Icefall by Gillian Philip

review by Maryom

Seth MacGregor and his clan have been kicking their heels in exile in the mortal world for too long. Both they and their arch-enemy, Sithe queen, Kate NicNiven are growing bored and restless. The Veil which separates the two worlds is weakening with time but Kate still needs the powers of the Bloodstone to destroy it and see her world domination plans come to fruition. With this is mind she's attacking Seth's clan in the mortal world, picking them off one by one, with the hope of provoking a retaliation that will put them all back under her control. Power seems to have gone to her head though since we last encountered her, and she's no longer satisfied with the idea of ruling both Sithe and mortal realms but wants to be worshipped as a god - and is prepared to strike a deal with anyone or anything, no matter how evil, to achieve it.

I started Icefall with more than a little trepidation - I've loved the Rebel Angels series but it's always been billed as four books in length, and here we are at Book 4. It'll all end happily, won't it? The hero and his lady-love will walk off hand in hand into the sunset? Well, unfortunately that's not the Gillian Philip way; Icefall means another round of pain and suffering, anguish and heartache for characters and readers alike.
If anything, this felt grimmer than the previous books; the habitual violence of the Sithe spilling over into the 'real' world and, with Kate slowly draining Seth's soul away, emotionally bleak. It's a book where happiness is brief and only come by at great cost, so 'enjoyed' isn't the best word to describe it. Nonetheless, it's a gripping, fitting end to the story. I'm just sad to leave the Sithe and their world.

The problem always with reading a series as it's written, so to speak, is that there are inevitable gaps while waiting for the next book to be published. So in a way I envy the readers who are discovering the series for the first time - they can pick up the first book Firebrand, and work their way through with no long pauses.

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Strident
Genre - fantasy, teen/YA /adult

Buy Icefall (Rebel Angels) from Amazon

Crossing The Line by Gillian Philip * * * * *

One year ago, Allie's boyfriend was killed in a knife attack. Her brother, Nick, worries about her - does she really still see and hear Aidan as she claims or is she pretending? and how much did his actions, or lack of them, lead to Aidan's death?

All his life, Nick has felt he has no one to depend on or turn to, particularly with problems. His mother is lost in her job- doling out sympathy and advice for others. His father is lost in his booze. His Grandmother is lost in old age. The only person Nick can depend on is himself - but what if he got things wrong and he's the one who messed everything up?

This is intended as a Young Adult novel but I found it engrossing, moving, funny at times and a little disturbing - these are, after all, fairly normal teenagers trying to cope with school life not drug gangs. The action moves quickly, between 'Then', the lead up to the fatal stabbing, and 'Now' as Nick tries to sort things out and move on, to a nail biting, spooky ending that will leave you wondering.

Would recommend this for adults as well as their teenagers.

The Mole said...

I have now read this and want to add my experience of reading as a comment rather than a separate review. I found this book truly excellent and easily worthy of the 5 stars Maryom has awarded it. It deals with youth culture and a violent death. I truly abhor violence and this made much of the book disturbing, but it was still compelling and I felt I gained from the reading. I feel I want to avoid the word 'enjoy' though because 'enjoy' is for books that leave you with only a happy glow, whereas here I felt more disturbed by the story than glowing from it. Although I could identify with some of the characters, at school I couldn't truly identify with Nick. I was picked on at school (you were either a bully or bullied - there was no middle ground) until one day I 'lost it' and got close to breaking a kids arm. I was frightened by the loss of control that violence had caused and it reinforced my abhorrence of violence and I never 'lost it' a second time. There are happier themes of teenage love in the story as well, but sadly not everything comes out rosy in those themes either. My one comment - not a criticism, merely a comment - is that it is written in the first person of a 17 year old boy, some of the observations reflect more life experience than I would expect and certainly some of the style comments (girl's hair, clothes etc) are not the kind of thing a man, let alone a boy, would come out with. None of this though detracted from the excellence of the book.

Favourite Scottish Reads - as seen on Twitter

A brief post provoked by a question from @EdinCityofLit on Twitter earlier this week about favourite Scottish reads. Now, on Twitter you've got about 10 seconds to think of something clever or amusing, or even preferably both, to say. So briefly hunting round my brain I picked

The Crow Road by Iain Banks
All Fun and Games until Somebody Loses an Eye by Christopher Brookmyre
Bloodstone by Gillian Philip

and then watched as everyone else came up with more sensible ideas - Kate Atkinson's Case Histories series, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, anything by Alexander McCall Smith....

