Cover Love - Jana Oliver

I am totally ripping off one Jenny of Wondrous Reads blogpost ideas here, and I apologise but you know, sometimes you just have to share. And frankly, I've decided to keep featuring it for upcoming books here on MFB.  Too many pretty covers out there not being shouted about.

I received a copy of Jana Oliver's Demon Trappers: Forsaken and read it over Christmas and completely loved it.  It filled a gap in my heart where the TV show Supernatural usually resides.  I popped over to Ms. Oliver's blog and discovered that the UK gets Demon Trappers before the US are getting it (for a change, also YAY!) and not only that, but the covers are so completely vastly different and the US title is also different.

I submit to you:

Demon Trappers - Forsaken, UK Cover

The Demon Trapper's Daughter, US Cover

I have to say, I have love for both covers but I do quite like the US cover a tiny bit more. I like it because of what Riley is doing, perching on the top of the building like that, with the perspective of the cityscape below.  It gives us indications that Riley feels detatched and probably lonely in the world she finds herself in.  And the title too, it tells us exactly who she is.

My review goes live next week but even before then let me just say this: buy this book or get someone else to buy it for you, because it's terrific.

When Last I Died by Gladys Mitchell

When Mrs Bradley’s grandson finds an old diary in her rented cottage it attracts the interest of this most unconventional of detectives, for the book’s now deceased owner was once suspected of the murders of both her aunt and cousin. Does the missing diary finally reveal what happened to old Aunt Flora? Is the case of Bella Foxley really closed? And what happened to the boys from the local reformatory who went missing at the same time? As events unfold, Mrs. Bradley faces one of her most difficult cases to date, one that will keep readers guessing until the very end…

When Last I Died is the 2nd re-release from Vintage Books of titles from Gladys Mitchell's Mrs Bradley Mysteries series. It's rare for a publisher to shine their spotlights on works that have faded from view though some works seem to keep finding the light over and over again with a little help, whatever happened behind the scenes I'm glad I got chance start my exploration of Mitchell's work.

Why? Because I enjoyed The Saltmarsh Murders but loved When Last I Died even more.

Why? As there is a difference in the narration. The first was narrated by the curate of the sleepy village who was good but only seeing Mrs Bradley from the outside. The narrator in this one is exterior to the action and follows around Mrs Bradley's actions and internal thoughts, so we get to know Mrs Bradley a litte more intimately.

I have to say as a character she's fab. She's nosey, steely, insightful and intelligent without giving over to arrogance. She's also very curious, and it's that curiousity which is raised when her grandson finds an old diary in a rented cottage. The book's owner is now deceased and was once suspected of the murders of both her aunt and cousin. But the contents raises more questions than it answers. Does it reveal what actually happended to Aunt Flora? Is the case of Bella Foxley really closed? And what happened to the boys from the local refectory who went missing that same time?

And it really is a mystery, one that keeps both the reader and Mrs Bradley guessing. My only slight reluctance in the story comes, I guess, from Mrs Bradley pushing at a case that is dead and buried and she doesn't seem to get enough resistance to her questioning as one might expect.. but then this is a novel from 1941 and she is grandee of society so it doesn't feel too odd. That was my only doubt.

A great device used by Mitchell is the diary which is reprinted, and which on first glance is heartfelt and absorbing but Mrs Bradley feels differently and she sticks her nose in to find out more about the events. It definitely wrong footed me.

It's a short novel at 208 pages, but it's packed with twists, turns and surprises like all good mysteries should be. And in this case the truth of the matter is much stranger than the fiction that surrounds it.

The Diviner's Tale by Bradford Morrow

Cassandra Brooks is a single mother-of-two, schoolteacher and water diviner. Deep in the woods as she dowses the land for a property developer, she is confronted by the body of a young girl, swinging from a tree, hanged. When she returns with the authorities, the body has vanished. Already regarded as an eccentric, her story is disbelieved- until a girl turns up in the woods, alive, mute and identical to the girl in Cassandra's vision.

In the days that follow, Cassandra's visions become darker and more frequent as they begin to take on a tangible form. Forced to confront a past she has tried to forget, Cassandra finds herself locked in a game of cat-and-mouse with a real life killer who has haunted her for longer than she can remember.

At once an ingeniously plotted mystery and a magical love story, The Diviner’s Tale will pull you helplessly down into Cassandra’s luminous world.

I've had a great time reading The Diviner's Tale at the end of last year whilst we were experiencing some truly rubbish weather.  Whilst everyone else was shivering I was walking the land with Cassandra, divining water, learning how she did what she did, where she came from and what led her to seeing the body of the young girl that was / was not there. 

Bradford Morrow's writing is engaging and Cassandra has immediately become one of my favourite female heroines.  No, she's not necessarily kick-ass in the way fantasy women are kick ass but she has this timeless quality about her that I found truly appealing.  She's the narrator of our story and as such the best qualified to introduce us to divining and her unusual upbringing.  She has a history of mental illness, where her parents had sent her to be examined and evaluated and pumped full of drugs. Cassandra came out of this not necessarily a changed person, but one who is more wary, who watches for signs of the illness like you or I would watch and make sure it is safe to cross the road. 

So when Cassandra sees the dead girl in the forest, hanging from a tree, she's uncertain.  Is it real or is it her illness starting up again? But when she touches the young woman she's jolted out of her half-dream and she realises that it is very real indeed.  She runs and finds the police who search the woods but when they conduct the search, they discover nothing.  Cassandra's self-doubt is tempered by her twin sons' Jonah and Morgan who close ranks around their mother and offers her a buffer against the harsh reality of the world outside.  They are great kids, well written and full of character.  I loved them to bits and think the author did a great job including the boys in this novel.  

