It is with great pleasure that I got to read and review this debut novel. I had some input into it at an early draft, and I’m glad to see it evolve into a highly-polished book. In short, this is a near-future, solar-system adventure-story in the style of golden-age science fiction. It reminded me very […]
Book Reviews
Book Review: Grim, by Gavin McCallion
I guess the best way to summarise Grim would be “a cross between Gaiman and Trainspotting”. Yeah, it’s a bit of a mind-bender right there. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but the premise looked promising. I started to read – and just kept on reading. McCallion certainly makes it explicit from the get-go […]
Book & Series Review: Erast Fandorin by Boris Akunin
I’ve recently finished reading the latest (to be translated) Erast Fandorin mystery – All The World’s A Stage. I’ve talked about this series before, so it’s a good opportunity to review both the series and the latest volume. Overall, this is one of the best historical-detective mystery series out there. It is intelligent, engaging, and […]
Book Rreview: Philip Matyszak’s Gladiator: The Unofficial Manual
Following Matyszak’s 24 Hours in Ancient Rome (because, y’know, he has a great style balancing information and readability), I sought out his other books. Gladiator touches on a subject core to the third Felix Novel – In Victrix – so I started with it. What to Expect A witty, lighthearted non-fiction description of the lives of gladiators […]
Book Review: Philip Matyszak’s 24 Hours in Ancient Rome
I came across Matyszak’s 24 Hours in Ancient Rome: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There via a recommendation by Alison Morton (of Nova Roma fame). It looked right up my alley, so I jumped straight into it. Very glad I did! What to Expect A witty, fictional non-fiction description of […]
Harry Dresden – In and Out of Togas
After I first published Murder In Absentia and started to receive fan feedback, one common comparison (which I’ve since adopted) was that Felix feels a bit like Harry Dresden in a Toga. That made me curious to learn more, and I’ve since started to read the books. This post is about my impressions of this […]
Karma
Following the last post where I celebrated a (rather dubious) review of Murder In Absentia, this weekend was graced by two great reviews. The first from TJ Green: I’d heard lots of good things about this book, and I’m pleased to say I was not disappointed! This book is a detective story set in ancient Rome, […]
YES!!! (Wherein I explain how to read reviews)
First, a big WOOHOO!! I’ve just got another 1-star review on Amazon! Yippee! No, I’m not crazy, I know how the star system works. This particular verified purchase review says: One Star do not recall this book and I cannot give a fair critic [sic] of it. So, basically, someone bought my book, maybe read it, […]
Amazon and Reviews: Myth Busting
I’ve seen people talk about the number of reviews on Amazon that can somehow trigger the “amazon algorithm” to start promoting your book. Some debunking is in order. This is my takeaway from the below article by Cate Baum: Amazon will promote your book whenever it thinks it has a chance to make money. If […]
Review of Dan Buri’s Pieces Like Pottery
Since becoming an author myself, I have met and befriended many other authors. It had the unfortunate effect of making my to-read list even longer, but the benefits of reading some incredible works far outweigh this. One such author is Dan Buri. We connected through social media, chatted, and had found a common language even though our […]
FELIX THE FOX MYSTERIES 