SF/F/H Reviewer Linkup Meme, 2nd Edition

There are some bloggers who are utter legends - one of them is John Ottinger. He's created the amazing and original SF/F/H Reviewer Linkup Meme a few months ago. It's grown in popularity to the extent where it now has its own second edition. More importantly, you now have the chance to upload your own blog if it falls in these loose parameters.

As MFB were part of the first line-up, we are very chuffed to add even more bloggery names to the original list.

Check it out.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Romanian French Chinese Danish Portuguese German

A

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7 Foot Shelves

The Accidental Bard

A Boy Goes on a Journey

A Dribble Of Ink

Adventures in Reading

A Fantasy Reader

The Agony Column

A Hoyden's Look at Literature

All Booked Up

Alexia's Books and Such...

Andromeda Spaceways

The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

Ask Daphne

ask nicola

Audiobook DJ

aurealisXpress

Australia Specfic In Focus

Author 2 Author

AzureScape

B

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Barbara Martin

Babbling about Books

Bees (and Books) on the Knob

Best SF

Bewildering Stories

Bibliophile Stalker

Bibliosnark

Big Dumb Object

BillWardWriter.com

The Billion Light-Year Bookshelf

Bitten by Books

The Black Library Blog

Blog, Jvstin Style

Blood of the Muse

The Book Bind

Bookgeeks

Bookrastination

Booksies Blog

Bookslut

The Book Smugglers

Bookspotcentral

The Book Swede

Book View Cafe [Authors Group Blog]

Breeni Books

C

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Cheaper Ironies [pro columnist]

Charlotte's Library

Circlet 2.0

Cheryl's Musings

Club Jade

Cranking Plot

Critical Mass

The Crotchety Old Fan

D

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Daily Dose - Fantasy and Romance

Damien G. Walter

Danger Gal

It's Dark in the Dark

Dark Parables

Dark Wolf Fantasy Reviews

Darque Reviews

Dave Brendon's Fantasy and Sci-Fi Weblog

Dead Book Darling

Dear Author

The Deckled Edge

The Doctor is In...

Dragons, Heroes and Wizards

Drey's Library

The Discriminating Fangirl

Dusk Before the Dawn

E

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Enter the Octopus

Erotic Horizon

Errant Dreams Reviews

Eve's Alexandria

F

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Falcata Times

Fan News Denmark [in English]

Fantastic Reviews

Fantastic Reviews Blog

Fantasy Book Banner

Fantasy Book Critic

Fantasy Book Reviews and News

Fantasy By the Tale

Fantasy Cafe

Fantasy Debut

Fantasy Dreamer's Ramblings

Fantasy Literature.com

Fantasy Magazine

Fantasy and Sci-fi Lovin' News and Reviews

Feminist SF - The Blog!

Feybound

Fiction is so Overrated

The Fix

The Foghorn Review

Follow that Raven

Forbidden Planet

Frances Writes

Free SF Reader

From a Sci-Fi Standpoint

From the Heart of Europe

Fruitless Recursion

Fundamentally Alien

The Future Fire

G

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The Galaxy Express

Galleycat

Game Couch

The Gamer Rat

Garbled Signals

Genre Reviews

Genreville

Got Schephs

Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Grasping for the Wind

a GREAT read

The Green Man Review

Gripping Books

H

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Hasenpfeffer

Hero Complex

Highlander's Book Reviews

Horrorscope

The Hub Magazine

Hyperpat's Hyper Day

I

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I Hope I Didn't Just Give Away The Ending

Ink and Keys

Ink and Paper

The Internet Review of Science Fiction

io9

J

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Janicu's Book Blog

Jenn's Bookshelf

Jumpdrives and Cantrips

K

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Kat Bryan's Corner

Keeping the Door

King of the Nerds

L

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Lair of the Undead Rat

Largehearted Boy

Layers of Thought

League of Reluctant Adults

The Lensman's Children

Library Dad

Libri Touches

Literary Escapism

Literaturely Speaking

ludis inventio

Lundblog: Beautiful Letters

M

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Mad Hatter's Bookshelf and Book Review

Mari's Midnight Garden

Mark Freeman's Journal

Mark Lord's Writing Blog

Marooned: Science Fiction Books on Mars

MentatJack

Michele Lee's Book Love

Missions Unknown [Author and Artist Blog Devoted to SF/F/H in San Antonio]

The Mistress of Ancient Revelry

MIT Science Fiction Society

Monster Librarian

More Words, Deeper Hole

Mostly Harmless Books

Multi-Genre Fan

Musings from the Weirdside

My Favourite Books

My Overstuffed Bookshelf

N

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Neth Space

The New Book Review

NextRead

Not Free SF Reader

Nuketown

O

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OF Blog of the Fallen

The Old Bat's Belfry

ommadawn.dk

Only The Best SciFi/Fantasy

The Ostentatious Ogre

Outside of a Dog

P

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Paranormality

Pat's Fantasy Hotlist

Patricia's Vampire Notes

The Persistence of Vision

Piaw's Blog

Pizza's Book Discussion

Poisoned Rationality

Popin's Lair

pornokitsch

Post-Weird Thoughts

Publisher's Weekly

Pussreboots: A Book Review a Day

Q

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R

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Ramblings of a Raconteur

Random Acts of Mediocrity

Ray Gun Revival

Realms of Speculative Fiction

Reading the Leaves

Review From Here

Reviewer X

Revolution SF

The Road Not Taken

Rob's Blog o' Stuff

Robots and Vamps

S

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Sandstorm Reviews

Satisfying the Need to Read

Science Fiction and Fantasy Ethics

Science Fiction Times

ScifiChick

Sci-Fi Blog

SciFiGuy

Sci-Fi Fan Letter

The Sci-Fi Gene

Sci-Fi Songs [Musical Reviews]

SciFi Squad

Scifi UK Reviews

Sci Fi Wire

Self-Publishing Review

The Sequential Rat

Severian's Fantastic Worlds

SF Diplomat

SFFaudio

SFFMedia

SF Gospel

SFReader.com

SF Reviews.net

SF Revu

SF Safari

SF Signal

SF Site

SFF World's Book Reviews

Silver Reviews

Simply Vamptastic

Slice of SciFi

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Solar Flare

Speculative Fiction

Speculative Fiction Junkie

Speculative Horizons

The Specusphere

Spinebreakers

Spiral Galaxy Reviews

Spontaneous Derivation

Sporadic Book Reviews

Stainless Steel Droppings

Starting Fresh

Stella Matutina

Stuff as Dreams are Made on...

The Sudden Curve

The Sword Review

T

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Tangent Online

Tehani Wessely

Temple Library Reviews

Tez Says

things mean a lot

Tor.com [also a publisher]

True Science Fiction

U

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Ubiquitous Absence

Un:Bound

undeadbydawn

Urban Fantasy Land

V

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Vast and Cool and Unsympathetic

Variety SF

W

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Walker of Worlds

Wands and Worlds

Wanderings

Wendy Palmer: Reading and Writing Genre Books and ebooks

The Weirdside

The Wertzone

With Intent to Commit Horror

The Wizard of Duke Street

WJ Fantasy Reviews

The Word Nest

Wordsville

The World in a Satin Bag

WriteBlack

The Written World

X

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Y

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Young Adult Science Fiction

Z

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Romanian

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Cititor SF [with English Translation]

French

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Elbakin.net

Mythologica

Chinese

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Foundation of Krantas

The SF Commonwealth Office in Taiwan [with some English essays]

Yenchin's Lair

Danish

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Interstellar

Ommadawn.dk

Scifisiden

Portuguese

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Aguarras

Fernando Trevisan

Human 2.0

Life and Times of a Talkative Bookworm

Ponto De Convergencia

pós-estranho

Skavis

German

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Fantasy Seiten

Fantasy Buch

Fantasy/SciFi Blog

Literaturschock

Welt der fantasy

Bibliotheka Phantastika

SF Basar

Phantastick News

X-zine

Buchwum

Phantastick Couch

Wetterspitze

Fantasy News

Fantasy Faszination

Fantasy Guide

Zwergen Reich

Fiction Fantasy

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Romanian French Chinese Danish Portuguese German

Heldenhammer - Graham McNeill

It is a time of legends. The lands of the old World are wild and untamed, where the primitive tribes of men struggle for survival. In this time of peril, by virtue of his valorous deeds, a young man claims leadership of the Unberogen tribe. His name is Sigmar Heldenhammer, and his actions will change history forever. This is the story of how Sigmar rose to power, culminating in the Battle of Black Fire Pass, where men and dwarfs fought against the vast hordes of orcs in their quest to safeguard the future of the Empire.

