Simon P’s Reviews: Halfway To Hollywood, by Michael Palin, and My Shit Life So Far, by Frankie Boyle
on Nov 6, 2009 in Book Reviews Biography & Memoirs Can the human mind conceive of two more disparate comedic performers than Frankie Boyle and Michael Palin? One, a psychotic motormouth at perma risk of being banned for some monstrous overstepping of the mark. The other, the epitome of the most under...

Erin’s Review: Notwithstanding, by Louis de Bernieres
on Nov 5, 2009 in Book Reviews Contemporary Fiction Short stories Miss Marple always maintained that her phenomenal capacity for solving complex crimes was down to the fact that she lived in a village; being in close proximity to a fairly small group of people in an insular community apparently having provided her...

Simon A’s Review: The Burning Land, by Bernard Cornwell
on Nov 4, 2009 in Book Reviews Historical Fiction War With The Burning Land, Bernard Cornwell’s tale of the forging of England by King Alfred of Wessex enters its fifth volume, and readers of the series will have a good idea of what to expect. There are few deviations from Cornwell’s traditi...

Jennie’s Review: Wake, by Lisa McMann
on Nov 3, 2009 in Book Reviews Young Adult People often look their most peaceful when asleep.  Whatever the dream that is going on within them, outwardly peace and contentment often reign.  What, though, if you could see what they were dreaming?  What if you experienced the dreams, nightma...

Erin’s Review: 2666, by Roberto Bolano
on Nov 2, 2009 in Book Reviews Contemporary Fiction What’s in a name? While a rose by any other name may well smell as sweet, the title of a book is most frequently inextricably linked to the nature and quality of the story contained within. Not necessary so with 2666. As the final novel written by...

CWA Ellis Peters Award for Historical Crime Fiction
on Oct 31, 2009 in Snippets Crime & Thriller Historical Fiction So to Fitzrovia for the announcement of tenth annual CWA Ellis Peters Award for Historical Crime Fiction, which this year goes to Philip Kerr’s If The Dead Rise Not. It’s only just out so I have not yet read it, but if it’s up to th...

Simon A’s Review: The Private Sector, by Joseph Hone
on Oct 30, 2009 in Book Reviews Crime & Thriller Espionage Anyone curious enough to consult Wikipedia about the author Joseph Hone would be sagely informed that all of his work is out of print – but thanks to the magic of print-on-demand, this is no longer the case. Hone is one of many previously crtic...

Jennie’s Review: Seeker’s Mask, by P.C. Hodgell
on Oct 29, 2009 in Book Reviews Fantasy Sometimes, an author’s skill at world-building is such that even the forests, flowers, rivers, and streams seem to breathe, to have a life of their own. P.C. Hodgell is one of those authors, and Seeker’s Mask, the third book in her series...

Simon A’s Review: The Red Wolf Conspiracy, by Robert V.S. Redick
on Oct 28, 2009 in Book Reviews Fantasy Shame on me, for taking so long to read a book that I always expected to like yet somehow never quite got round to starting until recently. Robert V.S. Redick’s fantasy debut is an enjoyable, fast-paced and engaging book that left me wanting mo...

Jennie’s Review: Ice, by Sarah Beth Durst
on Oct 27, 2009 in Book Reviews Fantasy Young Adult Sarah Beth Durst’s Ice is an unlikely combination of myth and science, modern times and ancient lore. It begins at a scientific station in the Arctic, where Cassandra Dusent lives a less-than-normal teenage life with her father and the other sc...