Difference between revisions of "Newest Fantasy Reviews"

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[[Category:Fantasy|*]]
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=David Dalglish
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|author=A G Slatter
|title=Skyborn: 1 (The Seraphim Trilogy)
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|title=The Briar Book of the Dead
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Twins Kael and Bree Skyborn witness the battle in which their parents died and yet still want to follow in their footsteps.  The pair train as Seraphim, members of the winged force that are on the front line of the war, proud to serve their people and the Theocrats who have devised the whole support system for their world.  There are those who speak out against the Theocrats but even consorting with people like that means death.  Everyone knows it and yet…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356506495</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Kate Elliott
 
|title=Black Wolves (Black Wolves Trilogy)
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Dannarah has achieved her childhood dream: she's a reeve marshal, one of the army who fly eagles to defend king and kingdom. However Dannarah' s dream comes after a nightmare.  Lady Dannarah (as she's more properly known) is daughter of King Anjihosh and his son Prince Atani both of whom have been killed.  Two decades later the current ruler, her great nephew Jehosh gives Dannarah an ultimatum. She will be promoted to Grand Marshal if she brings him a bodyguard to guide him through dangerous times ahead and not just any bodyguard. He wants Kellas, the captain of the former Black Wolves, the elite royal guard who were disbanded after the regicides.  Kellas had walked away from the palace in a fog of shock and self-blame and he may not want to come back.
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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>0356503208</amazonuk>
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}}
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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.
{{newreview
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|isbn=1803364548
|author=Alex Marshall
 
|title=A Crown for Cold Silver: Book One of the Crimson Empire
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Zosia seems just like any other old lady.  Indeed that's the mistake that Sir Efrain Hjort made as he presents her with her husband's head, severed to encourage her compliance.  As Zosia hears the screams coming from what used to be her village but now the site of Hjort's latest initiative Zosia makes a vow. She'll look up some of her old acquaintances; to be more precise, the five villains she used to lead.  For Zosia isn't actually that ordinary.  Zosia is the legendary Cobalt Queen – a little creakier now than when she faked her death of course, but one thing is certain: she will avenge her people.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>035650283X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Stephen Hickman
 
|title= The Art of Stephen Hickman
 
|rating= 4
 
|genre= Fantasy
 
|summary= Stephen Hickman has been a well known artist in the Fantasy and Science Fiction worlds for a number of years now, having created covers for authors such as Harlan Ellison, Robert Heinlein, Anne McCaffrey, and Larry Niven. His paintings are vibrant, kinetic, sometimes scary, often sensual, traditional, and yet modern. ''The Art of Stephen Hickman'' collects hundreds of these paintings, and the artist himself provides an intriguing commentary alongside which offers a fascinating glimpse into the artistic process.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783298456</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Mark Morris
 
|title=The Society of Blood (Obsidian Heart book 2)
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Horror
 
|summary=In order to find his kidnapped daughter Alex Locke still needs to find the Obsidian Heart.  The trail leads back from 21st century gangland London to the dark, dirty 19th century version of the capital.  Here the streets that witnessed Jack the Ripper's murders only a couple of years before are just as lethal but the danger isn't totally human. Alex doesn't quite know how you'd classify it, but it stands between him and the person who means the most to him so walking away isn't an option.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781168709</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Stephen Aryan
 
|title=Battlemage
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Vargus has milked the legend of the Gath, an avenging man of violence for hire, for as long as possible.  Being the Gath has had its benefits but time to move on.  As it happens a war is brewing in Seveldrom so Vargus is going to fight on the side of right against the evil that is King Taikon. For Balfruss Seveldrom is home so he's honoured to be one of the six Battlemages King Mattias has selected to be the backbone of his defence now that Taikon has Zecorria.  As fate unfolds the future, Mattias' daughter Talandra will also play her part as the King's spymaster.  Vargus can kill an armed gang singlehanded.  Balfruss can summon fire, command storms and unmake stone.  Talandra?  She just hopes she can help save her country but as yet she doesn't realise quite how much it will cost her.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B013KT3BQW</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
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{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Rachel Greenlaw
 +
|title=Compass and Blade
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|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.
|author=David Mitchell
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|isbn=0008664730
|title=Slade House
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Horror
 