Heldenhammer is the first of the Sigmar trilogy, a new addition to the Black Library’s Time of Legends series. It tells the tale of Sigmar, the founder and of the Empire of man and starts as Sigmar stands on the threshold of adulthood within his tribe, the Unberogen.

The lands they inhabit, as described by Graham, are severe and dangerous. Mankind’s future hands by a thread under the threat of the constant onslaught of the twisted creatures that lurk within the darkness and the massive forests, an atmosphere Graham flavours each passage with.

The story tracks the earliest days of the legend which Sigmar would forge, when he was no more than the son of a tribal king, fighting for the very survival of his tribe. His path is far from easy; grievous loss and despair will punctuate his journey and see him wavering on the brink of an ignominious death. It’s an approach that allows Graham to build Sigmar into a far more interesting character, and makes the birth of his vision of mankind standing united against chaos a believable and natural extension of his personality.

This vision, which will shape the future and is the central tenet of the trilogy, never seems a foregone conclusion, with the fledgling confederacy facing dire challenges every step of the way. The greatest of these is the momentous battle of Black Fire Pass, the legend of which is threaded so much of Warhammer’s backstory. BFP could never be anything less than epic, and Graham delivers the goods in a dynamic, cinematic style that leaves no doubt why this event shaped so much of the world’s future and makes it a fitting climax to the first segment of a very promising trilogy.

It’s no mean achievement for Graham to have made the story enjoyable to loyal Warhammer fans and an accessible introduction to the setting for casual readers. It's found a permanent home on my bookshelf.

You can read an extract here.

Grass by Catherine MacPhail (Guest Review)

We are very lucky to have nabbed Matt Imrie, the Teen Librarian, to do us a review of this excellent novel by Catherine MacPhail.

Synopsis

It would have been hard to miss what was written on the wall. Painted in giant whitewashed letters.

SHARKEY IS A GRASS

I hadn’t a clue who Sharkey was, but I knew one thing. Sharkey was a dead man.
Leo and Sean are best mates, they live in a town dominated by gang culture and lead by three brutal gang leaders Armour, McCrae and Nelis.

The sense of menace is faint but palpable from the early pages of the novel. Leo (the main character) and his friend Sean have grown up surrounded by the violence and fear that the gangs provoke, but are relatively untouched by the lifestyle that the criminals lead. Leading a life that most young people experience – following their local football team, avoiding the school bully boys and living a fantasy life of pretend CSI their lives are untouched by crime until, during a game of urban trespass Leo stumbles over a cache of guns in an abandoned house. Too frightened to tell even his best mate, Leo’s life turns into one governed by fear. Fear of discovery, fear of what the weapons will do in his town and fear of being labelled a grass if he ever told anyone about what he had discovered.

Things take a turn for the worse, when, while sneaking home one night he witnesses the brutal murder of McCrae, and is seen by the gunman –gang leader and hardman Armour. Terrified, he says nothing, but Armour knows that him and knows that he has kept his mouth shut and begins to involve himself into Leo’s life.

Through the novel we witness Leo’s attitude towards Armour and the life he presents begin to waver. On the one side is his family – loving and fearful of the criminals that infest the town and Armour, on the surface a violent criminal but claiming to want peace, to end the gang wars and go legit. Leo’s life changes, the bullies, once the bane of his life now look at him in fear, his father lands a job after months of unemployment and Veronika the girl he has loved from afar is now interested in him.

Leo’s life, once a simple black and white world is changed into one of shades of grey. His father and Armour both want peace, but his dads route of peaceful protest and signature gathering seems less likely to succeed that Armours idea of buying off his remaining opposition, so Leo agrees to perform small favours for Armour becoming a go-between between him and Nelis.

The deeper that Leo gets involved in Armour’s world the more his relationships with friends and family changes. His earlier choices once made agonisingly become easier as he drifts further from his moral centre. The honour he perceives within the criminal world becomes more meaningful than his relationships with friends and family, and, rather than become a grass he instead becomes ‘Armour’s Boy’ and dedicates himself to helping Armour forge a lasting peace.

His hero-worship of Armour is destroyed, when he overhears his plans to locate Nelis’ stash of guns and turn him in to the police. Outraged Leo confronts Armour who threatens his life and family if he grassed on him.

Alone and afraid Leo must rely on his ingenuity to remove the threat to himself and family without Armour becoming aware of his plans.

Grass is a phenomenal crime thriller for Young Adults, Catherine MacPhail has crafted a gripping and realistic story that avoids the easy ‘crime is bad’ message and instead portrays how easy it is to get sucked into a criminal underworld and illustrates the importance of knowing who your friends are.

Mini-Review and Musings: Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

As you may know I have never done a mini-review before - until now. So maybe this isn't actually going to be a mini-review after all, this is more somewhere where I'm putting down my thoughts on this novel with is powerful imagery and reworkings of arcehtypes.

I'm very much aware of the press which lashed out Ms. Lanagan for the violence, horror and awful things that happen in Tender Morsels. I am aware that the publishers had to defend their publishing this novel that pushes the boundaries of children's literature.

But this blog post is only partly about that. I had some coffee with a friend last night and we were chatting about the furore about this novel and I admitted that I had been blown away by the skilled and beautiful writing, the creation of an "other" world that has these strong dreamlike images contained within. Then I admitted that I didn't actually finish reading the book. My friend - let's call her Jane - immediately wanted to know why: was it the violence? was it the things done to the characters?

And I had to admit that no, it was none of these things, at all. What made me stop reading was this feeling of tremendous sadness and loss more than halfway through the novel. I could guess the way it was going to pan out and I didn't want to face up to it. I had become quite attached to one character in the novel - one of the secondary characters who happened on Liga and her daughters whilst they were living in the "other" world. And his story just affected me so much I didn't want to find out how it panned out. Cowardly yes, that's for sure. I'll utterly admit to it. I will finish the novel, but later this year, when I personally feel courageous enough to do so.

Jane and I chatted more about the book, about the central themes and I pointed out that I am surprised by how negatively a lot of people reacted to it. It's not like violence has ever been portrayed in a novel before, especially a children's novel! Has no one read Kevin Brooks or Melvin Burgess or even Kate Thompson? The amazing cover - above - should be a clear indicator to parents and children alike that this is not something to be tackled lightly - and the warning on the back cover. Walk away if you feel it's going to offend you or read it within its context. If you arent' prepared to be challenged as a reader, why pick up something that you suspect you may not be able to cope with

I am not sure how many adults who had read Tender Morsels had ever come across the adult fairy novel anthologies put together by three of the most amazing women working in the industry at the moment - Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling* with Terri and Midori Snyder jointly runningn the simply groundbreaking Endicott Studios website. TM would not have been such a shock to their system then, or if they had ever actually read the original Brothers Grimm in the context of the time or if they had ever thought to delve deeper into the so-called fairy tales from across the world or read any of Angela Carter's novels and short stories and realised that fairy tales are not pretty and sweet and cute - they are not Disney representations of how the world was or is. Fairy tales were never intended for children and it was during Victorian times that the lewd and rude stories were dumbed down for general public consumption and suddenly we had teeny tiny creatures with wings and magic dust.

Tender Morsels is a book not to be tackled lightly - it has some of the most beautiful and disturbing imagery I have ever read. The dreamlike quality, the almost cottony soft scenes of Liga and her girls as they live their simple life is a massive pointer the author is using to let us know that all is in fact, not well.

