Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

 Having published her Encyclopedia of Faeries, Emily Wilde is deep in research for her next project - a Map of the Otherlands - but the scholarly peace of Cambridge is disrupted when Emily's fellow scholar and would-be-lover (and incidentally an exiled faerie king), Wendell Bambleby, is attacked by faeries sent by his step mother - having claimed his throne as her own isn't enough; she needs to destroy him. To save himself, Bambleby needs to confront his step-mother, but he can't do this without rediscovering the lost door back to his faery realm.

For Emily this is an opportunity to pursue two, or perhaps, three things at once - to find the door, to add to her knowledge of the Otherworld (particularly with reference to her map project), and, maybe along the way, find a long lost scholar believed to have disappeared into the faery realm many years before.

So, with Bambleby still suffering from the latest assault, they head off to the Austrian Alps, to encounter more hostile faery folk and put themselves in not a little danger. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the first in this series of faery adventures, and its successor didn't disappoint. It isn't a dark academia style of story, full of brooding passion and handsome untrustworthy men/angels/demons but something far more cosy; a grown up fairy tale, or maybe an adult Alice in Wonderland. It isn't all sweetness and light though - danger seems to be stalking at every turn. In search of a cure for Bambleby's continuing illness, Emily must enter the Faery realm, facing down his step-mother in the heart of her own kingdom.

As a little piece of escapism from real world problems and the current freezing weather I'd highly recommend it.

House of Odysseus by Claire North

In this second book of the Songs of Penelope, we return to the rocky island of Ithaca, home to Odysseus, who has been absent nearly twenty years, and to his wife, Penelope, who was left behind to wait, and keep things going as best she can.

Time is moving on though. Troy is defeated. Helen is back in Sparta with her husband Menelaus. Soldiers and sailors are now returned - all except Odysseus. On Ithaca, Penelope's position has become more precarious than ever after her son left in search of his father. With only a council of elderly men to support her, she needs to maintain peace and independence.
  Enter Orestes and Elektra, children of Agamemnon, caught up in their own Greek tragedy - their sister killed by their father, their father killed by their mother, Clytemnestra, who was in turn slain by Orestes in the name of justice. Remorse now seems to have driven Orestes to madness, and Elektra fears what will happen to both of them when word gets out. Their uncle, Menelaus, flush with his victory in Troy, seeks to take over Orestes' throne and make himself king of all the Greeks.

Book One, Ithaca, was told from the omniscient viewpoint of the goddess Hera. Now her role is taken over by Aphrodite, goddess of love with an eye for warriors' rippling muscles or women's softly turned limbs. She's sly and playful, but a fierce advocate of love in all its forms - romantic, familial, or just between friends.

Penelope is a lonely figure, in need of compassion and love. Her maids try their best but Penelope is still queen with the isolation and responsibility that position brings. She has though found a better path through the rules and restrictions laid down by the patriarchal society in which she lives than her fellow queens.  As the story evolves Penelope is proving to be just as wily and cunning as her renowned husband. While she manoeuvres men, playing them like chess pieces, and hiding her own involvement,  Helen employs a different sort of subterfuge. Subjected to her husband's beatings and repeated rapes, she hides her thoughts and feelings behind the cover of childishness and drunkenness, while biding her time for opportunities for revenge. Clytemnestra, throwing off any subterfuge, and openly taking a lover while her husband is absent was never going to succeed and live happily ever after; the rules of her world would never allow it.

I loved Ithaca with its story of the resilient, resourceful women of Ithaca, left behind to cope without their menfolk, and was just that little worried that House of Odysseus might not live up to it - but it did, possibly even surpassing it.

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

When children are infected by a magic-inducing fever, they are taken away and killed, but when Elspeth fell ill, she was hidden and saved by her aunt. Now she's left with a spirit she calls the Nightmare trapped inside her mind, afraid of it, and afraid that anyone will notice she's not like everyone else.

