Looking towards next year (or, It's All About The Williamses)

I know, it's only just November, but as the nights draw in I like to look to nose round and see what new books are on the horizon. Early January 2017 sees the return of Tad Williams to the land of  Osten Ard, the setting of his much loved series Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, with a short novel 'The Heart of What Was Lost (set just after To Green Angel Tower). April then sees the start of a new series from him, The Last King of Osten Ard  (again, same land but this time set 30 years on) with The Witchwood Crown. It's been a long while since we walked these paths and I for one cannot wait to see what's in store.

Another new series I am waiting excitedly for starts with The Ninth Rain (23rd February). To say I am a fan of Jen Williams would probably be a bit of an understatement. Her Copper Cat series had it all - good storytelling, variety of settings and characters you want to be your friends. The new series promises to be just as much fun. Here's the description from Amazon:


Jen Williams, acclaimed author of the Copper Cat trilogy, featuring THE COPPER PROMISE, THE IRON GHOST and THE SILVER TIDE, returns with the first in a blistering new trilogy. 'An original new voice in heroic fantasy' Adrian Tchaikovsky
The great city of Ebora once glittered with gold. Now its streets are stalked by wolves. Tormalin the Oathless has no taste for sitting around waiting to die while the realm of his storied ancestors falls to pieces - talk about a guilt trip. Better to be amongst the living, where there are taverns full of women and wine.
When eccentric explorer, Lady Vincenza 'Vintage' de Grazon, offers him employment, he sees an easy way out. Even when they are joined by a fugitive witch with a tendency to set things on fire, the prospect of facing down monsters and retrieving ancient artefacts is preferable to the abomination he left behind.
But not everyone is willing to let the Eboran empire collapse, and the adventurers are quickly drawn into a tangled conspiracy of magic and war. For the Jure'lia are coming, and the Ninth Rain must fall...


All in all 2017 looks to be another good year for fantasy fiction. More of my choices will follow in the weeks ahead

     

Dominion by Peter McLean - A Review

Dominion is the second book in McLean's 'Burned Man' series but is contained enough to work as a stand-alone novel (and I know because I hadn't read the first, 'Drake', when this popped through the letter box.

The 'hero' of Dominion is Don Drake, a diabolist and former hitman who is conned into going up against The Rotman, an entity that is destroying the underparts of London. When Rotman turns out to be the archdemon Bianakith Drake soon realises he is out of his depth - and Bianakith is only the beginning. With his unrequited love interest, his Guardian Angel (almost fallen Angel) Trixie and his patron, The Burned Man he still needs every trick up his sleeve to save the day.

Drake is an interesting lead, a mix of Harry Dresden and Felix Dexter with maybe a bit of Bobby Dollar thrown. He seems a bit worn down by life and having Trixie living with him is affecting him  (he seems equal parts in love and in fear of her), as is keeping The Burned Man in a 9 inch tall fetish in a spare room. Drake likes a drink and swears a lot but, for me, that makes him more believable. Events later in the story leave him even more 'put upon' but I'm not going into those here - wouldn't want to spoil the fun for you.

With stories like this the supporting cast are essential to get right and McLean has done just that. The crowd in Wormwood's club, a supernatural meeting place, for example, are various shades of grey, any of them could be friend or foe. Even Drake isn't sure who he can and can't trust.

Dominion is very much a Dark Urban Fantasy tale and the London setting, as it usually does, serves the story well. The city is dark and grimy, the lower levels, below the Underground and populated by Gnomes, is even darker and grimier and is also rotting away (thanks to The Rotman). Will Drake and friends save the day, save the Gnomes and save the city? That's for you to find out but you'll enjoy the journey - I know I did

As I said at the beginning of this review Dominion is the second book in the series but, and this is where it feels Peter McLean has been really clever, there is enough here to inform you of past events (in 'Drake') but not enough to make reading the previous novel unnecessary - in fact I'm planning on reading 'Drake' as soon as I get chance. I also feel that, with everything that is going on in the backstory, the whole tale of Don Drake has a lot more to offer and more surprises to reveal

Highly Recommended

Spectral Book of Horror Stories (Book 3) - A Review

Every year, as Halloween approaches, there is, as you would expect, a surge in the number of horror novels and collections that are available. With all this choice though it is not always clear which to go with for the best chills and frights.

Thankfully my attention was drawn to Spectral Book of Horror Stories 3 (SBoHS3), not least because of the cracking cover art by Holly Madew. On looking at the contents list I saw a few 'reliable' names (Dan Weatherer, Adrian Cole, Dave-Brendon de Burgh) but many more that I didn't know. As with all books of this ilk there is a range in the quality of the stories but I'm happy to say they were all good, none stood out for the wrong reasons.