Anyway, I thought I'd defend myself .....

The Crow Road - yes, it opens with an attention grabbing sentence about the narrator's grandmother exploding but what makes this book stand out for me is the almost fictional landscape that Iain Banks creates. Some authors set their books in places recognisable to their readers; some create a totally imaginary setting: in The Crow Road the two meet. Many of the places are real and the fictional ones wrap round, under and over them (mirroring the relationship between life and fiction). Go to Crinan (a place I knew before reading the book) and you can visualise where Gallanach must be - you can imagine a viaduct crossing Loch Fyne at Minard - and heading back towards Glasgow, you'll drive carefully in case that fatal litter bin is still there! Stand at Crinanferry and you can visualise an alternative world where Upper Loch Crinan is a deep water port rather than mud-flats barely covered at high tide, where a bustling town with docks and glass works grew up on its banks, maybe peopled by folk just like Prentice McHoan and his exploding grandma!
People often ask about novels that have impacted on readers lives and in an immensely trivial way this has - every time we drive on the motorway, I encourage my husband to try Ashley's trick of crossing from one lane to the next without hitting the cat's eyes!



All Fun And Games Until Somebody Loses An Eye - an action-packed comic escapade that I happened when talking about it recently to liken to Charlie's Angels. So why put it up there in favourite reads? Because of the heroine, Jane Fleming - who's led a life of dull propriety until she suddenly finds herself plunged into a world of fast cars, designer clothing and international espionage worthy of a Bond girl. But Jane is no young bimbo - she's a 46 yr old granny! After years trapped in dull routine, she has the chance to break out of the mould her family have cast her in, to live the life she always wanted and prove that age is no barrier to having fun!





Bloodstone - cheating a bit to include this as it's not published till August. I've recently read a proof copy and found some of its passages the most harrowing I've ever read. Gillian Philip is not an author to let her characters, or her reader, off lightly and there's no pulling of punches when it comes to making them suffer. When you think the characters have all the emotional and physical turmoil they can stand - there's more to come! I'm not a person to sob my way through any sad parts and tear-jerkers don't normally work on me, but at a certain point while reading, I called a temporary halt - put the book in the freezer for a while, as Joey from Friends does - because it didn't seem right and proper to carry on without a pause, so much was I involved with the characters, their pain and grief.


So, there we go, my favourite three Scottish reads - certainly the three that sprang to mind quickest.

What would you pick?





This originally appeared on Maryom's personal blog 19/07/11

Bloodstone by Gillian Philip

A Heart-wrenching, Gut-mangling Read
review by Maryom

For this, the second in the Rebel Angels series, we're back with Sithe half-brothers, Conal and Seth, exiled in the mortal world until they can find the Bloodstone with which their Queen Kate NicNiven seeks to control both Fairy and Mortal worlds. Don't for a minute though confuse these 'fairies' with gossamer winged creatures of children's picture books. They're rough, tough fighting men - and women - with an ability to enter, and sometimes alter, minds - mainly keeping to their own side of the Veil.
Centuries have passed in the mortal world since the events of Firebrand. Seth, the hotheaded rebellious youth of Firebrand is older, not necessarily wiser, more wary of committing his affections, not quite bitter but someone who has been involved in many of mankind's wars and seen too much of the dark side of man to remain unscathed.
There are new characters though for Seth to share the limelight with - Finn MacAngus has been raised in the mortal world, as a fully mortal child, unaware that her family are Sithe exiled from the Fairy Realm on the other side of the Veil. When she accidentally ventures through, she feels that at last she has found a home, a place where she truly belongs - unfortunately not all the Sithe are as trustworthy and honest as Finn believes. Dragged along with her is Jed Cameron, a full mortal strangely at home there and his baby half-brother, in whom manipulative Queen Kate NicNiven seems a little too interested..

Bloodstone is yet another powerful dramatic read from Gillian Philip. She's not an author to let her characters, or her reader, off lightly and there's no pulling of punches when it comes to making them suffer. When you think the characters have all the emotional and physical turmoil they can stand - there's more to come! There was one certain passage at which I called a temporary halt to reading - put the book in the freezer for a while, as Joey from Friends does - because it didn't seem right and proper to carry on without a pause, so much was I involved with the characters, their pain and grief.