|summary=Once every nine years Jonah and Norah Greyer entertain a guest; each time a different person… or persons. Each visitor walks through the small black door of Slade House for various reasons of their own.  Or at least they think they know why they're there but only Jonah and Norah know the real reason – the only reason.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1473616689</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=AJ Smith
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|author=T Kingfisher
|title=The Red Prince (The Long War)
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|title=Thornhedge
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Spoilers ahead unless you've treated yourself to the first two books…….The surviving sinister, deadly Sisters (formerly the Seven Sisters) are slowly gaining global power and tortuous control.  It's not over for our heroes yet though.  Utha the albino cleric and his squire Randall are off to bag themselves another sister.  They take with them the multi-talented Ruth, someone prone to funny turns but in a good way.  Meanwhile the rest of our leaders are busy massing armies, leading to some unusual alliances. Assassin Rham Jas, travelling with the oddly behaving Kale, also has a witch in his sights, but his quest is partly personal.  Saara Mistress of Pain still has his daughter.
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|summary=''You had a right to retake your place.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784080861</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= Leigh Bardugo
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|isbn=1803364238
|title= Six of Crows
 
|rating= 5
 
|genre= Fantasy
 
|summary=In The Barrel, anything is possible for the right price, and no one knows this better than criminal mastermind, Kaz Brekker. When Kaz is offered a chance at a perilous mission that could turn his poverty-stricken life upside down, he is determined to see the task fulfilled - but he won't be able to do it alone.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1627792120</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Robert L Anderson
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|author=Nicole Jarvis
|title=Dreamland
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|title=A Portrait in Shadow
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=17 year old Dea has been to several schools in several towns, moving with her mother as if pursued.  It's always the same.  She'd make a friend and then the rumours would start about how she and her mum were crazy and the friend wouldn't talk to her. Dea isn't crazy. She becomes curiously ill from time to time but she has a cure: walking through people's dreams.  There are rules that keep her safe when she's doing this but when Connor moves in to the neighbourhood the rules become far less important and that's when Dea's life becomes far more dangerous.
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|summary=''I want all of Florence to know my name''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1473621003</amazonuk>
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 +
Cast out from Rome, Artemisia Gentileschi arrives in Florence seeking an oasis in which her art can find a home and where her future can thrive rather than stagnate. But as some as she enters Florentine society she faces great opposition from the powerful Accademia, the self-proclaimed guardians of the healing magics that through paintings have the power to protect the city and its citizens from plagues and curses. The all-male Accademia has hoarded power over art and architecture for centuries and guard it above all else. To them, Artemisia – an ambitious young woman who promises trouble and change – has no place amongst them and their society.
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|isbn=1803362340
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Ari Marmell
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|author=Thomas D Lee
|title=Hallow Point
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|title=Perilous Times
|rating=2.5
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|rating=3
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre= Fantasy
|summary=The first person perspective is not an easy one to pull off in fiction.  Despite this, it has been a favourite of the gumshoe genre as getting behind the eyes of a grizzled Private Investigator as they solve crimes and fall for femme fatales is incredibly satisfying if done well. All this is achievable, but what if you throw urban fantasy in too?  Now you have a book that has to explain crime in the first person, but also magic and in the case of ''Hallow Point'', 1930s Chicago slang.
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|summary= ''Hate is the path of least resistance''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781168253</amazonuk>
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 +
Set in the near-distant future, in a world on the verge of climate collapse, Britain is in great peril. The British Isles desperately needs a hero (or several) to save the day and rescue what little remains. What no-one expected was that one of the Knights of the Round Table would answer the call.
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|isbn=0356518523
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Angus Watson
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|author=Amelia Estelle Dellos
|title=Reign of Iron (The Iron Age Trilogy)
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|title=Delilah Recovered
|rating=5
