Difference between revisions of "Newest Fantasy Reviews"

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[[Category:Fantasy|*]]
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=A G Slatter
|title=The Box of Red Brocade (Chronoptika)
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|title=The Briar Book of the Dead
|author=Catherine Fisher
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|rating=5
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=Ok. Let's catch you up. Jake's father is still lost in time. Venn's wife is still dead. Summer, the Queen of the Shee, still hasn't made Venn her husband. Sarah still hasn't prevented the destruction of the future by Janus. And the Scarred Man still hasn't done, well, whatever it is that he's trying to do. The Chronoptika, a mirror made of black obsidian and a time travel device, connects Jake, Venn, Sarah and the rest, but they all want different things from it. Can they all be satisfied? It doesn't look likely.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444912631</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Caleb Carr
 
|title=The Legend of Broken
 
|rating=3
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=A historical manuscript has been found in what is now Germany (so the story goes) chronicling an ancient civilisation inhabiting the fortress city of Broken (or Brocken in the original German).  Those who anger the government are cast out into the surrounding forests where they must face the dangers of man-eating wolves and worse.  These outcasts can only survive by collaborating and becoming one tribe: the Bane. Although, to be honest, they're becoming a bit of a nuisance with their terrorist ways, therefore Sixt Arnem, Sentek of the Broken Army is ordered to eradicate them for once and for all.
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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>0751551538</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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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.
|title=Elysian Fields
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|isbn=1803364548
|author=Suzanne Johnson
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Drusilla Jaco (DJ) is the sentinel for the preternatural community in the greater New Orleans area and is still recovering from bereavement, Katrina and broken ribs from her last adventure. No such luck as life taking things easy on her, however, as it is discovered that the copycat of a famous serial killer is not, in fact, a copycat. The Axeman of New Orleans himself has been raised from the dead by a necromancer or necromancers unknown. To make matters worse, her loup-garou fiend Jake bit her in a fit of pique and her best friend’s creepy boyfriend won’t leave her alone. She doesn’t know what he wants and she doesn’t know whether she’ll turn into a wolf at the next full moon but she does know that the Axeman is after her, specifically.  
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755397703</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Rachel Greenlaw
 +
|title=Compass and Blade
 +
|rating=3.5
 +
|genre=Teens
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|summary=''I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.''
  