Tender Morsels is something I would recommend to the parents of intelligent, well informed older children who aren't afraid of a challenging read. And of course, to the parents themselves. Some may find it too brutal, which is fair enough - but please, don't be hypocrital and pretend that your children are never exposed to violence and the awfulness of real life, which is why you are not letting them read it. We would all prefer to live in a violence free decent world where there are no predators but to be honest, it will never happen, unless it's a Disney version of life. Books and themes should be discussed and this novel should be seen as an opportunity to do just that.

And remember, more importantly something crucial about Tender Morsels and the author: it is a book, a story, which the author has worked on, to the best of her ability and knowing Ms. Lanagan's work, (and that of her publishers) she's not someone to do something stupid like try and destroy her own career by producing something that will get her blacklisted by her publishers and readers. Be calm, be reasonable - books have taught and riled up readers for a long old time. But in the end, it's up to you to take it or leave it.

I've taken the liberty of putting together a reading list of books and authors whom I've personally read and know of that deal competently and in a mature fashion with fairy tales, their retellings and reworkings. By no means is this list the last word - there are hundreds more books in the same vein and they make for very interesting reading.

*A suggested reading list:

By Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow

Black Thorn, White Rose

Black Swan, White Raven

Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears

The Coyote Road

The Beastly Bride

Snow White, Blood Red

A Wolf at the Door and other retold Fairy Tales

Swan Sister - fairy tales retold

Other authors:

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales

The Annotated Brothers Grimm by M Tatar

The Hard Facts of the Grimm's Fairytales by M Tatar

Deerskin by Robin McKinley

Beauty by Robin McKinley

Spindle's End by Robin McKinley

End of weird and odd mini-review and musings.

hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Synopsis

A sacred oath, a fallen angel, a forbidden love...This darkly romantic story features our heroine, Nora Grey, a seemingly normal teenage girl with her own shadowy connection to the Nephilim, and super-alluring bad boy, Patch, now her deskmate in biology class. Together they find themselves at the centre of a centuries-old feud between a fallen angel and a Nephilim...

Forced to sit next to Patch in class, Nora attempts to resist his flirting, though gradually falls for him against her better judgment. Meanwhile creepy things are going on with a mysterious stalker following her car, breaking into her house and attacking her best friend, Vi. Nora suspects Patch, but there are other suspects too - not least a new boy who has transferred from a different college after being wrongly accused of murdering his girlfriend. And he seems to have taken a shine to Nora...Love certainly is dangerous...and someone is going to have to make the ultimate sacrifice for it.

First off, let’s be clear: this isn’t Twilight. No sparkly vamps here, people. The only thing these two books have in common is that it is about a boy and a girl and it’s genuinely a matter of life or death. Not un-death, either. And of course the element of romance with someone that is “other”. It’s a very dark and unexpectedly intense novel as Patch is not your average teen love interest and Nora is well, unique in her normalness – but I'd like to point out that she has enough guts and get-go to not become the irritating damsel in distress.

As a reader you want to be friends with Nora – she’s an average girl, good grades, living a decent life with her mom in a house outside of town. There is nothing odd about Nora at all and it is her utter normality in her personal, home and school life that the author uses to alert us to the danger dogging Nora’s steps.

When she’s teamed up in Biology class with new boy Patch, she is both drawn to him and slightly repulsed by his cocky attitude. He is a strange person, intense, teasing, enigmatic and strangely charismatic. He rubs Nora up the wrong way, refusing to cooperate on their Biology assignment and making her life uncomfortable.

It’s after being teamed up with Patch that her life takes on the weird. The overall sense that someone is watching her grows and becomes truly unpleasant. When she borrows her friend, Vi’s car, to drive home one evening a dark figure wearing a balaclava crashes into the car, doing some damage, almost killing Nora in the process. No one is there to see the accident and she drives back to her friend’s house – once there, there is no evidence of anyone crashing into the car, apart from a small nick in the windshield. Other bizarre things happen around Nora – someone breaks into her house and utterly destroys her bedroom, yet when the cops come to investigate, nothing is there – her room is as before. The story about “the boy who cried wolf” came to mind here! The cops treat her badly and she’s shaken. Needless to say, this isn’t the only weird thing that happens to Nora in the novel and to prevent spoilers, let me just say; the weirdness has her questioning her own sanity. Is she seeing things, is she going mad or someone playing some foul trick on her?

Mix into this uncertainty about her mental state, her friend Vi being attacked and Patch’s reluctance to come clean about his background and his odd behaviour towards Nora, and it makes for very tense sections in the book. Everything points to Patch being the culprit of a variety of misdemeanours and I have to admit I genuinely thought things were becoming unstuck because, you know – our heroine’s love interest can’t be that weird!

And this is the one major difference about the other book that shall not be named – Nora and Vi remark several times on Patch’s odd behaviour throughout the novel. They are wary of him, especially Nora. His behaviour is questionable, every single time he’s in the scene and yet you know there is more to him than you are being made aware of. And this layers a further level of uncertainty about Patch. Regardless of this Nora is inexplicably attracted to Patch even though in her deepest heart of hearts she knows he’s not good for her. It’s interesting to read how the author takes the story and spins it around because you know, you know, that something is going on that you’re not being told. And instead of becoming annoyed and wanting to skip ahead to find out what it is, you are swept up in Nora’s determined quest to find out what exactly is going on.

As the revelations happen they are both expected AND unexpected and I loved it. A strong satisfying read and I’m thinking I’ll have to go and make myself a Team Patch t-shirt now. To match my Team Werewolf t-shirt in honour of Jacob (Twilight) and Sam (Shiver).

As I genuinely hate doing these: “If you like this, you’ll love” comparisons but I’d like to point out that hush,hush is a very unique novel and that although it will appeal to readers of SM's Twilight, it will also appeal to readers who liked Philip Pullman’s books (for the dark undertones) JK Rowling (for the imagination) and Sarah Rees Brennan (for the creation of a top-notch anti-hero) and Richelle Mead (for her character creations).

Find Becca Fitzpatrick’s website here.

COMPETITION NEWS:

Becca’s amazing UK publishers – Simon and Schuster – have agreed to let me have ONE SIGNED PROOF COPY OF HUSH, HUSH to give away.

The competition will run for ONE WEEK only. Final date for entries will be: Wednesday 26th August 2009! The competition is open to UK residents only. Email is through: myfavouritebooksatblogspot(@)gmail.com . The winner will be decided by Random.org.

Good luck!

Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig

Synopsis

Nothing goes right for Eloise. The one day she wears her new suede boots, it rains cats and dogs. When the tube stops short, she’s always the one thrown into some stranger’s lap. Plus, she’s had more than her share of misfortune in the way of love. In fact, after she realises romantic heroes are a thing of the past, she decides it’s time for a fresh start.

Eloise is also determined to finish her dissertation on that dashing pair of spies, the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian. But what she discovers is something the finest historians have missed: the secret history of the Pink Carnation – the most elusive spy of all time. As she works to unmask this obscure spy, Eloise stumbles across answers to all kinds of questions.

How did the Pink Carnation save England from Napoleon? What became of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian? And will Eloise Kelly escape her bad luck and find a living breathing hero of her own?

Short review:

A hugely fun read, make sure you get your grubby paws on it to read, make sure not to swashbuckle too much afterwards!

Longer Review

Meeting Eloise right at the beginning of the book you have immediate empathy for her - stuck in a overcrowded tube on her way to interview one of the descendants of Richard Selwick, a suspected spy during the Napoleonic wars, she is not in her element and ends up damp and flustered, but determined to make headway for her dissertation, on the doorstep of a lovely home in Kensington.

The descendant - Mrs. Arabella Selwick-Alderly - listens to Eloise's story and decides to let her have access to a some letters and journals dating back to that time. And so Eloise's story seamlessly segues into the story of Amy, her cousin Jane and the Secret History of the Pink Carnation.