Cassandra's story is told in both the present and the past, the near past and the distant past.  As the story unfolds and we come to learn more about Cassandra's divining talent, the first incident that brought it to her parent's attention and how she became a social outcast to some extent, we learn that what we know as the truth may not be the truth after all.  Cassandra has a very close, very personal relationship with her father who had been a diviner himself before he became too ill to continue doing the job.  Nep is a wonderful rich character which remains subtly underwritten by the author.  And by that I mean that Nep's story could so easily have dominated this book but instead we are given only a handful of meetings with Nep and Cassandra and her mum, Rosalie.  

In some instances Cassandra's narrative leads us astray and she becomes the unreliable narrator.  We aren't sure if she's gone over the edge into madness or if what she sees is genuinely true.  The author walks such a fine line here that I nearly didn't make up my mind until the very end.  The story is plotted so well, bringing pieces of Cassandra's past in to sharp relief to explain the current happenings, that as it reaches its climax, you are still wondering if what she's going through is real or imagined.  I won't hesitate recommending this to readers and to aspiring writers, to especially note the use of voice and the intricate plotting. 

I really can't pigeonhole this book - it's a mix of crime and suspense mixed with a hint of the paranormal written in an accessible literary fashion. There is much love in my heart for The Diviner's Tale and I loved how the book ended.  It truly is a remarkable book written by a remarkable author whom I've never read in the past.  Needless to say, I am hoping that there may be another novel featuring Cassandra, but even if there isn't this one will be re-read several times more for its sheer storytelling genius. 

The Diviner's Tale is out later this month from Corvus.  Find Bradford Morrow's website here. 

Broken Honour by Robert Earl

The armies of Hochland are at breaking point. Beset on all sides by the feral beastmen, the safety and prosperity of the province is shattered. These are desperate times. Mercenary Captain Eriksson looks to capitalise on the conflict, buying the freedom of a group of prisoners to form a new free company. The criminals are delighted to be released, but this comes at a terrible price- to fight and die in the upcoming conflict. Eriksson must led his makeshift company into one bloody battle after another, putting his faith in those who gave up on honour long ago. On the battlefields of Hochland, either damnation or redemption awaits them.

Broken Honour opens with the army of General Count von Brechthold taking to the field in what he and they expect to be just another annual cull of the beastmen who infest the thick forests of the province. But there’s a new leader amongst the herds of bestial horrors that await them, and the army is spectacularly destroyed apart from a young nobleman named Viksberg, who refuses to die on that muddy field and flees towards safety.

Shortly thereafter we meet Captain Eriksson, an experienced and cunning mercenary captain for whom the strife that besets Hochland is an opportunity, not a calamity. After some narrow escapes he gets his new free company, a ragtag collection of thieves and murderers, and starts the process of forging them into something that resembles a military unit. But amongst his company is someone who knows the truth of Viksberg’s crimes, and soon they have more than beastmen (whose feral rage comes through very well throughout) plotting their death as the war rushes towards a mighty clash that will see either side utterly destroyed.

The transformation of the criminal mob into the Gentlemen’s Free Company of Hergig is handled well- there’s no quick fix or Hollywood style montage to gloss over the fact that these are criminals that Eriksson is dealing with.

As a setting, Warhammer fantasy has a distinctive flavour. It’s a world constantly under siege by the forces of chaos in all its guises, in the midst of which people get on with their lives, surrounded as they are in equal measures by despair and ignorance, nobility and defiant courage. Robert Earl has managed to capture this atmosphere quite neatly. It’s nothing definite that you can put your finger on, but like a colour built up of several layers of thin paint, it definitely comes through as Eriksson and his men fight to survive against the worst that Viksberg’s spite and the ravening beastmen can throw at them.

I enjoyed the fast pace and vicious action, and consumed it while commuting in over Christmas. It’s a standalone novel that delivers classic Warhammer action, but is very much accessible for anyone unfamiliar with the setting.

Entangled Blog Tour - Cat talks editing, writing and cheese

Cat Clarke - Entangled Author

I got to meet Cat "Entangled" Clarke a while ago as non-fiction editor for Scholastic and we got along famously, and the cocktails had nothing to do with it either.  Chatting to Cat I realised that not only is she a very cool hat-wearing lady, we have many things in common, we love books, we love good writing, she can wear quirky hats, I can't so I envied her, she writes, I write reviews...and we both adore cheese. 

When Quercus offered MFB to be part of Cat's blog tour for her novel Entangled, we LEAPT at the chance.  I got the chance to fling some questions as Cat which she had to answer in as polite a way as possible. *hee hee*

Here we go:

What training / uni / college degree did you have before you became an editor at Scholastic?

I studied History at Edinburgh University. Maybe I should have done English Literature, but I was paranoid that it would make me hate reading! Of course, now I have an alarmingly sparse knowledge of the classics...

Did you always want to be part of the publishing industry? Or did you ever want to be Elvis?

I’ve wanted to work in publishing ever since I did one of those career questionnaire thingummyjigs and the results came back telling me that my ideal career was Editorial. I’m very easily persuaded. I can honestly say that I have never ever wanted to be Elvis. There WAS a time when I wanted to be Kylie, but I don’t like to talk about it.

What made you sit back and realize and you wanted to write something for the wide world to read – and not just the non-fiction titles you’ve written in your capacity as editor?

I’d wanted to write for years and years, but my lazy gene wouldn’t let me. It was only when I started working as a non-fiction editor and was around books and bookish people every day that I got around to starting my first novel. I sometimes wonder if I would have ever got around to it if it hadn’t been for my break into the publishing world. Scary thought!

How did you reconcile your writer-self with your editor-self? Was it an open-secret at work, i.e. did people know that you were writing fiction?

A few people knew, but I didn’t really like talking about it. I didn’t want anyone thinking I wasn’t 100% committed to the job, and I didn’t want my authors to feel weird about it! When I got my book deal, my boss sent an email round the whole office, so everything was out in the open from that point on.



