruition to claw back some of the funds he'd invested in the pair's prior TV projects.  They pick up their oh-so-chatty local guide, gain the company of a local beauty, and fetch up at the guide's childhood village.  And that's where things start to go awry…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>153061936X</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1803361476
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Joe Abercrombie
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|author=Andrew Givler
|title=Sharp Ends
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|title=Soul Fraud (The Debt Collection Book 1)
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=I often feel that short stories are an indulgence on the part of the author, they get to write down a lot of their ideas that don't really fit into a larger story. The stop/start nature of them never sits well with me, just as I am starting to get to know a character they are gone.  One way of solving this would be to use characters that a fan will already know; perhaps explore the past, or the future.  That sounds great for a fan, but how do you do this whilst also catering for a new reader?
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|summary=''Matt has a terrible life. Seriously—it's awful. It is so bad that Dan the Demon is shocked when Matt turns down his infernal offer: 10 years of a blissful life in exchange for his soul.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0575104678</amazonuk>
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}}
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Poor Dan! I know, I know, we shouldn't feel sorry for soul-catching demons. But he really is a terrible salesman. He never hits his targets and, when he fails to get even Matt to sign on the dotted line, he's so desperate that he simply forges Matt's signature.
{{newreview
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|isbn=1958204021
|author=David Sanger
 
|title=All Their Minds In Tandem
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=October 1879: A stranger walks into New Georgetown, West Virginia to keep an appointment.  He calls himself 'The Maker' and has a gift that gives him access to people's minds.  Gradually he'll become deeply acquainted with the townsfolk but it mustn't sway him from what he's here to accomplish.  One man, one mission and no guarantee how it will end.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784293954</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Joel Mentmore
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|author=Olivie Blake
|title=Smart
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|title=The Atlas Six
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Thrillers
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|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Jon and Skull – Matthew to his mum – are men with a passion for technology and built a business around that.  They also embrace anything innovative, as John has embraced Lucy; a smartphone app that monitors and assists with his health and life choices.  Skull is more into the idea of expanding Tesla car technology and so lets Jon get on with it.  Therefore when Jon goes missing, Skull is not only surprised but doesn't realise what Jon was caught up in.  Shame he didn't pay more attention as that would not only help Skull find Jon, it may keep both of them alive.
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|summary= Dark, sharp, and highly inquisitive, ''The Atlas Six'' makes its publishing debut after becoming a Tik-Tok sensation.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0993484824</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1529095239
 
}}
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jen Williams
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|author=Daniel Abraham
|title=The Silver Tide (Copper Cat)
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|title=Age of Ash
|rating=5
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|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=The Black Feather Three - Copper Cat Wydrin of Crosshaven, Lord Aaron Frith and Sir Sebastian - the sought after sell-swords are always looking for their next adventure and, more importantly, their next pay daySebastian is still feeling lost after having to leave his love behind but he'll come around.  He has to; they've just been given a job by renowned pirate captain Devinia the Red.  They've been commissioned to help her and the crew of the aptly named ''Poison Chalice'' to go into a land famed for its monsters and ghostsA place deep in magic where people vanish.  A place where none of the three really want to go but they have no choice: Devinia the Red is Wydrin's mum.
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|summary= We meet Alys under the most northerly of Oldgate's four bridges, she has a knife in her hand and a meeting that she dreads.  Meanwhile the City of Kithamar is at a point in the turning of years when the worlds are at their thinnest and all things are possibleIt is the night between the funeral of a Prince and the coronation of his successorFor a night the Kithamar is un-ruled.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472211154</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356515427
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Stefan Mohamed
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|author= Ann Sei Lin
|title= Ace of Spiders
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|title= Rebel Skies
 
