Difference between revisions of "Newest Fantasy Reviews"

From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to search
 
(469 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
[[Category:Fantasy|*]]
 
[[Category:Fantasy|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Fantasy]]
+
[[Category:New Reviews|Fantasy]]__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->
==Fantasy==
+
{{Frontpage
__NOTOC__
+
|author=A G Slatter
 
+
|title=The Briar Book of the Dead
{{newreview
+
|rating=5
|author=Cathy Farr
 
|title=Moon Crossing
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=
+
|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.''
Wil Calloway returns to Saran in the most unwelcome of circumstances. Tally, Lady Elanor's young sister, has been abducted by the evil Lord Rexmoore in an attempt to find the whereabouts of the Legacy. Tally doesn't know it, but that won't save her. So Wil has come to rejoin his Fellmen friends and mount a rescue mission. But it's not going to be easy. Gisella and Mortimer aren't talking. Seth is as accident-prone as ever. And Leon and his father are still deeply suspicious about Wil's part in Giles's death during the last Moon Chase.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781485151</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
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.
|author=Jon Grahame
+
|isbn=1803364548
|title=Reaper
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Ex-cop Jim Reaper gave up on living after his fourteen-year-old daughter was raped and committed suicide. To make matters worse, her attacker is let out of jail after serving only three years. Reaper comes up with a plan to end him, and to end his own miserable life in one move. Only the world has other plans with him.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905802528</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Rachel Greenlaw
|author=H A Goodman
+
|title=Compass and Blade
|title=Breaking The Devil's Heart: A Logic of Demons Novel
+
|rating=3.5
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=In this afterlife, Heaven is pretty much hands off. Angels whisper sweet nothings into human ears but don't go much further than that. If the living don't act on Heaven's advice, the angels simply practise what you might call courageous restraint. Hell, on the other hand, is much better organised. Set up like a sizeable corporation, its demons are purveyors of the Formula and relentless targets push the demons into becoming exceedingly effective - and dodgy - salesmen. Drink too much of the Formula and you're in big trouble - sinning all over the place.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B007T0BDVE</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Rachel Hartman
 
|title=Seraphina
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Teens
 
|genre=Teens
|summary=The Comonot Treaty is approaching its 40th anniversary but the state of play between humans and dragons is still parlous. The people in Goredd still revile and distrust the dragons who walk among them in human form. For the dragons, humans are like cockroaches - easily crushed individually, but surprisingly resilient when they band together. Humans are impulsive, emotional. Dragons are impassive, logical. It's not an easy fit and the fragile peace is at risk after the murder of a Goreddi prince. Dragons are suspected of the crime.
+
|summary=''I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857531565</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
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=N K Jemisin
+
|isbn=0008664730
|title=The Killing Moon: Dreamblood: Book 1
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Ehiru is a Gatherer. He visits those who are dying to help them pass away peacefully. He sends their souls to a safe place for eternity, while taking their dreamblood to heal others. Most people in his city, Gujaareh, are happy with this. Then he Gathers a foreigner who's unwilling, and claims that the order of priests he belongs to are corrupt... could this barbarian be correct?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356500764</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=T Kingfisher
|author=Jeri Smith-Ready
+
|title=Thornhedge
|title=Shine
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=Age gap relationships - who'd risk them?  Zach is only a brief moment older than Aura, but in that instant the world changed, as Aura and anyone younger can see and speak to ghosts - while Zach might as well be poison to them.  Over two books Aura has accepted being with Zach and not her dead rock-star boyfriend, who has finally, permanently, moved on.  [[Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready|Last time]] they even found out a lot about how and why the Shift, as that moment is called, happened.  Now we're to consider the present and the future - what it would mean for Zach and Aura to really get together, and what the Powers That Be (whoever they are) are expecting of them, together and apart.  It's the last in the trilogy, so a lot of secrets will be revealed, a lot of threat will be faced - and it'll be emotional.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857074113</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Daniel Abraham
 
