Difference between revisions of "Newest Fantasy Reviews"

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[[Category:Fantasy|*]]
 
[[Category:Fantasy|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Fantasy]]
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[[Category:New Reviews|Fantasy]]__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->
==Fantasy==
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{{Frontpage
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|author=A G Slatter
 
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|title=The Briar Book of the Dead
{{newreview
 
|author=N M Browne
 
|title=Wolf Blood
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=Trista is a Celtic warrior girl and seeress. Her visions are always horrifying, full of blood and death. And one of her premonitions tells her she must escape from the tribe who have captured and enslaved her, for their time is running out. Fleeing into the snowy forest, she runs straight into two Roman soldiers and thinks this time the game is surely up. Surely she cannot survive a second time? But one of the soldiers has a secret - he is a shapeshifter. Part wolf, part man, Morcant also has both Roman Celtic blood in his veins and he has never felt truly at home in either world.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140881255X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|title=Ember and Ash
 
|author=Pamela Freeman
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Ember is about to be married. It's not just a romantic day for her personally, it's exciting because her wedding will seal the alliance of the Far South Domain and the Last Domain in the north, making a new kingdom which is a shining example of justice and peace. By fantasy standards, this sounds too good to be true. And so, of course, it is. Barely have the words which bind Ember to new husband Osfrid been spoken before he is consumed by flames, murdered by an elemental god her mother once angered. Soon after that, nearly every fire in the kingdom is extinguished. Shocked to learn that the world is controlled by elemental powers she knew nothing about, Ember enlists her cousins Ash and Cedar to go with her to Fire Mountain to bring back a piece of the mountain and relight their lost fires.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498270</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Tom Holt
 
|title=Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Imagine a world where pigs can do quantum mechanics, and where female solicitors turn into chickens. Add a dry cleaner that moves (literally, from the roof tiles to the basement) from town to town every forty-eight hours, a couple of medieval knights who've fought every day for centuries, and a magical ring (or pencil sharpener, depending on the mood it's in). Stir in a bit of property developing, a thaumaturgical detective and an old man who lives in a cloud. Result? You haven't even begun to probe the depths of this crazy, absurd, complex and hilarious book.
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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>1841495077</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.
|author=Daniel Abraham
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|isbn=1803364548
|title=The Dagger and Coin: The Dragon's Path
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=A hero of renown, jaded by fighting and ready to leave the city before war breaks out. The only son of a noble house, taking more of an interest in books than swords. A court baron who strives to keep his king from being killed by traitors. And a young girl, left orphaned, disguised as a boy in a desperate attempt to smuggle the city's fortune to safety. Reading the cast list for the
 
first volume of Daniel Abraham's new fantasy epic, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd read very similar works before. You'd also be completely wrong.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498874</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Rachel Greenlaw
|author=S L Grey
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|title=Compass and Blade
|title=The Mall
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=Teens
|summary=I must admit that the front cover is extremely eye-catching and that drop of blood gives a hint as to what the book's all about. There are two central characters and their stories are told in the first person in alternating chapters.  So first up, is Rhoda - and boy does she have attitude.  She's babysitting for a friend and decides to take the youngster to a local shopping mall.  Nothing wrong there, you could say except that it's late at night (the boy should really be in bed) and the shops are starting to shut for the night.  Rhoda is a bit of a mess. She takes drugs, although she says she's not reliant on them, so when the 'kid' goes and does a disappearing act on her, she's both fuming and scared.  Grey locates her story in Jo'burg and there's an element of threatening violence within its pages.
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|summary=''I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857890425</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Rosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks. Mira, like her mother before her, is one of the seven who swim out to survey the ruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. But when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father. Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is as charming as he is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, she sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. With only nine days to unearth what might save her father, as her journey takes her from the watched streets of foreign islands to the heart of the smuggler's territory, Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and the ones she holds most dear.
|author=Jesse Bullington
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|isbn=0008664730
|title=The Enterprise of Death
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=It's the 1500s in Europe, and two women are being transported against their will across the continent. One, an African Moorish beauty is being delivered to the King of Spain as ransom payment, but she and two servants are to end up in the home of a mighty necromancer instead. Elsewhere, a Swiss soldier taking a young witch to those in charge of the Spanish Inquisition finds his cargo is even more dangerous than he thought.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841499129</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=T Kingfisher
|author=Patricia Briggs
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|title=Thornhedge
|title=Mercy Thompson: River Marked
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|rating=5
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Mercy, the female car mechanic who is half-Native American and half-Caucasian, and can turn into a coyote, has bitten the bullet and married Adam, the Alpha werewolf of the region.  But not long into their honeymoon at an idyllic riverside camping ground they have to themselves, she finds something is about to break their peace.  Their presence there was, shall we say, requested, for a killer is lurking in the river waters, and only they can see to it.
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|summary=''You had a right to retake your place.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841497975</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=Jon Courtenay Grimwood
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|isbn=1803364238
|title=The Fallen Blade: Act One of the Assassini
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=I'm always in two minds about books that echo other works of literature. I'm all for reworking myths and legends – they're so ancient and have been so often retold, even before arriving at the accepted 'true' versions, they're fair game – but works of literature written in recent enough history to have been actually ''written'' and still widely read in their original form? It can go one way or the other.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498459</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jaye Wells
 