|rating= 5
 
|rating= 5
|genre= General Fiction
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|genre= Teens
|summary= Stanly is frustrated. Having set himself up as London's protector, he's finding that the everyday practicalities of superheroism are challenging at best, and downright tedious at worst. So it's almost a relief when an attempt is made on his life and Stanly finds himself rushing headlong into a twisted adventure, with enemies new and old coming out of the woodwork. However, even with his friends and his ever-increasing power behind him, he may have bitten off more than he can chew this time. The monsters are coming… and nothing will ever be the same!
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|summary= Kurara has spent her entire life as a servant on the Midori, a massive dining hall floating in the sky where soldiers of the Empire come to drink and make merry between their conquests. However, when a man named Himura arrives to tell her that she is a Crafter like him, someone with the power to form paper into whatever she desires – a power sought after all across the Empire. He asks her to come with him, to leave the life of dreary servitude that is all she has known. Well, soon Kurara won't have any say in the matter, because the Midori is destroyed by a monstrous paper spirit known as a shikigami, and she is forced to flee out into the world. She joins Himura aboard the Orihime, a sky-ship whose express purpose is to hunt down shikigami, and a whole world of adventure awaits her…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784630675</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1406399590
 
}}
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Adrian Selby
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|isbn=B09Q3P283Y
|title=Snakewood
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|title=Shadebringer
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|author=Grayson W Hooper
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Kailen's Twenty are an elite; the type of mercenaries that live on in legend.  It therefore stands to reason that the authorities want them dead but they aren't the only ones.  As the guerrilla war between rebels and governing classes rages on, a lone assassin, as elite as the Twenty, unknown even to those on the same side is on their trail. Who is he and why the vendetta?  The answer will be revealed one day to those still alive to hear it.
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|summary=Clyde Robbins signs up for the US Army during the Vietnam War. He's not really that invested in the fight against Communism, nor is he particularly interested in a career in the military. If he's honest - which Clyde usually is, with himself at least - he hasn't got many choices and this one, at least, gets him out of the rut he's in. He's good in training and is quickly put onto a non commissioned officer training course. He's chuffed with himself.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356505529</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Adrian Tchaikovsky
 