{{newreview
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Rosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks. Mira, like her mother before her, is one of the seven who swim out to survey the ruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. But when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father. Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is as charming as he is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, she sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. With only nine days to unearth what might save her father, as her journey takes her from the watched streets of foreign islands to the heart of the smuggler's territory, Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and the ones she holds most dear.
|title=Apocalypse Now Now
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|isbn=0008664730
|author=Charlie Human
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Baxter Zevcenko is a sixteen year old student in South Africa who believes everything in life is business related and for the sole purpose of increasing his own power. Baxter deals porn at his school and is the leader of a gang of misfits who have carved a niche within the school’s hierarchy out of the student populations need for smut. The group is called the Spider and Baxter believes himself to be the arachnid at the centre of an impressive web with the ability to manipulate and scheme his way to power and riches. His heroes are Rasputin and Machiavelli and we are made aware very early on that as well as being a despicable power hungry megalomaniac he is also quite possibly insane.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780891318</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=T Kingfisher
|author=Benedict Jacka
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|title=Thornhedge
|title=Chosen
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Alex Verus, seer and London magic shop owner, has had a year of crowded uncomplication since we last caught up with him.  Crowded because he now shares his small flat with unqualified but adept mages Anne and Variam as well as his apprentice Luna.  Uncomplicated because his biggest problem seems to be progressing Luna's training and finding someone to pick up Anne and Variam's apprenticeship; not huge when his normal kind are a matter of life or death.  However all is about to change.  You remember that way back in his youth Alex worked for a dark mage?  Well he was hoping to forget that. Was?  Yes, past tense, for now Alex's past has invaded his present and is in danger of curtailing his future.
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|summary=''You had a right to retake your place.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356502309</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=Susan Cooper
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|isbn=1803364238
|title=Ghost Hawk
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=I loved Susan Cooper's [[The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper|The Dark is Rising Sequence]], but as surprised as I am to say this - this book is far better. While still suitable for older children, this is definitely a book that adults will want to read as well. The book is more mature than her early works, and while obviously gifted from the start, Cooper's talents have matured as well. This book is nothing short of a masterpiece.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782300007</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Nicole Jarvis
|author=Michael J Sullivan
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|title=A Portrait in Shadow
|title=The Crown Tower: Book 1 of The Riyria Chronicle
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary= Hadrian Blackwater (ex-soldier, ex-lots-of-things) and Royce Melborn (exemplary thief and grump) are summoned to Melengar by Professor Arcadius.  The duo may not know each other and arrive separately, but as they meet and begin the Professor's mission together a legend is born: The Riyria.  (That's elvish for two by the way.)  Meanwhile a prostitute named Gwen escapes to save her life.  Across the road (ok... she didn't run far) she goes into business leading her to a place in fantasy novel history.
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|summary=''I want all of Florence to know my name''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356502279</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.
|title=Broken Homes
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|isbn=1803362340
|author=Ben Aaronovitch
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=I’ve been waiting for Broken Homes to come out for months. Months. When it arrived on my doorstep, I whisked it away, cackling like Gollum over my new precious and was no use to anyone until I’d finished it. Then sat and thought about it for a while. Then re-read my favourite bits. The considered further. This is the conclusion I reached: if there are no further Peter Grant books, Mr Aaronovitch, you and I are going to have ''words''.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0575132469</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Thomas D Lee
 +
|title=Perilous Times
 +
|rating=3
 +
|genre= Fantasy
 +
|summary= ''Hate is the path of least resistance''
  
{{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=Robin Sloan
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|isbn=0356518523
|title=Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Unemployed and desperate, Clay Jannon wants a job, any job!  So, despite not having touched a paper book in years, he jumps at the chance of working the night shift at Mr Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore.  Mr P is a very particular employer. The books are lent (not sold) to members of a unique club.  Clay is to serve these visitors, log their visit in the smallest detail (including their mood, their choice of clothing and what they say). Oh and Clay must never open any of the books.  He doesn't but he's curious.  Perhaps if he realised where his curiosity would lead he'd be a little more cautious.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782391193</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Amelia Estelle Dellos
|title=Cold Steel: Spiritwalker: Book Three
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|title=Delilah Recovered
|author=Kate Elliott
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=The Master of the Wild Hunt has stolen away Cat Barahal's husband. She's being blamed for a murder. Fire mage James Drake wants to kill her. And rebellion is burning up the streets back in Europa. Can Cat save her man and crush her enemies, and maybe even change her world?
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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>1841498858</amazonuk>
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|isbn=B0BKYFDLLV
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Hadeer Elsbai
|title=Siege and Storm
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|title=The Daughters of Izdihar
|author=Leigh Bardugo
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=On the run from the Darkling, Alina and Mal are together at last. But when he emerges from the Shadow Fold with a horrific new power, the Darkling could prove himself to be more dangerous than ever. Alina will be torn between her growing power, the man she loves, and her patriotism - can she survive the oncoming storm?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780621132</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Kate Griffin
 