|title=Sabina Kane: Green-Eyed Demon
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Sabina Kane is on a mission. Her evil grandmother Lavinia, Alpha Domina of the whole vampire race, has kidnapped her twin sister from beneath Sabina's nose, and Sabina isn't about to let her get away with it. Not this time. Sabina knows time is short if she's to rescue Maisie alive and put an end to Lavinia once and for all, but before she can storm in and kick ass, she has to find her. And that's no easy task.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841497584</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Trent Jamieson
 
|title=Managing Death
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=I reviewed the [[Death Most Definite by Trent Jamieson|first book]] in this series and, even although it's not a genre I would normally choose to read, I was pleasantly surprised.  Would this second book (which are often difficult to pull off with the same degree of success) be as good or as entertaining?  Time to find out ...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498602</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Nicole Jarvis
 +
|title=A Portrait in Shadow
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Historical Fiction
 +
|summary=''I want all of Florence to know my name''
  
{{newreview
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Cast out from Rome, Artemisia Gentileschi arrives in Florence seeking an oasis in which her art can find a home and where her future can thrive rather than stagnate. But as some as she enters Florentine society she faces great opposition from the powerful Accademia, the self-proclaimed guardians of the healing magics that through paintings have the power to protect the city and its citizens from plagues and curses. The all-male Accademia has hoarded power over art and architecture for centuries and guard it above all else. To them, Artemisia – an ambitious young woman who promises trouble and change – has no place amongst them and their society.
|author=K J Parker
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|isbn=1803362340
|title=The Hammer
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=The met'Oc family have three sons. One is strong, super-industrious, but too busy to do more than patch up their farm. The second is a vicious thing, eager to ride roughshod over people like a western film's worst bandit, even when it belies the met'Oc's noble origins.  And the youngest, Gig, is... not employed.  Not thought highly of. Not allowed out of their compound, or to think too much. But he is courageous enough to try and leave, firm of mind to ignore something horrific that happened seven years before, and gutsy enough to succeed in escaping. Or is he?  How far can he ever leave his destiny behind in this backward frontier town?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184149514X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Thomas D Lee
|author=Asa Jones
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|title=Perilous Times
|title=The Illustrated Mind of Mike Reeves
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Mike Reeves doesn't have his troubles to seek.  His wife was brutally raped some four or five years ago and whilst she might seem to be recovered she cannot stand to be touched by a man – any man, Mike included.  Quite suddenly Mike was alone, in every way – until he found himself drawn to the darker arts and began to dabble in Tarot, the Runes and I Ching.  He's guided by two spirits.  Sean is a wise and benevolent older man and Debbie, well she… isn't.  She's the one who satisfies Mike's sexual needs. If that's all sounding rather good, then hesitate a moment, for with the good comes the bad and the bad is in the form of Tony a (very) real-life gangster who's been doing his own dabbling in the spirit world.  When their worlds clash Mike has a problem which could well be more than he can handle.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>160693905X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Paul Hoffman
 