I missed the scenery, the dazzling seascapes of Firebrand, but as this book is set in winter under dull leaden skies and horizontal drizzle that's perhaps to be expected.

A heart-wrenching, gut-mangling read, aimed at teens/YA but as the series develops I'm convinced it's one that will increasingly appeal to adult readers. Parents - buy it for your teen and 'borrow' it!

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Strident
Genre - fantasy, teen/YA /adult

Buy Bloodstone (Rebel Angels Series) from Amazon

Opposite of Amber

So, What is the Opposite of Amber?
review by Maryom

Jinn has always been like a mother to her younger sister Ruby, especially after their mother died. Her sparkling presence fills their house and garden with light, life and colour. Ruby was always the quiet one who never spoke up. Then everything changes - when a friend jumps off the leisure centre roof, Ruby feels her careless words may have pushed him to it but Jinn suddenly has no time to listen. 'Bad boy' Nathan Baird has returned to town and Jinn is swept away by him. Ruby finds she quickly has to come to terms with no longer being the centre of her sister's world and with the things that Jinn is prepared to do to help someone else. Set against a backdrop of serial killer on the loose, this is a moving and sometimes distressing look at the bond and interdependence between sisters.

I've literally just finished reading this and I'm still feeling rather stunned, gob-smacked, by the ending - or not really the ending so much as the build up to it. I took a while to get into the swing of this book, for some strange reason it wasn't quite what I was expecting - I think maybe because the back cover blurb makes a lot of the relationship between the sisters and of the murders happening around town but nothing of Ruby's agonising over Alex's suicide attempt - but after that I was completely hooked.

The Opposite of Amber is a very very different book to Gillian Philip's last, Firebrand, but an equally compelling page-turner. "Coming of age novel" is a somewhat over-used phrase but I find it difficult to describe this any other way. Ruby has always been overprotected, over mothered by Jinn, then, at this point when she needs someone to turn to, finds Jinn has other priorities and that their roles are even reversed, and Ruby must look after Jinn.
While the story is told through Ruby's eyes, I felt as reader I could sit back just a little further and feel sorry for Jinn and Nathan, so obviously deeply in love with each other but with so many things going against them.

Compelling, frightening, occasionally funny, a book to remember long after the last page. As for the title which had me puzzling - what IS the opposite of amber? red or green as on traffic lights? - you'll have to read it to find out!

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Bloomsbury
Genre - YA
Buy The Opposite of Amber from Amazon

Maryom's Round Up Of The Year -2010

It's that time of year when everyone starts talking about 'best of the year', so here's my personal round-up to go with all the others out there. Not all of these are newly published this year - just newly read by me - though there's certainly no sense to including favourite re-reads; they belong in a different list altogether. Also, not all of these are books I've reviewed for our blog - some have been reviewed elsewhere, one particularly I know I've only reviewed on Amazon or Waterstones. Enough rambling - where to start? Children's books?

In The Map Of Marvels by David Calcutt, Connor draws a map and finds himself transported into it. The only way home is to follow the adventures the map leads him to. A compelling, Arabian nights type adventure with pirates and shipwrecks, deserts and djinn. It's recommended for older children but is the sort of adventure tale we used to read as bedtime story to our 8 or 9 yr old daughter.





Bree McCready and the Half Heart Locket by Hazel Allan a fantastical adventure story for 9 - 13 yrs. Bree wins the half-heart locket in a raffle and finds herself whisked away with friends Sandy and Honey over the moon rainbow to save the world from evil monster Thalofedril.















The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan - a wonderful action, suspense novel, maybe mainly for boys. Readers will urge Sam on, cheer at his success, be disheartened as he fails, tremble as he and his friend Lloyd hide from the villain, but hopefully take heed of the message - be sure you know who is offering you a lift home.






Another absolutely stunning fantasy adventure is Mortlock by Jon Mayhew. The wonderful knife-throwing heroine, Josie, is thrown by her guardian's death into a world of danger, excitement and supernatural crows. Not for the squeamish!















Moving onward and upward to teenage fiction


Keren David's debut novel, When I Was Joe, came out at the beginning of the year followed in September by its sequel Almost True. Together they tell the story of Ty, taken into the witness protection programme after a stabbing incident, his problems adapting to his new identity and unknown past.















