This came up in the comments following me post on historical fashions, and looked like a fun read at a time I didn’t want anything heavy. What to Expect Expect a crazy roller-coaster of crazy cross-time adventures. The protagonist has studied ancient history and dabbled with archaeology, and gets recruited to a strange institute that […]
Fantasy
Book Review: Stone and Sky (Rivers of London #10), by Ben Aaronovitch
I’ve been following this series for a while (mainly the novels), and it’s pretty decent. What to Expect Another police-procedural case for Peter Grant, working for the “Special Assessment Unit” – London’s Met police unit for cases involving ‘strange bollocks’ (the occult). This time Grant is trying to vacation in Scotland, and we get many […]
Book Review: Autolycus the thief, by Michail Sidiropoulos
A lesser known bronze-age character as a basis for mythical story – of course I jumped on the chance to read it. What to Expect An embellished telling of the life of the grandfather of Odysseus, told from his own point of view. The story starts with him as a child being dispossessed and growing […]
Book Review: Stonelands, by Joseph Malik
Malik is one of those authors whose works I’ll read on principal, knowing that they’ll be outstanding (see my reviews for Dragon’s Tail and The New Magic). This novel uses the same world as his previous ones, albeit at a different location and characters so it’s independent from the others. I’ve had the pleasure of […]
Book Review: In Deep Coprolite, by Douglas Lumsden
Readers of my reviews and blog know I love Lumsden’s noir modern alt-history fantasy world. What to Expect A new adventure for Shade the Collector and his buddy Dwayne. This time a river spirit entrusts him with a coprolite (petrified excrement) to hide and guard. Naturally, the shadowy intelligence agency that employs him on occasion […]
SeriesReview: The Dungeoneers, by Jeffery Russell
Because who doesn’t need a bit of escapist fun on occasion? What to Expect Expect a light-hearted comedy, a satire about Dungeons & Dragons and similar fantasy role-playing games. A city guard finds himself accompanying a team of professional dungeon-clearing dwarves due to mistaken identity, and everyone gets a bit stressed when they find his […]
Book Review: Coffee Cakes & Dragon Aches, by Cherie Baker
This came up as a random recommendation, and looked cute enough to try. What to Expect A modern day, hard-to-classify, fantasy tale about an apprentice magician and unusual circumstances. AS Raj is following various assignments towards graduation as a ‘mathemagician’, he runs further into all sorts of situations. At the same time, Eliza, a baby […]
Book Review: Funny Fairy Tales. by Reut Barak
Who doesn’t like a twisty fairytale, and could use a bit of comic relief these days? What to Expect Sixteen re-telling of classic stories, from The Frog Prince to Alice and Wonderland. These aren’t your traditional versions, but tongue-in-cheek wild twists, rife with pop-culture references. They are funny with mildly risqué humour, and are sure […]
Book Review: Gogmagog, by Jeff Noon and Steve Beard
This book floated past on my feed – I found the cover intriguing (I dug the vibe, don’t judge me), and the attached review was glowing, so I jumped in without much knowledge of what to expect. What to Expect Expect a surrealist story, full of wonder and awe and a few nightmares. Set in […]
Book Review: Twisted Expectations, by Brent A. Harris
Who doesn’t like Dickens and Dinos? What to Expect Expect some favourite Dickensian characters, re-imagined in a world with Steampunk technology and a touch of the supernatural. This one sees Oliver Twist and his colleagues visiting the 1851 Crystal Palace exhibition with its reconstructed dinosaur exhibits — only to have a real Megalosaurus (with feathers, […]
FELIX THE FOX MYSTERIES 