|title=The King's Blood: Book Two of The Dagger and the Coin
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=After unexpectedly managing to expose a conspiracy to murder Prince Aster, Geder Palliako has become the prince’s Protector and the hero of Antea. Dawson Kalliam is working with him as the Anteans pursue the roots of the plot, with the possibility of war breaking out. Elsewhere, Cithrin Bel Sarcour is frustrated by a new notary stopping her from running her bank as she wants to, while Marcus Wester tries to protect her. As if that wasn’t enough to keep things going, Master Kit has a goddess to kill…
+
|summary=''You had a right to retake your place.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498890</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
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=Carolyn Jess-Cooke
+
|isbn=1803364238
|title=The Boy Who Could See Demons
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Alex can see demons. He's been able to ever since his dad left when he was five years old. Some demons are hideous, some are frightening, and some just lurk in corners doing not much at all. One is called Ruen, and he's Alex's best friend.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749953136</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Nicole Jarvis
 +
|title=A Portrait in Shadow
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Historical Fiction
 +
|summary=''I want all of Florence to know my name''
  
{{newreview
+
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.
|author=Cathy Farr
+
|isbn=1803362340
|title=Moon Chase
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=When Wil dreams, it's as if he is inhabiting someone - or something - else's body. And when he wakes one morning after dreaming of a terrible crime and a desperate Fellhound, he knows the dog that he can hear howling is that very Fellhound. Following Farrow to try to rescue her injured master, Wil is captured by the Saranians, who believe he is the one to have tried to murder young Seth Tanner. His sentence is harsh - track and kill the Wraithe wolves in the Moon Chase and return alive and unharmed and go free, die in the attempt, or return injured and be hanged.  
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907652868</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Thomas D Lee
 +
|title=Perilous Times
 +
|rating=3
 +
|genre= Fantasy
 +
|summary= ''Hate is the path of least resistance''
  
{{newreview
+
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.
|author=Ian Irvine
+
|isbn=0356518523
|title=Vengeance: The Tainted Realm: Book 1
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Tali is a slave born of slaves, forced to live and work underground by the brutal Cythonians who, in turn, have also been forced into a subterranean lifestyle. The land above them is Hightspall, rightly theirs but taken over generations ago.  Hightspall's occupiers are led by a group of noble houses, which brings us to Rix, the heir to his alcoholic father, the Lord Ricinius. They both live under the thumb of his overbearing mother, Lady Ricinius, but then so do many others.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498289</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Amelia Estelle Dellos
|author=Alexander Gordon Smith
+
|title=Delilah Recovered
|title=The Fury
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=Brick felt it.  Daisy felt it.  Cal felt it.  All three, unconnected kids, had the same noisy, throbbing headache at the same time - and all aches went at the same time, in very disappointing circumstances.  Brick took his girlfriend to his favourite place, an abandoned theme park, and found her response to both it and him to be not what he expected.  Daisy was the school Juliet, and found the experience quite traumatic - almost as bad as what she found back at home.  Cal was more regularly after the attention, as the school's best football player, but found everyone's eyes turned to you is one thing, everyone turning against you is another.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571276164</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=M L N Hanover
 
|title=Unclean Spirits: Black Sun's Daughter
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Although the world is moving towards equality in the workplace, when you're fighting the supernatural, it seems to help to be a man.  [[Changes: The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher]] features Harry Dresden, professional wizard and general smart ass and the exorcist of [[Thicker Than Water (Felix Castor) by Mike Carey]] is also male. Admittedly, Lynda La Plante's DCI Jane Tennison is a great female lead, but she's more on the everyday end of investigation.  But now, M L N Hanover brings us Jayné Heller, who proves that fighting demons and the like isn't just a man's job.
+
|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>0356501221</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=B0BKYFDLLV
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Hadeer Elsbai
|author=Philip Reeve
+
|title=The Daughters of Izdihar
|title=Goblins
+
|rating=4
|rating=5
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|summary=Poor Skarper. He's such a loser. In the violent and bloodthirsty goblin world where fighting and eating and taking other people's loot are all-time-favourite, number-one activities, he has a terrible handicap. He thinks. In fact, he's pretty clever, for a goblin, to the extent that he uses the goblins' bumwipe heaps for . . . reading. Yup, you heard me. Reading. The foolish hatchling works out that the black squiggles on the mouldering heaps of soft and crinkly stuff left, long ago, by the ancient inhabitants of the tower, are written words, and instead of going out raiding like any sensible goblin, he creeps off to a quiet corner to work out what they mean. Silly, eh?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407115278</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Kate Griffin
 
