Retribution Falls - Book Review

Retribution Falls
by Chris Wooding

Sky piracy is a bit out of Darian Frey’s league. Fate has not been kind to the captain of the airship Ketty Jay—or his motley crew. They are all running from something. Crake is a daemonist in hiding, traveling with an armored golem and burdened by guilt. Jez is the new navigator, desperate to keep her secret from the rest of the crew. Malvery is a disgraced doctor, drinking himself to death. So when an opportunity arises to steal a chest of gems from a vulnerable airship, Frey can’t pass it up. It’s an easy take—and the payoff will finally make him a rich man.

But when the attack goes horribly wrong, Frey suddenly finds himself the most wanted man in Vardia, trailed by bounty hunters, the elite Century Knights, and the dread queen of the skies, Trinica Dracken. Frey realizes that they’ve been set up to take a fall but doesn’t know the endgame. And the ultimate answer for captain and crew may lie in the legendary hidden pirate town of Retribution Falls. That’s if they can get there without getting blown out of the sky. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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Retribution Falls is a really fun story. Really fun. Pirates, airships, a steampunkish feel, magic, demons, adventure, conspiracy... it has all the elements that let you know you’re in for a quick, exciting read. It’s an extremely fast paced book, barely pausing at any point for filler or downtime, and yet there are a surprising amount of back stories thrown in, all of them interesting. Chris Wooding is an expert at worldbuilding, slipping in facts and fascinating details that give such a vivid feeling of the world, without ever slowing down the plot or distracting from the story.

The rag-tag crew of the Ketty Jay will draw inevitable comparisons with the TV series Firefly. The book has a similar kind of roguish-twinkle feel to Firefly; they’re pirates, but they’re not the really bad kind of pirates, and there’s something unavoidably lovable about their underdog position and their attempts to stay ahead of everyone who’s out to get them. The characters in Retribution Falls can be a little one-note – they’re a character type and in general they stick to it – but the back stories here do add a little more depth to certain people. In particular I liked Crake, the daemonist who aids the crew with his daemon-based magic, and Jez, the new navigator and the ship’s only woman. I found these two the most human of the characters, and I really felt for Crake. The more minor characters were less explored but did add some tension and humour. I liked the doctor the best of the side-character bunch and would like to learn more about him in later books.

The captain, Darian Frey, was a hard character to like, but felt like a very honest portrayal of the kind of man that might end up in his position. He’s always running away, always trying to find someone else to blame for his problems. There were points where I became very frustrated with him, and other points where I honestly hoped Draken would capture him and the rest of the crew would get away. However, though Darian is often unlikeable, his slightly car-crash approach to life is fascinating to read about.

As the book goes on, most of the crew members begin to reveal a darker side, aspects that make the reader question whether they are really the good guys. This isn’t explored very deeply in this book; we’re still supposed to want them to come out on top, but I’m hoping this may be touched on a bit more later in the series. The book also succeeds in making the reader feel sympathy for Draken, the woman chasing down the Ketty Jay, though it perhaps succeeded a little too well with me. There were points where I honestly wanted her to win, but then, perhaps that was the point. This is a book about pirates, and I like that lines of morality were hard to draw. No-one should feel like they are entirely the good or bad guys here.

With an interesting storyline involving conspiracy, pirates and murder, memorable characters, action, plenty of humour, adventure, airships, daemon-magic, and a malevolent ship’s cat, Retribution Falls is a quick, fun read. There isn’t really anything surprising in the book, with some elements being quite predictable, but it’s done so well there is a great amount of satisfaction in how the events roll out. There is a lot about this world that I love, and I’m looking forward to exploring more of it with the Ketty Jay’s crew in later books.

I listened to this as an audiobook, so wanted to quickly mention the narrator, Rupert Degas, who does an absolutely fantastic job and really brings the book to life. Each character felt pitch-perfect to me, and his reading combined with Chris Wooding's excellent writing kept me engrossed throughout. I'll be looking for more of Rupert Degas' work too!

Shadows Over Innsmouth - Book Review

Shadows Over Innsmouth
edited by Stephen Jones

Innsmouth, that isolated New England fishing village where “the vast huddle of sagging gambrel roofs and peaked gables conveyed with offensive clearness the idea of wormy decay.” A desolate place where the bulging, watery eyes of the residents stared from misshapen skulls, and a musty stench blended hideously with the town’s fishy odour. This is the setting of one of H. P. Lovecraft’s most famous tales, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, where hideous chants echo from Devil Reef and the Hall of Dagon.

Under the unblinking eye of World Fantasy Award-winning editor Stephen Jones, sixteen of the finest modern authors contribute stories to the canon of Cthulu. (Synopsis from back of book)

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I’ve read so many Lovecraftian stories now, enjoyed Cthulu mythos based books, movies and games, and am very familiar with the ideas and iconic elements of Lovecraft’s creation, but oddly, until this collection, I’d never actually read one of the original Lovecraft stories. This collection begins with The Shadow Over Innsmouth, which was pretty much exactly what I expected. The story is a slow starter, perhaps a little rambling in places, but with a great sense of atmosphere and, of course, a fantastically realised setting.

The other stories in the collection are all the works of other authors, all within the Cthulu mythos and with a connection to Innsmouth and to the events of the original Lovecraft story. The modern writers here are all men and all British, the former fact a bit disappointing and the latter just odd. Innsmouth itself is in America, and these stories are mostly set in America too, many in the Innsmouth area, and a few in Britain and Ireland (with one very notable exception set in Romania). The stories that break away from Innsmouth add a bit of variety, but it’s a shame that we don’t see the effect of these sinister events on more different places and cultures, and the arms of the cult of Dagon creeping over the world. There are only so many identical sleepy American towns and seaside British villages that a reader can take...