Wasted by Nicola Morgan - Truly an amazing book that really makes you wonder about the little chances that life turns on. A story about love, fate and the danger of leaving things to chance. I loved this and my daughter, then 12, did too - so one for almost all ages!













Firebrand by Gillian Philip - first in a series following the exploits of Seth MacGregor - wild, unruly Sidhe warrior - an action packed, fast paced fantasy novel capable of surprising to almost the last page, with a cast of real living breathing characters. Published as a YA book but one for all lovers of fantasy regardless of age.













For adults...

Fantasy, myth and politics meet in the Mabinogion Stories series from Seren Books, retelling Welsh myths in modern or even future settings. My favourite has to be The Dreams of Max and Ronnie by Niall Griffiths - turning old stories into up to date political commentary.






I read and loved Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - a long slow novel exploring the Tudor world and the workings of HenryVIII's court. Probably not a book for everyone, mainly due to it's length.

















If you're looking for something shorter try The Still Point by Amy Sackville. Julia has grown up believing in the stories of her family's long-lost heroic Arctic explorer, Edward Mackley and the devoted life-time wait of his wife. As she sorts through relics in the attic, Julia discovers all is not as she had believed. This story weaves together themes of loss, self-delusion, betrayal and discovery, with alternating threads of heat and cold, idleness and endeavour, creating a wonderful whole.




New publishers Peirene Press specialise in translated fiction - "Thought provoking, well designed, short", as their slogan says. All three of this year's books were wonderful in their own way. My favourite, though only by a small margin, was Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman by Friedrich Christian Delius. A young, pregnant German woman walks through Rome one day in January 1943 on her way to a musical recital at a church. On her way we share her thoughts, hopes and fears meandering between past, present and future. A whole life in 125 pages!




In a very different vein - two outstandingly creepy novels

Blacklands by Belinda Bauer - a chilling debut thriller. Steven feels that if he can find the body of his murdered uncle Billy the past can be laid to rest and his family become 'normal'. When he realises he won't succeed by digging up random bits of Exmoor, Steven decides to try the more direct approach and write to Avery asking for directions. Reminding the killer of the past may not turn out to be the cleverest of moves though...




Captured by Neil Cross, creator of BBC's Luther. A man with only weeks to live determines to solve the mystery of an ex-girlfriends disappearance - using whatever means and methods he feels are needed. A shortish book, driven forward by dialogue, full of desperation. It was a totally gripping read - even when you wish you could turn away and not look.













And last but most certainly not least, something for everyone - The Ice Bear by Jackie Morris. A gorgeous illustrated book with lyrical words. You may want to buy it for a special child in your life - or you may just want to treat yourself!

Teen Heroines - Maryom's Choice

So, the competition running at the moment got us all thinking about teenage heroines. I came up with too many possibilities so I've decided to have two lists - firstly, heroines from my teenage reading and secondly, some from books I've read much more recently. In case you haven't seen TheMole's choices you can find them here.

List A - probably in chronological reading order.

Maelen from the Moon of Three Rings by Andre Norton - probably not very well known but an alien from a far distant planet with the ability to communicate with animals through thought and at times of very rare planetary alignment her race is able to 'swap bodies/minds' with the animals and become them.
A bit of a leap for #2 - Natasha from War and Peace. Maybe not an obvious choice for a teenagers reading pile but I first saw this on TV and was entranced by the fancy frocks etc then read the book. Natasha is after all a teenager for most of the book, has her tantrums, falls in love with a Prince, tries to elope with someone else and lives happily after after with teddy-bear like Pierre. Oh and no one would want to be like Cousin Sonia!
Thirdly, Cecile from Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan. Not a nice girl! She smokes, has sex with her boyfriend ( unheard of way back then) and plots and schemes to separate her father from his first serious relationship after being widowed, driving people to despair and possible suicide. All of this against the backdrop of the exotic-seeming French Riviera.

List B More recent heroines

Cass from Bad Faith by Gillian Philip - coping with murder, family secrets and a stifling male-dominated society
The knife-throwing Josie from Mortlock by Jon Mayhew - plunged into a world of mystery, danger and crows!
Sabriel from the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix. Forced by her Father's death into taking over his role as Abhorsen, sending the newly-raised dead back where they belong and tracking down his killer.

