Difference between revisions of "Newest Fantasy Reviews"

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[[Category:Fantasy|*]]
 
[[Category:Fantasy|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Fantasy]]
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[[Category:New Reviews|Fantasy]]__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->
==Fantasy==
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{{Frontpage
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|author=A G Slatter
{{newreview
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|title=The Briar Book of the Dead
|author=Kate Griffin
 
|title=Stray Souls
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Sharon Li has a normal job in a London coffee shop but doesn't feel normal.  She's beginning to realise she's a shaman, especially when she is so at one with the city, she vanishes. In order to meet others who'll understand, she starts Magicals Anonymous, a self-help group for the mystically confused coming to terms with their gifts.  The meetings come with various beverages, biscuits, a Facebook page and a very good turnout. However all is not herbal tea and crunchy-creams as someone or something seems to be stealing the spirits that make London's soul and another something walks the streets tearing people limb from limb. The city is dying and gradually Sharon realises that Magicals Anonymous are more than just a social group. As odd as it sounds to look at them, the Midnight Mayor wants them to save the capital.
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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>0356500640</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
{{newreview
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|author=Rachel Greenlaw
|author=Holly Black
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|title=Compass and Blade
|title=Red Glove (Curse Workers 2)
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|rating=3.5
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Teens
 
|genre=Teens
|summary=Cassel lives in a world where magic is frowned upon. Practice is banned and everyone wears gloves to prevent being worked. Cassel himself is a transformation worker - the rarest type. And he is the most powerful transformation worker in living memory. This makes him extremely valuable to the crime families who use curses to support and maintain their empires. It also makes him extremely dangerous as far as the authorities are concerned. And that's why Cassel tries to keep his status to himself, since he discovered it in the [[The White Cat (Curse Workers, Book 1) by Holly Black|first book]] in this ''Curse Workers'' sequence.
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|summary=''I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0575096764</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{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=Brent Weeks
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|isbn=0008664730
|title=The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer 2)
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Gavin Guile thought he had five years left to complete his seven great purposes. But now it seems he has less than one. He might be the Prism - the most powerful light drafter in the Seven Satrapies, capable of drafting huge amounts of light without risk of losing his mind to the colours - but he's lost blue. He can't see it or draft it.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841499072</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Stefan Bachmann
 
|title=The Peculiar
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=
 
''Don't get yourself noticed and you won't get yourself hanged.''
 
 
 
Such is life for peculiars like Bartholomew Kettle and his sister Hettie. Their mother is human but their - absent - father is a Sidhe, a high fairy. Fairies are contemptuous of the half-breed peculiars and humans distrust and suspect them. Hapless peculiar children are often hanged by humans. And, even more worryingly, bodies of peculiars have been turning up recently, quite dead, covered in ancient faerie script and as empty of bone and organ as they are of life.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0062195182</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jay Kristoff
 