|title=The Tiger and the Wolf (Echoes of the Fall)
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Maniye is a girl torn between her mother's tribe, the tiger people and her father's wolves.  She has always known her father and wolf chieftain killed her mother as soon as Maniye was born but she has only just discovered his purpose for Maniye's life.  There is only one alternative for her: to run away, taking Hesprec the snake and proposed wolf blood sacrifice. Although what she hasn't reckoned on is just how much she has to learn, her father's determination and the dogged perseverance of Broken Axe, lone wolf and hired killer. She also seems to be running towards a world on the verge of a horrific war as Maniye places herself between a rock and a very hard place indeed.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0230770061</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=A K Benedict
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|author=Jennifer Saint
|title=Jonathan Dark or The Evidence Of Ghosts
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|title=Elektra
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=Maria King sits by the Thames mudlarking - sifting through the washed up treasures - on a regular basis. Only today she finds a ring in a box with 'Marry me Maria' on the lid in braille.  Blind from birth and now blind by choice, the words can be for no one else but Ms King. However a greater surprise awaits inside the box: the ring is still on a finger belonging to the last girl who received such a proposal.  DI Jonathan Dark is assigned to the case, not realising what he's taken on or the sort of help he'll need to call on.  The dead are all around him, his plan is not to let Maria join them.
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|summary='Elektra' by Jennifer Saint tells the story of three women who live in the heavily male dominated world of Ancient Greece. Cassandra, Clytemnestra, and Elektra are all bit players in the story of the Trojan War. Yet Jennifer Saint shows us that often the silent women have the most compelling stories and the most extreme furies.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1409144550</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1472273915
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Daniel Polansky
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|author=Dean Koontz
|title= Those Above
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|title=Quicksilver
|rating= 4
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|rating=2.5
|genre= Fantasy
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|genre=Thrillers
|summary=For three thousand years Those Above have ruled over their human subjects. From the glittering palaces of their eternal city, they enforce their will with fire and sword. Twenty-five years ago, mankind mustered an army and rose up against them, only to be slaughtered in a terrible battle. Whilst hope died that day, hatred survived. Whispers of another revolt begin to stir throughout the oppressed: a widowed woman, dedicated to revenge: a general, the only to defeat one of Those Above; and a boy killer, who rises from the gutter to lead an uprising.
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|summary=Meet Quinn Quicksilver. He's not had the chance to get to be a mercurial character yet, for he's lived in a nun-run orphanage since he was a three-day old foundling, and now is starting a career on a needless magazine's staff. But when this book starts he IS now ''subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind'', for something – call it unearthly intuition, call it mind-control, call it a supernatural urge – has demanded of him that he go to a derelict diner, find a gold coin worth a fortune, cash the value of it out of his bank and prepare for going on the lam. And all this is just in time for two of those typical Men in Black types to turn up and suggest he's of interest to them. Helped to escape, he finds his flight is interrupted by other instances of him acting without being in control, the discovery that he is not unique in having some kind of burgeoning power – and a whole lot more besides.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444779915</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1542019885
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Den Patrick
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|author=Tasha Suri
|title=The Girl on the Liar's Throne
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|title=The Jasmine Throne
|rating=4.5
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|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Lucien doesn’t want to declare war on Landfall and its Silent Queen, Anea, whom he grew up with as an Orfano. She runs a dictatorship of militant suppression and suffering which is rather unlike her. Unbeknown to Lucien, the throne of Landfall is occupied by Eris, an imposter and puppet used by those with far fewer scruples. Anea herself is imprisoned in the palace oubliette surrounded by Myrmidon, a half-human army created by Erebus. There's little chance of her escaping or getting very far if she did.  However, for Anea 'little chance' is a challenge, not a preventative.
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|summary= On the night of her sacred burning, Princess Malini defies her brother and refuses to step on to the pyre. She is immediately sent to be imprisoned on the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once filled with a community of people who got powers from the mysterious deathless waters. But now the temple is nothing more than an overgrown, decaying ruin. One day, Malini witnesses a girl kill someone with magic. Instead of reporting her for such a gruesome crime, Malini claims that the girl saved her from an attacker and begs for the girl to become her own personal maidservant.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1473200040</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356515648
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview <!-- Upload 16/2 -->
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{{Frontpage
|author=C E Robinson
+
|author=Genevieve Gornichec
|title=Lilith: Eden's Planetary Princess (The Michael Archives Book 1)
+
|title=The Witch's Heart
|rating=3.5
+
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=35,000 years ago a war in heaven bleeds onto the planet Eden.  King Joshua's angels are being harvested, their essence drained off and their remaining bodies no good for anything apart from a euthanasia; a fate from which they can't be reincarnated.  From this good essence is created evil Nephilim, creatures at the bidding of Satan's Overlords. Out of this battle between good and evil a planetary princess arises and this first book in the Michael Archives records her journey: the journey of Lilith from ordinary to extraordinary.
+
|summary= A modern and approachable reimagining of the Norse myths that centres around a witch named Angrboda. She hides in a forest at the edge of the nine worlds, remembering nothing of her past life but that fact that she was survived burnt at the stake three times because of Odin's wrath. Her attempts to live in peace, however, are quickly thwarted when Loki shows up with her literal heart—the one that was cut from her chest before she was tied to the stake—and refuses to leave her alone. After an initial period of mistrust, Angrboda begins to fall for Loki's charms, and the two start an unusual family made of up a half-dead daughter, a son that's a wolf, and another son that's a snake.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B018N7F2B8</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1789097061
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Charlie Jane Anders
 