|title=The Minority Council
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=In Matthew Swift's London, just about anything is possible. As the Midnight Mayor, protector of the city, Matthew has incredible power and resources at his disposal. Not that he really wants them. In fact he'd rather not have all the hassle, if he's quite honest. But a new drug is swamping the streets of London - Fairy Dust. This deadly magical drug eventually turns its users into fairies, who then disintegrate into the dust that they've been taking, ready to be collected and sold again. And this perverse practise is not Matthew's only issue. Some teenage vandals have had their souls sucked out and social worker Nabeela wants the help of the Midnight Mayor to work out exactly how that happened. But the more Matthew digs into both issues, the more he starts to realise that the source of the problem may be closer than he initially thought.
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356500632</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356520471
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Heather Fawcett
|author=Benedict Jacka
+
|title=Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
|title=Fated: An Alex Verus Novel
+
|rating=4
|rating=3
+
|genre=General Fiction
|genre=Fantasy
+
|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 faeriesWhilst 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 frustrationBut why is he here?  What does he want?  And what exactly is going on with the faerie folk around Hravsnik?
|summary=Alex Verus runs a little shop in Camden, London selling magic tricks and bits and pieces.  Some of the bits and pieces are a more magical than the magic tricks, for he is a diviner (someone who sees the future).  Indeed, the day that his friend Luna finds a little red artefact, his ability comes in handy.  There are some very powerful people looking for that little red 'thing'.  Unfortunately they aren't powerful in a nice way and they're a jump or two ahead of Alex and LunaFor the powerful ones actually know what it is.
+
|isbn=0356519120
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356500241</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jennifer Lynn Barnes
 
|title=Every Other Day
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=When Kali sees the Orobouros mark on cheerleader, Bethany, at her high school, she doesn't hesitate in tempting the parasitic creature - a Chupacabra - out of Bethany and into her own body. The parasite is a death sentence for humans. Some days, Kali's blood is toxic to paranormal creatures. Some days she's blessed with strength, speed and killer instinct, and the parasite feeding off her memories wouldn't have stood a chance. But not on this day. On this day, Kali is completely human. And she has to survive the next 17 hours before she changes back.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>085738970X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Angela Carter
 
|title=Burning Your Boats
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Short Stories
 
|summary='Burning your Boats' brings together Carter's early works and her uncollected short stories, alongside the collections 'Fireworks', 'The Bloody Chamber', 'Black Venus' and 'American Ghosts'Carter's ability to take the everyday and transform it into the fantastic is evident in stories that range from a cautionary tale of a musician in love with his instrument to a lost motorist whose journey ends in nightmarish circumstances in the Snow Pavilion.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099592916</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Christopher Golden
|author=Sadie S Forsythe
+
|title=Road of Bones
|title=The Weeping Empress
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
|genre=Fantasy
+
|genre=Horror
|summary=Chiyo wakes up with the sun in her face and the grass at her back. For a moment, she feels almost as though she's in heaven. But the joy in the moment is short-lived. Around her is mayhem. Uniformed guards are fighting off two rogue warriors intent on freeing a band of captives. Before she knows it, Chiyo is fighting alongside the warriors, showing a ferocity the meek and mild wife and mother never knew she had.
+
|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 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…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1257814419</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1803361476
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Andrew Givler
|author=Robert Jackson Bennett
+
|title=Soul Fraud (The Debt Collection Book 1)
|title=The Troupe
+
|rating=4
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=George never knew his father, a man with whom his mother had a brief relationship when the Vaudeville - a travelling theatre company - came to town. Sixteen years later and George is following in the footsteps he believes to be his father's, by playing piano at a theatre on the circuit and hoping his father will show up. He doesn't, so George goes in search of him.  The first glimpse George has of the man he thinks of as his father is at one of the troupe's shows.  He is captivated not just by Silenus, but by the entire company.
+
|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>0356500403</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
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.
|author=Rachel Aaron
+
|isbn=1958204021
|title=The Legend of Eli Monpress
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=The important thing, when reading or reviewing books, is to take them on their own terms, and not to try and make something of them that they do not claim to be. Do not seek laugh-out-loud humour from horror stories (except by accident). Do not expect picture books to discuss the ins and outs of astrophysics. And do not demand great depth from a series of fantasy novels where the hero's first action is to steal a king on the grounds that, to be perfectly honest, no one will actually miss him very much.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356500861</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Olivie Blake
|author=Maria V Snyder
+
|title=The Atlas Six
|title=Touch of Power: Avry of Kazan Book 1
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=The game is up. Despite the risk that she would be betrayed Avry couldn't stop herself from healing a sick child, and after years on the run she is in a cell awaiting execution. Then a band of misfit companions offer her freedom, in return for healing their prince. Unfortunately, said prince is the one who spread the idea of the healers' guilt in the first place, and as such he is Avry's sworn enemy.  
+
|summary= Dark, sharp, and highly inquisitive, ''The Atlas Six'' makes its publishing debut after becoming a Tik-Tok sensation.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848450656</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1529095239
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Daniel Abraham
|author=James Treadwell
+
|title=Age of Ash
|title=Advent
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=A December Night 1537:  the greatest magus in the world packs everything up and heads down to the harbour.  He's booked his passage to England under a new name, heading for a new life. But it is a stormy night, and when the jumble of rags that follows him, speaks in the voice of one he once loved and demands back what he took from her, he refusesInside the box he carries, wrapped in wool, in a calfskin pouch warded with every spell he could conjure is a ring apparently made out of wood'Inside the ring was all the magic in the world.'
+
|summary= We meet Alys under the most northerly of Oldgate's four bridgesshe 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>1444728466</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356515427
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Ann Sei Lin
|author=Julianna Baggott
+
|title= Rebel Skies
|title=Pure
+
|rating= 5
|rating=4.5
+
|genre= Teens
|genre=Fantasy
+
|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…
|summary=A Hiroshima-like event called ''the Detonations'' has transformed life on earth.  Shortly after the Detonations, when the survivors were still hoping for some form of help to arrive, a cloud of leaflets were released all bearing the same message:
+
|isbn=1406399590
 