|title=The Glass God (Magicals Anonymous)
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Sharon Li, former coffee shop barista and current community-support-worker-cum-apprentice-shaman, continues to run Magicals Anonymous, a self-help group for those with mystic issues. It sounds a simple life, however there there's one factor that ensure that 'simple' remains an illusion: her acquaintance with the Guardian of the City, Defender of the Gate and so forth, The Midnight Mayor, aka Matthew Swift.  Matthew's workload includes investigating a number of supernatural disappearances.  Or at least it did till he too went missing.  So who ya gonna call?  No, they don't call them; they call Sharon and along with the mission comes unwanted promotion: Sharon Li, Deputy Midnight Mayor.
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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>0356500659</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356520471
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Heather Fawcett
|title=The Never Pages
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|title=Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
|author=Graham Thomas
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=General Fiction
|summary=''There are two rules that the Dream Investigator must follow:''<br>
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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 frustrationBut why is he here? What does he want? And what exactly is going on with the faerie folk around Hravsnik?
''1. Document everything.''<br>
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|isbn=0356519120
''2. Keep moving forward.''
 
 
 
Master G is in search of his one true love, Lucy. But Lucy is lost in the NeverRealm, the dimension that separates the living from whatever comes after. In the NeverRealm, memories do not exist. So how is Master G - the Dream Investigator - to find her? From the very first moment, his journey into the NeverRealm is destroying his mind, turning thoughts and knowledge and recollection to sand, shifting sand. He will need courage to face the nightmarish environment. He will need fortitude to resist the degeneration. He will need to find Brekker, his unreliable scientist friend. And he'll need the companionship of Paisley, a dog named after a carpet...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0956742203</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|title=Before the Fall
 
|author=Francis Knight
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=After destroying Mahala's power source, Rojan really, really wants to keep his head down. The Ministry thinks he's dead - which helps - but with the last scraps of power fast fading, people are starving and the danger of riots and chaos looms.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356501671</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Anthony Ryan
 
|title=Blood Song: Book 1 of Raven's Shadow
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Young Vaelin Al Sorna's father takes him to the gates of the Sixth Order of the Faith and leaves him there.  Vaelin's father is the King's Battle Lord and Vaelin's mother someone the lad has sorely missed since her death but this doesn't matter.  As a member of the Order Vaelin has no family except his Order brethren.  The long life-threatening training binds him closer to his fellows while exposing him to greater dangers and mysteries than he's ever knownHowever one day he'll outgrow his comrades. One day he'll become a name whispered with fear and awe. For Vaelin will become a deadly weapon: Hope Killer himself.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356502465</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|title=The Mirror Chronicles: the Bell Between Worlds
 