|title= All The Birds In The Sky
 
|rating= 5
 
|genre= Fantasy
 
|summary= All of us have awakenings as teenagers, but Patricia's is more extreme than most – discovering that she is a witch who can speak to animals. Classmate Laurence's awakening is less disturbing but no less impressive – a scientific genius, he creates a two-second time machine. Growing up together, the mutual weirdness between the two bonds them, but life gets in the way, and they end up on very different paths. Meeting as adults in San Francisco, Laurence is an engineering genius trying to save the world, whereas Patricia is a qualified witch, working hard to prove herself and cure those on the planet. As the two are drawn back together, and the fate of the whole world threatened, Patricia and Laurence are forced to consider the fact that maybe they know each other better than anyone…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785650556</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Susan Dennard
+
|author=Hannah Whitten
|title=Truthwitch (The Witchlands Series)
+
|title=For the Wolf
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Highway robbery is one of their talents so Safiya and Iseult don't envisage any problems.  That is until they realise one of the soldiers defending the booty is a bloodwitch.  It's an even bigger problem because truthwitches like Safiya are in demand…dangerously so!  Meanwhile as the kingdom of Nubrevna reaches the end of a 20 year truce, Prince Merik desperately tries for a permanent peace.  But there are those who would rather fight, including his own sister.
+
|summary=In Red's family, the first daughter becomes queen, and the second daughter becomes a sacrifice. To Red's misfortune, she is the second daughter. Sent alone into the woods with nothing but the cape on her back, Red knows what to expect: within the woods is a wolf, and he is the one who will decide the fate of their kingdom. If she is not a worthy sacrifice, the monsters he keeps contained to the woods will be released, and the fabled kings he keeps hostage will never be returned—or so the stories go. But when Red enters the woods, expecting nothing more than to be killed within the hour, she finds that the legends are lies. The wolf is not a monster—he's a man.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447282043</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356516369
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Stephen Hunt
 
|title= Foul Tides Turning
 
|rating= 3.5
 
|genre= Fantasy
 
|summary= The people of Weyland always believed the slavers' raids, which destroyed families and homes like a natural disaster, were a misfortune that couldn't be averted. But it wasn't true. Their King, King Marcus, had struck a deal – sacrificing his people in exchange for technology and political power. But now, everyone knows. Jacob and Carter Carnehan escaped the slavers, returning home with the truth, the true King, and a Princess as their hostage. Their purpose was to avoid war – but instead the truth prompts a civil war, and an invasion force gathers to reclaim the princess. Once again, Jacob and Carter will be separated – and this time they'll be fighting for something bigger than both of them…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0575092106</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Paula Brackston
 
|title=The Silver Witch (Shadow Chronicles)
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Ceramic artist Tilda moves to the house she and her husband envisaged their lives together in the wilds of Wales.  Unfortunately, due to his tragic death a year ago, Tilda must move in alone and build a different life.  In the same location a thousand years earlier Seren serves Prince Hywell as his village's seer and shaman.  Life isn't easy for her either.  She has enemies, some a lot closer than the traditional threat from the Anglo Saxons.  Although centuries apart these two women's lives will come together with connotations for all who love them and a deadly force that could go beyond that.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472150651</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Tim Akers
 
|title= The Pagan Night
 
|rating= 4
 
|genre= Fantasy
 
|summary= The Celestial Church has all but eliminated the old pagan ways, ruling the people with an iron hand. Demonic gheists terrorise the land, hunted by the warriors of the inquisition, yet it's the battling factions within the Church and age-old hatreds between north and south that tear the land apart. Malcolm Blakley, hero of the Reaver War, seeks to end the conflict between men, yet it falls to his son Ian and huntress Gwen Adair, to stop the killing before it tears the land apart – fighting mad gods, inquisitor priests, holy knights, and noble houses in battles of prejudice, politics, and power…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783297379</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Nora Roberts
+
|author=John Gwynne
|title=Stars of Fortune (Guardians Trilogy)
+
|title=The Shadow Of The Gods
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Sasha suffers from nightmares.  The scary details may vary but the gist of the contents remain the same: the voice of a stranger, the presence of evil and the faces of five people on an island, none of which/whom she knows.  She tries all she can to exorcise the darkness including transferring the faces and locations into her art but even the refuge of her talent and livelihood doesn't work.  In a moment of bravery Sasha discovers the identity of the island and travels to where she knows it will all begin and possibly end.  For there somewhere on Crete the other five wait and the evil materialises along with the events that three goddesses began eons ago.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0349407797</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ken Liu
 