|title=The Left Hand of God
 
 
|rating=3
 
|rating=3
|genre=Teens
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|genre= Fantasy
|summary=Cale is fourteen and his life so far has not been one to envy. Brought to the Redeemers' Sanctuary as just a toddler, he's lived within its militant religious fanaticism for all the years he can remember. Beaten, brutalised and half-starved, Cale and his fellow acolytes are being raised to fight an ongoing and bloody war against heretics. Cale is of special interest to Bosco, a Redeemer Lord Militant, and we soon realise why. Cale is intelligent, ruthless, quick, and has the ability to kill without remorse. He is an asset.
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|summary= ''Hate is the path of least resistance''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141333553</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Set in the near-distant future, in a world on the verge of climate collapse, Britain is in great peril. The British Isles desperately needs a hero (or several) to save the day and rescue what little remains. What no-one expected was that one of the Knights of the Round Table would answer the call.
|author=Colin Pascoe
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|isbn=0356518523
|title=Troika
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=At the beginning of his story he had been what he called 'a normal person', married with a job in a care home.  One day when he was out with his dog he walked into an area of absolute quiet, which then went black and all feeling left his body. It would be a month before he returned home and unsurprisingly, everything had changed. But it wasn't just the loss of his job and his wife's disbelief of his explanation for his absence that was different.  He had changed too.  He had knowledge that would prove to be dangerous.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755212878</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Amelia Estelle Dellos
|author=David Petersen
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|title=Delilah Recovered
|title=Mouse Guard: Legends of The Guard
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Graphic Novels
 
|summary=To start with, I have never heard of Mr Petersen and his Mouse Guard franchise.  But I'm often up for an introduction to a fantasy cycle, and I always relish being welcomed to an author by the most esoteric, unusual, quirky and short route.  My first entry to the His Dark Materials world was [[Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman|a collector's spin-off]], and I'm just as likely to start the Twilight series, if ever, with the latest brief whimsy.  And for those of a similar mind-set, this collection of tales from the pens of guest writers and illustrators, serves as an odd-shaped doorway on to this particular universe.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857681427</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Curtis Jobling
 
|title=Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Drew Ferran knows there's a monster roaming the land where his family farm – he just doesn't realise it could be inside him. Until a terrible creature attacks his beloved mother, triggering a transformation in him, and leading his father and brother to believe he’s responsible for her death. Forced to flee to the most godforsaken parts of Lyssia, Drew becomes quickly embroiled in the world of the Werelords. Can he survive?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141333391</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Kate Griffin
 
|title=The Neon Court
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Matthew Swift, the Midnight Mayor ostensibly in charge of things magical about and within London, is in trouble. He wakes from a summons in a burning tower block, with an associate he'd rather not be with. In their escape a person dies. Only this death is set to cause out-and-out war between two legendary magical clans, the Neon Court and the Tribe. How can Swift be diplomatic enough for both sides? How can he resolve the matter without some form of guilt? And how can he find the time, when something has peppered London with cryptic 'Bad Wolf'-style graffiti, word is out the person he woke with is a fabled Chosen One everyone will slaughter for, Swift is beset with everyone he wants to meet being blinded by his enemies, and something has forced London into perpetual night?
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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>1841499013</amazonuk>
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|isbn=B0BKYFDLLV
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Hadeer Elsbai
|author=Helen Lowe
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|title=The Daughters of Izdihar
|title=The Heir of Night
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=If Night falls, all fall, so says the old legend. Oldest, first and greatest of all the Derai Houses on the Wall, the house of Night is proud of its role as holders of the Keep of the Winds, primary defence on the Shield Wall of Night – a range of mountains that separates the lands of the original inhabitants of the planet the Derai know as Haarth from the regions of the Dark Swarm that threaten Derai and Haarth-folk alike.
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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>0356500004</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356520471
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Heather Fawcett
|author=Rachel Neumeier
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|title=Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
|title=Griffin Mage: Law of the Broken Earth
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Mienthe is living in her cousin's courtly household when a man arrives from the realms to the west, claiming to be an agent on the run with a great secret.  It takes much time and effort to try and work out how duplicitous this man may or may not be, and what his bounty actually is (a singular, blank book, in fact).  This effort begins to reveal a strange and unknown talent and possible destiny for Mienthe.  But before this can be explored fully, worse news comes from out east.  The peace wall keeping the evil griffins from laying waste to the world is crumbling.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841499021</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=K S Turner
 