These stories, on the whole, offer exactly what you might expect from a collection of Lovecraftian stories. This is one of the strengths of the collection, but, unfortunately, I think for me it was also the main problem. I wanted to see a bit more of the unexpected. After a while, the horror and the creepy aspect of the stories begins to wear very thin as you realise that the plots and the tone of the stories mirror each other very strongly. The book continues at the same semi-religiously-paranoid pitch for large chunks, which is perfectly spot-on-Lovecraftian, but to the extent that I began to feel a little sorry for the fish-creatures and found myself taking their side a bit. Probably not the intended reaction, and not the fault of any one story, but the effect of the anthology as a whole. I understand that this collection is supposed to celebrate the original story, but I do think it’s possible to do that without having so many stories that are so similar to it. I wanted to be surprised and amazed. I wanted to see the authors really make the Lovecraftian elements their own.

This is why certain stories really stood out for me, the ones that take the familiar ideas and play with them, twist them a little, or use the atmosphere of the original story in a very different setting. These stories were Only the End of the World Again, by Neil Gaiman, and A Quarter to Three, by Kim Newman, which use a more playful attitude to give us a fresh look at Innsmouth and the kinds of people involved in the weirdness there, Down to the Boots, by D. F. Lewis, which offers a different perspective from the other stories, and The Homecoming, by Nicholas Royle, which I thought was a fantastic story and very clever in its use of the same paranoid atmosphere of the original, but applied to very different circumstances. Part of the horror for the narrator in A Shadow Over Innsmouth seems to come from a Victorian-like fear of the foreign ‘infiltrating’ society, having something of a similar feel to certain chapters in Dracula. The Homecoming uses this idea in very interesting ways, as we see citizens of a post-dictatorship Romania in constant fear of each other, and of what kinds of people may have infiltrated their world, and of a form of evil that appears to be immortal – one wave of fish-things may be defeated, but paranoia and cruelty never die. This story was so unexpected and yet made so much sense, and it was definitely my favourite of the anthology.

None of the stories in the collection were bad. To See the Sea, by Michael Marshall Smith, and Daoine Domhain, by Peter Tremayne, were, for me, particularly good examples of that heavy sense of foreboding and lurking evil that are so iconic to the Cthulu mythos. It’s just that I did get a little tired of reading one after another. I’d recommend reading a story every now and then, when you’re in the mood for something Cthulicious, rather than reading it all in one go like I did. There is plenty to enjoy here for the hardcore Lovecraft fans, but, ultimately, a little disappointing for me.


Thank you to Titan Books for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

All Is Fair - Book Review

All Is Fair
by Emma Newman


WARNING – while there are no spoilers for this book, there are some spoilers for previous books in the series. I’d advise reading books and 1 and 2 before looking at this review.

William Iris struggles to keep the throne of Londinium whilst hated by his own court and beset by outsiders, while Cathy discovers the legacy of her former governess. But those who dare to speak out about Society are always silenced. Sometimes for good.

While trying to avoid further torments from the mercurial fae, Sam finds himself getting tangled in the affairs of the Elemental Court. But an unexpected offer from the powerful and enigmatic Lord Iron turns out to be far more than Sam bargained for.

Max and the gargoyle are getting closer to uncovering who is behind the murder of the Bath Chapter and the corruption in London and Max finds the gargoyle’s controversial ideas harder to ignore. Can he stay true to his sworn duty without being destroyed by his own master, whose insanity threatens to unravel them all? (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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I love this series! This is the third installment in the novels about the Split Worlds and its characters, and I enjoyed it just as much as the previous two.

As usual there’s plenty of intrigue as Max and the gargoyle continue their investigation, and Sam is pulled deeper into the mystery surrounding his wife and Lord Iron. We get to spend more time with Max and the gargoyle, which I loved, and there are some truly moving moments between them as they seem to grow closer together. It felt a little as if the soul was beginning to rub off on Max, and I thought he came across as more human in this book. There’s also a scene at the end that brought a lump to my throat.

I loved the way Sam’s storyline evolved in this book – I really wasn’t expecting this, and I’m curious to see how it will affect the power dynamics in the Split Worlds. Cathy is pushing ahead with her plans to help the women of the Nether, and this soon extends to anyone oppressed by the conventions and rules of her society. When she finds out the manipulative and disturbing actions of the Agency, she is determined to stop it. She’s taking on some powerful enemies now, and it’s fun and satisfying to see Cathy steadily gaining confidence and respect, and stepping up as a leader. I was a little disappointed with the way she treated her sister at one point, but it did make sense, and I think the problems from their past is something that will take a while to resolve.

And Will... when did I decide to forgive Will? It's been coming on so gradually, I hardly know. But I believe I must date it from his buying Cathy a library full of every science fiction book ever written. *nods*

Oh Will, just as he takes two steps forward, he takes one back again. I think Will’s journey has been a very believable one. He’s been hurt by the patriarchy of his society too, but has never dared to question it before. He cares a lot about what others think about him, and about his perceived responsibilities. But he also cares about people, and about Cathy, and the difference between him and his brutish brother, for example, is huge. He’s not as brave as Cathy, but in this book we can see him beginning to really admire her. When these two start working together properly, they’re going to be a formidable team!