|title=The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty)
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Mata Zyundu is on the way down in life having been born into an aristocratic family deposed and burdened with all the resentment that goes with it.  Meanwhile the charming Kuni Gara finds fame and success as a bandit leader after a lifetime surviving on the streets.  The two form an unlikely friendship that's torn asunder as the Empire crumbles and they find themselves on opposite sides for better or, indeed, for worse.
+
|summary=The Shadow Of The Gods is the first installment of the Bloodsworn Saga, set in the era of the Vikings in the shadow of Ragnarok, when the Gods have battled and their bones lie scattered for all to see. This story is the ultimate in High Fantasy, and John Gwynne certainly does justice to the genre, with mythical creatures, archaic language and battles galore. This is a thick book, with an intricate plot and fascinating characters that are woven together to create a wonderfully realistic and gritty world in which our heroes must do battle.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784973211</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356514218
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= George Mann
 
|title= The Osiris Ritual: A Newbury and Hobbes Investigation
 
|rating= 3
 
|genre= Crime (Historical)
 
|summary=Sir Maurice Newbury, his majesty's special agent, and his assistant Miss Veronica Hobbes are on the case once more. When a group of well-to-do explorers return from an Egyptian expedition, they unveil a mummy and unleash an ancient mystery. Soon the explorers are being picked off one by one and Newbury must solve the mystery if he is to catch the culprit. But there's more than one brute on the loose, while Newbury attempts to track down a rogue agent, Veronica takes the case of disappearing women into her own hands with dangerous consequences …
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783298251</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Serge le Tendre, Regis Loisel and Ivanka Hahnenberger (translator)
 
|title=The Quest for the Time Bird
 
|rating=2.5
 
|genre=Graphic Novels
 
|summary=In order to defeat a vengeful god, who is within days of getting out of his prison – a sacred conch shell – several things must happen.  First, the conch must be united with the witch powerful enough to sustain the incantation keeping him locked up.  Then she must use her helpers to endure great danger and find the information she seeks in the most perilous of places for knowledge of the ultimate part of the puzzle – the Time Bird.  All this calls for heroes, but in the world of fantasy anyone can call themselves a hero – from the witch's own buxom daughter, Pelisse, to an old warrior called Bragon that the girl is forced to unite with and fight alongside.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782763627</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Nora Roberts
 
|title=Shadow Spell (The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy Book 2)
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Spoilers ahead for Book 1, ''Dark Witch''.
 
Life goes on for the O'Dwyer cousins but that doesn’t mean they've given up on Cabahn, the evil one who has stalked their family for centuries.  He hasn't given up on them either unfortunately.  As the cousins' resolve increases so does their links with their 13th century ancestors from when their powers – as well as their problems – originated.  Meanwhile the problem of their friend Meara Quinn may seem paltry by comparison but it's still a problem.  She's desperate not to fall in love with Connor O'Dwyer. Good luck with that Meara!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749958618</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
Move on to [[Newest For Sharing Reviews]]

Latest revision as of 09:13, 18 February 2024

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Review of

The Briar Book of the Dead by A G Slatter

5star.jpg Fantasy

There's a part of me that wants to keep this just to myself for however long I can. This secret magic of my own, all mine, at last. I just want to enjoy it for a while.