|title=Chronicles of Fate and Choice: Tumultus
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=This is the follow up to [[Before the Gods (Chronicles of Fate and Choice) by K S Turner|Before The Gods]], a debut novel lauded for bringing a breath of fresh air to the world of speculative fiction and one of Bookbag's [[Bookbag's Christmas Gift Recommendations 2009|top picks of 2009]]. Tumultus is the second of the planned trilogy and I was looking forward to seeing how the author would really cut loose now that readers were already familiar with the Shaa-kutu and the story of their link to the origin of the human race.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0956224210</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Martin Millar
 
|title=The Good Fairies of New York
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=General Fiction
|summary=In this fairytale of New York, the Cornish fairy King's children are living in exile, hiding in Central Park from a nasty industrial revolution back homeThey have friends from Ireland with them, and all have the ability to startle the local squirrelsElsewhere two innocent scallywag fairies fleeing Scotland have arrived, and adopted a human each.  Heather has joined up with Dinnie, the city's worst busker, a fat, alcoholic and lonely fan of TV ads for phone sex, while Morag befriends Kerry, a dying kleptomaniac beauty, just as alone for different reasons.
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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 peopleSo 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?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749954205</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356519120
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Christopher Golden
|author=Rachel Aaron
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|title=Road of Bones
|title=The Spirit Thief: The Legend of Eli Monpress
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=Horror
|summary=I'm relatively new to the fantasy genre and it really is true - you should never judge the book by its genre (my quote)Having read a previous fantasy trilogy (more of that later) I was looking forward to reading this book which has a similar lay-out and publishing format.
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|summary=The Kolyma Highway… the 'Road of Bones'the R504.  Stretching for over a thousand miles across Siberia, it's one of the world's most notorious routesFor months of the year it's a spread of sheet ice suspended above the permafrost surrounding it, while its 'spring' sees it turn into a huge blodge of unremitting, apocalyptic-level mud, which dries into rutted, puddly dust.  I don't think google streetview updates it very 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>0356500101</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1803361476
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Andrew Givler
|author=N K Jemisin
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|title=Soul Fraud (The Debt Collection Book 1)
|title=The Inheritance Trilogy: The Broken Kingdoms
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Ten years after the events of [[The Hundred-Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy) by N K Jemisin|The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms]], godlings are able to roam free and there are once again three gods – or are there? While people still worship bright Itempas, he was cast down by the Nightlord at the end of book one to wander the Earth, unable to die permanently but with no other powers unless he was protecting a mortal. Oree, an artist who can see magic but is otherwise blind, has known godlings for years and has even been the lover of one of them, but has never met anyone quite like her new lodger Shiny. With godlings dying, something which hasn't happened for many years, can narrator Oree and Shiny find out what's going on before Nahadoth destroys the entire city of Shadow in revenge for his murdered children?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498181</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Deborah Harkness
 
|title=A Discovery of Witches
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=The back cover is full of praise for this debut novel which has been involved in a publishing 'tussle', no less.  Impressive.  I was looking forward to reading what all the fuss was about.  The title is terrific too.  But was the book a terrific read?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755374029</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=H A Goodman
 
|title=Logic of Demons: The Quest for Nadine's Soul
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Devin is in pieces. His pregnant wife has been raped and murdered and revenge is all he can think about. He listens to the advice of his worried father-in-law - who counsels against doing anything rash - but listening is not the same as hearing. And Devin doesn't truly hear his father-in-law's wise words at all. Instead, he focuses on the angry voice in his head, which tells him such an evil murderer has no right to live.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1452018170</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Celine Kiernan
 
|title=Moorehawke Trilogy: The Rebel Prince
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=After spending the entire of [[Moorehawke Trilogy: The Crowded Shadows by Celine Kiernan|The Crowded Shadows]], the excellent second book in this series, looking for it, the Protector Lady Wynter Moorehawke has finally discovered the hidden
 
camp of her childhood friend Prince Alberon. Can she, along with her travelling companions Razi Kingsson - Alberon's brother - and Christopher Garron, persuade the Rebel Prince to make peace with his father, or is their quest to end in bloodshed and failure?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498238</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Kate Elliott
 