This is a fun book, adding more characters and different perspectives on the Nether and the Split Worlds, plenty of humour and excitement, and a few revelations. It answers a lot of questions and wraps up all the main storylines nicely, leaving the book without a cliffhanger but with plenty of hints of things to come.This felt a little like the end of a season in a TV series, which has been wrapped up so that it could be the end if it needed to be. I'm not sure if this is the case here, but I do hope that the series continues. I want to know more about the world Emma Newman has created, and I'm not ready to say goodbye to these characters yet!


Thank you to Angry Robot and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Glitter and Mayhem - Book Review

Glitter and Mayhem
Edited by John Klima, Lynne M. Thomas, and Michael Damian Thomas

Welcome to Glitter & Mayhem, the most glamorous party in the multiverse.

Step behind the velvet rope of these fabulous Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror tales of roller rinks, nightclubs, glam aliens, party monsters, drugs, sex, glitter, and debauchery.

Dance through nightclubs, roller derby with cryptids and aliens, be seduced by otherworldly creatures, and ingest cocktails that will alter your existence forever. Your hosts are the Hugo Award-winning editors John Klima (Electric Velocipede) and Lynne M. Thomas (Apex Magazine), and the Hugo-nominated editor Michael Damian Thomas (Apex Magazine). (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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Glitter and Mayhem is a short story anthology with the theme of glamour, parties, nightclubs, drugs, sex and rollerskating, all with a science fiction or fantasy element. The stories are all odd, some more so than others, and there’s a wonderful mix of fun, tongue-in-cheek, scary, thoughtful and sad. An anthology with this kind of theme could have suffered from stories that are all too similar in style and feel, but here this is not the case at all; the editors have managed to collect a really interesting mix.

This collection is a huge amount of fun, but it’s also refreshingly diverse in the characters, lifestyles, relationships and sex it explores. The most obvious theme of the anthology might be glamour and parties, but I think its strongest themes are acceptance, identity, and loving yourself for who you are.

As always with anthologies, there were some stories that didn’t grab me as much as others, but overall it’s a really strong collection. There are funny stories and straightforward stories and some with very clever twists. There are fairytale themes, aliens, the supernatural, the fae, and plenty of rollerskating!

Some of my favourite stories were:

Sooner Than Gold, by Cory Skerry, in which a door could lead to anywhere, but you might not like what’s on the other side.

Subterraneans, by William Shunn and Laura Chavoen, an interesting take on body-swapping.

Such & Such Said to So & So, by Maria Dahvana Headley, which plays with language in a clever little story about drinking and addiction.

Bess, the Landlord’s Daughter, Goes for Drinks with the Green Girl, by Sofia Samatar, a very weird and well-written story.

Blood and Sequins, by Diana Rowland, an unconventional approach to the cops-take-out-the-bad-guys story.

Inside Hides the Monster, by Damien Walters Grintalis, which explores how a siren might have difficulty adapting to modern music tastes.

Bad Dream Girl, by Seanan McGuire, a really fun story about roller derby teams with some unusual members.

A Hollow Play, by Amal El-Mohtar, which asks what people might be willing to give up for what they love, and how much they really value those things.

A really enjoyable anthology with a good variety of stories and styles!


Thank you to Apex Publications for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Entanglement - Book Review

Entanglement
by Douglas Thompson

Elsewhen Press
Amazon (UK)(USA)

In 2180, travel to neighbouring star systems has been mastered thanks to quantum teleportation using the 'entanglement' of sub-atomic matter; astronauts on earth can be duplicated on a remote world once the dupliport chamber has arrived there. In this way a variety of worlds can be explored, but what humanity discovers is both surprising and disturbing, enlightening and shocking. Each alternative to mankind that the astronauts find, sheds light on human shortcomings and potential while offering fresh perspectives of life on Earth. Meanwhile, at home, the lives of the astronauts and those in charge of the missions will never be the same again.

Best described as philosophical science fiction, Entanglement explores our assumptions about such constants as death, birth, sex and conflict, as the characters in the story explore distant worlds and the intelligent life that lives there. It is simultaneously a novel and a series of short stories: multiple worlds, each explored in a separate chapter, a separate story; every one another step on mankind's journey outwards to the stars and inwards to our own psyche. Yet the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts; the synergy of the episodes results in an overarching story arc that ultimately tells us more about ourselves than about the rest of the universe. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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Douglas Thompson has written stories for past issues of a magazine that I've been editor for, including 'Dissemblance', which appears in this collection. So naturally, when he asked if I'd like to review this book, I was intrigued! Quick disclaimer: I had nothing to do with the editing or publishing of Entanglement, and was not required to write a positive review.

Entanglement is a collection of short stories that are all part of one larger story, centred around the invention of Dupliportation technology, which has finally allowed humans to walk on other planets. This means that the book is an interesting blend of short story and novel, as the stories, though many of them could stand alone, really must be read in order and are all part of the larger story. I’ve only read one other thing that’s sort of similar, Asimov’s Foundation series, but those stories were separated by long periods of time and so this book has quite a different feel. It’s very interesting, and the stories are all fairly short and quick reads. I raced through, and really enjoyed it.