|author=Ian Johnstone
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=The hero of this long and engrossing book is a boy of twelve, orphaned, lonely and unloved. He spends the little free time he has in creating beautiful kites covered in complicated, colourful designs until the day he meets a strange old man who sets him on the path to his destiny as a saviour of not one but two worlds. But in line with the traditions of the genre, this path will be fraught with fear, danger and loss.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007491220</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Christopher Golden
|author=Marie Harbon
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|title=Road of Bones
|title=Seven Point Eight: The First Chronicle
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
|genre=Science Fiction
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|genre=Horror
|summary=Following several main characters - scientist Paul, businessman Max, remote viewer Tahra and mystery woman Ava - across two time frames spanning the 1940s to the present day, ''Seven Point Eight'' blends science fiction and fantasy in a sprawling, absorbing, diffuse novel that will attract fans of both genres.
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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…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B005IBYKC0</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1803361476
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Andrew Givler
|author=Royce Prouty
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|title=Soul Fraud (The Debt Collection Book 1)
|title=Stoker's Manuscript
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=In a world where vampires are the new romantic heroes, Stoker’s Manuscript is a bit of a Godsend. I, for one, am absolutely delighted to find some good old fashioned evil as sin, night dwelling, blood guzzling, crucifix hating Romanian villains. Of course, this means sacrificing sexiness, romance and attractively sulking out of a window but since what we get in exchange is stunning views of Transylvania, thought-through biology (for want of a better word) of the creatures and stakes that are elevated beyond one person, I say sharpen up the spike pit.
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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>0099574454</amazonuk>
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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.
 +
|isbn=1958204021
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Olivie Blake
|author=Bee Ridgway
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|title=The Atlas Six
|title=The River of No Return
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary= Nick was born in England in 1790 and is rather partial to pickled bits of pig and beef jelly.  He finds this rather difficult to explain to his girlfriends, him being a young man and this being America, 2013. His 19th century Napoleonic war wounds are hard to explain away too.  His second lease on life in the 21st century is thanks to the mysterious Guild whose main rule is that no one can return to the time or home country from which they originated.  He doesn't mind as they pay him well for his silence but all this is about to change.  Eventually they seem to think that they can send him back and won't take no for an answer.  Any thought of a possible catch is suppressed by thoughts of Julia, the girl Nick left behind in England.  It's all a bit fishy though.
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|summary= Dark, sharp, and highly inquisitive, ''The Atlas Six'' makes its publishing debut after becoming a Tik-Tok sensation.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718176987</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1529095239
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Daniel Abraham
|author=Mur Lafferty
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|title=Age of Ash
|title=The Shambling Guide to New York City (The Shambling Guides)
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Zoe is an unemployed book editor who had to leave her last job, and indeed her last city, in rather a hurry.  Zoe's personal exodus brings her to New York and the possibility of a job that sounds perfect: editing a travel guide to NYC itself. However, its projected readership isn't one for which Zoe has written before.  New York City is full of monsters or coterie to be politeVampires, werewolves, demons, sprites, zombies… the list goes on as all alternative life is there, both in and out of the officeSo the first question is if she survives her colleagues, will she survive her readership?  The second question being, of course, who or what is Granny Good Mae?
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|summary= We meet Alys under the most northerly of Oldgate's four bridges, she has a knife in her hand and a meeting that she dreads.   Meanwhile the City of Kithamar is at a point in the turning of years when the worlds are at their thinnest and all things are possibleIt is the night between the funeral of a Prince and the coronation of his successorFor a night the Kithamar is un-ruled.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356501906</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356515427
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author= Ann Sei Lin
|author=Stephen Lloyd Jones
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|title= Rebel Skies
|title=The String Diaries
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|rating= 5
|rating=5
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|genre= Teens
|genre=Fantasy
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|summary= Kurara has spent her entire life as a servant on the Midori, a massive dining hall floating in the sky where soldiers of the Empire come to drink and make merry between their conquests. However, when a man named Himura arrives to tell her that she is a Crafter like him, someone with the power to form paper into whatever she desires – a power sought after all across the Empire. He asks her to come with him, to leave the life of dreary servitude that is all she has known. Well, soon Kurara won't have any say in the matter, because the Midori is destroyed by a monstrous paper spirit known as a shikigami, and she is forced to flee out into the world. She joins Himura aboard the Orihime, a sky-ship whose express purpose is to hunt down shikigami, and a whole world of adventure awaits her…
|summary= Hannah Wilde flees into the Welsh mountains with daughter Leah and husband Nate while the life blood slowly seeps out of him. They run to escape the evil that has relentlessly haunted Hannah's family for generations.  Some people see it as a Hungarian legend but to the Wildes it's real and insatiable and won't forget them. They know what to do: verify everyone, trust no one and, if in any doubt, RUN!  Although one day that may not be enough.
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|isbn=1406399590
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472204670</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B09Q3P283Y
|author=Susan Cooper
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|title=Shadebringer
|title=The Dark is Rising Sequence
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|author=Grayson W Hooper
|rating=5
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|rating=4
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=As a child, I read The Grey King, book 4 in Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising Sequence. I loved the book so much it topped my Christmas list for years, but sadly Santa never delivered. As an adult I finally bought the entire sequence for myself. This book is intended as a child's book, and it is brilliant as book for children, but it is also well loved by many adults, whether as a cherished memory of their own childhood or as a book discovered as an adult. I'll admit that as child, this can book can completely draw into other worlds in a manner not possible for an adult, but this is still an excellent read, whatever age you may be.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0140316884</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Lilith Saintcrow
 