Within a remote mountain pass, far away from the world, lies Silverton; a town under the protection of the Briar's, a family of witches who protect the town and the wider world from the Darklands. Though she has always wished for magic, Ellie Briar is the first non-witch to be born into her family for generations and as such since she was young, her training as a steward revolved around letters and administration rather than spells and potions. When her grandmother suddenly dies, Ellie's cousin Audra becomes the Briar Witch, the town's leader, and Ellie takes her place beside her. As challenges come her way left, right and centre, Ellie uncovers the rare ability to communicate with the dead, putting her at the heart of a maelstrom of chaos. Reeling from one family secret to another, Ellie must decide who to trust and determine what to do as the Briar witches' legacy, everything they have sacrificed to survive, is under threat. Full Review

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Review of

Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw

3.5star.jpg Teens

I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.

Rosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks. Mira, like her mother before her, is one of the seven who swim out to survey the ruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. But when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father. Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is as charming as he is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, she sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. With only nine days to unearth what might save her father, as her journey takes her from the watched streets of foreign islands to the heart of the smuggler's territory, Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and the ones she holds most dear. Full Review

1803364238.jpg

Review of

Thornhedge by T Kingfisher

5star.jpg Fantasy

You had a right to retake your place.

T Kingfisher's latest novella is a lovely reimagining of a fairytale that is well known and well beloved. But whilst there is a princess trapped in a tower, sleeping under an eternal enchantment, Thornhedge is not her story. Instead, our protagonist is Toadling, who was stolen away by fairies when she was a new-born baby and secreted away to the land of fairie where her childhood was spent being taught how to draw magic from her veins and cast spells. Full Review

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Review of

A Portrait in Shadow by Nicole Jarvis

4.5star.jpg Historical Fiction

I want all of Florence to know my name

Cast out from Rome, Artemisia Gentileschi arrives in Florence seeking an oasis in which her art can find a home and where her future can thrive rather than stagnate. But as some as she enters Florentine society she faces great opposition from the powerful Accademia, the self-proclaimed guardians of the healing magics that through paintings have the power to protect the city and its citizens from plagues and curses. The all-male Accademia has hoarded power over art and architecture for centuries and guard it above all else. To them, Artemisia – an ambitious young woman who promises trouble and change – has no place amongst them and their society. Full Review

0356518523.jpg

Review of

Perilous Times by Thomas D Lee

3star.jpg Fantasy

Hate is the path of least resistance

Set in the near-distant future, in a world on the verge of climate collapse, Britain is in great peril. The British Isles desperately needs a hero (or several) to save the day and rescue what little remains. What no-one expected was that one of the Knights of the Round Table would answer the call. Full Review

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Review of

Delilah Recovered by Amelia Estelle Dellos

4star.jpg Fantasy

We meet Dee at a point when her life isn't going as planned but things might, just might, be about to look up. Out of work, about to lose her flat, Dee is up for an accountant's job. But it's not to be. Dee is attacked by two men calling themselves witch hunters. She survives the attack but not unscathed. Witch hunters? What on earth has that to do with Dee? She's just an ordinary woman, living an ordinary life. Slivers of memory of things that are not ordinary at all return to her and things will never be the same.... Full Review

0356520471.jpg

Review of

The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai

4star.jpg Fantasy

Drawing inspiration from Egypt, The Daughters of Izdihar explores the lives of two women who could not be more different, yet find themselves fighting for the rights of women and weavers – those with magical abilities - in a society pitted against them. Nehal, born into the upper class, wishes to attend the Weaving Academy to learn to control her abilities and then join the military, but instead she is forced into an arranged marriage with Nico. Giorgina on the other hand did not have a privileged upbringing like Nehal and feels great pressure to provide for her family and maintain their reputation, whilst secretly attending meetings of the Daughters of Izdihar – a group campaigning for women's rights. Giorgina also happens to be in love with Nico. What follows is a story of an unjust society, filled with hypocrisy and cruelty, from which blossoms a group of admirable women fighting for their rights and overcoming their personal obstacles. Full Review