For years, Elspeth's believed she was the only one to survive the fever, but then she discovers that those with magic-tainted blood can be used by the king to further his plans - and that a small group is making a stand against this.  

I've always read fantasy novels but I'm finding myself increasingly drawn to them at the moment - perhaps as escapism from the real world? perhaps because the bad guys always lose, and the hero and heroine live happily ever after? Whatever the reason, I loved One Dark Window.

It's a compelling tale of dark magic and evil kings and those who oppose them, of romance among the danger - chock full of the things I like - a complex but believable magic system backed by brilliant world-building, a heroine who's prepared to stand up for herself and others, and take on the status quo, and  a story in which the 'bad guys' aren't apparent at first. All of these are bound together with an atmospheric first person narrative which pulls the reader in, and keeps them hooked. Elspeth isn't specifically unreliable as a narrator, but obviously she doesn't know everything, and the story is told in such a way that the reader can see other characters' motivation when Elspeth seems unaware of it. 

It's not perfect - at times the romance seemed a little forced, certain plot-threads seemed to be abandoned (though I hope they'll be revisited in book 2), and the end came unexpectedly and abruptly leaving me wanting more. Now!  I can't wait to read book2. 
 

Ithaca by Claire North

 Most of us are aware of the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, of the long years spent away from home - first in the siege at Troy, then at the mercy of gods and monsters as he tried to make his way home - but here is the story of the wife, and island, he left behind. 

Hardly more more than a girl when Odysseus left, Penelope has unobtrusively kept their island kingdom going. With all the able-bodied men following their king to war, farming, fishing, and trading have fallen to the women. Life has been quiet, but they survived. 

Now, with the majority of Greek warriors returned from Troy, Penelope faces new problems, finding herself besieged by self-proclaimed heroes determined to win her hand, and kingdom, while eating and drinking their way through her stores. At first convivial, their mood is turning nasty. What can Penelope do to keep the peace? One day, she hopes, Odysseus will return, but until then, on an island of women, old men, and inexperienced youths, who can defend her? 

There seems to be a re-awakened interest in Greek myths at the moment, with books from authors as varied as Natalie Haynes and Stephen Fry, but Ithaca I feel is the best I've read from the women's point of view. Told from the omniscient point of view of gossipy, sarcastic goddess, Hera, wife of Zeus, this is retelling with a feminist feel. How the left-at-home women actually coped while their men were away is something we can't know, but here Claire North offers an alternative to the meek-mannered version of Penelope of myth. Dealing with an unruly mob of suitors, the threat of pirates along Ithaca's coast, and the unexpected presence of a disgraced queen, Penelope proves herself to be as sly and cunning as Odysseus himself..

It's a change of mood for Claire North, whose previous novels have been more fantastical in nature, but a book I would definitely recommend.

Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May

Annie Mason's parents separated when she was young, and her father has remained a distant, virtually unknown figure in her life, but when he dies she inherits his belongings and house on mysterious Crow Island. It's a place with a reputation, for Crow Island is the last refuge of magic in a world from which it's been banned., but Annie despite her misgivings needs to go there to sort her father's property, and there's an added incentive in that it was also the last address Annie had for her long-lost friend Bea.

 Annie is a 'nice girl'; her mother's brought her up to be good, to never question, let alone break, the law forbidding magic, and to only envisage a future of husband and family, but from the moment she arrives on Crow Island Annie is tempted. From the tourist shops selling harmless herb-scented teas, the crows gathering ominously on roofs and fences, to the wild kazam-fueled parties held at the Delacroix house there's a scent of magic in the air. But it's the enigmatic neighbour Emmeline Delacroix, with her dark, mysterious past and gender-bender style that Annie finds most bewitching; despite the warning from her father's friend/solicitor, and even after she uncovers the dark bond forged by Emmeline and Bea, Annie can't help being attracted.