Dupliportation technology is influenced by the ansible from Ursula Le Guin’s fiction (I love Le Guin’s stories, and it was nice to see her actually mentioned by the characters in this book), and, as suggested by the book’s title, by real science: quantum entanglement. A very simplified explanation: the technology is sent through space to another world, where doubles of the human explorers are created. The consciousness of the explorers is then transferred to these doubles while the original bodies sleep on Earth. This is a fascinating method of visiting other planets, which I haven’t seen done in science fiction before. Because the explorers sleep and then enter another world, it’s strongly linked to dreaming, and the theme of dreams runs throughout the whole collection. In fact, the stories themselves often have something of a dream-like quality, which really suits the book.

I found most of the stories fun and interesting, with a good mix of tense, thoughtful, dreamy, funny and absurd. A book like this couldn’t have worked if the author had taken things too seriously, but thankfully Douglas Thompson gives us changes of tone, style and pacing when needed. The technology aspects are written well and not bogged down with too much explanation, and the science and more fantastical elements mix very naturally. The characters on Earth tend to be more interesting than the actual explorers, who are really just there to observe and report. Some of the stories worked less well for me than others, with one or two that were a bit forgettable, but most have really stayed with me. I also found a lot of the linking stories to be very compelling, particularly anything involving Guy Lecoux.

Many of the stories have quite a classic sci-fi feel, something like Ray Bradbury stories, which felt a little odd at first, a kind of mix of nostalgic and new. I thought this worked in some places and not in others. There is a very exploratory feel to the collection, which science fiction doesn’t tend to do so much these days, and the humans have quite an astonishingly gung-ho attitude in some parts. Where these stories differed from classic sci-fi was in their more cynical outlook; humans walking on other worlds would be an incredible and uplifting thing, but also hugely destructive to both humans and aliens. In these stories, the humans find that they are not necessarily as intelligent or morally superior as we often like to believe that we are. Even though rules are put in place to try to prevent too much interference, the human explorers still manage to cause plenty of harm in their blundering about and their assumptions about intelligent life. I really liked this aspect of the book.

What worked less well for me was Earth itself, which felt a bit old-fashioned with an almost 50s feel, though I can’t quite put my finger on why this was. Perhaps the attitudes, perhaps the characters coming almost exclusively from neat, traditional family units, perhaps something else. The alien worlds also seemed a little too similar to old Earth societies sometimes, with in most cases one leader, and often some form of hierarchy. At the very end of the book, we get an answer as to why Earth may have seemed this way, and why the aliens were limited by human experience. This last story provides a twist that might be frustrating in any other novel, but actually works very well for this book and added a new element to the stories, changing everything.

This is a clever book, packed with ideas, and I loved the idea of linking short stories with the same technology. The book asks some fascinating questions about dream and reality, intelligence, and how humans view their world. As ‘philosophical science fiction’, I think it works very well. I particularly enjoyed getting to know recurring characters over the course of the collection, and found the stories to be memorable and absorbing.


Thank you to the author for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Reapers are the Angels - Book Review

The Reapers are the Angels
by Alden Bell

Amazon (UK)(USA)

Zombies have infested a fallen America. A young girl named Temple is on the run. Haunted by her past and pursued by a killer, Temple is surrounded by death and danger, hoping to be set free.

For twenty-five years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping to herself and keeping her demons inside her heart. She can't remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her on a personal journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulated remnants of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately to make a home and find the salvation she seeks. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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This book surprised me in all the right ways. It’s an unflinching and often brutal zombie story, and yet it’s also hauntingly beautiful, moving, and told in the voice of such a unique and interesting character. In its themes and writing style, it really is very different from any zombie (or any paranormal creature) story that I’ve read before.

The main character is Temple, a wonderfully resourceful, thoughtful and independent teenage girl, who has been left alone in a post-apocalyptic world in which most of the Earth’s population has been zombified. She has accepted her situation with surprising grace and maturity. Rather than long for a world that no longer is, or attempt to change it, she has adapted, and she finds beauty in all the little wonders of nature that still exist. This is not the kind of zombie novel where the characters are searching for a cure or a safe haven, or even battling against hoards of zombies just to survive. This is something very different. This is a story about survival, but perhaps more about survival of the soul than of the body. In that way, it is somewhat akin to Warm Bodies, another very unique zombie story that I’ve recently read and loved. Be warned, though; this has none of the romance of Warm Bodies. It is harsher, and in some ways an even stranger book, but just as clever and astonishing.

The zombies in the story are the slow moving, lurching kind. In fact, they rarely pose much of a threat to Temple, and only seem to be a problem if humans are caught unaware, or if people attempt to remain static and walled up in large communities. Temple understands that she is living in a new kind of world, the kind where it is better to keep moving, constantly, and she finds a quiet joy in this. She travels, discovering new places and new people, and she accepts that if the zombies get her, it will be because she has been careless. In this way, the zombies are more like predatory wild animals than monsters, and, in fact, the true dangers of this world come from other humans. I only really have one criticism of the zombie aspect, and that’s the scenes with the mutants, which just felt a little too video-gamey and, for me anyway, didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the book.

While staying in a community of survivors, Temple is attacked and forced to defend herself. She kills a man, and then must flee his brother, who wants revenge. Meanwhile, Temple has taken on a mentally handicapped man who cannot fend for himself, trying to take him to whatever remnants of family he has left. The story is therefore half quest, half chase, but the pace, while fast, is not frantic. Temple accepts everything that happens to her, even the basic unfairness of being blamed for killing a man in self-defence, a man who was clearly in the wrong. His brother knows this too, and even regrets having to kill Temple, but he is still set on this course, as if he has no other choice. Both he and Temple almost seem to be bound by deep, raw laws of the world, and both have a strong belief in fate, or at least in some kind of order and meaning that drives them. It is tragic that the deep bond between them is one based on revenge and death.