|title=The Red Plague Affair
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Sorceress Prime, Emma Bannon, has done many things in service of Queen and Country, and willingly. Her latest mission to track down a missing doctor puts her in the path of a deadly contagion - the Red plague.  Mentath Archibald Clare is perhaps the only person capable of helping her find the doctor in time. But asking Clare, and Valentinelli his assassin servant, to assist in the chase risks exposing them to the Red. And Clare does not have the sorcerous advantages that Emma possesses.
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|summary=Clyde Robbins signs up for the US Army during the Vietnam War. He's not really that invested in the fight against Communism, nor is he particularly interested in a career in the military. If he's honest - which Clyde usually is, with himself at least - he hasn't got many choices and this one, at least, gets him out of the rut he's in. He's good in training and is quickly put onto a non commissioned officer training course. He's chuffed with himself.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356500934</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Jennifer Saint
|author=Susan Ee
+
|title=Elektra
|title=Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days Book 1)
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Fantasy
+
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=Angels have ransacked the Earth and humankind is facing the apocalypse. The people who are left are desperate and starving. Penryn is one of the survivors and the protector of her disabled younger sister Paige, and when Paige is kidnapped by an angel for an unknown purpose Penryn has to do everything within her power to find and rescue her. Embarking on a quest containing all manner of horrors both human and supernatural, Penryn is forced to make dangerous decisions and question her own humanity.
+
|summary='Elektra' by Jennifer Saint tells the story of three women who live in the heavily male dominated world of Ancient Greece. Cassandra, Clytemnestra, and Elektra are all bit players in the story of the Trojan War. Yet Jennifer Saint shows us that often the silent women have the most compelling stories and the most extreme furies.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>144477851X</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1472273915
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Dean Koontz
|author=Daniel Abraham
+
|title=Quicksilver
|title=The Tyrant's Law (Dagger and the Coin)
+
|rating=2.5
|rating=5
+
|genre=Thrillers
|genre=Fantasy
+
|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=Cithrin Bel Sarcour has arrived in Suddapal to complete her apprenticeship with the Medean Bank, but her past actions may have put her in danger. After being betrayed by his comrade Yardem, Marcus Wester has set out with Kitap rol Keshmet to kill a goddess. Clara Kalliam, who should be disgraced after her husband's treason, is surviving on the edge of high society thanks to her youngest son's friendship with the Lord Regent Geder Palliako - and is ready to risk everything to save her nation from Palliako. Meanwhile, all Geder wants is peace and prosperity for that nation. Even if it means killing everyone who disagrees with him to make sure he can get it.
+
|isbn=1542019885
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0316080705</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Tasha Suri
|author=Howard Andrew Jones
+
|title=The Jasmine Throne
|title=The Desert of Souls (The Chronicle of Sword and Sand)
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary= Place: Baghdad  Time: 8th century Arabian-Nights-Time  A dying man gives Dabir, tutor at the Caliph's palace, a precious artefact, making him promise to look after it. Unfortunately it gets stolen before he has the chance to.  Jaffar the son of the Caliph's vizier realises that it has magical qualities that make it even more precious than it appears and isn't too well pleased. He gives Dabir a chance to redeem himself, sending him and Asim, Captain of the Caliph's guard, to find it.  The men set out on their quest facing danger, death, sorcery and someone whose presence could get them into even deeper trouble.
+
|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>1781854637</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356515648
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Genevieve Gornichec
|author=Jon Courtenay Grimwood
+
|title=The Witch's Heart
|title=The Exiled Blade
+
|rating=4
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Tycho is back to face the dangerous intrigue of the Venetian Court. While he wants nothing more than to spend his nights with beautiful Guilietta Millioni, when the worst winter in living memory hits the city, and Duchess Alexa's treacherous rival builds a stronghold in Montenegro and attacks Guilietta's son, Tycho must really take up the responsibility of his office as Blade.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498505</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Richard Ford
 
