After reading a couple of extremely well-written, moving but rather serious books, picking up The Bloody Red Baron was intended to be a welcome piece of light relief: a bit of fun vampiric horror. Kim Newman takes up the reigns of his alternate history some thirty years after the events in the previous Anno Dracula. Having fled from England… Continue reading The Bloody Red Baron, Kim Newman
Category: Fantasy
World War Z, Max Brooks
My teeth grated together in horror as soon as I listened to this: "World War Zee by Max Brooks!" intoned the narrator. "Zee"? "Zee"?! No!! World War Zed! Despite that, this was a brilliant book to listen to as an audiobook: it is formed from interviews with various survivors of the war against the undead.… Continue reading World War Z, Max Brooks
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The Way Of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson writes high, epic fiction: huge worlds in which the very nature of the earth is as much a character as the creatures that he inhabits it with. In the Mistborn trilogy, the ashen and grey polluted earth dominated the tale; here in The Stormlight Archive, his created world is one of rock and… Continue reading The Way Of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
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Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve; Railsea, China Miéville
Right, following on from seeing Philip Reeve in person - gabardine clad, animated and inspirational - and having had the question posed to me of how you could not read a book whose opening paragraph is “It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town… Continue reading Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve; Railsea, China Miéville
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Here Lies Arthur, Philip Reeve
For some reason, I cannot read this title without intuitively reading it in Latin hic iacit Arcturus. I attended a literacy conference this week where Philip Reeve was - for wont of a better phrase - the keynote speaker and I was lent this book as an introduction to his work as - to my… Continue reading Here Lies Arthur, Philip Reeve
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The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Do a book club, they said! It'll be fun, they said! We'll call it Addiction to Fiction, they said! Okay, fair enough that's cool! It won't take much time, they said. Oh. Right. Of course not. So now, at 3:15 every Thursday a group of book hungry students descends on me. Seriously, it's fabulous: a… Continue reading The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
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The Wise Man’s Fear, Patrick Rothfuss
I had enjoyed The Name Of The Wind. It was refreshing within the fantasy genre. I didn't think it quite deserved the incandescent - which seems to be my word of the week! - praise that it had received. But I liked it. Part 2 of The Kingkiller Chronicle, The Wise Man's Fear, heaps more… Continue reading The Wise Man’s Fear, Patrick Rothfuss
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The Name Of The Wind, Patrick Rothfuss
I signed up to Audible nearly a year ago now. I was interested in trying audiobooks and had been for a while : I drive. Lots. Daily. And whilst I like the Today Programme in the morning, I'm less keen on PM in the afternoon. But I'm also a skinflint and object to paying £20… Continue reading The Name Of The Wind, Patrick Rothfuss
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Railsea, China Miéville
In the words of Mieville himself, this novel is a wonderful "gallimaufryan coagulum of mixed up oddness".
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On the waiting list
I am conscious that I haven't managed to post on here for a while... Primarily because I've not managed to finish a book for a while. Now, there are a number of possible reasons for this... 1. I am just very very lazy... 2. I have been doing a lot of work for, well, work...… Continue reading On the waiting list
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Whispers Under Ground, Ben Aaronovitch
The third of the Peter Grant magical police constable books to appear on this blog. I'm beginning to feel I should write the review in the style of a police statement: Proceeding on information received via a personal contact, Police Constable Grant witnessed a person or persons unknown which he later recognised as a ghost… Continue reading Whispers Under Ground, Ben Aaronovitch
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Alloy Of Law, Brandon Sanderson
I was torn between three and four stars on this but came to the view that having read through it in 4 days it was a four, but I do have reservations about this book. It is without doubt a great read, fun enjoyable and lighthearted. It evokes the atmosphere of the 1800s in the… Continue reading Alloy Of Law, Brandon Sanderson
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Avengers, Assemble
Hmmm... Thus far, this blog has been dedicated to book reviews. Patently, Avengers is not a book. Should I start a new blog? Can one, should one include it in a "book lover"'s sanctuary? Is the investment you give a 150 minute film equivalent to a book that takes a week, a month to read?… Continue reading Avengers, Assemble
The Book Lovers' Sanctuary 
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