The feel, story and themes of the book give it a very Wild West feel, so much so that I would call it a Zombie Western. The new post-apocalyptic world seems to suit Temple’s free spirit better than the old world would have; she is at home in a life without restrictions and the complicated rules of society. The revenge theme, particularly, based on a deep feeling of duty rather than justice, fits very well into the book’s style. I found this fascinating, particularly when combined with the lyrical quality of the writing. It’s not just a Zombie Western, it’s a beautiful Zombie Western, which is even more surprising.

The Reapers are the Angels surprised and delighted me. I found it moving, tragic, and beautiful. It’s a fairly short book, well paced, and I was captivated until the very end. (Proof of this: I read most of it on a train, with no seat, sitting uncomfortably on a suitcase with screaming children nearby, and as soon as I started reading I didn’t even notice anymore. And let’s just say, it’s a good job that my stop happened to be the train’s final station.) If you love zombies, or even if you’re getting a little tired of them by now and would like something a bit different, you should definitely consider adding this to your ‘to read’ list.

The Humans - Book Review

The Humans
by Matt Haig

Amazon (UK) (USA)

The narrator of this tale is no ordinary human—in fact, he’s not human at all. Before he was sent away from the distant planet he calls home, precision and perfection governed his life. He lived in a utopian society where mathematics transformed a people, creating limitless knowledge and immortality.

But all of this is suddenly threatened when an earthly being opens the doorway to the same technology that the alien planet possesses. Cambridge University professor Andrew Martin cracks the Reimann Hypothesis and unknowingly puts himself and his family in grave danger when the narrator is sent to Earth to erase all evidence of the solution and kill anyone who has seen the proof. The only catch: the alien has no idea what he’s up against.

Disgusted by the excess of disease, violence, and family strife he encounters, the narrator struggles to pass undetected long enough to gain access to Andrew’s research. But in picking up the pieces of the professor’s shattered personal life, the narrator sees hope and redemption in the humans’ imperfections and begins to question the very mission that brought him there. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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There’s a lot to like about this book. It’s well written, clever and funny, and the characters all feel incredibly real. The main character (and narrator) is an alien in the form of a human man, taking the identity of the professor who has solved a critical maths problem, and so must be eliminated along with his family before the other humans can become aware of his breakthrough. At first he is repulsed by everything human, then begins to change and to eventually empathise with them. This journey is subtle yet surprisingly quick, as the narrator is first won over by small things, and then by the incredible depths of human feeling. His observations about human life are often funny, and sometimes quite revealing. The people the alien comes into contact with are part of what makes this book so successful; Andrew’s wife and son (and the family dog), in particular, are wonderful characters.

The aliens themselves are extremely advanced compared to humans, and clearly feel themselves superior. They prize logic above emotion, and yet act a little irrationally when it comes to humans, insisting on extreme measures and worrying constantly about a kind of contamination, that their agent among the humans may become corrupted and begin to sympathise with them. This leads to a lot of tension as the main character does indeed begin to care for the humans. There’s an air of menace running under the surface of the whole book, even in the most mundane scenes such as sitting on a sofa and sharing peanut butter with a dog. There is also an interesting question running through. The aliens believe humans to be monsters, but in their cold methods and intervention, are the aliens any better?

Unfortunately, I did have a few issues with the book. The story and the science fictional elements are almost background to the true theme, which is exploring what it means to be human. There were some elements that were almost forgotten about because they were not useful to the theme, such as the simple matter of how the narrator intends to get his words to the aliens, or why there are not more repercussions after a certain event at the end (being vague on purpose to avoid spoilers). I also found the fact that the original Andrew has been killed to make way for alien-Andrew to be more than a little disturbing, and breezed over a bit too easily to be anywhere near realistic. Andrew may not have been a good person, but he does not deserve to have his entire personality and identity replaced with another version of himself who chooses different paths while posing as him, and who becomes what is clearly shown to be a 'better' version of him. The more you think about it, the more horrific it is, really. I think I would have liked it if this had been touched on a little more.

There were also times where the story became lost entirely in reflection, which was good at points and a little tiresome at others, and the slightly triumphal tone of how special humans are did sometimes become annoying. This may be because the ‘humans are special’ trope is vastly overdone in the kinds of science fiction stories I read and play. On the other hand, there were some genuinely beautiful parts of the novel where we are reminded of what’s really important in life, and to appreciate what we have, and overall the message was a good one.

Choosing an alien point of view to show us a new perspective on what it means to be human is obviously useful, but does also present certain problems. The first is that it has been done many times, and though this book was enjoyable and clever, I didn’t feel that it added anything really new. The second issue is that the alien has come to a very tiny, specific part of the world – the UK – and into a very particular kind of experience – British, male, white, academic, wealthy. This isn’t so much about what it means to be human as what it means to be those things, and when the narrator is constantly telling us about how humans believe or do certain things, this niggled at me a bit. The alien also knows enough about Earth to accuse humans of being cruel in their lack of care for the people on their planet who are starving and suffering, yet does not care about them at all himself or even consider them in his ponderings on what it means to be human. But then, perhaps that’s actually a very astute comment on what it means to be human after all!