Gillian Philip - Author Interview

Gillian Philip was born in Glasgow and has been writing all her life, starting with short but frenetic novels about Captain Scarlet and The Man From UNCLE (having massive crushes on both). She has worked as a barmaid, theatre usherette, record store assistant, radio presenter, typesetter, and political assistant to a parliamentary candidate. While living in Barbados, where her steadiest job was as a singer in an Irish bar, she took up writing professionally, and wrote many short stories for women’s magazines.

In 2001 she moved back to Scotland, and now lives in Morayshire with her husband Ian, twins Lucy and Jamie and their two dogs, Cluny and Milo.

We had thought of Gillian as a busy writer for some time, but were surprised at how busy when we got the chance to interview her.

Your website talks of Crossing the Line, Bad Faith and the 'Darke Academy' series, but I suspect there are more books that you have written. Am I right and can you tell me anything about them?

I’ve written all four of the Rebel Angels series after Firebrand... but the other three need substantial rewriting! I’m at the editing stage of another book for Bloomsbury, The Opposite of Amber. And I’m about a quarter of the way through another contemporary novel about a politician’s daughter. I’ve written a few short novels for Evans Brothers, some still in the publishing pipeline. But also sitting on my hard drive are three or four romantic novels, from when I tried and completely failed to break into that market. But hey, they were fun to write and it was good practice...

Bad Faith... Maryom feels this is a serious novel about a religious state along the lines of "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood whereas TheMole read it as a semi humorous swipe at the idea of a theocracy. How do you view Bad faith?

Hmm. I’d lean more towards the second interpretation. That’s certainly how I thought of it as I was writing it – though I tried to make the issues subject to the story of the characters – and I think humour is an important weapon against any control-freak state. On the other hand, my feelings about theocracy and state oppression, and the attitudes I wanted to challenge in the book, are absolutely serious.

I understand your father was in the church? Did that inspire or assist you in the writing of Bad Faith? And did this cause any personal impact?

It influenced me for sure – my father was a very liberal Episcopalian priest. I was brought up with the assumption that the church would naturally grow more socially liberal. Me and my sheltered upbringing. The nineties were a shock to my system – a combination of moving to the West Indies and witnessing religious misogyny and homophobia at first hand, and realising that the church hierarchy in the UK would bend over backwards (to use an unfortunate phrase) to accommodate those kind of views.

Church unity had always been presented to me as a good and desirable thing, but I began to wonder. I thought that if the all the sects and denominations did decide to unite, it would likely be at the expense of liberal attitudes, not fundamentalist ones, because the liberals were always so willing to tolerate intolerance – in other religions as well as their own. There are fundamentalist Christians in the US who have a lot of sympathy and common ground with extreme Islamists. That’s not so surprising, but for UK church leaders to excuse some repulsive attitudes as ‘cultural differences’? Oh, please.

I would occasionally wonder if I’d pushed the limits of credibility in Bad Faith; and then, for instance, the Archbishop of Canterbury would suggest that some groups in UK society should have a parallel and equally valid judicial system – sharia, in other words. And I’d decide I hadn’t gone far enough. I never take my western liberal freedoms for granted, not any more. And I would never assume they’re immutable.

My mother’s still very devout, and I did worry I might upset her – I think she was a bit worried too – but as soon as she read the book I think she realised I wasn’t having a go at religion per se, only religion as a political system. And it probably helped that I dedicated the book to my father.

Crossing the Line... A very different book and far more serious than Bad Faith and about a highly topical subject. What gave you the idea of knife crime as a subject for a book as you appear to live in a rural idyll?

I suppose knife crime was in the news a lot at the time. Still is, unfortunately. So far as I remember it wasn’t a deliberate choice, but the natural progression of the plot – I just realised quite early on that Nick carried a knife, and that that was going to have consequences for him and those around him.

I did deliberately choose an urban setting – Bad Faith had such a rural and suburban background that I wanted a change. And I haven’t always lived in the country – I like city life too. My mother still lives in Aberdeen, so when I was writing Crossing The Line I’d go and stay with her and walk for miles around the city, letting scenes and characters pop into my head. Walking combined with location scouting is definitely one of the best sources of ideas.

The subjects of bullying and trauma (as caused by sudden death) are both covered with compassion and understanding. Did you have to research these subjects deeply?