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|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Spoilers ahead for [[Age of Iron (The Iron Age Trilogy) by Angus Watson|Books 1]] and [[Clash of Iron (The Iron Age Trilogy) by Angus Watson|2]]. Lowa and Spring both mourn the deaths of Dug in their own ways, each having reminders of the warrior they loved: Lowa carries around his baby while Spring carries around… well… Dug. They don't have time to brood though. The Romans may be taking their time but they haven't given up on the invasion idea.  Meanwhile Ragnall, still in Rome with Caesar, is being given a good reason to join them.  And so it begins as both sides gather troops and galvanise assistance ready for the mater of all battles.
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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>0356502600</amazonuk>
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|isbn=B0BKYFDLLV
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Sam Sykes
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|author=Hadeer Elsbai
|title= The City Stained Red
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|title=The Daughters of Izdihar
|rating= 3.5
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|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=This story follows a ragtag team made up of murderers and misfits. Through with adventure and being paid to kill, Lenk leads the gang into the grand silk city of Cier'Djaal to hunt for the man who was yet to pay them for their service. Lenk is determined to live a normal human life and may be willing to leave his friends behind in order to do so, but soon they become tied up in a religious war that wreaks chaos upon the city and their plans for peace.
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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>0575132183</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356520471
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Anna Caltabiano
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|author=Heather Fawcett
|title=The Time Of The Clockmaker
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|title=Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=General Fiction
|summary=''The Time Of The Clockmaker'' is not so much a sequel to '[[The Seventh Miss Hatfield by Anna Caltabiano|The Seventh Miss Hatfield]], rather it's more like ''The Seventh Miss Hatfield : Part Deux''Cynthia (who is now the aforementioned Seventh Miss Rebecca Hatfield and from this point we shall refer to her as such) has just seen her predecessor and mentor, the somewhat intimidating Sixth Miss Hatfield, murdered in the only way it is possible for an immortal to die – she has been slain by another immortal.  Forced to flee for her life (with the clock that governs Rebecca's ability to travel through time), Rebecca is stunned to find herself back in the Court of King Henry VIIIIt seems that the hands of her mysterious clock have somehow inadvertently been moved, during the course of a break-in, and Tudor England is the backdrop for Miss Hatfield's fight for survival.
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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 faeriesWhilst she is brilliant at research and speaking to faeries, she is not so good with people.  So when she finds herself far, far North in the small village of Hrafvsnik, having somehow offended the village matriarch, she is not sure what she has done, nor how to redeem herself and put her final investigations for her book back on the right trackEnter 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?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1473200431</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356519120
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Patricia McKillip
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|author=Christopher Golden
|title= The Riddle-Master's Game
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|title=Road of Bones
|rating= 4
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|rating=3.5
|genre= Fantasy
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|genre=Horror
|summary=IIn a realm where the wizards have long since died, but where magic and riddlry reign, no one takes much notice of the small, peaceful kingdom of Hed. That is until the young Land Ruler Morgon, wins a riddle game that sends a series events into motion that will shake the realm. Together he and the High One's harpist embark on a journey across the realm, to discover his destiny and finally marry the second most beautiful woman in the land. But Morgon has a long way to go and his journey is just the begginning of the impossible riddles before him.  
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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>1473212022</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1803361476
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Bradley Beaulieu
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|author=Andrew Givler
|title=Twelve Kings: The Song of the Shattered Sands
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|title=Soul Fraud (The Debt Collection Book 1)
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=When she was a young child Ceda took a blood oath to seek vengeance against the twelve kings of Sharakhai and with good reason. Now, years later, the oath hasn't been fulfilled but Ceda has plenty of other things to keep her occupied. Whether couriering suspect packages, avoiding the asirim or risking her life in the combat pits to satisfy the blood thirsty crowd. Ceda has been biding her time and that time is approaching.  However, she's only one 19 year old girl whereas the kings are legion and have powers to call on that aren't altogether natural.  Blood must be avenged with blood; the only question is whose blood will it be?
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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>1473203007</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= Richard Morgan
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|isbn=1958204021
|title= The Dark Defiles
 