I'm going to make it clear upfront that I know the author - in happier pre-Covid times she helped run the local Waterstones book group I attended - and I heard long ago of her pet fantasy novel - a witchy, gay take on The Great Gatsby, that to be honest I thought sounded a bit weird. But I applied for and received a Netgalley copy, started to read - and loved it! 

It's not remotely a formulaic lesbian re-telling of Fitzgerald's story  but a fantastic read in its own right - dark, wicked and so entrancing. Gatsby dazzled his neighbours with money and alcohol, and no one queried their sources; Emmeline does the same with magic, from the small innocuous potions to perhaps attract a lover, to dark dangerous spells that are bargains sealed with blood and demanding blood (very literally) in payment, 

Much like Gatsby and co, these wild and wicked characters are morally ambivalent at best; messed up by their personal backstories, and with no sense of right and wrong beyond how it fits their needs. No one is out and out 'bad', and not even Annie could claim to be 'snow white'. To my mind, it makes them more interesting and realistic, but in a fantasy novel they may not be to everyone's taste. 

A gentle warning - Wild and Wicked Things may start slowly and quietly but builds through unsettling moments to horror and bloody violence. So, be warned, it's may not be for readers of a tame, easily disturbed disposition. 

Last year I included another, more traditional, Gatsby spin off - Nick by Michael Farris Smith - in my picks of the year; this year Wild and Wicked Things will be up there.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow

"There's no such thing as witches. But there will be."

Once upon a time there were witches to be found in every town and village, but after systematic pursuing of anyone suspected of witchcraft everyone assumed that it was a thing of the past, not to be found in the modern world of 1893. But unknown to most, it lingered on in nursery rhymes and songs sung to children, and when the Eastwood sisters decide to pursue witchcraft as a means of gaining women's independence they find many people coming forward with knowledge of the old ways and eager to support them. Obviously they have opponents - most noticeable and dangerous being the new mayoral candidate Gideon Hill, a man who, despite his opposition to witchcraft, seems to command even shadows to do his bidding. The sisters must put aside their differences and work together as maiden, mother and crone to survive.

I totally adored The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E Harrow's debut novel, and was hoping to find the same enchantment with The Once and Future Witches, but while I found it an enjoyable read it somehow didn't have the same magic. I suspect this is something extremely personal and quantifiable so don't let me put you off. The story is an intriguing one, set against a backdrop of a subtly-altered late 19th century when women were campaigning to be given the vote. In part it's about the freedom of women (and even men) to act and love as they choose; in part it's about the return of witchcraft to further those aims. 

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow

January Scaller has grown up as the ward of wealthy collector Mr Locke in his house filled with rare art and artifacts, while her father is employed by Mr Locke to scour the world for more treasures. Her mother died long ago, and, as Mr Locke has no family of his own, January's life is fairly isolated and quiet. Then one day she discovers a strange old book, with the lettering almost rubbed away from the cover, that tells of doors to other worlds. It's just fiction, surely? but, as a child, January believed she found such a door, so some of it is surely true.

This is a spellbinding, unputdownable read, a mix of romance and adventure, loyal friends and evil societies, and, with ten thousand other worlds to escape to, perfect for these stay-at-home times

it's not perfect - one of the worlds has a resemblance to LeGuin's Earthsea, the writing is occasionally over the top with too many ornate, elaborate descriptions, and what I assume to have been big plot reveals were quite predictable - but none of that matters. This is a book i could happily fall into and lose myself again and again, so it earns five stars.