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Review of

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

4star.jpg General Fiction

Emily Wilde is an expert academic scholar on faerie lore, and she has travelled extensively, and researched meticulously, to write her life's work, the very first encyclopaedia of faeries. Whilst she is brilliant at research and speaking to faeries, she is not so good with people. So when she finds herself far, far North in the small village of Hrafvsnik, having somehow offended the village matriarch, she is not sure what she has done, nor how to redeem herself and put her final investigations for her book back on the right track. Enter Wendell Bambleby, her dashingly handsome and insufferable rival who arrives unexpectedly, all charm and delight, much to Emily's frustration. But why is he here? What does he want? And what exactly is going on with the faerie folk around Hravsnik? Full Review

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Review of

Road of Bones by Christopher Golden

3.5star.jpg Horror

The Kolyma Highway… the 'Road of Bones'… the R504. Stretching for over a thousand miles across Siberia, it's one of the world's most notorious routes. For months of the year it's a spread of sheet ice suspended above the permafrost surrounding it, while its 'spring' sees it turn into a huge blodge of unremitting, apocalyptic-level mud, which dries into rutted, puddly dust. I don't think google streetview updates it very often. Built because Stalin wanted so much uranium and other Siberian minerals, and because he wanted to give too many people a lesson, it legendarily cost a life every metre it covers. You can easily find documentaries about it online, but that's a bit rich, for one of our main characters, Felix 'Teig' Teigland, is a film-maker, doing a recce with his cameraman buddy, John Prentiss – who's mostly there to encourage the project to fruition to claw back some of the funds he'd invested in the pair's prior TV projects. They pick up their oh-so-chatty local guide, gain the company of a local beauty, and fetch up at the guide's childhood village. And that's where things start to go awry… Full Review

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Review of

Soul Fraud (The Debt Collection Book 1) by Andrew Givler

4star.jpg Fantasy

Matt has a terrible life. Seriously—it's awful. It is so bad that Dan the Demon is shocked when Matt turns down his infernal offer: 10 years of a blissful life in exchange for his soul.

Poor Dan! I know, I know, we shouldn't feel sorry for soul-catching demons. But he really is a terrible salesman. He never hits his targets and, when he fails to get even Matt to sign on the dotted line, he's so desperate that he simply forges Matt's signature. Full Review

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Review of

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

4star.jpg Fantasy

Dark, sharp, and highly inquisitive, The Atlas Six makes its publishing debut after becoming a Tik-Tok sensation. Full Review

0356515427.jpg

Review of

Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham

4.5star.jpg Fantasy

We meet Alys under the most northerly of Oldgate's four bridges, she has a knife in her hand and a meeting that she dreads. Meanwhile the City of Kithamar is at a point in the turning of years when the worlds are at their thinnest and all things are possible. It is the night between the funeral of a Prince and the coronation of his successor. For a night the Kithamar is un-ruled. Full Review

1406399590.jpg

Review of

Rebel Skies by Ann Sei Lin

5star.jpg Teens

Kurara has spent her entire life as a servant on the Midori, a massive dining hall floating in the sky where soldiers of the Empire come to drink and make merry between their conquests. However, when a man named Himura arrives to tell her that she is a Crafter like him, someone with the power to form paper into whatever she desires – a power sought after all across the Empire. He asks her to come with him, to leave the life of dreary servitude that is all she has known. Well, soon Kurara won't have any say in the matter, because the Midori is destroyed by a monstrous paper spirit known as a shikigami, and she is forced to flee out into the world. She joins Himura aboard the Orihime, a sky-ship whose express purpose is to hunt down shikigami, and a whole world of adventure awaits her… Full Review