 
'We know you are here, our brothers and sisters. We will, one day, emerge from the Dome to join you in peace. For now, we watch from afar, benevolently.'
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755385489</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
 
+
|isbn=B09Q3P283Y
{{newreview
+
|title=Shadebringer
|author=Anne Rice
+
|author=Grayson W Hooper
|title=The Wolf Gift
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Reuben is on the up, make no mistake about it. He will turn from a good journalist to a great journalist - it's just that most of his family, his girlfriend and his editor all patronise him with diminutive nicknames based on his boyish good looks.  While staying at a secluded cliff-side mansion in the Californian forests, and researching the back-story of it being on the market for the first time in decades, he survives a bloody attack, and ends up with the house his.  And, of course, he receives the Gift - and becomes a werewolf. What does this mean for him - and for others, and just what are the secrets remaining in the strange mansion?
+
|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>0701187441</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Jennifer Saint
|author=Michelle Lovric
+
|title=Elektra
|title=Talina in the Tower
+
|rating=4
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|summary=Nineteenth century Venice can seem a sinister place, full of secrets, misty forgotten islands and magic, both good and 'baddened'. It does, however, have its brighter, warmer side, with cosy, comforting grannies and delicious recipes, and Talina loves it dearly. But then the mangy, rabid Ravageurs arrive, creatures part-way between wolves and hyenas, and claim the city as their ancestral home. Men, women and children are stolen away in the night, as are cats and rats, but the inhabitants refuse to believe the full horror of what is happening, preferring instead to blame a neighbouring town.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444003380</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ali Shaw
 
|title=The Man Who Rained
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Literary Fiction
 
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=Do you remember being a child who had only just learned how to read?  Do you remember the very first time you read a fairy story that no-one had told you before?  Can you recapture the joy of entering a truly magical land and (for a time) believing it was real?
+
|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.
 