|title=Spiritwalker: Cold Magic
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=In an alternate version of our world in the 19th century, where magic exists but technology is moving forward in the shape of massive airships, 19 year old cousins Cat and Bee Hassi Barahal live normal lives. But without warning, the girls' world is thrown upside down as a cold mage, the arrogant Andevai arrives to collect Cat as his bride - as a result of a bargain which was made many years ago without her
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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.''
knowledge. Taken away from her beloved family, Cat is brought into a society she knows little about where danger seems to lurk in every corner... But Cat isn't as helpless as everyone else assumes her to be; unknown to anybody, she can see the chains that magic forms, while she quickly picks up allies in some unusual places.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498815</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=Janet Evanovich
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|isbn=1958204021
|title=Wicked Appetite
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=General Fiction
 
|summary=Take one rather ditzy girl. Add a funny, extrovert friend, and another, more sensible one. Stir in two seriously attractive men, an unhinged pet or two, a slapstick plot and an unending series of cars. What have you got? A Janet Evanovich novel! This has been the formula for the winning 'Stephanie Plum' series for years, about a hopelessly incompetent bounty hunter who never quite manages to choose between the two hunks in her life, and it has given much pleasure and amusement. But even the best formulas get stale, so this year Ms Evanovich has branched out into something new. Well, almost.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755352769</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Olivie Blake
|author=Gail Carriger
+
|title=The Atlas Six
|title=Blameless: The Parasol Protectorate
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=''Blameless'' opens with Alexia back in the family home.  She hopes that this is a temporary situation.  Not to put too fine a point on it, she has absolutely nothing in common with her parents or her silly half-sisters.  Her mother is outraged.  Why?  Well, because no married woman in proper Victorian society leaves her husband.  It's simply not done.  Alexia's just done it and would probably say to her mama that she couldn't give a rat's arse either - except her mother would no doubt have a fainting fit.  But scandal is looming.  And Alexia is forced at some point to re-assess her situation.  Underneath all those ridiculous ruffles and lace she is a little put-out and concerned - especially in her present condition.
+
|summary= Dark, sharp, and highly inquisitive, ''The Atlas Six'' makes its publishing debut after becoming a Tik-Tok sensation.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841499730</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1529095239
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Daniel Abraham
|author=Gail Carriger
+
|title=Age of Ash
|title=Changeless: The Parasol Protectorate
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=I recently read (and reviewed) the first book [[Soulless: The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger|Soulless]] in this trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed it. Therefore I had high hopes for this book.  But will it be as good?  I crossed my fingers and started reading ..The feisty and fiery Alexia had left a bit of a lasting impression on meI had no problem in picking up where I had left off.  Carriger chooses not to share with her readers details of the wedding but I can picture the scene in my mind's eye, all the same.
+
|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>1841499749</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356515427
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Ann Sei Lin
|author=Celine Kiernan
+
|title= Rebel Skies
|title=Moorehawke Trilogy: The Crowded Shadows
+
|rating= 5
|rating=5
+
|genre= Teens
|genre=Teens
+
|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=At the end of [[The Poison Throne (Moorehawke Trilogy) by Celine Kiernan|the first book]] of the Moorehawke Trilogy, The Poison Throne, Wynter Moorhawke, her childhood friend Razi, and her romantic interest Christopher were all desperately
+
|isbn=1406399590
trying to find Razi's half-brother Alberon, whose father Jonathon appeared to be driven insane. I thought I knew exactly what to expect from this second novel in the sequence, but was thrown sideways by the massive detour taken.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184149822X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B09Q3P283Y
|author=Brent Weeks
+
|title=Shadebringer
|title=Lightbringer: The Black Prism
+
|author=Grayson W Hooper
|rating=5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Gavin Guile is the Prism, the only person able to split light into its entire spectrum of colours, which makes him the most powerful man in the world. Peace between the seven Satrapies relies on his power, his charm and wit. And a fragile peace has been maintained for the past sixteen years, since the False Prism War that devastated the world.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184149903X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Gail Carriger
 
|title=Soulless: The Parasol Protectorate
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Miss Tarabotti fairly bounces (in a ladylike fashion, of course) onto the page.  Her forthright character is refreshingly at odds with the rather snivelling wallflowers of the era.  I just knew that Alexia was going to be bags of fun - and she was.  She did not disappoint.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841499722</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Nicole Peeler
 
|title=Tempest Rising
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Since the death of her boyfriend, Jason, Jane True has been something of a social outcast in Rockabill. Hated by most of the general populace, who think she had something to do with Jason's death, Jane has lived her life on pause for eight years. Only Jane's clandestine nightly swim make her feel alive, at peace, normal – which is odd, because swimming in the treacherous and freezing sea waters is about as far from normal as a girl can get. But Jane's always had an affinity for the ocean.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841499668</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Susan Hill
 