The book has so much going for it - an engaging main character, funny snappy dialogue, interesting locales, handsome rogues and Napoleon's court vividly portrayed.

The story is told in parallel time-lines with the majority of the novel focusing on young Amy's adventures in France. She reminded me very strongly of heroines from Georgette Heyer's books - sweet, a bit innocent and impossible not to like. Her biggest dream is to become part of the League of the Purple Gentian, a spying ring who has taken over from the Scarlet Pimpernel to help rescue nobles from the jaws of the guillotine and to liberate valuable information from Napoleon to give the English a head-start.

What makes her life very difficult is her acquaintance with the handsome Lord Richard Selwick. He exasperates her, he is quite blatant in his career choice as a scholar actually working for Napoleon, looking after the Egytpian antiquities taken during the campaign in North Africa. Amy cannot wrap her mind around the fact that an Englishman could betray his country in this fashion, working for the enemy - admittedly not fighting other English but standing aside and letting them die at the hands of the French!

Naturally, there is much more to the story than this and the author expertly strings us along a deceptively simple plot until she decides to pull the rug from underneath our feet.

One aspect which I would like to have seen more of, is Eloise and her budding friendship and relations with the Selwick family. They are an odd bunch and I suspect the author will be able to plow their peculiarities to good effect in her other forthcoming novels.

I really enjoyed this first instalment from Lauren Willig. It is a historical romp with bite - so if you are a fan of Julia Quick, Georgette Heyer, Alexander Dumas (pere), Anthony Hope's Prisoner of Zenda or any of the Captain Alatriste novels by Arturo Perez Reverte, but you wanted some female swashbuckling, this is totally up your street.

The writing is light, witty and packs a surprisingly solid punch. It put me in mind of really laying the foundations for a rollicking series of adventures and I am really looking forward to the next instalment(s).

The Secret of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig has just been published by Allison and Busby here in the UK. Make sure you pick up a copy - the demure cover hides a multitude of fun!

Caligula, Douglas Jackson

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, the third Roman Emperor, is better known by another name: Caligula, a name synonymous with decadence, cruelty and madness. His reign was marked by excess, huge building projects, the largest gladiatorial battles Rome was ever to see – men and animals killed in their hundreds – conspiracies, assassination attempts and sexual scandal.

Rufus as a young slave grows up far from the corruption of the imperial court. His master is a trainer of animals for the gladiatorial arena. Rufus discovers that he has a natural ability with animals, a talent for controlling and schooling them. It is at the arenas that Rufus meets his great friend Cupido, one of Rome’s greatest gladiators.

It is his growing reputation as an animal trainer and his friendship with Cupido that attracts the cruel gaze of the Emperor. Caligula wants a keeper for the imperial elephant and Rufus is bought from his master and taken to the imperial palace. Life here is dictated by Caligula’s ever shifting moods. Caligula is as generous as he is cruel, he is a megalomaniac who declares himself a living god and simultaneously lives in constant fear of the plots against his life. But his paranoia is not misplaced, intrigue permeates his court, and Rufus and Cupido find themselves unwittingly placed at the centre of a conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor.

Douglas Jackson's done a fine job of bringing a slice of Roman history to life in Caligula, but more than that, he's created characters who really are right at home in the first century AD, unsullied by modern perceptions or persuasions. The world they live in is dangerous and cruel, even more so for Rufus as he is drawn into Caligula's orbit and the seething nest of intrigue that lies within the walls of the palace.

As regards the Caligula, the opening chapter featuring the emperor as a boy is wonderful- there, in one broad stroke, the core of his entire character is laid bare and the scene set for the macabre and terrifying highlights of his mercifully brief reign.

It's very cinematic, with fast and deadly action playing out against the grand backdrop of the imperial palace and the blood drenched sands of the arena.

Before you know it, you're immersed you in Rufus' world, where the ever present undercurrent of Caligula's mood swings brings pervasive sense of paranoia to each scene. It's testament to Douglas' abilities that, even though you might know what the ultimate fate of Caligula is, you're never sure of the who, how, why or who until it happens.

It's a great, balanced story that demands to be read, and should be.

Girl from Mars by Julie Cohen

Synopsis

I, Philomena Desdemona Brown, do solemnly swear to forsake all romantic relationships... It's not like the vow, made by Fil and her three nerdy male best friends, seemed much of a big deal at the time. Frankly, Fil wouldn't know romance if it hit her in the face, and with her real love being her artist job at Girl from Mars, the comic whose heroine has never had a love interest, she doesn't exactly mind being relationship-free anyway. Until her world is rocked to its core when one of her long-standing quartet and Girl from Mars herself both unexpectedly fall in love. Is it time to give in to temptation and finally fall in love?

There is so much to love about this little book from Little Black Dress, a Headline imprint. Firstly, the cover is 100% made out of win - it's quirky, it's fun and utterly encapsulates the coolness of the actual story. Secondly, Julie Cohen's writing is a doddle to read (nom nom nom, burp) and thirdly, Fil, the main character is so genuine, you can't help but relate to her. Oh, and lastly, but very much the not the least, our hero does sound fantastically damaged and lovely, always a good recipe!

Fil is a geek. She's weird, her haircolour changes from platinum blond to purple, pink and blue, when she is in the mood for a change, she hangs around with her three best friends, all male, and she can geek about Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and numerous other shows with the best of fanboys out there and she also happens to be a comicbook artist, working almost exclusively on Girl from Mars, one of the oldest comics still running since the dawn of time. Well, not really, but it could very well be the case for Fil.

Even though she is a huge comic fan, reading loads and buying loads, her one true love is Girl from Mars and she is incredibly passionate and loyal to GfM. To the extent where she faces off against her boss at the company, when it transpires that the original creator of GfM's grandson has decided to write a script for GfM. Not bad, you would personally think, but it turns out that he's written in a romance for GfM. And Fil is adamant that this is not the way things ought to be done - GfM never falls in love, admittedly she is super sexy and cool and the boys love her, but she never falls in love. She is above that.

Dan, the new blood, has a difficult task coping with Fil. She's opinionated and goes in swinging when she is let loose to meet him and confront him with his rubbish script for GfM. Fil points him to the archives, explaining to him how intense people were about backstory when it comes to favourite comic book characters and if he was going to pull his weight, he had better start stocking up on his knowledge about GfM.

Slowly but surely Fil and Dan become a team. This however means that Fil's relationship with her mates become even more tentative. There is Digger, a large bearded man who is frightening in appearance but a softie at heart and Jim, slightly neurotic and deeply sweet where Fil is concerned. Jim and Fil have known one another for many years and when they graduated, they bought a house together - strictly as friends. Their relationship is strictly platonic and there is a cameraderie there that is so well written that the author should get a huge thumbs up.

We learn that Fil's parents, highly intellectual literary types (quite frightening) don't take her job seriously and feel that she should apply herself to doing commercial art in order to make decent money. The relationship is amusing and strained.

The romance element is very subtle and very cleverly thought out and woven throughout the storyline. There are no heaving bosoms but there is a lot of stuttering, lies and well, someone leaving the other person at an art installation and legging it for the hills. It is laugh out loud funny in some places and cringeworthy and true in others.

I identified with so many of the characters in GfM - the element of feeling the odd one out in the normal world and the feeling that everyone else got a set of rules to grow up to, but somehow you were left out when those rules were handed out, making you a little bit less socially adept.

I went through a gamut of emotions reading GfM and have to admit that I thought Fil was an excellent character - everything she goes through in the novel is so true that I think everyone, both male and female, should be able to identify with her.

The one thing I regret though is that the cover makes this very much a "girl"-book - especially as it would appeal to both sexes. Fil's world is one of science fiction and fantasy, of comic books like 2000AD and discussions about Star Trek and other popular shows and movies. Guys would enjoy Girl From Mars because it is so firmly set in a world that is so familiar to them - the ploy that Fil is the odd one out in a man's world is fantastically underplayed and therefore makes it even more believable.