|title=Stormdancer
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Warrior Masaru has raised his daughter, Yukiko, alone since his wife left.  Yukiko is now 16; a feat more due latterly to her own strength and resourcefulness than his care. For since his wife's departure, Masaru has gone to pieces, addicted to gambling and the narcotic effects of lotus smoke.  The days when he was the legendary Black Fox are behind him which is a shame as the Shogun (not a man known for calm reasoning or lack of ferocity) has a mission for them.  Masaru, Yukiko and an entourage must hunt and capture the legendary stormtiger.  But they're extinct aren't they?  Well, no, they aren't as Yukiko discovers when the hunt goes terribly wrong and she's left alone with just a storm tiger for company. She fights to find a way home, learning as she goes the full extent to which the Shogun has worked against the good of the nation in general and her family in particular.  And the stormtiger?  Let's just say he's had his wings clipped and he's not happy about it.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0230759017</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=T Kingfisher
|author=G Willow Wilson
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|title=Thornhedge
|title=Alif the Unseen
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Alif lives under an alias and he has a good reason for that: he's a hakinista in an Arabian oil producing country that, to put it mildly, doesn't encourage free speech.  He sells IT know-how and wizardy to any covert organisation that works against the government, their agenda unimportant as long as the aim is the downfall of their oppression.  But all that's about to change as Alif falls in love and, as it's the wrong girl at the wrong time, is spurned.  His response to this romantic let down is to create a computer programme that will identify her internet activity by her individual typing pattern.  Unfortunately what works for him also works against him.  It's captured by the notoriously dangerous government censor 'The Hand' who also wants Alif and his hidden network of colleagues.  Now Alif runs to preserve his life and those who have trusted him, his only possession an ancient manuscript from his former love. Just a book, albeit one that's accompanied by myths and old wives' tales rendering it irrelevant a logical world.  However, sometimes the most desperate of times requires more than logic and, sometimes, a mere book of stories may be more than it seems.
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|summary=''You had a right to retake your place.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857895664</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=Benedict Jacka
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|isbn=1803364238
|title=Taken: An Alex Verus Novel
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Alex Verus, future-diviner and erstwhile Camden magic shop owner has dusted himself off after the rigours of [[Cursed: An Alex Verus Novel by Benedict Jacka|Cursed]] and is good to go once more.  He continues training Luna as his apprentice but all is not completely well.  Alex has been asked to investigate the disappearance of apprentices by Council representative, Talisid.  Now, Alex's involvement with the Council (and indeed Talisid) hasn't always been good for Alex's health in the past, but his commissioning may be a sign of his enhanced reputation and this time there's a note of self-interest: Luna may be the next to vanish.  Alex receives a tip-off that Fountain's Reach (a stately home with a mysterious past) has something to do with it and, as luck would have it, it's also the venue for the next apprentice tournament which Luna has entered. The investigation begins and hopefully they'll survive to see it through to the end.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356500268</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Nicole Jarvis
|author=Catherine Fisher
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|title=A Portrait in Shadow
|title=The Obsidian Mirror
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Teens
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|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Jake's father disappeared while working on a secret project with his best friend, the celebrated explorer and recluse Oberon Venn. Jake is sure that Venn is a murderer and sets out to prove it, dragging his teacher, Mr Wharton, into the investigation. But the truth is perhaps even more frightening: David Wilde isn't dead, he's lost in time. Venn and his sidekick Piers are intent on re-entering the past to find him, using a device called the Chronoptika. But it's dangerous and they aren't the only ones hell bent on using the time machine. There's Sarah, who can turn herself invisible, and who's being pursued by a murderous Replicant and his wolf. And there's the scarred man with his acolyte and his strange weapon. And there are the Shee, who keep their own counsel, but have their own ambitions, and who enchant the forest on Venn's estate...
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|summary=''I want all of Florence to know my name''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340970081</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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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.
|author=Janet Evanovich
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|isbn=1803362340
|title=Wicked Business
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Following on from [[Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich|Wicked Appetite]], pastry chef Lizzy and paranormal bounty hunter Diesel continue to seek the seven powerful stones linked to the seven deadly sins.  They're looking for the stone associated with lust and it becomes a bit of a treasure hunt as, accompanied by Gloria (the slightly wizardy un-witch) and Carl (the ill-mannered monkey) they have to work their way through a string of clues.  However, they aren't the only ones looking; for wherever goodies seek power, the baddies lurk also. The baddies in question are again the deliciously dark (on many levels) Gerwulf (Wulf) Grimoir and his medieval minion Hatchet. Wulf may be Diesel's cousin but there's not a lot of family love in any room they both occupy so let the race to the stone commence.  
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>075538492X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Thomas D Lee
|author=Gillian Philip
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|title=Perilous Times
|title=Wolfsbane (Rebel Angels)
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=After the terrible events at the end of the [[Rebel Angels: Bloodstone by Gillian Philip|second book]] in Gillian Philip's ''Rebel Angels'' sequence, we move on a decade or so. Finn is back in the mortal world. But Rory and Jed have stayed with Seth, now the captain of the MacGregor clann's dun. Faerie queen Kate NicNiven continues to plot against Seth and to wrest Rory, the Bloodstone and prophesied saviour, from him. She is as determined as ever to destroy the veil separating the mortal and faerie worlds.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905537352</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Nikki Gemmell
 