Maryom's review - 5 stars

Publisher - Orbit

Genre - fantasy/speculative fiction 

A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World by C A Fletcher

The world (as we know it, at least) has come to an end - not with the bang of a nuclear bomb, but a whimper as humans lost the ability to reproduce. Babies were born to only the fortunate few, and as the population aged and died, the number of people left plummeted.
A generation or so on, Griz lives on the island of Mingulay, almost but not quite the most southerly island of the Outer Hebrides. It's a hard, barely above subsistence level, life, but above all, it's lonely. Apart from immediate family of parents and siblings, Griz has seen only a handful of  people. The nearest neighbours live far away on Lewis, the northern-most island of the chain (if you're not familiar with Scottish geography, look at the weather forecast map to see series of islands off Scotland's north-west coast to grasp the distance between the two). To see anyone else is extremely rare, so when Brand shows up in his red sailed boat, he's given a cautious welcome, but not entirely trusted. Unfortunately the family are not on guard against his charm and seeming good nature, and the next morning he sails away with Griz's beloved dog, Jess. Filled with anger, Griz isn't prepared to put up with this underhand stealing of Jess, and before the rest of the family are aware of what has happened, Griz is in a boat and underway, chasing Brand - at first through familiar waters off the Scottish coast, then on foot across a country reclaimed by nature.


I seem to have been reading quite a few post-apocalypse books recently (more reviews to come) and this is one of my favourites. It's nice, for starters, to have such a novel set in locations that are familiar to British readers. And it's nice to not be constantly criticizing the ways in which the characters have managed to survive during and after the wiping out of civilisation. I tend to get too involved in the practicalities of post-apocalypse existence, ready to spot anything I consider a mistake, and I was delighted to see Griz's parents having taken some of the measures I would have considered (though I'm a land-based person, and would never have thought of acquiring boats)


The story, as told by Griz in an account scribbled down at a later date, is engrossing and compelling. Despite Griz having set off on what frankly appeared to be a wild goose chase, I really wanted to see the rescue mission succeed and Jess brought home again, but there were just a few little things that let the book down as a whole. I've heard others refer to this as more of  a YA, than adult, novel, and in some respects I'm inclined to agree. The plot structure was just a little too simple for me - a sort of straight run from A to B to C etc, with adventures and surprises along the way, but no real unexpected detours - and somehow it was all just a little too upbeat, not the unrelieved misery that I half-expect from an adult post-apocalyptic novel. Otherwise, it's a great read. Enjoy it, then pass it on to your teens.

Maryom's review - 4 stars

Publisher - Orbit

Genre - post-apocalyptic, road trip

The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North

review by Maryom

Hope Arden is easily forgettable - turn your back on her for a few minutes, and you'll not remember ever having seen . Her condition first appeared during her teenage years; her teachers forgot why she was in their class, her friends no longer recognised her and even her parents began to wonder who she was. Finding 'normal' life impossible, Hope left home and began living off her wits, but when no one can remember you from day to day there are obvious problems. It's impossible to hold down a job, get anything more than quick, basic medical attention, or even have friends or a steady relationship. Fortunately, it has one major advantage - that Hope is very good at stealing things. From helping herself to the basics of food and clothing, to the meticulously planned 'lifting' of expensive jewellery, this has become her way of life.
In Dubai, looking to steal a famous diamond necklace, Hope makes the acquaintance of Reina, a young woman torn between her interest in women's rights and social issues, and the demands of a new phone app, which encourages its users to strive for 'Perfection'. When this conflict leads to Reina's suicide, Hope feels driven to investigate and perhaps expose the app, and its backers, as something potentially dangerous.

It's one thing to invent a character with a 'quirk' but more than that is needed to make an entertaining story - and THAT is Claire North's speciality, as demonstrated in her previous novels, Touch (in which a 'spirit' could pass from one host body to another) and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, (a person living their life time after time). Again, with The Sudden Appearance of Hope, North has chosen a lead character, to all appearances as normal as the next person, but with an extraordinary ability, and put them in the middle of a fast-paced thriller-style read. Looking for a way to destroy the company behind 'Perfection', Hope finds herself travelling round the world, frequently in danger, putting her trust in people that certainly don't have her interests at heart, and finding that the uses of 'Perfection' could be more dangerous than she's imagined.