|rating= 4
 
|genre= Fantasy
 
|summary= Ringil Eskiath, Egar Dragonbane and Archeth Indamaninarmal have been through hell. Almost literally, in some cases. Now without fight or cause, they find themselves bored, searching for answers and fights wherever they can. But then the fight arrives, along with the Dark Court, the Empire and the greed of men. It soon becomes clear that a war fought thousands of years has not ended, but still rages fiercely on. A war that will take more than our adventurers to stop…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0575088605</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Debbie Viguie and James R Tuck
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|author=Olivie Blake
|title= Mark of the Black Arrow (Robin Hood: Demons Bane 1)
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|title=The Atlas Six
|rating= 4.5
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|rating=4
|genre= Fantasy
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|genre=Fantasy
|summary= A vast darkness is spreading. If left unchecked, it will engulf the world, and so Richard the Lionheart must depart England on a holy mission. In his absence, the safety of the realm is entrusted to his brother, Prince John. With the King departing, black sorcery grips the land, horrific creatures stalking the forests and threatening noble and peasant alike. A handful of rebels fight back, but are doomed to fail unless they can find a hero to lead them – and Robin Hood may be just the man for the job.  
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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>1783294361</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1529095239
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Debbie Viguie and James R Tuck
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|author=Daniel Abraham
|title= Mark of the Black Arrow (Robin Hood: Demons Bane #1)
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|title=Age of Ash
|rating= 4.5
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|rating=4.5
|genre= Fantasy
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|genre=Fantasy
|summary= A vast darkness is spreading. If left unchecked, it will engulf the world, and so Richard the Lionheart must depart England on a holy mission. In his absence, the safety of the realm is entrusted to his brother, Prince John. With the King departing, black sorcery grips the land, horrific creatures stalking the forests and threatening noble and peasant alike. A handful of rebels fight back, but are doomed to fail unless they can find a hero to lead them – and Robin Hood may be just the man for the job.  
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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 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>1783294361</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356515427
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Sebastien de Castell
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|author= Ann Sei Lin
|title= Traitor's Blade
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|title= Rebel Skies
 