I loved, loved, loved Girl from Mars, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Fil, her friends and of course, Dan, who came across as genuinely sweet. If I had to rate it, I would give it a nine - yes, that high, peeps! GfM is definitely highly recommended and has to go into my "best of 2009" reads. And no, it's not just because it mentions my favourite indie shop - Forbidden Planet - either. There is a lot of punch in this light romance novel and what makes it a winner is that its characters - main and secondary - come across so very well. A definite winner and one I'll be talking to everyone I know about for a long time to come.

Find Julie Cohen's website here and the Little Black Dress website here.

Magic in the Blood by Devon Monk

Here's the blurb:

Working as a Hound—tracing illegal spells back to their casters—has taken its toll on Allison Beckstrom. But even though magic has given her migraines and stolen her recent memory, Allie isn’t about to quit. Then the police’s magic enforcement division asks her to consult on a missing person’s case. But what seems to be a straightforward job turns out to be anything but, as Allie finds herself drawn into the underworld of criminals, ghosts, and blood magic.

I LOVE this new series and I think “Magic in the Blood” is even better than “Magic in the Bone”, book 1. Allie Beckstrom is a great heroine, just trying to make a living in a world where, if you use magic, magic uses you back and it’s not very nice about it. For every spell used, Allie has to place a disbursement on herself, be it a head cold, a sore throat or a migraine. The more magic she uses, the stronger the backlash and sometimes it even takes memories. The concept, that magic is not free and unlimited, available to all with a drop of talent, creates a world where you have to be careful what you wish for.

“Magic in the Bone” ended with Allie losing most of her memories as she did everything in her power to save the man she loves. The same man she can no longer remember. Book two has a great opening scene where Allie meets her dead father while standing in the shower. Not something you usually expect and things get even more complicated from there. An ex-con, whom Allie thought was safely behind bars, got out and is now stalking her, not to mention a number of other parties, who are watching to see what she will do with her magical skills. Along comes a police detective, who has a reputation for killing Hounds, and asks Allie for help in finding a number of missing girls.

The story is told from Allie’s point of view and her voice (brilliant) pulls you in from the start, keeping you breathless with its twists and turns. What I really love about these books, is the fact that one moment Allie is getting drenched by rain and running for the bus (I mean, how normal is that?) and the next she has to fight of a bunch of pastel coloured people who want to suck out her magic.

And let’s not forget the one man who can make even Allie’s knees go weak, Zayvion Jones. He’s a complete mystery and neither Allie nor the reader really knows where’s he’s from, what his abilities are and what he’s looking for. But he’s sexy as hell and his magical abilities seem to be exactly what Allie needs. Now she just has to decide if she can trust him!

I love this series, the characters and the world Devon Monk has created and cannot wait for book 3 “Magic in the Shadows” which will be out in November.

"Magic in the Blood" is out now and here is Devon's website.

The Mystifying Medicine Show by J C Bemis

Synopsis

Run for your life! A mechanical, menacing hound from hell is hot on your heels!

Roll-up! Roll-up! For the greatest adventure on earth! Enjoy an intoxicating chase across the US frontier! A cast of characters as remarkable and inspiring as a blind sharpshooter hitting a bulls-eye in a wild west rodeo! A story as full of twists and turns as a barrelful of snakes! Hold on to your hats-the journey of a lifetime is about to begin!

The Mystifying Medicine Show is the first book in a trilogy by a new American writer and it is a truly captivating book; with characters that will take you by the hand and lead you through their magical story.

J.C. Bemis manages to twist old myths and legends into a completely new story that will surprise you at every turn.

If you like magic and adventure this book is definitely for you as it has plenty of both.

The story follows Ray Cobb and his little sister Sally who are orphans crossing America on a train to their new home, but Ray decides that Sally is more likely to be adopted without him and jumps off the train. He then falls in with a travelling medicine show where he feels accepted, however there is more to his new friends than meets the eye and this is the start of an adventure that will change his life.

Personally after reading this one I can't wait to see what happens in the next two! I would say that there is plenty to appeal to both girls and boys over the age of nine and anybody who likes Eoin Colfer, Garth Nix or M G Harris will definitely love it.

I highly recommend this book, 4/5 stars!

Find JC Bemis' site here. The Mystifying Medicine Show is published by Oxford University Press

Thank you very much to Amber for reading and reviewing JC Bemis for MFB blog. It's a treat reading the review as, you may not know it from reading it, Amber is my first ever teen reader I've recruited to help out with reviews. She'll be keeping a hand on a variety of books, not just teen and kids reads - she's a bookworm and a fantastically mature reader and reviewer! Thanks Amber - we're all looking forward to more reviews. Just don't let your homework slide or your mom will have my hide!

Eternal Craving by Nina Bangs (Guest Review)

Here’s the blurb:

THE ELEVEN – an alliance of ultimate predators. Primal, lethal, irresistible.

THE PROPHECY – an ancient Mayan prediction that the world will end on 12.21.12

THE PREY – where can you hide from pure evil?

LIES. He’s been promised a new life as the hunter he once was. Al soon learns that all the rules have changed. Now he must control his most basic urges – the need to kill, to feed, to mate. And the woman he wants looks at him with both heat and fear in her eyes. Jenna Maloy doesn’t buy the story that he’s come to Philadelphia to save souls. She seems to see through the layers of deception to the primitive heart of him. With her beside him, Al stalks the dark forces that crouch in the city’s night shadows. But the real battle rages in his heart. Love is a formidable opponent. How can he ask her to stay with him after she’s seen the savagery of his beast? He only knows that if she turns from him he’ll be cursed with an eternal craving.

My first step into the realms of otherworld romance has turned out to be the best step I’ve made for a while. Al Edenka is a man with a past: a past of at least 65 million years. Led by Fin, Al and nine others are here to save humanity from Zero and his nine immortal followers. With one immortal banished back from whence he came, the Eleven have another battle on their hands. Though love is getting in the way – or is it lust?

Jenna Maloy turns up on her sister’s doorstep determined to find out more about her quick romance and marriage to the mysterious, yet devastatingly handsome, Ty. Kelly is secretive, to say the least, yet Jenna uses every journalistic skill she has to get to the bottom of things. Very quickly she realises she is out of her depth in a world she only dreamt existed. Her emotions are also spiralling out of control when the gorgeous Al walks into her life. With a mixture of fear and lust, Jenna doesn’t know how to respond to him.

With vampires, werewolves, a Fae King, immortals and dinosaur souls, I was quickly as lost in this world as Jenna, but not with her confusion. I was swept up in the fierce battles Al and the Eleven were embroiled in. I, too, found myself attracted to Al and became jealous when...well, I won’t say in case it spoils it for you.

The most mysterious character is Fin. He just doesn’t seem to fit in with any of the otherworlders. A bit of an oddity, an anachronism too. His fascination with numbers is a little neurotic and not completely explained. With his eyes determining his mood and his penchant for reading minds Fin is one we are sure to learn more about in the next novel.

As this is the second novel in the Gods of the Night series I now need to search out the first, Eternal Pleasure, where I will learn about Kelly’s introduction to Ty and the Eleven. Though I will have read them out of sequence it won’t spoil my pleasure of this author’s work. If, like me, this will be your first step into this unique romance style, you won’t be disappointed.

Eternal Craving is published by Dorchester Publishers and you can find the author, Nina Bangs' website here.

This excellent review has been written for MFB by Sarah Keery whom I met on Twitter as "SeriouslyKooky". She's also gone and set up her own blog so drop by or go and harrass her on Twitter. Hopefully, if I can bribe her with more books, she'll become a regular guest reviewer for MFB.

The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff

Synopsis

On the morning of her wedding, Pell Ridley creeps out of bed in the dark, kisses her sisters goodbye and flees - determined to escape a future that offers nothing but hard work and sorrow.