Prettiest Cover Ever

When you approached agents to look at Entangled, do you think your role as editor at Scholastic helped?

I think it only helped in that it gave me access to people who could suggest agents for me to approach. It meant I didn’t need to go trawling through the Children’s Writers’ And Artists’ Yearbook. But I am a serious geek, so I did that anyway. That book did not leave my coffee table until I’d signed the contract with my agent!

I remember a recent blogpost on your website where you mentioned that it’s been a year that day when you got THE CALL from your agent that Entangled had sold and you couldn’t really do much about it at work. How did you celebrate in the end?

I ate a splendid cheese and meat platter and had a couple of drinks. And a few weeks later I went out for a posh dinner. Oh, and I bought myself a special hey-you-got-a-book-deal necklace.

Now that you’ve walked away from your editorial role, do you find that your editorial voice has gone quiet or do you think it’s even more prevalent now than before?

Well, I’m still doing freelance editing and I get to flex my editorial muscles with The Lighthouse Children’s Literary Consultancy, so the voice is going strong. At the moment the voice is telling me that my characters roll their eyes too much, I really need to find a new way to describe crying and I STILL have a tendency to use the word ‘just’ too often.

Final fromage question: if you had to be a cheese, what cheese would you be?

I feel like I’m on Blind Date! I’ve given this question more thought than is sensible, considering the length of my to-do list right now. At first I was thinking Camembert, but lots of people don’t like Camembert, and everyone likes to be liked, right?! So I think I’m going to go for Parmigiano Reggiano – you can’t beat it. Life without it is unthinkable. And it has umami, the fifth flavour – the one that makes things taste extra-delicious. Yes... I think that’s my final answer. I’ll have to go before I change my mind. Thanks for the awesome questions, awesome Liz!

***

Some very cool answers here, thanks Cat for taking the time to chat to us!  Our Entangled review is up next week, so be sure to stop by for that too.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

US Cover 

Mackie Doyle is a replacement - a fairy child left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago, to replace the baby when it was stolen away by the fey.

So though he lives in the small town of Gentry, Mackie's real home is the fey world of tunnels and black, murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. Now, because his fey blood gives him fatal allergies to iron, blood and consecrated ground, Mackie is slowly dying in the human world. Mackie would give anything just to be normal, to live quietly amongst humans, practice his bass guitar and spend time with his crush, Tate. 


But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably back home to the fey underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem, where he must face down the dark creatures, rescue the child, and find his rightful place - in our world, or theirs.

UK Cover 

The thing about The Replacement that struck me the most is this: the quality of the storytelling.  It really has taken the changeling / fairy tale sub-genre and lifted it to new heights.  And I don't mean the author has made it darker, because that is expected, but rather that the writing has a maturity and an expectation of the reader to be equally well read and to know some of the mythology about fae beings and changelings in particular.

Telling the story from Mackie's point of view is inspired.  He is a no-fuss kind of guy but he's deeply unhappy about the state he finds himself in.  He's been feeling ill for some time and it's sort of an open secret that he's not entirely normal but, having said that, his father especially urges him to act normal at all times, to not draw the attention of others within their small community of Gentry.

The only person outside of the Doyle family who knows things aren't 100% as they seem, is Mackie's best friend Roswell. And Roswell is indeed a good friend to Mackie - always by his side, loyal and honourable, he stands by his mate, even if his mate turns out to be something "other".

Mackie's story is one of self-doubt, denial, anger, frustration and longing.  He wants to be normal but nothing about him is normal.  Not his skin, his hair, his eyes, his health.  He's busy dying living in the human world and yet he's stubborn and determined to not give in to his heritage.  Even if it kills him.  It's only when Tate's baby sister "dies" and she turns to him for help that he realises that being selfish is not the way forward.

He accepts the invitation to enter Mayhem and to meet those who live there.  Key here is the Morrigan, once a powerful goddess of war, she now reverts to a playful form of a small child yet her rule in Mayhem is absolute.  She's had a falling out with her sister who is known as The Lady and it is The Lady who has been the culprit of various disappearances and accidents for many years in Gentry.  The animosity between the sisters has led to a variety of grudges and as Mackie traverses this dark world, he comes to realise that his own disappearance is key to this all and that his story goes back much further than he thought.

The Replacement is such a great read - it may not be for everyone as it is not a very happy (fairy) book but it is very real in the sense that everything has a push-pull consequence.  At its heart it is a story about transformation and friendship and the depths of love people can have for each other - and I'm not just talking true love for a girlfriend or boyfriend either.  It is about family and loyalty and finding ones place in society.

I'll admit to being cautious about jumping on The Replacement bandwagon as I am loathe to be yet another voice in a crowd saying how great a novel is upon its release but honestly, this one surprised me and I'm glad I gave in to my gut feeling and read it.  It is a great addition to my bookshelves and one I know I'll be rereading in the months to come.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff is out in the UK from Simon & Schuster on 6th January 2011 and should be available online as well as all good book shops.

Tyme's End by BR Collins

Bibi feels out of place wherever she goes - everywhere, that is, except for Tyme's End, the deserted house she breaks into whenever she thinks nobody is nearby.  There she meets Oliver, the owner, who has returned after ten years away.  Bibi's and Olivers's lives become inextricably linked as they are both pulled towards Tyme's End.  For Tyme's End is more than just a house.  It is a house that can be by turns romantic, beguiling, sinister and malevolent.  It is a house that once had an evil and manipulative owner.  And nobody who enters Tyme's End must prepare themselves for terror. 


BR Collins has gone from a "writer to watch" to a writer who is so self-assured that she can tackle a haunted house story with the aplomb and skill of any of our grandmasters, including Poe, King, Layman, Blackwood, Campbell and well, anyone else you would like to name.