|rating= 5
 
|rating= 5
|genre= Fantasy
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|genre= Teens
|summary= Falcio del Mond and his companions Kest and Brasti used to be Greatcoats; travelling Magister's upholding King's Law. Then they stood and watched as their King was killed by the Dukes who took control of the kingdom, and their company of 144 supposedly brave men and women are scattered throughout the land and reviled as traitors. The three are working as hired security while hoping to fulfil their last promise to the King, until one of their clients is killed and they're framed for his murder. Running for their lives, they're caught in a conspiracy which could have dark consequences for the entire land.
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|summary= Kurara has spent her entire life as a servant on the Midori, a massive dining hall floating in the sky where soldiers of the Empire come to drink and make merry between their conquests. However, when a man named Himura arrives to tell her that she is a Crafter like him, someone with the power to form paper into whatever she desires – a power sought after all across the Empire. He asks her to come with him, to leave the life of dreary servitude that is all she has known. Well, soon Kurara won't have any say in the matter, because the Midori is destroyed by a monstrous paper spirit known as a shikigami, and she is forced to flee out into the world. She joins Himura aboard the Orihime, a sky-ship whose express purpose is to hunt down shikigami, and a whole world of adventure awaits her…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184866379X</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1406399590
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= John Gardner
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|isbn=B09Q3P283Y
|title= Grendel
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|title=Shadebringer
|rating= 5
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|author=Grayson W Hooper
|genre= Fantasy
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|rating=4
|summary= The first impression we get of Grendel in the epic poem ''Beowulf'' is not a good one. Life is fine for the townspeople of Heorot, the anonymous poet tells, 'until finally one, a fiend out of hell, began to work his evil in the world.' Grendel, there can be no doubt, is a monster, a beast, a marauder, a demon, a villain.
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|genre=Fantasy
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1473212014</amazonuk>
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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.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= George Mann
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|author=Jennifer Saint
|title= Affinity Bridge
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|title=Elektra
|rating= 3.5
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|rating=4
|genre= Crime
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|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=London, 1901: airships and automata herald a shining future in a city of steam-powered road trains and carriages. Queen Victoria is still alive (after a fashion) and one of her trusted Crown Agents has his work cut out investigating some decidedly odd goings-on in the capital alongside the chaps at Scotland Yard. Revenant corpses and vengeful, ghostly policemen in the dense fog of Whitechapel don't phase Newbury, however, accustomed as he is to dabbling in the occult.
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|summary='Elektra' by Jennifer Saint tells the story of three women who live in the heavily male dominated world of Ancient Greece. Cassandra, Clytemnestra, and Elektra are all bit players in the story of the Trojan War. Yet Jennifer Saint shows us that often the silent women have the most compelling stories and the most extreme furies.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783298278</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1472273915
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Benedict Jacka
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|author=Dean Koontz
|title=Veiled
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|title=Quicksilver
|rating=4.5
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|rating=2.5
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=Thrillers
|summary=It's a time of great change for future divining mage Alex Verus.  He's come to the decision that his apprentice Luna has reached a stage where she needs more multi-faceted training than he can offer.  An additional teacher is therefore sought and one applicant in particular isn't exactly Mary Poppins. Meanwhile Alex adds a new chapter to his life by working with the Keepers, the Council's police force, adding perhaps a little more danger than is good for him.  However his past is never far away and no, that's not a good thing.
+
|summary=Meet Quinn Quicksilver. He's not had the chance to get to be a mercurial character yet, for he's lived in a nun-run orphanage since he was a three-day old foundling, and now is starting a career on a needless magazine's staff. But when this book starts he IS now ''subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind'', for something – call it unearthly intuition, call it mind-control, call it a supernatural urge – has demanded of him that he go to a derelict diner, find a gold coin worth a fortune, cash the value of it out of his bank and prepare for going on the lam. And all this is just in time for two of those typical Men in Black types to turn up and suggest he's of interest to them. Helped to escape, he finds his flight is interrupted by other instances of him acting without being in control, the discovery that he is not unique in having some kind of burgeoning power – and a whole lot more besides.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356504379</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1542019885
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Tom Holt
+
|author=Tasha Suri
|title=The Good, the Bad and the Smug
+
|title=The Jasmine Throne
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Mordak, award winning goblin king, is on a quest for truth. His companion Efluviel is a journalist whom he'd sacked and who is elf – that's two counts against her, without taking the smugness into account. Meanwhile a little man spins gold from straw, offering benefits as well as a riddle. He may sound familiar, but forget the fairy tale; this Rumplerimp… Rumpski… bloke has a more sophisticated strategy.  Oh and have you heard about the two chaps who pre-invented the Hadron Collider in their garden shed?  No? Well, stay tuned.
+
|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>0356502554</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356515648
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Marie Phillips
+
|author=Genevieve Gornichec
|title=The Table Of Less Valued Knights
+
|title=The Witch's Heart
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Sir Humphrey has been demoted from King Arthur's Round Table to the Table of Lesser Valued Knights.  The only way to get his comfier seat back is to redeem himself via a quest. Therefore when damsel Elaine seeks help to find her kidnapped fiancé, Humphrey and his ward, the teenage giant Conrad, eagerly set forth.  Meanwhile in the kingdom of Tuft, new Queen Martha has run away after a disastrous wedding to… a… well… disastrous Prince Edwin.  She may not realise it yet, but she too will have a job for Humphrey!
+
|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>0099555875</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1789097061
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=James P Blaylock
+
|author=Hannah Whitten
|title=Beneath London
+
|title=For the Wolf
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary= The collapse of the Victoria Embankment uncovers a passage to an unknown realm beneath the city. Langdon St. Ives sets out to explore it, not knowing that a brilliant and wealthy psychopathic murderer is working to keep the underworld's secrets hidden for reasons of his own. St. Ives and his stalwart friends investigate a string of ghastly crimes: the gruesome death of a witch, the kidnapping of a blind, psychic girl, and the grim horrors of a secret hospital serve the strange, murderous ends of perhaps St. Ives' most dangerous nemesis yet.
+
|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>1783292601</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356516369
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Ben Aaronovitch
+
|author=John Gwynne
|title=Foxglove Summer (Rivers of London 5)
+
|title=The Shadow Of The Gods
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=After the disappearance of two girls in Herefordshire, PC Grant finds himself assisting with the investigation.  It may be countryside rather than the London patch he's used to, but crime is crime, especially when there's a supernatural element to it.  He also has a little help and comfort from his home patch to augment the ethereal beings… just in case.  And remember Lesley and ''that'' taser moment?  She's not exactly totally off the scene either.
+
|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>0575132523</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356514218
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Natasha Pulley
 