She takes the only thing that truly belongs to her: Jack, a white horse, and her little brother, Bean, unexpectedly decides to join the runaway pair. The road ahead is rich with longing, silence and secrets, and each encounter leads her closer to the untold story of her past. Then Pell meets a hunter, infuriating, mysterious and cold. Will he help her to find what she seeks? With all the hallmarks of Meg Rosoff's extraordinary writing, The Bride's Farewell also breaks new ground for this author, in a nineteenth century, Hardyesque setting. This is a moving story of love and lost things, with a core of deep, beautiful romance.

If you are a fan of Meg Rosoff you are in for a treat reading The Bride's Farewell. Richly evocative and haunting, her writing is pure magic to read. And reading it out loud, which I did whilst at home yesterday, makes the story come to life, giving it an extra dimension.

Very few authors can get away writing intimately about a character's inner dialogue and successfully adapt an overall narrative voice that is gripping enough to keep you focussed.

Following Pell's adventures and mishaps throughout the book you are struck by the almost picturesque poverty she encounters in her wanderings around the south of England. It is never glorified or looked at through rose coloured glasses, but the subtlety she employs to show average people struggling to survive serves to shock nonetheless.

I enjoyed Pell's headstrong ways - a very together girl in a very big world, deciding to follow her own head and not to submit to convention. She stays close to her little brother Bean who had snuck off with her. Bean remains an enigma - he is mute but not stupid and has an easy way with animals. Pell is horsewhisperer and instinctively knows things about these animals and proves her affinity for them several times throughout the novel. She makes her solitary way down to Salisbury where she hopes to find work as a groom any other job that involves her working with horses, as that is what she knows best. She arrives at the time of one of the big horse fairs and meets a variety of people, including a gypsy family whom she falls in with for a few days.

The story defies pigeonholing and I am hesitant to go into further detail but let's just say that Pell loses some things close to her and it drives her forward - not only does she have to find somewhere to live and work in order not to starve, she has to discover what has happened to these two precious things that have been taken from her.

The story is a quick but beautiful read - wonderfully descriptive and touching. I would heartily recommend this to all existing readers of Meg Rosoff's books but would also invite readers who have not yet given her a try to pick this up as a perfect introduction to her wonderful writing.

The Bride's Farewell is out on 3rd September from Puffin. And although it is aimed at young adults it has great cross-over appeal and will no doubt garner more praise to this amazing writer's name.

The Heretic's Treasure by Scott Mariani

Synopsis

Ex-SAS operative Ben Hope has settled down in rural France – until an unexpected phone call shatters his newly-found peace. Egyptologist Morgan Paxton has been brutally murdered in Cairo and Colonel Harry Paxton wants Ben to find his son’s killer.

Ben is unable to refuse the man who once saved his life – but is torn when Harry asks him to avenge Morgan’s death. To make matters worse, he finds himself attracted to Zara, Harry’s new bride.

But searching for Paxton’s killer plunges Ben into one double-cross after another. His mission leads him from Europe to the banks of the Nile, climaxing in a terrifying showdown in the Sudanese desert.

At the end of the trail lies the ultimate priceless treasure, concealed from destruction during the reign of the ‘Heretic’ Pharaoh Akhenaten – a find that guarantees such riches that some people will murder to attain it…

There is much to admire about Scott Mariani's writing which goes from strength to strength in this the fourth Ben Hope book.

As a reader I have become quite spoilt by Scott's writing, his planning, attention to detail and the solid creation of his main character Ben Hope.

When we are reintroduced to Ben as he lives the quiet life in the rural countryside of Normandy, things are almost perfect and idyllic for him. His new career as owner of a renowned school where he could pass on his particular set of skills to employees of wealthy corporations when dealing with kidnappers, body guarding and contingency planning, seems to fit him to a t. He appears content, has a good relationship with his friend and colleague helping out at the farm and the minor interest from one of the on-off staff at the farm, highlights Ben's movement towards a healthy lifestyle.

Until a fateful phone call lures him away to meet with an old friend, the man who had saved his life back in the days when Ben was in the army. Colonel Harry Paxton calls on Ben to help find the murderers of his son and to bring them - brutally - to justice. Ben agrees to investigate the younger Paxton's death and sets off for Cairo, deeply conflicted, not just by his old friend Paxton Snr's quest for blood, but also torn about his growing affection for Paxton Snr's younger wife, Zara.

Ben does what he does best - he sniffs out a nest of trouble and catapults himself into a series of adventures that have horrifying consequences for himself and for the Paxton's. He struggles to survive the double crosses and the twists and turns his investigations reveal.

We follow him across the bustle of Paris, the quiet countryside in Normandy to the blazing sands of the deserts in Egypt and the Sudan. Each step of his quest becoming more and more dangerous.

If you've read any of the other Ben Hope novels by Scott Mariani and you've thought that he was harsh with Ben's character, you ain't seen nothing yet. Poor Ben - the stuff he goes through in The Heretic's Treasure is just eye-popping. But there is payback and once you close the covers of the book you sit back and heave a sigh of relief and thank your lucky stars Scott Mariani does not get to play God for a day with your own life. The man is devious and brilliant at exploiting the storylines to an inth of their lives. History and present day all combine to form a plot that will satisfy the hardest of thriller readers. A non-stop actioner of the highest calibre deftly woven to move Ben's story forward.

The Heretic's Treasure is out now and available in all good bookshops. Find Scott Mariani's website here. He is published by Avon, an imprint of Harper Collins.

The Devil's Ladder by Graham Joyce

Synopsis

The time has come ...

Sophie and James have nothing in common. How could they? She's from rough Abbey South School and he's your typical Castle Gate posh geek. But when you are two of the few people who can see demons, you need all the friends you can get. For they are being hunted, plagued by weird messages that only they can read: The Time Has Come.

And so it has. For in order to destroy the gathering forces of evil, Sophie and James will have to climb, one rung at a time, The Devil's Ladder

Graham Joyce is an author of renown and I loved his previous offerings. I therefore nabbed The Devil's Ladder when it came in last week.

A lot happens in this slender volume. It is an actioner, a thriller with more than a hint of the supernatural and it is also about making unexpected friends.

If there is one criticism, it would be that I would have liked the book to be bigger, with more pages to read. The story is solid and the characters are interesting and well thought out. But, I wanted more and I hope that maybe, we get to have more adventures with James and Sophie, (nudges Graham Joyce) as they have been set up really well for more supernatural shenanigans.

Sophie has seen James the Geek practically every day walking to school but she doesn't really know who he is. She knows he reads a lot - he never lifts his nose from whatever book he's reading and he's also a target for some bullies and gets beaten up regularly. Sophie appears to be a regular girl, on the cusp of noticing boys, whereas her friends seem to be focused on nothing else.

On her way to school the one morning, she sees the words THE TIME HAS COME painted on a wall. The words echo one of the many weird dreams she suffers from. Just then James walks into her and the book he's reading has exactly the same title. More than just a bit freaked out she sees herself off to school, determined to speak to James after school to ask him if he saw the writing on the wall and to check what the book was he was reading.

A very reluctant James reveals that he too saw the writing on the wall. And that he too sees odd things at times and dreams even stranger things. He introduces Sophie to Mrs. Royston who seems to know a bit more about what and who they are. Mrs. Royston turns out to be an elderly lady with a fierce way about her, three dogs and a wealth of personal history, chief amongst which is the fact that she used to be an anthropologist. With her help, James and Sophie uncover the mystery of Ravendale, an old dilapidated house which they pass on their way to school almost every day.

Saying more about the happenings in The Devil's Ladder would be giving away the actual story and it is such a fun read, I would recommend you get your paws on a copy to read it for yourself. It is aimed at years 12+ and has an element of - how can I put it? - lingering terror that is actually a bit unsettling.

Mr. Joyce's writing is snappy and the dialogue between Sophie and James reflects how their friendship evolves throughout the story. There is still that hesitancy in some instances which rings true and calls for a few wide grins as you read it.