|title=The Small Hand
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Adam Snow, an antiquarian book dealer, accidentally finds himself within the grounds of a derelict house hidden away in the countryside. As he is walking around the lost garden he feels an invisible hand creep into his own.  Drawn into investigating the history of the house, and whose hand it might be, he finds himself suffering from panic attacks as well as feeling the small hand again, in different locations, each time pulling him closer and closer to danger.
+
|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>1846682363</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Jennifer Saint
|author=Kelley Armstrong
+
|title=Elektra
|title=Waking the Witch (Women of the Otherworld)
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=Tired of doing the legwork for Paige and Lucas, Savannah Levine – powerful witch/sorcerer with half-demon blood – is glad to finally get the chance to go it alone. For the week. But what started as a babysitting gig soon progresses to a full blown case for the temporary head of Cortez-Winterbourne Investigations.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184149805X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=John Vornholt, Arthur Byron Cover and Alice Henderson
 
|title=Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No. 1: Night of the Living Rerun; Coyote Moon; Portal Through Time
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
+
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=There is something really satisfying about a huge brick of a book: the prospect of settling down for hours and hours of reading pleasure is very tempting. And this book offers an even more tempting lure for Buffy fans, because it contains three whole stories, adding variety to the mix. It's absolutely ideal for a holiday read.
+
|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>0857070606</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1472273915
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Dean Koontz
|author=Jeri Smith-Ready
+
|title=Quicksilver
|title=Shade
+
|rating=2.5
|rating=4.5
+
|genre=Thrillers
|genre=Teens
+
|summary=Meet Quinn Quicksilver. He's not had the chance to get to be a mercurial character yet, for he's lived in a nun-run orphanage since he was a three-day old foundling, and now is starting a career on a needless magazine's staff. But when this book starts he IS now ''subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind'', for something – call it unearthly intuition, call it mind-control, call it a supernatural urge – has demanded of him that he go to a derelict diner, find a gold coin worth a fortune, cash the value of it out of his bank and prepare for going on the lam. And all this is just in time for two of those typical Men in Black types to turn up and suggest he's of interest to them. Helped to escape, he finds his flight is interrupted by other instances of him acting without being in control, the discovery that he is not unique in having some kind of burgeoning power – and a whole lot more besides.
|summary=Meet Aura. She was one of the first people in the world to be born after The Shift, beyond which every newborn was opened to the world of the ghosts, hearing and seeing them whether they liked to or not.  Her boyfriend, Logan, who she wants to make love to for the first time on the night of his seventeenth birthday, suddenly dies first instead - making him one of the many ghosts Aura might be able to help. But is something of greater help buried in a school project, touching on standing stone circles, the solstices, the mysteries of her own family's past - and a new young man in her life?
+
|isbn=1542019885
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847389406</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Tasha Suri
|author=Trent Jamieson
+
|title=The Jasmine Throne
|title=Death Most Definite
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=As soon as I read the blurb on the front cover of the book, I gained a pretty good idea of the tone and style. 'Reaping - it's a grim job but someone's got to do it.'  This book is a little bit quirky, a little bit out of the ordinary.  I was keen to start reading.
+
|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>1841498599</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356515648
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Genevieve Gornichec
|author=Kelly Link
+
|title=The Witch's Heart
|title=Pretty Monsters
+
|rating=4
|rating=3
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=It goes without saying, but the greatest thing about fantasy fiction is that one can go anywhere with it, and do anything.  So a young man can easily try and dig his girlfriend up and retrieve some poetry he romantically left with her - only to have a hairy evening as a result. There can be a psychic link between a young lad, called Onion and doomed to die in a terrorist attack, and his cousin while she works as slave in an odd community of wizards.  Several worlds can be accessed through an elderly woman's handbag, for better or worse.
+
|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>1847677843</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1789097061
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Hannah Whitten
|author=Kevin J Anderson
+
|title=For the Wolf
|title=The Map Of All Things (Terra Incognita)
+
|rating=5
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=After years of religious war between the Aidenists and the Urecari, with multiple atrocities on both sides, the known world has been divided. For each loss there is a retaliation, an upscale of the damage until the war becomes a crusade. In the centre of all this is Ishalem, a city that bridges the divide. Captured by the Urecari, who are now building a wall to defend it, the Aidenists want it back, no matter what the cost.
+
|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>1841496596</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356516369
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie
 