+
|isbn=1472273915
No? Then I recommend that you read Ali Shaw's second novel 'The Man Who Rained'.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857890328</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Dean Koontz
|author=Margo Lanagan
+
|title=Quicksilver
|title=The Brides of Rollrock Island
+
|rating=2.5
|rating=5
+
|genre=Thrillers
|genre=Teens
+
|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.
|summary=On Rollrock Island, the fishermen find their brides from the sea through the usurial offices of the witch Miskaella. They're selkies; seal women who shed their skins to become human. Their husbands are obsessed by them and the men without a selkie will risk anything to become part of the enchantment, even their human wives and children and half their lifetime earnings. Soon there are no human women left on Rollrock - the adults to the mainland and the female selkie babies to the ocean. There are just dads and mams and little boys.  
+
|isbn=1542019885
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857560336</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Tasha Suri
|author=John R Fultz
+
|title=The Jasmine Throne
|title=Seven Princes: Books of the Shaper: Volume 1
+
|rating=4
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Elhathym gatecrashes a feast at the court of Vod-the-Giant-King demanding the throne, which he asserts was his 3,000 years ago.  Vod is a little incredulous and refuses to abdicate.  Elhathym then lives up to his job description (evil sorcerer), destroying the entire court... apart from his son, Prince D’zan who manages to escape with his bodyguard, Olthacus the Stone.  Prince D’zan wants to fight to regain his kingdom but the only way to counter Elhathym and his armies of the dead is to form alliances with other nations; alliances that create friendships but also bring treachery and betrayal.  Behind it all is Iardu the Shaper, a creation god-like figure who plans and plots.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356500810</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Robin Wasserman
 
|title=The Book of Blood and Shadow
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=Nora is an unusual heroine. She is sharp, snarky and funny, and her wry tone and contemporary references will resonate with her readers. But she is also uncompromisingly geeky, and she opts to complete her independent study assignment by joining her three friends at the local university in a research project on the Voynich Manuscript by Edward Kelley (This manuscript actually exists, and has taxed the abilities of some of the greatest code-breakers in the world in the last hundred years.). However Professor Hoffpauer does not consider Nora mature enough to work on the manuscript itself, despite the fact that her linguistic ability is far superior to that of the others, and instead he gives her the lesser task of translating the letters of Kelley's step-daughter Elizabeth Weston.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907411445</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Curtis Jobling
 
|title=Wereworld: Shadow of the Hawk
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=At the start of Shadow of the Hawk, our heroes are in disarray. Drew, having bitten off his hand to escape Vanmorten and the undead, is in captivity, about to be forced to fight as a gladiator. The Staglord Manfred and the Wereshark Vega, two of the three remaining members of the Wolf's Council, are on the run, spiriting Drew's mother to safety. And Hector, the third of the Council... oh, Hector!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141340495</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Darynda Jones
 
|title=First Grave on the Right
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Charley Davidson is a private investigator with a difference - she's the Grim Reaper, ushering souls towards the light. When three lawyers from the same firm are murdered, they ask her to solve the case to allow them to rest in peace. With the help of her uncle, a detective, she sets out to do just that - as long as she can avoid being distracted by the nightly dreams she's having of a sexy entity…
+
|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>0749956046</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356515648
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Genevieve Gornichec
|author=Michael J Sullivan
+
|title=The Witch's Heart
|title=Rise of Empire
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=''Rise of Empire'', the second volume in The Riyria Revelations, starts a year after [[Theft of Swords by Michael J Sullivan|Theft of Swords]] finished.  The Imperialist forces are encamped across the river from Melengar, biding their time before they rout and capture Alric’s kingdom.  However, it’s ok as Princess Arista has a plan.  She will send Hadrian Blackwater and Royce Melborn to enlist the help of the nationalists.  Oh, and Arista wants to go too... and Hadrian is getting fed up with an adventurer’s life and wants to retire... and Gwen, Royce’s girlfriend, has had a premonition of death surrounding the enterprise... so what could possibly go wrong?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356501078</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Gillian Philip
 
|title=Frost Child
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=Fans of Gillian Philip's Firebrand novels will be thrilled to get their hands on this stunning prequel, set when Seth's mother Lilith met his father, the Sithe captain Griogair, for the first time. Starting with Griogair rescuing the youngster from the Lammyr, who have kept her captive for years, it follows Lilith trying to settle into the way of life of the Sithe as Griogair keeps an uneasy eye on her... and those of us who've read [[Firebrand (Rebel Angels) by Gillian Philip|Firebrand]] and [[Rebel Angels: Bloodstone by Gillian Philip|Bloodstone]] realise that he's right to be worried. When a young Sithe boy starts to bully Lilith, he's clearly taking a massive risk...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B006NXYEBE</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Michael J Sullivan
 