I'd recommend The Devil's Ladder to both girls and boys - it will hold the attention and thrill in equal measure. Both characters get a good amount of "screen" time and they are both nice enough for you to develop empathy for them. Sophie's family life is highly amusing, with her dad coming across as a giant tease and a bit...well, unhinged. Things aren't quite the same for James so when you find out about his home life it's more than just a bit sad.

As I mentioned earlier, the ending is solid and you are left with this teasing idea that there may be more adventures to be had. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Devil's Ladder and liked the characters a lot and hope that you will too!

The Devil's Ladder is published by Faber Kids on 20th August 2009. Find Graham Joyce's website here.

The Book of Secrets by Chris Roberson

Synopsis

Reporter Spencer Finch is embroiled in the hunt for a missing book, encountering along the way cat burglars and mobsters, hackers and monks. At the same time, he’s trying to make sense of the legacy left him by his late grandfather, a chest of what appear to be magazines from the golden age of pulp fiction, and even earlier.

Following his nose, Finch gradually uncovers a mystery involving a lost Greek play, secret societies, generations of masked vigilantes… and an entire secret history of mankind.

The Book of Secrets is both everything and nothing like you would expect to read in this very traditional thriller genre. On the back of the book is a little tag from Angry Robot which says: File Under: Thriller - Conspiracy, Ancient Mysteries, Pulp Fiction, Blow Your Mind.

And that tiny tag sums it up completely.

The fantastic noir detective thriller story drips with absolutely coolness - Spencer Finch (the name is utterly perfect too) appears to be always struggling just that little bit with what life is throwing at him. He is at times funny, caustic, determined, scared, super intelligent and super stupid.

From the above you can tell that the novel is unlike the standard thrillers that are currently prevalent in the market. It is a thriller written and directed by the Coen Brothers via Quintin Tarantino, to be honest. The watchwords are: expect the unexpected.

We follow Finch as he tries to unravel the mystery of his grandfather's legacy to him. This we read as alternative chapters dotted through the novel and concerned a person called The Black Hand. And in these sections you become aware of the author's fantastic ability to write from various perspectives, playing loose and fast with timelines. In one aside we are introduced to The Black Hand via a short story in the form of a Western, complete with cattle rustling and a ruthless cattle baron looking to expand his empire by exploiting the small folk, there is also a medieval ballad about a young man going to the Crusades and how his perception of right and wrong gets turned on its side. My favourite has to be the pirate story - what can I say? - and the beautiful concise language used.

Then in Real Life Finch is trying to figure out the real story behind a mysterious businessman for the newsgroup he works for. He sets off half-cocked on the tip-off from a mysterious source and things go a bit ... insane.

Part noir part pulp fiction part unlike anything I've read before, Book of Secrets has enough twists and turns to make the Edelweis Road in Austria look like a Roman road. I am hesitant to try and describe the storyline even more for fear of putting in spoilers. What I am quite happy to expose though is that the author has created an immensely enjoyable and readable story which will entertain you to the very last page. Especially fun if you think you've figured it all out .... only to have it all turn out that uhm, hey, you were wrong!

I'd like to add that if you've been a long time reader of this blog, you would know I am passionate about many things, but mainly that I love thrillers and action adventure novels and quest novels and I dislike people messing around with the genre for the heck of it, or if they start doing parodies of them or if they think they can quickly write one to cash in on the coolest thing going that's not about vampires. I was therefore very hesitant about Book of Secrets and thought that it was going to be a bit samey and I had my expectations bundled up and shoved in my face. Very firmly. The book is - wow. I will however say that you have to keep an open mind and read it for its sheer readability because it is more-ish. I read it in two days, i.e. 4 commuter trips.

*nods wisely*

Find Chris Roberson's website here. This is our first ever Angry Robot review and I have to say, if this was on our Summer Reads List, I would have given it eight out of ten for sheer readability and fun factor!

Mike Carey signing- The Naming of the Beasts

Mike Carey is an extremely popular and well-respected author who has written on several top comics titles such as Lucifer as well as the adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere.

The Naming of the Beasts is the fifth in the Felix Castor series, where Castor comes face-to-face with the consequences of his own recklessness. After all, there are only so many times you can play both sides against the middle and get away with it. Now, the inevitable moment of crisis has arrived and it's left him with blood on his hands. So Castor drowns his guilt in cheap whisky, while an innocent woman lies dead and her daughter comatose, his few remaining friends fear for their lives and there's a demon loose on the streets. But not just any demon - this one rides shotgun on his best friend's soul and can't be expelled without killing him. Looks like Felix Castor's got some tough choices to make, because expel the demon he must or all Hell will break loose. Literally ...

Mike will be at Forbidden Planet on Thursday 10th September between 18h00 & 19h00.

Join usssss.. .

**The Fire King Winners**

Exciting news, exciting news.

Our three winners are, thanks to Random.org

Number: 17 - Amy (@Aymless on Twitter) from Benicia California
Number: 8 - Vicki (@jadeheart) from California
Number: 29 - Crystal Boyles from Kentucky

Girls - very well done, and thank you everyone for your lovely emails and do come back for more!

Now, make sure to go out and buy a copy of The Fire King - srsly™, it is worth it.

And to Dorchester Publishers - thank you so much letting us run this fabulous comp.

Salamander Competition - Winners!

Congratulations to Richard of Galway and Alexander from Pontyberem, our winners in the Salamander competition, with a nod of thanks to Random.org!

I've sent you each a confirmation email so please do get in touch with us as soon as possible so we can make the neccesary arrangements.

A big thank you to Nick Kyme and the Black Library for their support, and to those who didn't win this time, thank you for your support and keep visiting!

Angry Robot Takes Over the World

No, seriously.

Every five minutes there's more news from these guys.

I'm not complaining, really! It does my heart good to see such enthusiasm by a bunch of nice guys for genre fiction.

For instance (because I love the sound of this one)

Angry Robot signs Aliette de Bodard

Campbell nominee Aliette de Bodard, who has impressed with her magnificent short stories over the last couple of years, has signed to Angry Robot for her debut novel Servant of the Underworld (published early 2010).

Her deal with Angry Robot follows an extremely fortuitous layover in Calgary, Canada, following the World Fantasy Convention last winter. Forced to spend an extra day at the airport, she fell in with a couple of cheery Brits, who mentioned they were setting up a new publishing imprint, and a new literary agency respectively.

After no little persuasion, Aliette revealed that she’d been working on her debut novel. A few months later, like the plot of a Hollywood movie, here we are – with the novels represented by new agency Zeno, and to be published by new imprint Angry Robot.

SERVANT OF THE UNDERWORLD is a wild mix of fantasy and crime novel, set in Aztec times.

In this alternate world, though, the gods are real and stalk the temples, demanding sacrifices from the people. Amidst the bloodletting, a serial killer appears to be getting away with murder – but how do you find a murderer in a world where the streets themselves are awash with blood?

Angry Robot publishing director Marc Gascoigne, who was there that day along with Zeno’s John Berlyne, said: “It was a bit cheeky of us to cajole her into pitching there and then, but I’m very glad she did. We’re always looking for interesting new books to publish, but that day it was like the ancient gods themselves had all conspired to bring us to that spot! These are wonderful books, full of wild fantasy and cunning detection, and I’m so proud and pleased we’ll be publishing them.”

The Comet of Doom by Karen Wallace

Synopsis:

Tenochtitlan, 1511

One dawn, a fiery comet appears in teh sky. None of the priests can explain what it means, and King Moctezuma ordes them to be killed. But young Chantico has the gift of prophecy and has seen the future in a dream. He comes up with a plan to tell the King and save his uncle from death. But can he do it in time?

Karen Wallace is a completely new to me author and when A&C Black sent me a copy of The Comet of Doom I quickly devoured it and re-read it on the commute to work this morning.

Wonderfully illustrated Helen Flook we very quickly come to know Chantico who is an average Aztec boy, liked by his friends and family, although his nickname is that of "little know-all" by his elders. And rather than it being directed to his prophetic visions, it is more discriminatory towards his age. He wants to become a seer like his uncle and finds that his father who is a brave warrior in the King's army is not the happiest of people about this.