The greatest strength of the novel was in the characterisation of Andrew. And by that, I mean both Andrews. There’s the original Andrew, the self-obsessed and arrogant professor who is taking his family for granted and in very real danger of losing it. And then there’s the alien Andrew, who desperately tries to fit in and then, against all his expectations, actually does begin to fit in. We see the original Andrew in the gaps he’s left, and in the ways characters react to the imposter Andrew, and we begin to see a little of the man this Andrew must have been, long ago. This is perhaps the deepest and most honest examination of a character that I have ever seen in fiction.

So, there’s a lot to like about The Humans, and also some elements that I thought let the book down a bit. It’s a reflective story without much action, and on the whole this is a very good thing. The characters are what’s important here, and these are all extremely well written. Thoughtful, clever and funny, I enjoyed the book, and despite a few issues, overall I found its message to be both moving and uplifting.


Thank you to Canongate Books and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane - Book Review

Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane
edited by Jonathan Oliver

Amazon (UK) (USA)

They gather in darkness, sharing ancient and arcane knowledge as they manipulate the very matter of reality itself. Spells and conjuration; legerdemain and prestidigitation – these are the mistresses and masters of the esoteric arts. Magic comes alive in their hands. British Fantasy Award nominee, Jonathan Oliver, gathers together sixteen stories of magic, featuring some of today’s finest practitioners, including Audrey Niffenegger, Christopher Fowler, Gemma Files, Thana Niveau, Robert Shearman, Will Hill, Sarah Lotz, Storm Constantine, Dan Abnett, Sophia McDougall, Alison Littlewood, Lou Morgan, Gail Z. Martin and others. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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Magic is my absolute favourite subject matter in fiction, and so a whole anthology of stories based on this theme definitely grabbed my attention. Most of the stories in the collection lean towards the darker side of the subject, exploring more sinister uses and sources of magic. There are stories about demons, magic used to kill and hurt others, dark energy, obsession, curses and more. The cover really does a great job of capturing the mood of the collection; it’s definitely dark fantasy, and many of the images and atmosphere of the stories will linger with you.

As with all short story collections, there are going to be some stories that are a hit and some that are a miss, and this is likely to be very subjective. Personally, I found this quite a strong anthology, with plenty of stories that kept me interested, and I think there will certainly be something here for everyone. The majority of stories were enjoyable, many very gripping or moving, a few forgettable ones (and one I would really like to forget), and some that I would happily read if they were to be turned into longer novels or series. In general the stories are quite short and well paced. I found myself reading through the whole collection very quickly.

Although I really enjoyed the collection, I did feel like it might have been nicer to have a bit more variety in the settings and type of magic used. The majority were set in modern day or more recent past, and the magic tied to the supernatural, giving the collection an urban fantasy feel. I would have liked to see a little more mysterious, unfamiliar, traditional fantasy, and fairytale magic explored as well, and it would have been interesting to see how the authors might have given that a dark twist and their own original spin.

My favourites in the collection were The Wrong Fairy, by Audrey Niffenegger, a wonderfully atmospheric story involving fairies, addiction and madness; Do As Thou Wilt, by Storm Constantine, a unique and clever look at modern witches and the power people have, with some very subtle magic; MailerDaemon, by Sophia McDougall, a very creepy, and at the same time surprisingly beautiful story; Buttons, by Gail Z. Martin, a great little urban fantasy; The Art of Escapology, by Alison Littlewood, another creepy story in a very different way, well told; and Shuffle, by Will Hill, which managed to tell a lot of story with so little revealed, as if the story itself is a magic trick.

I enjoyed this collection, and I think those who like stories about magic, urban fantasy, or dark fantasy involving the supernatural, will easily find something to like here.

Supernatural Freak - Book Review

Supernatural Freak

by Louisa Klein

When paranormal expert Robyn Wise is offered an outrageous sum of money to cure a boy who is turning into a dead tree, she's very sceptical. A politician ready to pay that much to make his son stop growing branches instead of hair? Come on! She's more likely to be abducted by aliens. This is a trap. Or much worse. And, of course, it's much worse.

The child is turning into a dark portal, created by a powerful entity determined to absorb Fairyland's power. This means that not only queen Titania and her court are in danger, but the very balance of the magic fluxes.

Robyn'd rather stick a pencil in her own eye but, to learn how to destroy the portal, she has to sneak into the Wizardry Council, a place full of wizards who are hiding something—though it’s certainly not their dislike of her. There, she discovers a terrible secret that could help to overthrow Fairyland's enemies for good, but puts her in the midst of an ancient and deadly war, and not as a bystander, but as the main target. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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I’m not quite sure where to begin with this review; I had such mixed reactions to the book. So, I’m going to begin by saying that, despite the issues I had with it, I really enjoyed reading it and laughed out loud at several points. The story was packed full of supernatural stuff, a little crazy, and a lot of fun.

The book is written in the voice of the main character, Robyn, who has a sarcastic and wry sense of humour, and who never seems to view the world or the dangerous situations she is in entirely seriously. This gives the book a lovely light-hearted feel, perhaps something akin to Buffy or Charmed, and there always seems to be a faintly teasing undertone, as if the author knows the story (and the whole genre) is a bit silly, and is going with it enthusiastically. There were points where the humour even seemed to take on a slightly camp or bizarre quality, and sections where I wasn’t entirely sure if I was supposed to be taking the characters/situation seriously or not. For instance, there is a wizard named Gock Wang. At first I thought this was Robyn’s nickname for him, but no, it does actually seem to be his real name. Strange... but kinda works. It’s that sort of book.