No. I didn’t really want to, because I wanted to come at these topics raw. I didn’t want to take any of my characters from a case study, even by accident, and anyway I don’t know that research is as helpful with this kind of thing as memory, experience, observation. To an extent I used people I know, friends who have lost loved ones, experiences I’ve had. Maybe writers just have a cold spot in their hearts. Some of us, anyway.

At the end there is a slight and subtle twist. Does this reflect any religious views or is there a statement being made?

It doesn’t reflect any religious belief and no, I wasn’t trying to make any kind of statement. It was just one of those plot elements that grows on you. I didn’t know when I started writing that things were going to turn out like that – if I can put it that way! I could add that I’ve heard too many convincing stories to dismiss this kind of phenomenon. And I find that quite reassuring, not frightening.

You write for young adults, Do you have to 'dumb down' the language or content at all?

I certainly don’t dumb down my language or vocabulary – I write as I would for adults. With language and content I feel I have to be thoughtful, but nothing is off-limits. I use obscenities, but I don’t feel I can pepper the dialogue with them. In fact I usually swear a lot in my first draft, then on a rewrite I’ll go through it and delete nine out of ten, and tone others down. It’s almost invariably stronger for it, and the real profanity has more impact. I think one of the strongest aspects of YA lit is the fact that we have to think about every word, every act of violence, every sex scene. Nothing’s gratuitous.

The other difference though is in style – I’d say that is a big difference between YA and adult books. You can’t mess around with too much introspection or description; you can’t waste a word; you have to get right to the heart of the action and keep it moving.

Are there other subjects you would like to write about that are either not appropriate for young adults or that publishers want to steer clear of?

I honestly can’t think of any that they’d try to discourage. For instance, my friend Tabitha Suzuma has just written a wonderful novel about incestuous love between a brother and a sister, Forbidden. My latest – The Opposite of Amber – is about a prostitute, and my publishers didn’t bat an eye about the subject matter.

I imagine, though, that any publisher would want to be very careful how a dangerous subject was approached. Which is fair enough. In YA literature as in children’s, there are gatekeepers in the form of parents, librarians and teachers, and that has to be taken into account.

The two book covers Bad Faith and Crossing the Line have a lot in common although they were from different publishers. Was this deliberate as the cover for Firebrand is far different and more exciting and still published by Strident?

No, there was no consultation between the publishers at all! It’s a fantastic coincidence. I loved both the covers, and when I saw the cover for Crossing The Line I was enormously chuffed that it matched Bad Faith so beautifully. I still hold them up together at talks to show them off.

And now we come to Firebrand which is published very soon on 13th August. A very different style and a very different subject. Is this return to fantasy, because Darke Academy was also fantasy, something you have looked forward to?

Firebrand actually predates the Darke Academy series (which I write as a collaborative project with Hothouse Fiction). It had a very tortuous beginning – when I decided to focus on Young Adult fiction, my first attempt was a fantasy book called Rebel Angels. It wasn’t very good, and I rewrote it many times, but I’d got hooked by the characters and the story and by this time I was writing the sequel.

The trouble was, the whole story was taken over by its villain, who appealed to me more than any of the other characters. To get him out of my system I decided I had to tell his ‘origin’ story – and that was the book that became Firebrand. I’d intended it as a ‘prequel’, but it became the heart of the story, and getting Seth out of my system just hadn’t worked – he was still the guy pulling my (heart)strings. So Seth became an antihero rather than a villain, and Firebrand became Book 1 of a Rebel Angels series – and all the others are being rewritten in the light of that story, including the original Rebel Angels, which is now Book 2 and called Bloodstone. If you’re still with me!

But to answer your other question – yes, I have looked forward to getting back to this series, and I’m really excited about the rewrites. I think the books will be much improved and I like spending time with the characters.

We have both read and enjoyed tremendously Firebrand can you tell us about the rest of the series at all?

Thank you! I truly was delighted that you both liked Firebrand. In Book 2, Bloodstone, the story takes a substantial leap forward in time to the present day. Because of the Sithe’s longevity, though, we’re still with the characters from Firebrand. Conal and Seth are still defying Kate and moving between the worlds – and this has huge and disastrous consequences for the family. Thereafter – well, there are new characters, of course, from past and present, and from both worlds. And there will be war, and rebellion, and some intense romances, and death. And there’s fatal treachery from an unexpected quarter. And that’s all I’m saying!

Thanks so much for a great interview!