If I had to pick favourites I guess I'd go with Lou Antonelli's 'Three Twilight Zone Variations on a High School Reunion' (an author goes back to his old school and relives 1975), Jason V Brock's 'COULROPHILIA' (because, y'know, it's got clowns) and Cotton Face by Dan Weatherer (which has a definite Bloody Mary/Candyman vibe going on. But there are so many others I could have chosen from, Monster Horror, Ghost Horror, whatever takes your fancy I'm pretty sure you'll find something here to keep you looking over your shoulder on a dark night.

A very nicely put together book

4.3/5 *

The Wrong Train Blog Tour with Jeremy de Quidt

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of 'The Wrong Train' (Jeremy de Quidt, David Fickling Books) for review. I thoroughly enjoyed the tale and repost my review here.


"It's late at night, a boy runs for the train but on catching it he realises that it's not the one he meant to catch. He gets off at the first possible station he can but doesn't recognise it. After a while an old man and his dog turn up and regale the boy with a story while he waits for a train to take him back.

And so begins one of the creepiest, scariest books I've read in a while.

The stories the old man tells, you see, are of the ghostly and unsettling variety.

As the night goes on the boy gets more uncomfortable with the old man and the old man himself gets slightly more sinister. It's clear from the off that the old man is in charge of the game, indeed all the events and storytelling seem to be leading towards what he refers to as 'my little game'. And when it comes time to play, when all becomes clear - well, let's just say this reviewer had his socks knocked clean off.

The storytelling here is very much of the highest standard, the stories within a story idea works really well and I'm not ashamed to say, the author unnerved me at times. There were certainly several occasions when I could see where he was taking the story and I thought 'NO!! He's not going to do that. I was wrong and he did.

The Wrong Train is aimed at a Young Adult audience but shouldn't be restricted to that bracket. It is not a comfortable read but it is a very good one. This book will be enjoyed by older readers too.

So, in short, I cannot recommend The Wrong Train Highly enough. Go get yourself a copy soon as you can (it's from David Fickling Books)

5* It's been a long while since a book unsettled me like this and I loved every uncomfortable minute of it"


When the chance came to take part in the 'The Wrong Train' Blog Tour I didn't need asking twice. So, with no further ado, please welcome Jeremy to the BlogCave as I ask him "What scared you as a child"







Andy looked at me over his laptop.

“You told Beth at Reader’s Corner that you never read scary stories when you were a child because you had nightmares?”

“That’s right,” I said.

He looked at the laptop, I could see him reading the tour blog post.

“So, scary stories were never your inspiration,’ he said. “You just pour it all out of that dark ink you carry round in your head now.”

“That’s right.”

He looked up.

“Do stories scare you, now?” He asked.

“Not really,” I said. “I don’t read scary things. If I do it’s to take them apart - admire all the ropes and pulleys behind the words. See how other people do it.”

“Some stuff must scare you, though?”

“Course it does,” I said. “Fear’s not rational. Once someone lets a story into that part of their head they don’t have the key to, all the dark things in there will get up and play with it.”

He grinned, turned the lamp round so that it was pointing directly at me and said.

“So, what actually was it scared you, kicked off all those nightmares, when you were a child?”

“Specifics?”

“Specifics,” he said.

“How many do you want?” I could see we were going to be there all day if I tried to give him the whole list.

“Three,” he said.

“Ok,” I said. “Three.”

I thought about it for a moment and then held up a finger.

“Number One:

Because I didn’t read or want to watch scary stuff, what I just glimpsed in pictures - in photographs in newspapers and magazines, on covers of books - they were a big way to let the bad things in. Some would be awful in the way that only those pictures can be - I remember seeing a photograph of Belsen in the pages of a history book an uncle had. Others were awful in a way intended to shock and entertain - there was a series of American Civil War bubblegum cards that were all gore and death.

What they did was put the image in that unlit closed-off part of my head that I didn’t have the key to - added it to the ones that were already there - and come nighttime and darkness all the bright lights went on in there and that dark imagination of mine would feed on it and turn it into something else, much worse.”

I held up another finger. “Number Two:

Being alone in the dark - bedroom light out, hall light out, dark. Especially in the dead of night.

Home is supposed to be safe, but it didn’t feel safe and when everyone else was asleep they might just as well not have been there at all. All I was left with is whatever I wanted to fill up the dark with, and I was never short of ideas for that. They came creeping across the floor, around the doorpost, down the walls from the ceiling - tapped at the glass behind the curtains, hid in folds of cloth.”