|title=The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=London 1883: Thaniel Steepleton, a telegraphist in a government office, finds himself  living and working in a city at siege during a Clan na Gael bombing campaign.  It's around this time that he also realises that his pocket watch seems to have some odd, previously unnoticed functions.  Grace Carrow, a 'bluestocking' physics student also owns such a watch.  The two total strangers may think their watches odd, but 'odd' takes on a new meaning when they meet Mr Mori, the Japanese watchmaker.  His clockwork pet octopus is only a small measure of the oddity ahead.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408854287</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Anthony Ryan
 
|title=Queen of Fire: Book 3 of Raven's Shadow
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE FIRST TWO RAVEN SHADOW BOOKS (ONLY)
 
Queen Lyrna has been badly burnt but lives to rule and seek vengeance through her massed armies.  She also lifts the prohibition of the Dark due to their healing properties and three Gifted, the practitioners of the power are promoted with less than popular approval.  Meanwhile Lyrna's right hand man Vaelin Al Sorna has lost his blood song, that precognition that made him such a strong and feared opponent in the past.  Talking of opponents, the Volarians have a surprise – the mysterious entity known only as The Ally.  To Vaelin he's anything but and so he must go to the ends of the world (or at least to a pretty inhospitable climate) to find him… her… it.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>035650249X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Anna Caltabiano
 
|title= The Seventh Miss Hatfield
 
|rating= 4.5
 
|genre= Fantasy
 
|summary= Cynthia is a simple, All American girl who whilst generally happy – she’s fed and watered with a roof over her head - and relatively care free, she is somewhat bored of her existence in Suburbia. Miss Hatfield is Cynthia’s mysterious and rarely seen neighbour.  What an enigma she is and how compelling and irresistible it is for Cynthia to attempt to discover more about her.  Ever hear the phrase ''Be careful what you wish for''?.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1473200415</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Guillermo del Toro, Daniel Kraus and Sean Murray
 
|title=Trollhunters
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=West Coast USA in the 1960s, and the city is wracked and wrecked by a slew of missing children reports.  The parents with their new anguishes, and new rules against playing out after dark, have no idea of the horrors in their vicinity – literally under their feet lies a city of trolls, guilty of snatching the children. Last to go, Jack Sturgess.  Cue the modern era and Jack's younger, now grown-up brother Jim, and Jim Jr live a sheltered life in the most barricaded and secure home imaginable, and Jim Jr's life is as exciting as you'd expect.  Unfortunately, however, the trolls are about to make a return to their nastiest of ways – and their intentions are a lot more surprising than Jim Jr could ever predict…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471405192</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
Move on to [[Newest For Sharing Reviews]]

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

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Review of

Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw

3.5star.jpg Teens

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

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

1803364238.jpg

Review of

Thornhedge by T Kingfisher

5star.jpg Fantasy

You had a right to retake your place.

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

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Review of

A Portrait in Shadow by Nicole Jarvis

4.5star.jpg Historical Fiction

I want all of Florence to know my name

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

0356518523.jpg

Review of

Perilous Times by Thomas D Lee

3star.jpg Fantasy

Hate is the path of least resistance

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

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Review of

Delilah Recovered by Amelia Estelle Dellos

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

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Review of

The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

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Review of

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

4star.jpg General Fiction

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

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Review of

Road of Bones by Christopher Golden

3.5star.jpg Horror

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

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Review of

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

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

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

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Review of

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

0356515427.jpg

Review of

Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham

4.5star.jpg Fantasy

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

1406399590.jpg

Review of

Rebel Skies by Ann Sei Lin

5star.jpg Teens

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

B09Q3P283Y.jpg

Review of

Shadebringer by Grayson W Hooper

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

1472273915.jpg

Review of

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

4star.jpg Literary Fiction

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

1542019885.jpg

Review of

Quicksilver by Dean Koontz

2.5star.jpg Thrillers

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

0356515648.jpg

Review of

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

1789097061.jpg

Review of

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

0356516369.jpg

Review of

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

5star.jpg Fantasy

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

0356514218.jpg

Review of

The Shadow Of The Gods by John Gwynne

5star.jpg Fantasy

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

Move on to Newest For Sharing Reviews