B09Q3P283Y.jpg

Review of

Shadebringer by Grayson W Hooper

4star.jpg Fantasy

Clyde Robbins signs up for the US Army during the Vietnam War. He's not really that invested in the fight against Communism, nor is he particularly interested in a career in the military. If he's honest - which Clyde usually is, with himself at least - he hasn't got many choices and this one, at least, gets him out of the rut he's in. He's good in training and is quickly put onto a non commissioned officer training course. He's chuffed with himself. Full Review

1472273915.jpg

Review of

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

4star.jpg Literary Fiction

'Elektra' by Jennifer Saint tells the story of three women who live in the heavily male dominated world of Ancient Greece. Cassandra, Clytemnestra, and Elektra are all bit players in the story of the Trojan War. Yet Jennifer Saint shows us that often the silent women have the most compelling stories and the most extreme furies. Full Review

1542019885.jpg

Review of

Quicksilver by Dean Koontz

2.5star.jpg Thrillers

Meet Quinn Quicksilver. He's not had the chance to get to be a mercurial character yet, for he's lived in a nun-run orphanage since he was a three-day old foundling, and now is starting a career on a needless magazine's staff. But when this book starts he IS now subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind, for something – call it unearthly intuition, call it mind-control, call it a supernatural urge – has demanded of him that he go to a derelict diner, find a gold coin worth a fortune, cash the value of it out of his bank and prepare for going on the lam. And all this is just in time for two of those typical Men in Black types to turn up and suggest he's of interest to them. Helped to escape, he finds his flight is interrupted by other instances of him acting without being in control, the discovery that he is not unique in having some kind of burgeoning power – and a whole lot more besides. Full Review

0356515648.jpg

Review of

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

4star.jpg Fantasy

On the night of her sacred burning, Princess Malini defies her brother and refuses to step on to the pyre. She is immediately sent to be imprisoned on the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once filled with a community of people who got powers from the mysterious deathless waters. But now the temple is nothing more than an overgrown, decaying ruin. One day, Malini witnesses a girl kill someone with magic. Instead of reporting her for such a gruesome crime, Malini claims that the girl saved her from an attacker and begs for the girl to become her own personal maidservant. Full Review

1789097061.jpg

Review of

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

4star.jpg Fantasy

A modern and approachable reimagining of the Norse myths that centres around a witch named Angrboda. She hides in a forest at the edge of the nine worlds, remembering nothing of her past life but that fact that she was survived burnt at the stake three times because of Odin's wrath. Her attempts to live in peace, however, are quickly thwarted when Loki shows up with her literal heart—the one that was cut from her chest before she was tied to the stake—and refuses to leave her alone. After an initial period of mistrust, Angrboda begins to fall for Loki's charms, and the two start an unusual family made of up a half-dead daughter, a son that's a wolf, and another son that's a snake. Full Review

0356516369.jpg

Review of

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

5star.jpg Fantasy

In Red's family, the first daughter becomes queen, and the second daughter becomes a sacrifice. To Red's misfortune, she is the second daughter. Sent alone into the woods with nothing but the cape on her back, Red knows what to expect: within the woods is a wolf, and he is the one who will decide the fate of their kingdom. If she is not a worthy sacrifice, the monsters he keeps contained to the woods will be released, and the fabled kings he keeps hostage will never be returned—or so the stories go. But when Red enters the woods, expecting nothing more than to be killed within the hour, she finds that the legends are lies. The wolf is not a monster—he's a man. Full Review

0356514218.jpg

Review of

The Shadow Of The Gods by John Gwynne

5star.jpg Fantasy

The Shadow Of The Gods is the first installment of the Bloodsworn Saga, set in the era of the Vikings in the shadow of Ragnarok, when the Gods have battled and their bones lie scattered for all to see. This story is the ultimate in High Fantasy, and John Gwynne certainly does justice to the genre, with mythical creatures, archaic language and battles galore. This is a thick book, with an intricate plot and fascinating characters that are woven together to create a wonderfully realistic and gritty world in which our heroes must do battle. Full Review

Move on to Newest For Sharing Reviews