|title=Wicked: Resurrection
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=The eagerly-awaited conclusion to Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié's ''Wicked'' series is finally here. After over three years of wondering and waiting to find out how this enthralling supernatural series will end, readers can finally dive straight into the war between good and evil with Resurrection and discover the answers to the secrets that have been kept from them.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847387373</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Chris Wooding
 
|title=Black Lung Captain: Tales of the Ketty Jay
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|summary=Things on board the Ketty Jay have never been as low.  Darian Frey and his crew are even having trouble thieving from defenceless orphanages. So when the next token job-they-can't-refuse comes along, they fall under it's spell.  An explorer has returned with tales of untold riches, courtesy of the most mysterious artefacts and treasures of an unknown civilization.  The fact that the remains are those of an aircraft crashed in the most Arctic of rainforests, inhabited by the most evil beast-men monsters, is neither here nor there. The problems start with what they find there, which is worse than anyone could have expected - or indeed years ago, with a mysterious connection between the remains and the more unusual crewmember...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0575085177</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=John Gwynne
|author=Mia James
+
|title=The Shadow Of The Gods
|title=By Midnight
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
+
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=April Dunne doesn't really consider herself to be a genius, and her family certainly aren't rich - so how did she get accepted by the ultra-prestigious Ravenwood school when her family moved from Scotland to Highgate? She can't work it out but has other problems to worry about, in any case, such as the two local murders and the way people at her school get angry when she tries to take their photograph. On the plus side, there's a seriously stunning boy she's drawn to straight away, Gabriel Swift, and she thinks he likes her, although his behaviour is weird at times.
+
|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>0575095520</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356514218
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest For Sharing Reviews]]
|author=Jim Butcher
 
|title=First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera)
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=In ''First Lord's Fury'', the concluding part in Jim Butcher's six-part ''Codex Alera'' series, the land of Alera is struggling under the weight of an invasion by the Vord.  The First Lord of Alera has been killed in battle and with his son already dead and his grandson away fighting in Canea, there looks likely to be a power struggle within the Alerans themselves.  Many Alerans have switched their allegiance to the Vord, sensing that victory over them is impossible and believing that may be the only way to escape death.  This gives the Vord access to Aleran furies, a powerful force that is the Alerans main weapon.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498513</amazonuk>
 
}}
 

Latest revision as of 09:13, 18 February 2024

1803364548.jpg

Review of

The Briar Book of the Dead by A G Slatter

5star.jpg Fantasy

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

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

0008664730.jpg

Review of

Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw

3.5star.jpg Teens

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

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

1803364238.jpg

Review of

Thornhedge by T Kingfisher

5star.jpg Fantasy

You had a right to retake your place.

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

1803362340.jpg

Review of

A Portrait in Shadow by Nicole Jarvis

4.5star.jpg Historical Fiction

I want all of Florence to know my name

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

0356518523.jpg

Review of

Perilous Times by Thomas D Lee

3star.jpg Fantasy

Hate is the path of least resistance

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

B0BKYFDLLV.jpg

Review of

Delilah Recovered by Amelia Estelle Dellos

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

0356520471.jpg

Review of

The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

0356519120.jpg

Review of

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

4star.jpg General Fiction

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

1803361476.jpg

Review of

Road of Bones by Christopher Golden

3.5star.jpg Horror

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

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Review of

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

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

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

1529095239.jpg

Review of

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

0356515427.jpg

Review of

Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham

4.5star.jpg Fantasy

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

1406399590.jpg

Review of

Rebel Skies by Ann Sei Lin

5star.jpg Teens

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

B09Q3P283Y.jpg

Review of

Shadebringer by Grayson W Hooper

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

1472273915.jpg

Review of

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

4star.jpg Literary Fiction

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

1542019885.jpg

Review of

Quicksilver by Dean Koontz

2.5star.jpg Thrillers

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

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Review of

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

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Review of

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

4star.jpg Fantasy

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

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Review of

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

5star.jpg Fantasy

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

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Review of

The Shadow Of The Gods by John Gwynne

5star.jpg Fantasy

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

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