I held up a third Finger. “Number Three,” I said.


“I listened too much and asked too many of the wrong questions. There’d have been a scary film on that I hadn't seen, and lamb to the slaughter I wouldn’t able to stop myself asking what it had been about. ‘What happened?’ I’d say, and even as I said it I knew that I was going to regret asking. Maybe not then, maybe not an hour later, but come the dark - come that bright light getting switched on in the locked room inside my head, boy was I going to regret it. And I did. Every time.

“Were you a timid child?” asked Andy.

“Not at all. I sawed a .410 shotgun cartridge in half on a stone step at infant’s school because I fancied the shiny brass bit at the end…”

“You what?”

“But you could say that was plain ignorance. And I put a .22 brass starting pistol cap in a brick wall once and hit it with a hammer and nail…”

“at infant’s school? A shotgun cartridge…”

“And if there was anything of a bone breaking height to throw myself off or round, I was your boy. But dark imagination, that was a demon I had no hold on at all.”

I looked up at Andy and felt myself slowly smiling in what I hoped was a friendly way.

“Still don’t…” I said.


And on that note Jeremy must leave for the next stop on his tour and all that remains is for me to say "Thank you for stopping by"

*WARNING: NOT FOR PASSENGERS OF NERVOUS DISPOSITION* THE WRONG TRAIN Jeremy De Quidt Publishing in hardback from David Fickling Books on 1st September 2016, priced £10.99


Master of horror, Jeremy de Quidt, is back with this terrifyingly good collection of ghost stories that will send shivers down your spine. 
Just don’t say we didn’t warn you…


“It dawned on him slowly that there was something wrong…”
It’s late. Dark. A boy rushes to catch a train, leaping aboard just before it pulls away. Suddenly he realises that it’s the wrong train. He’s annoyed, of course, but not scared… Yet.
He gets off at the next station, but the platform’s empty, and it doesn’t look like any station he’s seen before. But he’s still not scared… Yet.
Then a stranger arrives – someone with stories to help pass the time. Only these aren’t any old stories. These are nightmares, and they come with a price to pay.
…Scared yet? You will be.

Praise for Jeremy de Quidt: “Pacy, exciting and inventive” - Guardian        “Thrilling, dark and exciting” - The Bookseller

About the Author:



Jeremy de Quidt is available for interview and to write features. For further information please contact Carolyn McGlone, PR Manager: carolyn@davidficklingbooks.com; 01865 339 008

Abendau's Legacy by Jo Zebedee - A Review

And so we come to the end of the Abendau series. As is usually the case this is all building to final confrontations in that Kate, our hero, is facing his final battle against The Empress (aka his mum). To this end the pages fly by but, in a slightly unexpected way (or maybe not, given the books' title) the majority of the story is carried by the children.

There is a good bit of tying up of loose ends to be done, and that is done well, leaving a complete tale that I plan to go back to and read again in one go.

Jo Zebedee has built an interesting, enjoyably satisfying series here, very Star Wars like in style. I predict more big things from her in the future so remember the name.

5.5/5*

Revenger by Alastair Reynolds - A Review

I have said before that when it comes to sci fi novels I don't like them to be too tech heavy. I prefer my sf to be more about the characters and while I accept there has to be some science I need it to be something I understand. For that reason alone 'Revenger' rates highly with me.

Revenger tells the tale of two sisters, Adrana and Arafura, who join the crew of Captain Rackamore in the hopes of saving their family from bankruptcy. Due to their 'sympathetic' abilities they are able to help navigate entry into baubles, tiny pockets of space that hold technological trinkets that may make a fortune for all. Everything is fine until disaster strikes.

A curious novel this, it starts out very much as a YA tale but soon becomes a lot more adult oriented (not in a saucy way, more grown up sci fi). The scope of the story is huge and the ideas of the baubles and their hidden treasures did give it a 'Pirates of the Caribbean in Space' flavour.

With enough twists and turns to keep the pages flying by and a varied and interesting cast of characters I hope this is just the start of story. More please

4/5*

The Tribes (Marc Craig 14) by Catriona King - A Review

Could two different murders the team are investigating be linked? What are the ties with the South? Will North and South be able to cross borders and work together? This, the 14th story featuring the Belfast Murder Squad, is just what I would have expected - a twisty crime tale with a bunch of personal storylines in the squad (and for one of the team things could not get any worse).

With several characters from earlier in the series making appearances it helps to have read the other books but The Tribes works well as a stand alone novel too - but be warned, if this is your first meeting with Marc Craig and his team you'll be wanting to get the rest of the set.