The Way Of The Worm - Ramsey Campbell

 

 'More than thirty years have passed since the events of Born to the Dark. Christian Noble is almost a century old, but his and his family’s influence over the world is stronger than ever. The latest version of their occult church counts Dominic Sheldrake’s son and the young man’s wife among its members, and their little daughter too. Dominic will do anything he can to break its influence over them, and his old friends Jim and Bobby come to his aid. None of them realise what they will be up against – the Nobles transformed into the monstrousness they have invoked, and the inhuman future they may have made inevitable . . .'

 So, here we are at the end of Mr Campbell's trilogy and the final chance for Dominic Sheldrake and friends to defeat Christian Noble's (now global)  dark church.

 Dom, Jim and Bobby are getting on a bit by the time this endgame comes around experience (or so it is said) but can anything really have prepared for the hellish Lovecraftian horrors ahead? Even more so when Dom's family are involved.

 I have enjoyed this series from the page 1 and waited eagerly for each new episode, watching the Sheldrake and co. go from youth to old age and seeing how the Noble's church and plans would develop. What has surprised me most is how much story Campbell manages to fit in the books, even when, at times, it feels like it is a slow burn. When he pulls everything together the results are as good, if not better, than anything out there in the genre. Campbell has been doing this job for decades and this trilogy 'The Three Births of Daoloth' shows the master still at the top of his game.

 I don't like to use phrases like 'edge of your seat stuff' but The Way Of The Worm really was that

Highly Recommended (best read as a series though)  5/5*

 

Many thanks to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for inviting me onto this blogtour, and please check out the posts by the other bloggers (below)

The Kaiju Preservation Society - John Scalzi

 Oh, this was so much fun. Imagine getting a job where you get to go to a parallel earth and study/protect humongous Godzilla and almost Cthulu type creatures. That's what happens when lead character (Jamie) gets screwed over at work and ends up as a deliveroo type bicycle food delivery operative. While making one of his deliveries he meets an old acquaintance who offers him the chance of better employment.

 And that's where the fun begins - and trust me, this novel is a whole heap of fun.

 The job involves a portal jump to an alternate earth where these giant creatures live. Jamie and his new friends and co-workers are the titular Kaiju Preservation Society and the job basically describes itself. 

 Now, this kind of story needs a big bad out to spoil everything and use the Kaiju for their own personal gain and, to be fair, they are kinda signposted from the get-go but, you know what? I don't care 😉.

 I don't care, because this isn't some deep morality tale, it's a fun read with an alternate earth and 

Giant!

Freakin'!

Monsters!!

 The banter between the leads made me chuckle at times and the whole pitch of the thing was just right.

 I haven't read much Scalzi before but I will be raiding his back catalogue with a vengeance.

 Thanks to Black Crow PR for inviting me onto this tour. Please have a read of the posts by the other bloggers (below)

Our Lady Of Mysterious Ailments by T L Huchu

 

                   About The Book

Some secrets are meant to stay buried

When Ropa Moyo discovered an occult underground library, she expected great things. She’s really into Edinburgh’s secret societies – but turns out they are less into her. So instead of getting paid to work magic, she’s had to accept a crummy unpaid internship. And her with bills to pay and a pet fox to feed.

Then her friend Priya offers her a job on the side. Priya works at Our Lady of Mysterious Maladies, a very specialized hospital, where a new illness is resisting magical and medical remedies alike. The first patient was a teenage boy, Max Wu, and his healers are baffled. If Ropa can solve the case, she might earn as she learns – and impress her mentor, Sir Callander.

Her sleuthing will lead her to a lost fortune, an avenging spirit and a secret buried deep in Scotland’s past. But how are they connected? Lives are at stake and Ropa is running out of time.

         

                        My Thoughts

 Well, here we go, back into the dystopian, post apocalyptic Edinburgh that we first saw in The Library Of The Dead . . . oh, and it's so good to be back.

 With her previous business now behind her Ropa is now she is now working a new job that will, hopefully, allow her to develop her skills and get lots of experience - but she soon finds out that it's an unpaid internship. This being the case Ropa, who is her family's bread winner has to take on side jobs to earn cash. 

 One of these is trying to find a cure for a teenage boy who is in a coma at Our Lady Of Mysterious Ailments. Time is short and more teen-agers are going the same way. Ropa's search leads her to one of the four Schools of Magic and plenty of scrapes in her search for answers.

 This second in the Edinburgh Nights series is an improvement on The Library Of The Dead (which is going some, as I really enjoyed that too). Maybe it is the author growing in confidence but the characters felt more fleshed out here and the Edinburgh of this book felt just a bit more 'real'. As before the speech is quite Scottish a good bit of the time which could put people off (not me, I read quite a lot of Scotland based fiction so I'm used to it) but I hope it doesn't as this series is a lot of fun.

 I've seen the Edinburgh Nights series compared in story style to the Rivers of London  and actually think that is quite apt.

 The second in a series that is going from strength to strength and I'm already looking forward to the next one.