|title=The Bride Stripped Bare
 
 
|rating=3
 
|rating=3
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre= Fantasy
|summary=A young woman, newly married. Discovering her husband is not all he seems. That he has secrets. That she has needs, wants, desires. That she will need to take things into her own hands if she is ever to be satisfied in her new role as wife.
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|summary= ''Hate is the path of least resistance''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007163541</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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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.
|author=Kelley Armstrong
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|isbn=0356518523
|title=13 (Women of the Otherworld)
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=''13'' picks up where ''Spell Bound'' left off. A terrorist group is still trying to expose the supernaturals and create a new world order. Our heroes, from among the ranks of the werewolves, the witches, the half-demons, the vampires, the necromancers and the sorcerer cabals, are trying to stop them. Savannah takes centre stage and the majority of the narration. Her spells are still on the fritz but she thinks she knows why and she survived the explosion.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498033</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Amelia Estelle Dellos
|author=Lilith Saintcrow
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|title=Delilah Recovered
|title=The Iron Wyrm Affair
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|rating=4
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Someone is killing off Mentaths - geniuses, logic machines - in the city of London and it's up to Emma Bannon, sorcerer Prime, to protect their next target Archibald Clare. Emma is powerful and resourceful, but she has problems of her own - such as whether she can trust her Shield, Mikal, who killed the last sorcerer whose service he was in. And while Clare is as keen as she to uncover the conspiracy behind the murders, the illogical world of sorcery and the logical minds of Mentaths don't mix well.
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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>0356500926</amazonuk>
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|isbn=B0BKYFDLLV
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Hadeer Elsbai
|author=N K Jemisin
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|title=The Daughters of Izdihar
|title=The Shadowed Sun: Dreamblood: Book 2
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Ten years after the events of [[The Killing Moon: Dreamblood: Book 1 by N K Jemisin|The Killing Moon]], the events of the earlier book have left their mark on the world. Gujaareh is now under the oppressive rule of the Kisuati Protectorate. Worse, a plague of nightmares is killing the once peaceful city's inhabitants in their sleep. It falls to two unlikely heroes, Wanahomen, son of the late Prince, and Hanani, the first female to train as one of Hananja's priesthood, to try to save the city from both of these problems.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356500772</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jeanette Winterson
 
|title=The Daylight Gate
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=1610s Lancashire, and Alice Nutter is the best landowner you could wish for.  Single, rich and connected, she takes no sides in the religious schisms James I has inherited, and takes no bull from those trying to oppress the poor, putting them up and feeding them when no-one else will.  But those poor are seen as sinful by others - amoral, dirty in mind, body and spirit, and in league with the devil.  And people are beginning to question Alice's attitudes, choice of company - and ageless beauty.  This, then, is the based-on-truth story of how Alice Nutter got to be one of the accused in the Pendle Witch trials.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099561859</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Stuart Sharp
 
|title=Court of Dreams
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Thomas and Nicola are no longer students.  Finals finished, Nicola can start planning life after uni and with Thomas... and then he dumps her.  To be fair, Thomas has a great job offer abroad and doesn't think that Nicola would want to go but Nicola's still flaming angry.  Adhering to the 'and another thing' school of arguing, Nicola tracks Thomas down.  He's already busy dealing with someone but being the assertive modern woman she is, Nicola barges in front of the hit man attempting to kill her now ex-boyfriend so she can give him yet another piece of her mind.  In the ensuing tussle (hit man trying to skewer Thomas and Thomas trying to prevent Nicola from becoming an ex-person as well as an ex-girlfriend) the formerly blissful couple fall back into a tree... and then onwards, through the tree towards somewhere that's other worldly in all meanings of the phrase.  For they land in the Court of Dreams, which isn't necessarily a good thing.  Meanwhile the tumble has separated Nicola and Thomas, the hit man is not only determined but also a local lad so knows his way around and Thomas' mother has neglected to tell him a thing or two about his origins, as he's just about to find out.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0982991320</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Michael Boccacino
 
|title=Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Widowed under tragic circumstances, Charlotte Markham needs an income and so she's employed by widower Henry Darrow as a governess for his sons James and Paul.  Their home 'Everton' may seem a typical Victorian mansion but the town of Blackfield isn't your average English small town; the Darrow's Nanny Prum is found murdered in a particularly grisly manner.  It's a mystery to the local police but Charlotte's friend Susannah has a clue if only they'd listen to her.  Meanwhile the Darrow boys' nights are spent dreaming of a house in the woods where their mother still lives.  Charlotte decides to treat this head on and takes them for a walk to show them there's no substance to it.  However, in doing so they discover the nightmare that is The House of Darkling.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781164460</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=K J Parker
 
|title=Sharps
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Fencing - it's such an exotic, rarefied world with it's own language, that it's no surprise to remember the director of ''Alien'', ''Blade Runner'' and ''Prometheus'' started his career with a fencing film.  And it's all over this fantasy, but not in the usual sword-and-sorcery way of old, as a delegation of swordsmen and -women visit Permia from Scheria - two fencing-loving countries that until recently have been at war.  But why exactly are they going - separately, and as a group?  Who is playing what kind of diplomatic game between the two countries, and is a wielded sword the only danger they'll face?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841499269</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jon Courtenay Grimwood
 