And many thanks for finding the time to answer our questions, it was most revealing.

Gillian can be followed on Facebook, Twitter and she blogs at http://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.com/ and at http://www.trappedbymonsters.com

Gillian also has a website : www.gillianphilip.com which currently has a minor bug, but ignore this (it is not a virus or anything, just a little rogue code) - it is being looked at.


Read our reviews of Firebrand :- Maryom's and TheMole's
Read our reviews of Bad Faith :- Maryom's and TheMole's
Read our reviews of Crossing The Line:- Maryom's

Firebrand (Rebel Angels Series) is published on 13th August 2010 and can be purchased from Amazon amongst many other outlets.
Bad Faith and Crossing the Line can also be be purchased from Amazon.

Firebrand by Gillian Philip

Fantastic Fantasy
Review by Gerry(TheMole)


It is easy for fantasy to become formulaic - Hero becomes the centre of the universe goes out and saves the world/planet/universe. Gillian Philip clearly hasn't read the formula and brings a new life to fantasy and it's writing.

As the sixteenth century comes to an end we meet Seth for the first time at a witch burning, watching with a cross bow in his arms waiting for his moment to shoot the 'witches' before the flames engulf them. Scene changes and we learn of Seth's history. The second and unwanted son of the MacGregor clann, he has been returned to the clann because of the actions of his mother and he feels unwanted and at odds with everyone in the clann. Determined to not be accepted, he fights with everyone and is semi feral. Clearly after a chapter or two we will return to the witch burning - or at the end of the book. Seth has a brother, Conal - but by a different mother and the two brothers develop a bond of love and loyalty. Conal is the older and inherits the leadership of the clann when their father is assasinated. Kate, the Queen, then contrives to exile them to the full mortal world to extend her power base.

Seth is what many of us see ourselves as:- loyal, angry, powerful, pivotal, wise, honest, passionate and so much more and this makes it easy for the reader to identify with him and share his adventure with excitement.

We don't return to the burnings where we expect and although crucial to the story there is still much to tell beyond that. I like to know how many pages there are in the book so turned to find out. In doing so I saw the title of book 2 - 'Insurrection'. This enabled me to see what was going to happen. But it didn't. Gillian didn't apply the formula instead the plot twisted and turned and gave surprise right to the end.

There is death and violence throughout the book and I found none of it in bad taste but I did get a surprise. It is a long time since I read a book where I felt choked about any death but Gillian did this to me in Firebrand - I thought I had become inured to such things.

When compared to the themes of Gillian's books Crossing The Line and Bad faith then Firebrand truly shows the range and scope of this gifted author. Insurrection please? NOW!

I have seen a copy of intended artwork for the cover and would DEARLY have liked to share it but (a) I don't know if it's the final version and (b) I don't have permission. But let me say that it is a striking cover that complements the story and is the most striking of Gillian's books so far.

TheMoles's review - 5 stars

Publisher Strident

Genre - Fantasy

Firebrand (Rebel Angels Series) is published on 13th August 2010 and can be purchased from Amazon amongst many other outlets.

Firebrand by Gillian Philip

I NEED to know - WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!!!

Firstly, I must say how pleased and excited I was to receive a proof copy of Firebrand - latest novel by Gillian Philip, due to be published on 13th August. Its the first in a fantasy series spanning 5 centuries set in both our, fully-mortal, world, and the world of the Sidhe, behind the Veil, in another dimension. The Veil is failing though and the Sidhe will no longer be hidden from the fully-mortals or safe from persecution by them. But before it does Kate NicNiven, the "neurotic and cruel" Sidhe queen intends to destroy it, and anyone in her way, in her wish to dominate BOTH worlds.

Seth is unceremoniously dumped by his mother with his father who has no interest in this son. He grows up with no real family until taken under the wing of his half brother so when that brother Conal is exiled into the world of the fully mortal, for opposing his Queen, Seth follows him out of loyalty. From the opening scene as Seth waits fearfully while his half brother is led out to be burned at the stake to the last dramatic chapter the reader is drawn along in a hellter skelter whirl. We share Seth's neglected childhood, run with him across heather moors and machair, ride with him as he tames his wild kelpie horse and follow him as he matures and learns to let down his defences enough to trust, and even love, others.