The characters themselves are mainly well written and interesting. I have a soft spot for supernatural fiction in which the heroine has a gang of helpers (again, that Buffy/Charmed feeling). I loved the idea of the stuffy but sweet ghost in Robyn’s attic, the geeks, the fun-loving uncle, and the magical friends. I also liked the brief glimpse of Robyn’s parents. One character, who looks set to become a love interest, was a little more irritating at points, and I found that some of Robyn’s uncle’s jokes fell very flat (but maybe they were supposed to!). Robyn herself is an oddball. She’s so flippant about the supernatural aspects of her life, but didn’t seem too impressed with the idea of saving the world. She seems a little wrapped up in her own world, and her little quirks (her collection of action figures based on a beloved cartoon, for instance) were wonderful. She does seem to stereotype people very easily, however, which became annoying. Overall, I thought all the different personality types of Robyn and her friends made a nice, fun mix.

Unfortunately, the characters’ speech was often jarring. Many of them sounded exactly like each other, or used colloquialisms that seemed out of place. Everyone called each other ‘mate’, from the modern characters to the wizards who have been alive for centuries, and even a faerie! At other points, slightly weird words and phrases called attention to themselves. ‘Cut a caper’ and ‘British aplomb’ are two that popped up a lot, and were very noticeable every time they did. I liked that the main character had such a mixed European background, and that she could speak several languages, but her obsession with ‘typical’ traits of each was a little weird. This was especially the case with British people, and so we are reminded constantly that the British should be unflappable and in control at all times.

The story itself was fun and incredibly fast-paced, which meant that the book was a very quick read. At points it did become almost a little jumbled, with perhaps just a bit too much going on. Having said that, the author does handle it well, and though it’s a bit of a whirlwind, she never lets it get out of control. Some bits felt a little unresolved – the abomination and the exact fate of the dark elf, for one – and everything was rounded off very suddenly at the end. However, this could have been to leave things open for a sequel, which I very much hope there will be! I would like to read more about these characters and their adventures.

The book has some issues, mainly with some out-of-place words and phrases and slightly awkward dialogue. There were also some bits that bemused me a little. But the story and characters are so much fun, and the quirky, wry, and sometimes bizarre humour really lifts the book. I enjoyed reading it. I think this has promise, and could become a great series. I’m definitely intrigued to read more!


Thank you to the author for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Any Other Name - Book Review

Any Other Name
by Emma Newman

Cathy has been forced into an arranged marriage with William - a situation that comes with far more strings than even she could have anticipated, especially when she learns of his family's intentions for them both.

Meanwhile, Max and the gargoyle investigate The Agency - a mysterious organisation that appears to play by its own rules - and none of them favourable to Society.

Over in Mundanus, Sam has discovered something very peculiar about his wife's employer - something that could herald a change for everyone in both sides of the Split Worlds. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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Warning: slight spoilers if you haven't read the first book. 

I was really excited about this book as I loved the first one and was anxious to see what would happen next. It didn’t disappoint at all! The characters continue to be interesting, the stakes are even higher, and there is plenty of intrigue all round.

Cathy is now being forced into a marriage she does not want, and the author does a good job of making us feel the tension and desperation that Cathy is going through. This is really her worst nightmare coming true, and it soon gets even worse. It seems that Lord Poppy, insane and temperamental as he is, is nothing compared to Lord Iris, the Fae lord in charge of William’s (and now Cathy’s) family. Escape becomes even more unlikely, and Cathy’s situation even more dangerous.

Cathy now has to deal with the expectations of two powerful and manipulative Fae lords, as Lord Poppy has certainly not forgotten the painting and the Iris secret he’s demanded from her, and now Lord Iris has his own expectations too. I found the sinister interactions with the Fae even better than in the first book (have I mentioned how much I love evil Fae?), and, perhaps a bit worryingly, or perhaps in contrast to Lord Iris, I’m becoming really fond of Lord Poppy! He’s such a wonderful character, and has some fantastic lines.

In the first book I liked that Cathy didn’t give in on what she wanted. She argued, she fought, and she plotted, and she continues to do so in this book. Again, she doesn’t give Will an easy pass; he might be trying, but he’s really doing so for the wrong reasons. Cathy also faces up to her father a little more, and the two actually come slightly closer to understanding each other. It’s tragic that her father seems so intent on maintaining the status quo of their society, given his own history. The characters and their reactions all felt very believable to me, and the book doesn’t really pull punches or offer easy solutions. The patriarchy of the Nether society hurts everyone caught up in it, including Will, and yet so many seem determined to simply accept it.

However, there are also plenty who are unhappy, and who would perhaps fight for change if they felt they had allies. One of the best moments in the book is a scene in which Lucy makes Cathy realise that she is not as alone as she thinks. She is not the special, different girl who wants more independence; she is only one of many. This is where Cathy finally manages to stop looking down on the other women of Nether society, and begins to think about how she can try to change things. I liked how Cathy was able to see and admit her mistake in this, and that she immediately began to think about helping others.

Will, on the other hand, gave me some trouble in this book. I really want to like Will, but he seems far too eager to see himself as the victim simply because Cathy is ‘being awkward’. I think he’s learning, painfully slowly, but then... well, I don’t want to give away any spoilers but, let’s just say he really pushes into sinister territory here. And then it becomes clear that Will actually is a victim too, in a similar way, and despite the slightly disturbing poetic justice of this, I do feel sorry for him. And now he’s dealing with some heavy duty Nether society politics, and he really is a little too naive for all this. There are plots weaving around him, and he’s just as much the pawn of the Fae as Cathy. I’m definitely curious to see where the third book will take him after the dramatic events at the end of this book.