The story of Tyme's End is told in three key stages and they are defined by the year the story is told.  We have 2006, which deals with Bibi's story.  Secondly there is 1996 which is Oliver's story and finally, 1936 and it tells Oliver's grandfather's story.

The regressive storytelling where we go backwards in the house's history took me by surprise.  I thought we would stick with Bibi's story and was therefore thrown quite a bit by moving onto Oliver's story.  Initially it did lift me out of the story, but only briefly, once I realised what the author was doing.

When we meet Bibi she's going through a tough time.  She feels an outsider and acts surly and unpleasant when in fact she is genuinely a highly intelligent and charming girl, a bit more mature than usual and also quite together, even if she has her various hang-ups. She loves Tyme's End and sneaks in to spend time by herself.  She has a mattress up in one of the rooms and some favourite things.  This is where she feels at home, safe and somewhere she can hide from her family.  She's adopted and feels at odds with the world, as if no one can understand what she's going through.  Bibi is an intensely complicated character and could easily have carried an entire novel by herself hence my surprise when her story gets wrapped up really well in the first third of the novel.  She meets Oliver and he of course chases her out.  But Bibi is made of sterner stuff and she finds herself returning to Tyme's End.  Oliver is older, in his twenties and seems as conflicted as Bibi about everything in his life.  But as he's an adult he feels the need to be in charge, to figure things out.

With Bibi by his side Oliver uncovers some truths and comes to various conclusions. Oliver and Bibi's relationship starts full of conflict but within a short space of time they connect with each other in a way that forms a catalyst for the first part of the story.  I loved both these flawed fiery characters and thought that BRC really couldn't do better than them.

When we leave Bibi and we turn around to look into Oliver's time spent with his grandfather and Tyme's End, we are shown why Oliver reacted to Bibi the way he had in the beginning of the book.  With Bibi we only found out a few snippets of information as to why Oliver hates Tyme's End so much.  In this part of the book, the 1996 section, all of it is made clear as it pertains to Oliver and his perceptions.  This is the part of the novel that I loved the most - deeply odd and eerie, it has the psychological element to it that makes you check behind your sofa as you sit there reading.  

Finally, we get to the 1936 section that deals with Oliver's grandfather's experiences at Tyme's End.  He is also called Oliver and for clarity we'll call him Senior.  Senior is a handsome but poor student at Cambridge where he is reading History.  He happened to meet the owner of Tyme's Hall, the deeply enigmatic and charismatic H J Martin - Jack to his friends - and gets invited to Tyme's Hall to spend some time there over a very hot Summer. There is initially this sense of everything being perfect but slowly but surely reality intrudes and Senior realises that Jack may not be all he seems.  We spend the last part of the novel with Senior and Jack and some other people at Tyme's End and here is where the answers lie, that are only alluded to in the other two sections of the book.  We learn what we need to know about Jack and about Oliver Senior.  And although it's not jumping out of dark closets scary, it's that slow pervasive creep of delicious horror that does the trick here, making it a truly unforgettable sequence to end the novel on.

I really fell for these characters.  I loved the story and I feel a bit sad for Tyme's End itself.  I cannot recommend this deliciously creepy novel enough.  BR Collins's writing is vivid and chilling and truly engaging. This has to be one of the highlights of 2011.  And it's promising to be a cracking year.

Mark's Highlights of 2010

Is it really that time of the year again? Yeesh. It's been one helluva year all round. Between the daytime job and finishing the first draft of my manuscript (wooohooooo!) I've realised that I haven't read as much as I'd hoped to at the beginning. But that realisation is tempered by knowing that the books I have managed to tackle have been real brain candy and wonderfully entertaining.

The Enemy by Charlie Higson was a fantastic, zombie infested treat that combined relentless tension, take-no-prisoners action and followed a strong cast of young characters as they sought to survive in the shell of a London brought low by a viral epidemic that turns adults into cannibalistic killers.

I discovered Horns by Joe Hill, a beautifully crafted story that was impossible to put down once I started reading - not that I wanted to. Ig was always something of a natural born loser, but after a night of drunken rage on the anniversary of his girlfriend's murder, he wakes to find a pair of horns growing from his forehead. As they grow, so does their influence, and he discovers that while the truth may set you free, it comes at a price.

The Black Library has had a storming year and deserves a special mention overall. They've scooped the Gemmell Award, seen three Horus Heresy novels shoot onto the New York Times bestsellers list and have surged ahead with digital and audio releases.

Graham McNeill's 'Empire' took the honours at the 2010 Gemmell Awards - it made my best of 2009 list, and it was good to see that so many others shared my opinion.

Graham grabbed the headlines again when his Horus Heresy novel 'A Thousand Sons' shot onto the New York Times bestseller list, followed by James Swallow's 'Nemesis' and Aaron Dembski-Bowden's 'The First Heretic' (I've no doubt that Dan Abnett's Prospero Burns will follow suit in short order once it's released in January).

It is so heartening to see these dynamic, character driven novels being given some long overdue recognition as so much more than 'just tie in fiction', and my personal quest to get more people to look beyond that archaic stigma will continue into 2011.

So long 2010, and thanks for all the great reads.

Now it's time for a new decade and new books!

2010 in Review - By Gav

I'm a little bit of a silent partner in MFB at the minute. I don't plan on being that quiet for too much longer. That's the thing about taking a holiday. They are nice for a while but soon you're looking at getting back to work (not that is really work). I have been reading but not actually written any thoughts up but one or two of those reads might get a mention here.

My surprise of the year I read very early on. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemsin. Is not something I should really like as it focuses heavily on the romance between the main character, Yeine Darr, and the strongest and darkest of the gods, but the way the story is told through Darr's eyes makes you feel it the way she does. I will readily admit that if you don't get sucked in at the start you are unlikely to get much out of it. The world-building and its strengths rely on you believing in the gods with their neutered powers and their attempts to be freed through Darr's actions.