It would be too easy, I feel, to dream up a condition such as Hope's and focus on only the good side of it, but it's obvious that the author has thought through the negatives as well - especially the social and emotional side. Even when surrounded by people, Hope's is a very lonely existence; she can hardly make friends when they'd forget her after a few minutes, and her love-life, such as it is, is reduced to a series of one-night stands.

Something I particularly liked with this story was the 'social commentary' side - highlighting the modern obsession with looking good, wearing the 'right' clothes, being seen in the 'right' places. The 'Perfection' app takes celebrity/lifestyle/diet magazines one step forward, with a  cynical
manipulation of people's insecurities and the desire to emulate the rich and famous. The app advises (or dictates) what to eat, how much exercise to take, which clothes to buy, where to be seen. It's a constant reminder of how you measure up, or drop behind, on your search for that perfect image, rewarding 'good' behaviour with bonuses, privileges, and medical procedures to take you nearer to your goal, and penalising if you don't follow the rules. It feels like something that's only a technological step or two away ...

For a while I thought I knew where the story was leading and how it would end, so I was pleased that an extra twist or two meant it didn't pan out the way I expected. I'm not quite sure whether to label this 'sci-fi' or not - most of it doesn't seem that far-fetched; it's only Hope's strange affliction that seems out of the ordinary.

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars

Publisher - Orbit

Genre - Sci-fi, thriller, adult fiction

Touch by Claire North

review by Maryom

Imagine that by taking hold of someone's hand, you could become them, could jump from body to body as you wished, and stay there for as long as you liked, from seconds to years. This is what 'Kepler' and others like him can do. Now someone has decided that it's time to stop him - but its easier to evade an assassin if you've some idea of who sent them and why. So begins a game of cat and mouse as Kepler tries to track down the person behind it, while trying to avoid those pursuing him.

This latest novel from Claire North is a mind-stretcher in the way that The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August was. The author takes one of those throwaway 'just imagine' or 'what if' scenarios that we all have from time to time and weaves a compelling thriller around it - with Harry August, it was re-living the same life several times; with Touch it's being able to move from body to body.
The thriller aspect is fast-paced, action-packed, full of twists, turns and deviousness. It starts with the 'bang' of a murder and Kepler running for his life, and carries on at this breathless pace; as a game of hunter and hunted it's up there with the best of spy thrillers.
The sci-fi 'just imagine' aspect is well thought through, and gives the reader plenty to think about - the morality of being able to take over another person's body, with or without their consent; the impact such action has on both host and 'guest' - maybe it explains those minutes of forgetfulness that we all experience from time to time, maybe it accounts for long-term memory loss, but for the 'guest' there's the choice of taking over another person's life completely - almost cradle to grave - or of drifting from one host to another, never putting down roots, or having family and long-term friends. It has its advantages though - for a few short minutes, Kepler can be anyone he wants - football player, actress, president....

I loved Harry August but there's something just a bit more satisfying about Touch, making it a 'must read' whether you're a sci-fi lover or not.

Maryom's review - 5 stars

Publisher - Orbit

Genre - Adult, sci-fi, thriller

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

review by Maryom

Harry August's first life was fairly uneventful, much like any other life - until he died and found himself re-born, back exactly where he was the first time. As an adult trapped inside a child's body, he didn't find his second life much fun...but then he started to understand, found there were others like him, and settled into a pattern of being born, living seventy years or so, then dying only to be re-born.
Now at the end of his eleventh life, a warning has been passed back from the future that the world is in danger. Its life too is ending, as it is bound to one day, but at an unprecedented early era.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August has been cropping up regularly on social media any time the book-conversation has touched on time travel and/or reincarnation, so, spotting it at my library, I thought it was time to check it out myself.