|title=Theft of Swords
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=The central characters, Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater are the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid of fantasy. Royce is a dour thief and Hadrian an agile, soft-hearted mercenary, both of whom can be hired if the price is right or if their curiosity is piqued sufficiently. Both books in this volume begin with the same simple intention – to steal a sword from a tower. Different swords and different towers but they both go horribly wrong.  Now this is where it gets difficult.  I don’t want to give away spoilers so there won’t be much in the way of plot explanation in this review.  Let’s just say that they’re framed for a royal murder and become more deeply embroiled in the far reaching consequences as the volume goes on, collecting companions en route.  
+
|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>035650106X</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1789097061
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Hannah Whitten
|author=Kevin Barry
+
|title=For the Wolf
|title=City of Bohane
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=General Fiction
+
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Bohane is a thoroughly lawless town, set in what would appear to be some kind of parallel universe. We are told it is set in 2053, but it's a town without any technology or modern luxuries. It's a violent place fuelled by alcohol, drugs and lust with a patois style language that takes a little work to get into. Novels with this kind of premise have to be beyond good if they are to interest the annual literary prize judges; this is one such book and ''City of Bohane'' is nominated for this year's Costa First Novel prize. It is stunningly good.
+
|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>0224090577</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356516369
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Christopher Golden (Editor)
 
|title=Monster's Corner
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Anthologies
 
|summary=''The Monster's Corner'' is a collection of tales that are told from the monster's perspective. It takes the idea that we are all the heroes of our own story and has a gloriously good time with it. Ranging from the thought-provoking to the strange, to the shocking and gory – they're a great selection of stories from the likes of [[:Category:Kelley Armstrong|Kelley Armstrong]], [[:Category:Kevin J Anderson|Kevin J. Anderson]], Sarah Pinborough and many others.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749957859</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jackson Pearce
 
|title=Sweetly
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=This book is the second in a series of fairy tale retellings (the first being [[Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce|Sisters Red]]) which, without being closely connected, share common elements. They both deal with the paranormal, including the Fenris, which are about as far from the glamorous and sexy werewolves of recent books and films as you can get. They stalk. They kill. They eat. End of story. The two books also look at the aftermath of an attack, and how it changes the lives of those who survive.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444900595</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Joanne Harris
 
|title=Runelight
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=''Runelight'' continues several years after [[Runemarks by Joanne Harris|Runemarks]] left off. The rescue of the gods has left a rift between the Worlds which allows demons and assorted ephemera to escape from Chaos into Malbry and spread towards World's End, a lawless city now it has no Order to maintain it. With Odin dead and the surviving gods power-stripped and forced to inhabit bodies of Folk, there is little chance of re-establishing Order. And with the End of the Worlds prophesied in just twelve days, the task of rebuilding Asgard and preventing it is Herculean.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>085753081X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=John Gwynne
|author=Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
+
|title=The Shadow Of The Gods
|title=Beautiful Chaos
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
+
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Those of you who've been hooked on this series already will remember where we left off. A choice was made. Everything seems to have been changed. And now, we find, the End of Days is near… Dark characters lurk. Some who we thought (or hoped) were gone, have returned. Other things we’ve not seen before are starting to tear the small town of Gatlin apart. The shorthand way of summing up how terrible things are is to note that Mrs Lincoln may be one of the good guys now…
+
|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>0141335262</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356514218
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Syd Moore
 
|title=The Drowning Pool
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=General Fiction
 
|summary=The book opens with a group of young women out on the town, letting their hair down and having fun. Moore describes all of them in a fresh and modern voice which I really liked.  It came across as a breath of fresh air.  The story, Sarah's story is told by Sarah herself.  But it's told from the perspective of looking back after it's all happened so there's lots of why-didn't-I-see-that-coming language.  Hindsight, in a word.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847562663</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest For Sharing Reviews]]
|author=Laini Taylor
 
|title=Daughter of Smoke and Bone
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Karou's friends think she's normal. They assume, however often she tells them that her bright blue hair grows that colour, that she dyes it. They think her frequent errands are just normal everyday things to earn money. They believe the snake-bodied being she draws in her sketchbook is a figment of her imagination. They're wrong.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>144472262X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 

Latest revision as of 09:13, 18 February 2024

1803364548.jpg

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

0008664730.jpg

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

1803362340.jpg

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

B0BKYFDLLV.jpg

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

0356519120.jpg

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

1803361476.jpg

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

1958204021.jpg

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

1529095239.jpg

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