An underrated book for me this year is Florence & Giles by John Harding, which is a haunting and gothic tale that really does deserve more attention. The orpahned girl at the centre makes a powerful focus as we see her fear and her attempts to read, which she banned from doing. Instead she is left to explore a remote and crumbling New England Mansion, which has become her home. But the creepy phenomena start soon after the sudden and violent death of her first governess and the arrival of a replacement. This is another tale where it is the power of the narrator that draws you in and keeps you hooked. It is a slow build in terms of drama but it is more than worth it when you get to the end. I'm still shocked by it.

One of the most controversial and award winning books that I've read was The City & The City by China Mieville. Mieville's tale of a two cities that co-exist has caused a wide range of opinions. Some positive and some negative. Most I think hinge on the 'reality' of the situation. It's a crime story that is used as a device to explore what humanity will accept when if they don't comply there are harsh and untalked about consequences. The business of 'unseeing' the other city does take some getting your head around. But science fiction (even if it is a social science) is supposed to challenge and explore our understanding though most of the time as a genre it sticks within it's well worn tropes as does fantasy, which is a shame really, though it's good to see a novel like this pushing the hornets net.

In terms of mix though I'd say that Yellow Blue Tibia beats The City & The City. This made-up story of science fiction writers in Russia was so slight in its manipulation that it was so believable, at least to me. Adam Roberts is an amazing liar as great writers should be. It reads like a literary novel, in that its focus seems to report real lives and situations but ones with science fiction reality around them. If I had to choose an outstanding science fiction novel of the year then Yellow Blue Tibia would be it especially when you know what the title means.

Charlie Stross released another Laundary title this year but to my delight. The Fuller Memorandum moved things on nicely. Stross kept the timeline moving so the time between the books is reflected in the lives of the characters. We see most of the events retold directly through Bob's (the main characters) own experiences but he also adds in things he couldn't have known at the time, which rounds off the story and as it is a retelling it doesn't feel out of place. The story again focuses on The Laundry's (British Secret Services division tasked with preventing hideous aliens gods from wiping out all life on Earth) agent Bob's attempts to stop the end of the world again, something that is getting harder and harder to avoid. It's the mix of supernatural and mundane along with Stross's excellent characterisation skills has me crossing everything that we'll see the next two, The Armageddon Agenda and The Nightmare Stacks, come into the full light of day.

Speaking of moving things along Paul Magrs does that same thing in The Bride That Time Forgot. The main thing I love about Paul's Effie and Brenda Mysteries is that that everything has consequences in the end. The adventures that these characters go through alter their relationships, and sometimes not for the better. In The Bride That Time Forgot each of the main cast take turns telling the story, which is makes for a nice change in the structure of the series and it allows for us to get to know all of them a little differently. What's heart wrenching is that for most of the novel the usual bond between Effie and Brenda is streched and fraying so rapidly that it is almost irreparable. This time they get involved in the comings and going of a book group that is devoted to the mysterious place called Qab, and I was surprised when I found out what it truely was. This is another series that I can't wait to where it goes next. It looks that Effie and Brenda are off on their hols abroad and I bet that trouble won't be far behind.

I'm a big fan of EuroCrime so I was chuffed when I discovered a love of Camilla Lackberg after I read The Ice Princess, The Preacher and The Stone Cutter earlier in the year one after another. I do like the domestic element to Scandinavian crime. You get to know who the characters are and how they are connected. Not that it's limited to Scandinavia as I'm enjoying the translations of French writer Fred Vargas, whose Adamsberg makes for a very unique Policeman indead.

And a big of classic crime. I started my exploration of Gladys Mitchell's Mrs Bradley books this year. Vintage have re-released six so far with another 3 on the way. I'm two books in and I can tell that I'm going to enjoy exploring the rest of the series. Mitchell comes across as a very clever writer, not only from the way she constructs her crime and the way they are solved but also in the creation of her characters. Mrs Bradley makes me smile contantly. She's very pushy though if she wasn't the crimes wouldn't come to a satisfactory conclusion.

Now I fell for Mrs Bradly straighy away but I've just started to read the Agatha Raisin series, and the main character at the start is anything but lovable, coming from London into a cosy little village it takes her the whole of The Quiche of Death to breakdown that hardshell into something more agreeable. But by the end I was quite taken with her. M. C. Beaton it seems has more than enough crimes for her to deal with as #21 was just released.

I've been a little light on horror this year, though I've dipped into End of the Line, which really didn't make my trip to London and travels on the tube more comfortable after reading a few short from it I can tell you. But one horror novel that does need to be read is Horns by Joe Hill and one of the reasons why is that it's a horror story about people and how if you demonise them they can turn them into exactly that. After the death of his girlfriend Ig is demonised by this own community so much so that when he wakes up one morning he has devil horns on his head. Not that everyone can see them at first but their pressence does seem to bring out the worse in people. What really makes this novel though is exploration between Ig, his dead girlfriend Merrin and his best friend Lee. Hill past the difficult second novel test with ease. I'm eager to see how he does on his third one.

A man that past his second novel quite a few books ago is Terry Pratchett. I've had a bit of break stopping at Monstrous Regiment, which for some reason I just didn't want to tackle. I have this thing about war stories. I don't enjoy the idea of war but I should learn that writers can take what is a horrible situation and instead of glorifying it can humanise it and make you see it for what it really is. Pratchett manages that and again reaffirms that makes him one of the best fantasy authors out there. The setting is a device to explore that characters, the setting might lead to places and situations that we don't normally experience but it doesn't make the characters or their experiences any less real. Plus I'm really in the mood for the Hogfather, it is my Christmas book that I've re-read for quite a few years around about now.

And there we have it a twisty journy through my reading year pointing out a few interesting landmarks along the way.