In a similar vein to Kate Atkinson's Life After Life it's not about time travel as such, but reincarnation into the same body. Harry is one of the "kalachakra" who return time and again to re-live their lives. Having discovered that major events can rarely be changed, most of them have adopted a hedonistic lifestyle funded by time-traveller's style insider dealing and bet-placing, leaving global events to play out on their own. Some though like Harry have acquired over their many lives a mass of scientific knowledge spread over many fields - and one rogue kalachakra is placing everyone and everything in danger by his pursuit of knowledge and power.
This mix of philosophy, sci-fi and thriller makes for an amazing read. It stretches the reader's imagination in the way that Life After Life did, raising thoughts of what would it be like to live an infinite number of times, to have the opportunity to try on different careers, loves, or lifestyles, against a race-against-time "will the hero save the world' backdrop. It starts excellently, grabbing the reader's attention instantly with hints of the catastrophe that must be averted, and continues well, darting back and forth across Harry's lives, building a personal rivalry between him and the 'villain'. The only slight let down, hence not quite the full 5 star read, was the ending, with the said villain changing from a believable searcher for truth and power into a Bond-style bad guy caricature, lacking only the swivelling chair and a white cat.

Definitely a book that deserves a re-read to see how the plot elements slot together, though I suspect knowing the ending may detract from it.

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars

Publisher - Orbit

Genre - Adult, sci-fi, time travel, thriller

Thief's Magic by Trudi Canavan

review by Maryom 

While on a field-trip, Tyen, a student of magic and archaeology, uncovers an ancient book with a difference - it once was a woman. Vella, a young ambitious sorcerer-bookbinder, was transformed by her mentor the most powerful sorcerer of the time and has been imprisoned in book form for many centuries. A person holding the book can communicate with Vella, and she, in return, can read their mind and absorb information from them, in this way acquiring a vast store of knowledge. Tyen's world, which powers industrial processes through the harnessing of magic, is facing a potential disaster - the total depletion of magic - and Vella might hold the answer to it. Tyen should hand her over to his professors at the Academy...but what would they do with her?

In another country, where magic is used solely by priests, Rielle has been brought up with the belief that a girl or woman using magic is wrong. Unauthorised use of magic is seen as stealing from the angels and attracts severe punishment, but Rielle finds herself, with the best intentions, lured into doing so...

I was at first a bit daunted by the length of this - like so many fantasy novels it's written on an epic scale, just over 550 pages but once I started reading I found the pages flicking past quite quickly - even so, things are quite slow moving at times; there's a lot of world-building and introduction of characters and their back stories rather than pushing the story forward but this is of course Book 1 of a series with everything being set up on a blank stage.
It really feels like two separate stories as within  this book, Tyen's and Riell's story lines don't cross at all. Instead of the more common format of alternating chapters following each character, the book is split into larger chunks with several chapters following Tyen alternating with a similar number about Rielle, so having been immersed in one world it was occasionally a jolt to go back to the other.
As regards the two 'worlds', Tyen's was the more intriguing with an industrial revolution having been based on the use of magic - a magic, which like the fossil-fuels that support our industries, is running out. Various factions have differing ideas as to how this problem should be countered leading to intrigue - and danger for Tyen who inadvertently and naively finds himself caught up as the discoverer of Vella. Rielle's homeland seems a more 'traditional' fantasy setting, a desert pre-industrial land ruled by priest who are the only ones allowed to tap into magic resources, and her story more one of personal development from an obedient daughter to independent minded young woman.

 An excellent start to a new fantasy but it's going to be a long read with no knowing how many books the series will span.

Maryom's review - 4 stars

Publisher - Orbit

Genre - Adult Fantasy

The Oversight by Charlie Fletcher

review by Maryom

The Oversight is a group pledged to guard the border between the normal, 'natural' world and the supernatural one. Once there were many members but now their numbers have dropped to dangerously low levels - in fact there are only 5 of them, the bare minimum necessary - and their enemies are ready to take advantage of this weakness. When a girl with strange gifts is brought to the Oversight's safe house, they hope they may have found a new member - but she's being manipulated by shadowy figures, enemies of the Oversight, and has been sent to steal one of the Oversight's most valued possessions