It tells of Chantico's vision about the invasion of the Spanish and the destruction of the Aztec kingdom. Although the book is aimed at very young folk, the author is quite good at explaining the killing of captives taken during the various battles as sacrifices to the gods. It's not glorified and it isn't grimly described and because it is quite low in tone, it is almost easy to overlook.

I'd like to point out that it is a deceptive little book - small in size and perhaps you'd think small in storytelling but there are interesting facts dotted throughout the story and the writing is of excellent quality.

Definitely a worthwhile purchase! Find the talented Karen Wallace's website here and that of the illustrator, Helen Flook here. Thanks to A&C Black for sending The Comet of Doom along. Now, I need to go find some chili flavoured chocolate!

A shout-out for StoryBox Books

We were very flattered to receive some products from the very cool Bayard Books a few weeks ago.

I've not seen these before and was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of content of these small magazines. Packed full of information on everything from Judo to wolves, to giraffes, spelling, writing, colouring.

As far as I understand, these are in line with the national curriculum to support learning - which, to be honest, is all well and good, but it could verge on being boring. But these aren't which is what I loved - in the Discovery Box book which I got, there was a fascinating account about wolves in Europe. I loved it! It gives you enough information to want to research more about a subject.

These high quality books are published on a monthly basis - note I don't really call them magazines, as they are a little bit more than that. They have a number of guest authors and illustrators. By tapping into the creativity of a variety of contributors, children and their parents get the chance to be exposed to a large range of quality children's authors.

The books are broken up into 3 different age groups and they are set out below:

StoryBox Books – 3-6 - http://www.storyboxbooks.com/
AdventureBox Books – 6-9 - http://www.adventureboxbooks.com/
DiscoveryBox Books – 9-12 - http://www.discoveryboxbooks.com/

I'll definitely be passing these onto my friends who have teeny folk in their lives. Although, I may very well keep the magazine with the wolves article for myself! I do have a soft spot for them!

Picture Books Round-Up

From time to time I get sent some lovely picture books from various publishers.

My very first introduction - as an adult - to these was from a friend of mine, Michelle, who now lives in South Africa. She dragged me from shop to shop to find a copy of Don't Let The Pigeon Drive the Bus.

I loved it so much, I recently bought myself a copy. The artwork depicts the slightly unhinged and very amusing Pigeon desperately pleading you to allow him to drive the bus. That's it. But what Mo Williams manages to do is bring such hilarity to this small book that everyone should have a copy of this in their library. It always cheers me up if I feel a bit down. Published by our good friends at Walker Books.


There is only one way to describe this picture book and Mark actually said it wafter he read it: Neil Gaiman is drunk with words and his imagination runs wild in this crazy illustrated book by Dave McKean.

Creatures like gorillas and tigers stalk in Bonnie's father's hair. She meets pirate ships and dancers. Expeditions of hunters and adventurers disappear into his crazy hair to discover what all lives in there.

A little surreal and very clever - for most ages.




It was bedtime in the jungle and on each page we meet another animal, beautifully illustrated, with their young. As the story progresses, not only do we learn what the animal is called, but also what its young is called, and each animal and young is chosen for the number of babies it has.

A clever way to teach little ones about animals and their young and how to count.




I am a big fan of both Charles Vess and Neil Gaiman's work and when I first got this I was completely taken aback by the lovely prayer contained within.

Evocatively illustrated by the incomparable Charles Vess, the prayer is for a friend of Neil Gaiman's, the singer and songwriter, Tori Amos. It was written for Tori's daughter and it is an intensely beautiful and private reading. Highly recommended as a gift to yourself or someone special. Kids would like it, but adults would love it.


Laugh out loud amusing - Hattie the Bad is definitely a big favourite. When Hattie was bad, she was very, very bad and when she was good...she was boring.



I chuckled so much reading this wildly coloured story. Everyone loves a baddie and Hattie's badness is truly giggle-worthy. In fact, I envy her tiny undies ... they have pirate flags on them! She is definitely my kind of girl.

Beautiful. A must have for any collector. And for younger readers who will relish the artwork by Vladyslav Yerko. The story of the Snow Queen is retold by the very talented Nicky Raven, whilst remaining true to Hans Christian Anderson's original it is updated for a new generation. She's ironed out some of the gaps in continuity of the story as it was original published within 16 days of being written, which meant that although it was a brilliant and engaging tale, it had a few problems, something you don't even pick up in this reworked and complete version. The Snow Queen is the niche publishers Templar.

One of my absolute favourites. It is also a very clever little book, richly illustrated with the quirky and brave Emily and her grey rabbit, Stanley, as they try and figure out what EXACTLY it is that Thing is so afraid of.

It is clever because it turns preconceptions upside down: scary things are hardly ever that scary and maybe just act or appear scary! A fun and very amusing read.

A must have for any urban fantasy fan (adult or slightly older child) as it revels in highly original and bizarre mythical creatures - most of which, I can guarantee you have never ever ever actually heard of. These creatures are wonderfully drawn and each creature has a small story to illustrate its peculiar ability or history.

Very clever and can be used as examples to create your own creatures - especially for writing prompts in creative writing class.

Babies Love Books is filled with bright and vibrant illustrations as tiny folk share a range of books in different locations on every page.

And I quote: Never forget once you have met a book “…a book is your own special friend, who will stay with you right to the end.”

Very cute and very accessible.

An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris

Here is the blurb:

Harper Connelly was struck by lightning as a teenager, and now she can find the dead. In her third case, Harper and Tolliver, her stepbrother, are hired to find a missing grandson. But the truth is far worse than a single dead child, for numerous teenage boys, all unlikely runaways, have disappeared from Doraville, North Carolina. Harper soon finds the eight bodies, buried in the half-frozen ground, but then, still reeling from coming into contact with her first serial killer, she is attacked and injured. Now she and Tolliver have no choice but to stay in Doraville while she recovers, and as she reluctantly becomes part of the investigation, she learns more than she cares to about the dark mysteries and long-hidden secrets of the town: knowledge that makes her the most likely person to be next to end up in an ice-cold grave.

Charlaine Harris is well known for her Sookie Stackhouse series, but I actually prefer this one. Harper has a gift that makes life interesting but also difficult (just a tad). Basically, she travels across the country and finds dead bodies. She doesn’t know who killed them or why, all she can say is who the body is and cause of death.

Obviously people meet her with disbelief and sarcasm, and it can be rather funny and always very satisfying when Harper proves to them, she’s not a con. In this third case, she has to cope with a serial killer and the knowledge that the killer has to be from the area. It doesn’t help that her relationship with Tolliver (her step-brother and travel companion) is strained, because her feelings for him have changed. She no longer thinks of him as her brother, but is scared that showing those emotions will destroy their partnership and she will lose her best friend.

It is not only her injury that is keeping Harper and Tolliver in Doraville, but the authorities as well. The sheriff has problems understanding and believing her ability and despite having a file, the feds don’t want her to leave either. The problem is, the longer they make her stay, the more Harper feels obligated to help solve the murder and asking questions around the town can only lead to trouble.

I believe that this series gets better with each book. “An Ice Cold Grave” has a very strong story and I love how Harper’s and Tolliver’s relationship is developing (what can I say, I’m a sucker for romance). I spent most of my time sitting on the edge of my seat biting my nails, trying to figure out who the killer is (it had to be one of the characters already introduced) and skim reading just a little bit, because some of the things happening are what you could call gruesome. Charlaine Harris weaves a magnificent plot and every time you think you know what’s going to happen or who the killer is, something new is thrown at you, taking you off into another direction.

I have read and re-read this particular book a few times now and that is always a great sign that I have a keeper. I definitely can’t wait to see what Charlaine Harris is going to throw at Haper and Tolliver in “Grave Secret”, coming from Gollancz in January 2010 (heck, that’s a long wait!*sigh*).

"An Ice Cold Grave" is published by Gollanzc and out now.