|title=The Outcast Blade
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=After defeating the armies that threatened Venice single handedly, the newly knighted Sir Tycho finds himself with status, wealth and the subject of much interest to the Venetian citizens. But all Tycho really wants is Lady Giulietta, niece of the city's steward. Giulietta, grieving her dead husband, is desperate to escape the backstabbing, poisonous world of the Venetian court, and isn't in the mood for Tycho's clumsy attempts to woo her.
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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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498475</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356520471
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Benedict Jacka
 
|title=Cursed: An Alex Verus Novel
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=A beautiful enchantress steps through the door just as an evil construct beast hurtles through the window.  Not an obtuse Chinese saying, but a typical day in the life of future-diviner and magic shop owner, Alex Verus. Add to this the benign magical animal that seems to have died mysteriously and unmarked and you begin to realise something's afoot. It's the sort of day that could only be made worse by the realisation that Alex's curse-soaked friend Luna has fallen in love with someone other than Alex and... yes, the downward spiral has just taken another turn.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>035650025X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Heather Fawcett
|author=Cathy Farr
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|title=Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
|title=Moon Crossing
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=General Fiction
|summary=
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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 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?
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.
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|isbn=0356519120
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781485151</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Christopher Golden
|author=Jon Grahame
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|title=Road of Bones
|title=Reaper
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|rating=3.5
|rating=3
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|genre=Horror
|genre=Fantasy
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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 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…
|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.
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|isbn=1803361476
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905802528</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Andrew Givler
|author=H A Goodman
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|title=Soul Fraud (The Debt Collection Book 1)
|title=Breaking The Devil's Heart: A Logic of Demons Novel
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|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.
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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>B007T0BDVE</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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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.
|author=Rachel Hartman
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|isbn=1958204021
|title=Seraphina
 
|rating=4.5
 
|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.  
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857531565</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Olivie Blake
|author=N K Jemisin
+
|title=The Atlas Six
|title=The Killing Moon: Dreamblood: Book 1
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|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?
+
|summary= Dark, sharp, and highly inquisitive, ''The Atlas Six'' makes its publishing debut after becoming a Tik-Tok sensation.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356500764</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1529095239
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Daniel Abraham
|author=Jeri Smith-Ready
+
|title=Age of Ash
|title=Shine
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|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
 
 
|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= 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498890</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356515427
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Ann Sei Lin
|author=Carolyn Jess-Cooke
+
|title= Rebel Skies
|title=The Boy Who Could See Demons
+
|rating= 5
|rating=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=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.
+
|isbn=1406399590
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749953136</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B09Q3P283Y
|author=Cathy Farr
+
|title=Shadebringer
|title=Moon Chase
+
|author=Grayson W Hooper
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|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.  
+
|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>1907652868</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Jennifer Saint
|author=Ian Irvine
+
|title=Elektra
|title=Vengeance: The Tainted Realm: Book 1
+
|rating=4
|rating=5
+
|genre=Literary Fiction
|genre=Fantasy
+
|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.
|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.
+
|isbn=1472273915
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498289</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Dean Koontz
|author=Alexander Gordon Smith
+
|title=Quicksilver
|title=The Fury
+
|rating=2.5
|rating=4.5
+
|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=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.
+
|isbn=1542019885
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571276164</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Tasha Suri
|author=M L N Hanover
+
|title=The Jasmine Throne
|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= 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>0356501221</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356515648
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Genevieve Gornichec
|author=Philip Reeve
+
|title=The Witch's Heart
|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= 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>0356500632</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1789097061
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Hannah Whitten
|author=Benedict Jacka
+
|title=For the Wolf
|title=Fated: An Alex Verus Novel
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|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 Luna.  For the powerful ones actually know what it is.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356500241</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jennifer Lynn Barnes
 
|title=Every Other Day
 
 
|rating=5
 
|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>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Sadie S Forsythe
 
|title=The Weeping Empress
 
|rating=3.5
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|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=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>1257814419</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356516369
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=John Gwynne
|author=Robert Jackson Bennett
+
|title=The Shadow Of The Gods
|title=The Troupe
 
 
|rating=5
 
|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=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>0356500403</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356514218
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Rachel Aaron
 
|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>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest For Sharing Reviews]]
|author=Maria V Snyder
 
|title=Touch of Power: Avry of Kazan Book 1
 
|rating=4
 
|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.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848450656</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

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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

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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