MFB Best of 2010 - Liz's Choices

Artist: Andre Martins de Barros

We've all had a great year on MFB what with books bought and books received from various publishers.  It's really difficult looking back over the 12 months to decide which favourite to choose, where in some instances it seems glaringly obvious.

I'd also like to point out that the MFB 2010 favourites don't necessarily have to be from 2010, just reviewed during this year.

Books that have stood out for me this year are:

Jeremy de Quidt's The Toymaker - a dark eerie fairy tale set in an unknown European country just drips menace and scariness.  It was a great read for January this year when things were pretty dark and grim.

Pretty Bad Things by CJ Skuse - a contemporary novel set in Vegas with a foul mouthed heroine who has two people she cares about in the world: her dad and her twin brother and nothing is going to stop her from tracking down her dad, even if it means robbing every sweet shop in Vegas and dragging her brother with her into a life of crime.

Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt - a sweet original contemporary fantasy about a young girl who makes a wish, discovers that wishes do come true, much to her surprise.  The writing is excellent and the story is sweet and gutsy and Desi is a fantastic heroine.

I loved The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X Stork and can't recommend this enough to readers who are looking for something completely different.  It follows the story of Pancho as he's trying to come to terms with death, his sister's death especially and the fact that he has sworn an oath to find her killer.  It also deals with a boy he meets at the local orphanage called DQ who is busy dying and the strange humourous angry friendship he strikes up with Pancho.

Michael Ridpath's Where the Shadows Lie really rocked my world. It's not just the quality of the author's writing which verges on literary crime fiction, it is also the plotting and the overall storytelling and the story itself.  A lost manuscript and the lengths people would go to to either hide it, steal it or reveal it to the world is just fantastic.  Set in Iceland with its eerie landscapes it genuinely turned me into a fan of Mr. Ridpath.

Linda Strachan's Dead Boy Talking really took me by surprise.  Told from the dying boy's point of view, the novel does not shy away from being brutal and honest about knife crime.  It's gripping and thoughtful and told within a short space of time, we invest so much in the character and his situation that the ending comes too soon, almost abruptly.  A clever novel written for teens and adults and one to make us think.

Dead Man's Cove by Lauren St John is my first ever novel I've read by Ms. St John and she really swept me off my feet.  A charming nostalgic story set in St Ives with a main character called Laura who fancies herself a bit of a detective, the story is deceptively layered and clever and one I'd go out of my way to recommend to younger readers.

My first ever Diana Wynne-Jones novel, Enchanted Glass took me ages to get into and then once I did I couldn't stop raving about it. It really took me by surprise, sneaking up on me.  Richly rewarding it is a story told by a consummate storyteller of great skill - it makes you feel all glowy and happy inside.

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver.  I could write an ode to this book - mostly it would read: how the heck did you manage to freak me out that much? It was just snow, for heaven's sake! Oh and darkness. Let's not forget the encroaching darkness.  Wonderfully creepy Dark Matter deserves to be on the list of several of the 2010's best of / favourites lists.  It is horror at its best.

Mezolith by Ben Haggarty and Adam Brockbank has to be one of my favourite graphic novels of all time.  The artwork is sublime and the story of Poika as he grows up in his tribe where superstition and the supernatural are part and parcel of hunting and gathering is rich with lore and archetypes.

I'd like to conclude withThe Painted Boy by Charles de Lint - packed full of mythology and some of CDL's best writing, this story makes me want to pack my bag and travel to the States to go walk around the desert and howl with coyotes.  It's fresh writing from the man who started the urban fantasy trend and what's more is it is the perfect cross-over novel to be enjoyed by readers of YA and readers of adult urban fantasy who want more mythology and lore than sparkly vampires.

Resolutions for 2011:

Well, MFB have joined the British Books challenge as put together by her fabness The Bookette.  I know we are all incredibly excited about this prospect. I know that we will EASILY make at least 50 Brit Books next year.  (Watch me fall flat on my face with that brag!)

Personally I am still on my kick to keep on reading science fiction.  Thanks to John Berlyne and SFREVU as well as Gollancz publishers, that's happened for me in 2010.  I've learned to love new authors (Ian McDonald and Stephen Baxter) in this field and I'm tentatively thinking that maybe my brain didn't get fried reading Asimov at too young an age.

I also want to get to reading some series books that I've neglected these past few years:

- Harry Dresden Books by Jim Butcher.  Having read up to around book 4 or 5, I suspect I may have to reread them all from scratch, for completeness sake, of course.
- Philip Reeve's books, starting with the Mortal Engines sequence
- Finish my my Skulduggery Pleasant books
- Read more Spooks books by Joseph Delaney
- Lord of the Rings - read all the books, including The Hobbit (feel my pain)

I also want to make sure I read more crime and thrillers as I genuinely do love these genres.  Also MORE fantasy.  These are things that are my true loves, yet I feel as if I've not read enough of them in 2010.

Reflections of 2010:

We've been busy this year - a lot of publisher and blogging events, cons and author meet-ups and book launches.  Needless to say it is an amazing experience to realise that we are taken seriously by the publishing industry, receiving invites to attend launches and being asked for opinions about various things.  And of course receiving exclusive content to share online is so superb.  We were spoiled rotten.

Mark and I would like to say thanks to Sarah (essjay) for joining the team.  Holy smokes, without this girl MFB would be a lot poorer.  She stepped in with her love of the YA genre and took stacks of reading off my hands.  I've watched her grow as a reviewer and I am incredibly proud and very grateful to her for being there and for keeping me (personally) sane when sometimes I wanted to run and hide.

As for Mark - well, he's my writing and reading buddy.  He's read a shedload of Warhammer and horror for MFB this year and I'm hoping he'll continue doing that in 2011.  Also more commercial fantasy.  I know he's very excited about me reading Lord of the Rings.