The other Gillian Philip books I've read have been modern, urban, gritty novels - full of knife crime, murder, dystopian futures - this book is a bit of a departure. Ok there's still the knives - well, swords- and a fair amount of murder and violence but set against the backdrop of the pristine wild land and sea scape of the Sidhe. The physical presence of this world really leapt out of the page at me as I read, with the feel of wind and sunshine over the machair, the shimmering sea, loch dripping with pigment. At times, Ms Philip builds a word picture akin to those of contemporary scottish West coast painters with their splashes of vibrant colour, pulsating with light, brought immediately to my mind by description of reflections in the water of a loch that a hand dipped in would come out 'dripping with pigment'.

This is an action packed, fast paced novel capable of surprising, despite many hints, to almost the last page, with a cast of real living breathing characters -the half-wild Seth, ruthless Queen Kate NicNiven, Catriona the fully mortal girl rescued and taken through the veil to a world so very different to her own. Although marketed here as YA I understand that in US it will be sold as adult fantasy and think it will be a worthy addition to the genre.

My only complaint is I NEED to know WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Maryom's review - 5 stars

Publisher - Strident

Genre - YA, fantasy

Have realised that I've made it sound like a cliff-hanger ending. It isn't. I REALLY dislike the cliff-hanger ending that just sets the scene for the next book. The plot for this book reaches an end but there's obviously an on-going story arc over the whole series.

Bad Faith by Gillian Philip - Five *

I chose to read this book because Maryom said she had enjoyed it so much and not because of the synopsis. Had I read the synopsis then I don't think I would have picked it up as I don't think it truly reflects the book I read. Don't get me wrong though, the synopsis is technically accurate but for me the focus of the story is not where the synopsis implies.

Cassandra is fifteen and the daughter of a Rector in the 'One Church' - a single religion rising from the many christian religions to not only bring morality to the populace, but also achieving political dominance thus creating a religious state. At the age of eleven Cassandra was involved in a road accident that caused amnesia as well as a fractured skull and damaged hip and she is still coming to terms with the pain and confusion this has caused when other events overtake, that is discovering the body that the synopsis mentions. With her boyfriend, her family and her confusion she struggles through and encounters feelings of betrayal, love, loyalty and fear. Plot twists? There are so many that it ends up plaited, but very neatly like a child's pig-tails.

I felt the story was a light hearted exploration of the idea of a religious state and Cassandra, protected by her father's position in the church, watched the political scene with a degree of disbelief. While I say 'light hearted' I do not mean 'humorous'. Yes, there are funny lines as there is in most novels but we are not talking 'Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. It was only towards the end, with gang violence, that I felt the mood darkened a bit although it raised the tension nicely and brought the story to a satisfying conclusion.

Written for young adults, I was impressed with the way it presented teenage relationships delicately and with no crudity or ogling. Would I recommend it to my 13 year old? No, because it's not her kind of book, but if she wanted to read it then I would be happy to let her and even encourage her, not least because religion has sparked more deaths than any other cause and this book beautifully, for me at least, shows the stupidity of it all.

Bad Faith by Gillian Philip * * * * *

It's almost like getting 2 books for the price of one with Bad Faith.

First, there's a murder mystery. Cass finds a dead body, thinks she knows who the murderer is and hides the body, meanwhile more of her friends and family present themselves as potential murderers - it seems the whole town has a reason to have killed this man.

But also, from the very first page, we are plunged into an alternate, but all too believable, dystopian world. A loosely disguised Scotland is under the dictatorship of Ma Baxter, "President, First Minister and Mother of the Nation", backed by the One Church, where thoughts and actions are policed by the mob rule of religious militias and dissent punished speedily. The murdered man is one of Ma Baxter's most influential supporters, Bishop Todd Lamont, leader of the One Church, whose past crimes are now catching up with him.

The story is told from the point of view of teenager Cass and her world is revealed gradually as she discovers the corpse, the hidden family secrets and how far it is or isn't possible to rebel against the regime. With a privileged and somewhat protected position in this society her view is different to that of her boyfriend Ming who takes it for granted that his secularist parents have been arrested - again! and this time may not be coming home.

An excellent thought-provoking book that deserves more than just a teenage readership. It works well at both levels - as whodunnit and chilling vision. The characters are real, believable people - from Cass's faith-questioning father, her over-protective brother to the religious gangs out to intimidate any who step out of line.

If you liked The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood or even Brave New World by Aldous Huxley give this a try.