The storyline with the arbiter and the gargoyle, the wizards, and the mystery surrounding the destruction of the chapter continues in this book, though it is really Cathy and Will who are centre stage. This was a bit of a shame, as I really love the arbiter and the gargoyle, and am dying to know what’s going on behind the scenes here and how it all connects to the Fae and the Rosas. I love Sam and enjoyed seeing him become a bigger character, and am really intrigued by the introduction of Lord Iron. Just as with Cathy and Will, things are becoming more sinister on this front too; in fact, the second book is darker all round. The ending wraps up some things but leaves some pretty big cliffhangers, and I can’t wait for the next book!

Any Other Name is as exciting and entertaining as the first book, exploring the characters more deeply and plunging them into even more danger and scheming. I love this world and these characters, and can’t wait to return to it to find out what happens next!


Thank you to Angry Robot and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Poison - Book Review

Poison
by Sarah Pinborough

A beautiful, sexy, contemporary retelling of the classic Snow White fairy tale, illustrated by Les Edwards.

Poison is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the Snow White story which takes all the elements of the classic fairytale that we love (the handsome prince, the jealous queen, the beautiful girl and, of course, the poisoning) and puts a modern spin on the characters, their motives and their desires. It's fun, contemporary, sexy, and perfect for fans of Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Snow White and the Huntsman, and more. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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Fairytale retellings seem to be forming into a little sub-genre of their own at the moment. This is something that I’m very pleased about, as I’ve always adored fairy stories, from the Disnified to the more disturbing, from the faithful adaptations to the clever re-workings, and those adapted to fit a modern or sci-fi setting. No version of a fairytale can really be wrong, as they are more fluid than that; they tell us about ourselves and how we view the world, and so it makes sense that they will change and evolve. Maybe the bad guys are starting to look increasingly sympathetic; maybe the prince doesn’t seem quite so charming anymore.

Poison is a retelling of the Snow White tale, set in a familiar fairytale world with magic and separate kingdoms, and at first glance largely faithful to the original tale. However, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that this is absolutely not the story of Snow White as we’ve seen it before. Ideas of purity, good and evil, and happily-ever-after are not as simple as they seem. The dwarves are not an isolated group of merry mine-workers, but an exploited underclass toiling in the royal mines. The Queen is not the cardboard wicked villain, and Snow White herself is much more than simply ‘the fairest in the land’. This telling is earthier, sexier, and more real than any version of Snow White I’ve come across before.

This isn’t to say that Poison lacks a fairytale feel. Far from it. Sarah Pinborough manages to combine the grittier aspects, real character motivation and sexy scenes with the more magical aspects, without ever losing that indefinable story-like quality of a fairytale. This feels like a more complete version of the Snow White story, rather than a different take on it such as something like Snow White and the Huntsman. Sarah Pinborough has not actually changed major elements of the story, but simply invited the reader to interpret the same events differently, through fleshing out characters and providing slightly different points of view. This is very clever, as, rather than feeling like a re-write, it opens up the original fairytale to interesting questions and observations, presenting it in a form that is more meaningful and truthful to the modern reader.

The Evil Queen is probably the most developed character in the story. She is no longer a mother-in-law simply envious of Snow White’s beauty, but a person battling with complicated emotions. She resents Snow White because she is allowed freedom and independence beyond anything the Queen could ever expect. The Queen has had to fight for all her power, whereas Snow White is given hers openly. Snow White is also fleshed out as a character, no longer simply the chaste, pure princess, but a warm, easy-going, brave and slightly naive girl who doesn’t fit neatly into the fairytale princess-mould. She is much more likeable than other Snow Whites, and easy to route for. There is, of course, a prince, who is written wonderfully and provides a few more surprises towards the end of the tale. The ending itself is clever and disturbing, and spot on for the themes of the book.

There are also elements of several other fairy stories woven into the plot, giving the book a sense of being connected to, and a tribute to, fairytales as a whole. This, for me, was the greatest strength of the story. I had never considered before that amongst the most famous fairytales we actually have two sleeping beauties, nor how well very separate seeming fairytales can be slotted into the same world, as if they are all feeding off each other. It is obvious that Poison is actually the middle part of a much larger story, which is extremely compelling. Who is the prince really, and the huntsman, does the crone have another role to play, and how is this all connected?

Unfortunately, this is also the main weakness of the novel. This is a very short book, and though the tale within it is fleshed out, it still only offers glimpses and hints of various characters and sub-plots. The Evil Queen and Snow White are wonderful characters, as is the prince, but the dwarves are still largely a mystery, and the huntsman still a stranger. The ending, while very clever and perfectly suited to the story, leaves events hanging, and it is clear that many of these things will be wrapped up in the later books. This is fine, but it didn’t feel like there was quite enough in this one book for me; it didn’t feel like a full story, and perhaps it would have worked better if all three parts had simply been combined as one.

However, it is a beautiful book, with a gorgeous cover, and illustrations throughout that capture the mood perfectly, which really enhances the fairytale feel. This is definitely a series meant for collecting, and when they are all out I might find that separating the different parts does work better both aesthetically and thematically. Just be warned; if you read this one, you will certainly need all three!

Poison is a rich, sexy, compelling and real re-telling of the Snow White story, packaged in a gorgeous book with wonderful illustrations. I’m looking forward to seeing where the author takes the interweaving tales in the next two books.


Thank you to Gollancz Geeks for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.