Set in Victorian London, this story (first of a series) is a bit like 'if Dickens did fantasy'- the fog-bound streets, the murky Thames, shady characters lurking on corners, an urchin-like group of adopted boys and the travelling fair folk all feel like elements of one of his stories. It's an atmosphere just waiting for a touch of supernatural... and The Oversight has plenty of it. I loved the mix of historical and fantastical elements, and of the way the supernatural elements were hidden almost in plain sight amongst the crowded streets of London. The members of the Oversight may appear as normal as you or I, but they have special gifts - an ability to read minds perhaps or to see and hear the history of a place through touching a wall. And pitched against them are a range of enemies from the scientifically curious to gruesome half-humans. 

It plunges directly into the story, in an attention-grabbing way - a man carrying a bound and gagged girl over his shoulder and taking her to be sold! You can read the opening chapters here on Orbit's website, and maybe they'll have you hooked too!

As the first of a series, there's obviously more to come but also more backstory waiting to be revealed. I can't wait to read what happens next!

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars

Publisher - Orbit

Genre - Fantasy

Buy The Oversight from Amazon

God Save The Queen by Kate Locke

Review by The Mole

When Alexandra Vardan, a half blood vampire, finds her sister is missing, she risks life and limb by entering goblin territory to find her. Little does she know that the events that follow will change the course of her life - and the lives of those around her. A story of vampires, werewolves, goblins, humans and half bloods. Xandra is in the Royal Guard assigned to protect the sovereign, Queen Victoria, as well as the nobility.

The author's note at the start tries to explain how the history of the world of Xandra's varies from the world we know and to put into context where Xandra fits into this society but I have to admit to still not knowing what to expect from this story. I struggled, for quite a bit of the book, to remember that Xandra was, in fact, female - a fact that is very important and not just 'choice' by the author. I'm not really sure why though... there are frequent dress references etc but she just feels very... masculine.

With a twist at the end. Not really, from about half way through I could see the outcome - OK the detail was not quite there but the overall idea was what I guessed. And it didn't matter one iota! It was the journey that was hugely entertaining and a journey well worth the taking. Yes, there's romance. Yes, there's plain lust. Yes there's violence of all sorts - but it doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment of a paranormal adventure.

I am just wondering where book 2 in the trilogy will take us as it feels like the end of the journey already.

Publisher - Orbit Books
Genre - YA Paranormal Adventure

Buy God Save the Queen: Book One of the Immortal Empire from Amazon

Unclean Spirits by M L N Hanover

Normal Paranormal?
Review by The Mole

Jayné Heller has inherited her uncle's estate but what does that estate entail? Jayné has absolutely no idea but when the door explodes open and she is attacked by trained killers she didn't expect that to be part of her legacy! Not only has she inherited phenomenal strength she has also inherited phenomenal enemies.

ADMISSION... This is the first 'paranormal' book that I have read but from what I have heard this one is not from the normal mould. Yes the enemy are various forms of demons, vampires, werewolves and other rather nasty stuff, but the story puts them all on the side of the bad guys and the good guys are normal humans trying to rid the world of the bad guys. But the armoury of the good guys is not without magic of various types.

'Urban fantasy' the cover says and yes, I suppose it is but I feel that first and foremost it's an action adventure... a well written and well delivered action adventure at that. I loved nearly every character in this book - the good guys side I mean - with the exception of Midian. But I don't think we are supposed to like Midian. I hope.

I suppose it's one of the difficulties of putting every book into one of the recognised 'genre's - there will always be those that fit into several. First and foremost this book is about a 24+ year old. Her antics do stray to adult material - although there is no romance in this story at all!

A really great read as an action adventure that left me hungry for more stories of Jayné Heller's adventures. It's not a spoiler to say she survives this story as it's the first of a trilogy.


Publisher - Orbit Books
Genre - Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Action Adventure

Buy Unclean Spirits: Black Sun's Daughter: Book One from Amazon