|title=Herald of the Storm
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Nobul is a blacksmith and ex-mercenary who thinks he has next to nothing until even that is taken away from him.  Rag is a young waif, surviving on the streets from stealth and a talent for stealing.  Waylian spends his days poring over books and dodging verbal abuse as a witch's apprentice.  Meanwhile Merrick, drinker, gambler and for hire by anyone who can afford him (i.e. by anyone) receives a commission he can't refuse no matter how much he'd like to.  River the assassin and Kaira one of the temple guard Shieldmaidens just continue what they always do, day in, day out.  For in Steelhaven daily life is a routine round of existence until one day something happens… and suddenly it's not.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472203925</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ian Irvine
 
|title=Rebellion: Tainted Realm: Book 2
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=The former heir Rixium is now just plain Rix as he flees his ancestral castle in Hightspall hotly pursued by the marauding Cythonians, invading his home along with his homeland.  Accompanying Rix are Glynnie, a young maidservant and her little brother Benn. Hampered by his entanglement with the enemy resulting in the brutal loss of his right hand, Rix is also still mourning his best friend Tobry, killed when hurled from a tower. Meanwhile, Rix's other friend, a Pale and therefore ex-slave of the Cythonians, Tali has been kidnapped on the orders of the evil chancellor.  He isn't the only one after her, just her current possessor.  The other is Lyf, the Cythonian King who needs only one more of the legendary black pearls to secure his omnipotence, i.e. the black pearl embedded in Tali's head.  Tali's escape from slavery came at a price, but the future for both her and Rix seems a lot more costly.
+
|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>1841498297</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1789097061
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Hannah Whitten
|author=Brian McClellan
+
|title=For the Wolf
|title=Promise of Blood (Powder Mage Trilogy)
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary= Adamat, investigator and ex-police inspector, is summoned to the Skyline Palace for, he assumes, an audience with the king. However, when he arrives, the grounds are in darkness and a greater darkness lurks within.  The King's Hielman bodyguard are all dead and the royal family won't be around for much longer as Field Marshal Tamas of the home-grown Adros Military has led a coup. Tamas wants to hire Adamat for his investigating prowess but neither Adamat, Tamas nor the mages and sorcerers under Tamas' command realise what will be unleashed as a result… or perhaps Tamas does. Meanwhile a servant girl starts the fight for the survival of herself and a small but very important child.
+
|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>035650199X</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356516369
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=John Gwynne
|author=C Robert Cargill
+
|title=The Shadow Of The Gods
|title=Dreams and Shadows
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Once upon a time, a sweet boy met a sweet girl and they fell perfectly in love. Their love is rich and fulfilling and true. They did what people in love do: moved in together, got married, had a baby. And then something most people don't believe exists crawls into their house through an open window and exchanges their perfect baby for a changeling. It's the start of something bigger than even the switcher can begin to imagine.
+
|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>0575130091</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356514218
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest For Sharing Reviews]]
|author=Helen Lowe
 
|title=The Gathering of the Lost
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=It may only have taken a year for the second in the ''Wall of Night'' series to hit the shelves, but on Haarth five years have passed since [[The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe|The Heir of Night]] disappeared from the Wall.  She's known not to have died in the Swarm attack, but was last seen in the wilds of Jaransor and many believe her now to be dead.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356500039</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Graham Thomas
 
|title=Maria & The Devil
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=''The Devil has ridden out''.
 
 
 
Maria's lover is Montana's most feared outlaw. He has left her alone in a secluded cabin deep in the wilderness. Maria is pregnant. Left in solitude, she develops a familiar routine that feels safe. But the isolation is pervasive and Maria's defences against it are crumbling. And while she waits for her lover to return, she is discovered by Rickman Chill, whose gang is tracking the Devil in a relentless quest for revenge. What will happen when Chill discovers Maria's identity? Will the Devil return in time?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00BFEC2NI</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

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

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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

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