And Gav asking to join MFB was a big surprise.  It's going to be great as I suspect that 2011 will see him throwing his weight into reviewing everything he can lay his grubby little paws on, including crime and a few literary books.

In other words, MFB had a fantastic 2010 which means that 2011 is going to work extra hard to surpass it.  But something tells me that it will happen as we have strong dedicated team.

Lastly, a big thanks to all of our readers, new and old for sticking it out with us, for reading our blog posts, for commenting and entering our competitions.  It means a helluva lot and you guys rock.

Here's to a fab 2010 and here's looking forward to an even more fab 2011!

MFB Best of 2010 - Sarah's Choices

Tricky, tricky, tricky. As this is my first year on MFB and blogging I've never done one of these before. After much deliberation I've managed to narrow it down to a select few. As you've probably realised by now I'm passionate about paranormal young adult fiction so it'll be no surprise that it dominates my list. So, with no further ado let's crack on.

By Midnight, Mia James

I love Highgate Cemetery. It's one of the most atmospheric, gothic places I've ever visited so I was excited to read about it. The book caught the feeling of Highgate for me but more than that, it captured London too. I've lost count of the amount of American paranormal fiction I've read and By Midnight's very Britishness was refreshing. I also appreciated the, "real," way that teenages were depicted. They drink! They smoke! They generally carry on like reckless young 'uns. There was also a delicious mix of great dresses, snarky kids at school, geeky best friends and the whole thing was a glorious read.

Clockwork Angel, Cassandra Clare

Clare is one of my favourite authors but I couldn't imagine the world of Shadowhunters in the Victorian era. I needn't have worried as the murky atmosphere of gas-lit Victorian london is perfectly suited to to the world of Mortal Instruments. Heroine Tessa arrives in London and is immediately swept into the disgusting world of the Dark Sisters. It becomes apparent that Tessa isn't just a sweet, innocent girl over from America but has a secret that even she didn't know about. A great collection of characters plus a chance to get to know the fabulous Magnus a bit better made this instantly addictive.

Nevermore, Kelly Creagh

Dark, moody, addictive - I loved, loved, loved this book. The stereotypes are there; the goth and the cheerleader forced together for a class project. However, everything else about Nevermore is incredibly unique. Varen, outsider at school, is obsessed with the works of Poe - perhaps too much? Outwardly, Isobel has it all; popular, jock boyfriend, top flyer in the cheerleading squad. However, she's started to feel that there's more to life than putting up with her bullish boyfriend. Varen intrigues her and she finds herself questioning the way her life is going. Varen is a tortured soul and I was willing them to get together. Aside from the goings on in the physical world there's also the world of Poe which adds a wonderful air of mystery to the whole novel. As the real and imaginary worlds begin to bleed into one another the story reaches its climx. I can't say enough good things about Nevermore, it goes beyond most Young Adult novels I've read and got me reading Poe. Enough said.

Nightshade, Andrea Cremer

Nightshade has just snuck in at the end of the year enabling me to include this in my list. I was a little worried when I read the synopsis that this would be somewhat reminiscent of Bitten. I needn't have worried as Nightshade is a completely different animal (sorry). Calla is an alpha Guardian (she can switch between human and wolf forms at will) who's purpose in life is to protect the ancient Keepers. Calla is also promised to a fellow alpha, Ren so they can form a new pack under their control. However, the appearance of a new boy at school throws Calla's life plans into disarray. The massive strength of Nightshade for me was the carefully planned mythology that Cremer had used as the base for her story. However, none of it seems forced and you discover bits here and there until the whole becomes clear. Like By Midnight, I liked that the teenage desire seemed authentic and the book fairly sizzled from start to finish. The world of Nightshade felt fresh and was deliciously creepy at times too.

Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books, Francesca Lia Block.

I started this book on a long car journey and after a few pages stopped. I really wasn't sure about the language but I dove back in determined to give it a proper chance. The world of Weetzie is, I found, very hypnotic and addictive. Soon I was finding the language beautiful and descriptive rather than alien. The edition that I read was a bind-up of the whole series and they cover all the members of Weetzie's family in each separate book. What I also loved was the subject matter that the books covered. It was a little tricky to put an era on the books but they seemed to cover anything from the 1960's to early 1990's and focus on the serious side of life. I actually made a note of some of my favourite lines and that's not something that I often do. Dangerous Angels is a lyrical gem.

2010 was an important year for me and this piece wouldn't be complete without thanking Liz and Mark for inviting me to join MFB and let me post rambling, gleeful reviews of amazing books. Guys, I've loved it and am looking forward to getting stuck in to some great releases for 2011. Thank you for everything, you've made my life richer - honestly.

Okay, bring on the new books - grrrr!

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Synopsis

Forbidden flowers can be deadly. . .

While other teenage girls daydream about boys, Calla Tor imagines ripping out her enemies’ throats. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. Calla was born a warrior and on her eighteenth-birthday she’ll become the alpha female of the next generation of Guardian wolves.

But Calla’s predestined path veers off course the moment she saves the life of a wayward hiker, a boy her own age. This human boy’s secret will turn the young pack's world upside down and forever alter the outcome of the centuries-old Witches' War that surrounds them all. . .

I'd like to say that I'm never swayed by covers but, oh my word, how gorgeous is this? I also bought the US hardcover as I'm a sucker for those rough (deckle) edged pages. So, cover love aside what's it actually like? If I were to sum it up in a few words or phrases it would be; sexy, amazing research, great mythology. Cala is a Guardian, a race that can shift from wolf to human appearance at will. Guardians are a warrior race whose job is to protect the Keepers,an ancient race of witches. Cala's also the alpha of her pack and is promised to fellow alpha, Ren. Their union is planned for Samhain and will herald a new pack which Ren (with Cala by his side) will run. However, despite these long-held plans Cala saves a human, Shay, from a bear attack which starts a forbidden relationship. Now, when I say sexy I mean it. There's a thrilling, under the surface longing that runs throughout the book which inevitably bubbles up to the surface. After all, Cala is a seventeen year old girl who's expected to live a nun-like existence in a modern world. Nightshade is so well written that I never felt that the kissing scenes were unnecessary or overdone.

Cala is an enigma. Although she's a Guardian and extremely strong she has to abide by strict rules of the pack and of the Keepers. While Ren is free to do what he likes Cala must keep herself pure for their union. The rest of her pack aren't expected to live by such archaic laws but of course Cala is different. Initially I couldn't see the attraction of Shay. Although he's the forbidden he doesn't quite have the, erm, animal charm of Ren. I found I quite liked Ren despite his many failings and felt as sorry for him as I did for Cala. A thread of threat runs through Nightshade and the pack are always trying to avoid upsetting the Keepers. The passages where the Guardian's and Keepers interact where quite creepy and unsettling which made me want to know more about the traditions that brought their relationship about.

Shay, of course, is the human outsider and as confused by their world as the reader. The information about this strange world becomes clearer as Cala begins to trust him more. Shay is a great cynic, he needs evidence before he's prepared to accept something at face value. The use of the beliefs of Thomas Hobbes is used by Shay to show how far from accepted philosophy Cala's world is. A great deal of research lies behind the story of Nightshade and it's this that makes it not just another Young Adult paranormal novel. The mythology is flawless, intricate and absorbing. Shay encourages Cala to ask more about the world she inhabits and as they research it together they grow closer and we get to learn more through their discoveries.

The book becomes more tense as Cala and Ren's union gets closer. Cala begins to question more and more and her situation becomes impossible. The two packs are great secondary characters and their stories are almost engrossing as Shay and Cala's. The pace is fast which barely a chance to catch your breath before the next big event. Did Shay win me over in the end? I must admit that he did - I loved his rationality and genuine concern for Cala. I read this book in two sittings and would recommend it. It's one of my favourite reads of this year, up there with Nevermore, Clockwork Angel and Angel.

Guest Blog: Andrea Cremer

We're very excited here on MFB about the release of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer and to be part of the blog tour. Andrea has been kind enough to write us a brilliant piece about pack etiquette and the mythology behind the book. We hope you enjoy it!

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In the weeks leading up to Nightshade’s release I’ve been thrilled by the number of reviews and the amount of excitement my book has generated – it’s more than any debut author could ever hope for. A common response to Nightshade from readers is the comment that it’s one of his or her favorite werewolf books. As much as I understand where that idea comes from, I think it’s time for me to take and stand and say Nightshade is not a werewolf book. Here’s what I mean:
I’ve lived long in the realm of paranormal/fantasy proudly bearing my badge of vampire girl. That’s right; I came on board as a fan of vamps, not werewolves. I was Team Edward for all four books of Twilight. I prefer Bill and Eric to Sam in True Blood. But before you start throwing tomatoes, let me tell you why.

Friends who knew I was a vampire girl presumed that meant I love ALL forms of paranormal, so they’d push werewolves at me enthusiastically. I wasn’t interested, and I couldn’t figure out why. After all they were fierce, strong, magical – all things I liked. So what was the problem? And then it hit me – I didn’t like werewolves because I love wolves.

That’s right – I’m a wolf girl, but a real wolf girl. I grew up so far north in Wisconsin that it’s practically Canada. Wolves roamed the forests of my homeland. I also loved National Geographic television specials even more than cartoons. So by age 9 I could rattle off biological and ecological info like a pro. Wolves to me were beautiful, intelligent, social, and graceful.
Werewolves seemed to be none of these things. The werewolves I’d encountered on page and screen were hideous – half man/half beast, usually ugly, often unintelligent, driven only by rage or bloodlust. And worst of all: they didn’t want to be wolves. Lycanthropy occurs as a curse, or a disease. The endgoal of most werewolf tales was to kill the wolf or free the affected person of the wolf curse. I couldn’t come to grips with that idea. If someone asked me – hey wanna turn into a wolf? I’d say “heck, yeah!” Wouldn’t you rather be a wolf? From what I know of wolves, the answer is indisputably YES.

Nightshade’s Guardians are my way of coming to terms with my love of wolves and my trouble with classic werewolf tales. Calla – the alpha female who narrates Nightshade – is powerful and revels in her life as a wolf. Her troubles arise not from her ability to shift, but from the ways in which her masters try to limit her power, to restrain her freedoms. Calla started it all because I wanted to write a story about a female character who wasn’t being pulled into a magical world – she was already in the middle of it, a leader and a warrior. The world of Nightshade came as I tried to figure out how someone like Calla, a girl who I knew was incredibly powerful, could be afraid and angry. What was controlling her? Why would she be fighting against her own destiny? I realized that she was facing off with something even more powerful than herself.

That’s where my background as a historian came in. I teach early modern history (1500-1800) – a period of immense, violent change in human societies. This is the time of witchhunts, religious warfare, colonization, the Inquistion; all types of cataclysmic social transformation that turned the lives across the globe upside down. The more I thought about Calla I thought about the ways in which wolf warriors and witches could have intertwined lives. The mythology in Nightshade is a blend of history and lore, new twists I invented along the way…and wolves in the wilderness the way I always imagined they would be.

Wolves also inspire me because of their sociability.
Pack relationships offered a wonderful way to explore a world of friendship, servitude, loyalty, and betrayal. While Nightshade is about Calla’s journey, it’s also the story of her pack. The other wolves in the book play key roles throughout the trilogy. Wolves offered a wonderful framework around which to explore relationships, love, fear, and rivalry.
I still love vampires, but I have to say I think I’m switching teams. Wolves carry a magic and mystery to me that captured my heart and hasn’t let go. It was just a matter of finding my own way to tell their story.