 4.5/5*

 Many thanks to Stephen Haskins, Black Crow PR and Tor books for inviting me to review the book and providing a copy of said book. All views and opinions are my own.

 

The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

Billed as a mix between Judge Dredd and the Witcher it was never really a question of would I want to read (but thanks for asking Nazia at Orbit) this book, more a question of how soon can I get my paws on it. 

 Set in the usual late medieval type world we often get in fantasy fiction the story follows Sir Konrad Vonvalt, a Justice whose role in life is to travel the land hearing disputes, solving crimes and dishing out... well, justice (yes, very much a Judge Dredd vibe here) But he does not get to tell the tale though, that falls to his Clerk, Helena so we get to see the world and his actions through her eyes. 

 And an interesting world it is too. I said earlier that the setting is a typical late medieval one but that may be doing it a disservice - there are things afoot that suggest we may be on the edge of something big and I'm expecting to see a very different looking world when this series reaches it's conclusion (or maybe before, who knows) 

 One of the things that attracted me to this book was that there was a murder to be solved and that felt like something that would be a refreshing change from the usual prophesy/dragons/chosen one (all of which I love but I'm also a fan of gritty crime fiction too) and again it didn't disappoint. Felt like a welcome breath of fresh air.

 Politics, religion, intrigue, murder - all set in a believable and well crafted world. Ye Gods I bloody enjoyed this book.

 And also a massive well done to the cover designers - that is a cover and a half that, Stunning!

 Highly Recommended 5/5* 

Vile City (Detective In A Coma bk1 ) by Jennifer Lee Thomson

 

A

About The Book 

DI Duncan Waddell is on the brink of a nervous breakdown – he thinks his best pal DC Stevie Campbell, who’s been in a coma since he was attacked by a suspect, is talking to him.

When office worker Shelley rushes to her boyfriend’s aid after he is attacked, she is abducted. She wakes up in a strange room with no memory of how she got there.

On the case, Waddell finds himself in a desperate race against time to uncover the truth behind the abduction.

To do this, he and his team must delve into the seedy underbelly of Scotland’s swingers’ scene and a world where women are tricked into the sex business and traded like cattle.

I'll be honest, I liked this a lot. Going into it I wasn't sure what to expect - for those of you old enough to remember I was thinking something like Randall and Hopkirk, Deceased (if you don't remember it, try Google 😉). What it actually gave me was a detective (Waddell) whose work partner, Stevie, is in a coma (hence the title) and is struggling with a potential breakdown. On his visits to the hospital he uses the comatose Stevie as a sounding board for his investigation and sometimes finds Stevie sat up in bed talking to him, although when he calls a nurse he is back as he was, comatose, unresponsive. It is most likely the result of Waddell's mental stress rather than a 'supernatural event' but we'll see as the series progresses I guess. 

The investigation itself is pretty grim, girls being taken off the streets and sold into the sex trade but the lead character here, Shelley, turns out to be made of stern stuff and makes for an interesting storyline. 

I'm a big fan of Scottish Crime Fiction so as soon as I was invited onto this tour I had a look at the blurb and snapped the book up - I was reviewing this whether I made the tour or not. And I wasn't disappointed. I'll be doing the same with the next in the series too (Cannibal City, DiaC2). Jennifer Lee Thomson, you have a new fan here

4.3/5* 

Thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me to review this and please have a look at the posts from the other bloggers on the tour

The Thousand Eyes by A.K.Larkwood

 

           

                    About The Book 

                    

Could you sacrifice your dreams to escape a nightmare?

Csorwe, Shuthmili and Tal survey abandoned Echentyr worlds to make a living. The empire’s ruins seem harmless but fascinating. Yet disaster strikes when they stumble upon ancient magic during a routine expedition. This revives a warrior who’d slept for an age, reigniting a conflict thousands of years old. And the soldier binds Csorwe to her cause.

Shuthmili is desperate to protect the woman she loves. However, as events escalate, she’s torn. Can she help Csorwe by clinging to her own humanity or by embracing her eldritch powers?

Tal heads home, but his peace is shattered when a magical catastrophe hits his city. The wizard Sethennai is missing and Tal can’t face seeking his former lover to ask for help. So, he flees – but there’s no escaping the future. For throughout the Echo Maze’s linked worlds, fragments of an undead goddess are waking. Soon all must choose a side.

   

                               ~||~

First off, I've got to admit this is not a review of the full book as my review copy only arrived a few days ago. What it is is my thoughts on what I have read so far.

The story starts off 2 years after the end of The Unspoken Name and finds our heroes Csorwe, Shuthmili and Tal working as security/support for academics exploring dead worlds. Right from the off this feels like a big screen epic as they fly into The Hatchery on the dead world of the Echentyr, a serpent race that are resigned to the history books, along with their Serpent Goddess . . .

Except they aren't! There is one survivor and when Csorwe and co. rescue them the troubles begin and the Serpent Goddess is back! 

I wasn't expecting the jump that moved the story forward to 15 years on but it worked for me as it was a chance to see the leads as older people and how the world has changed now that the Serpent Goddess rules most. Will our heroes be able to put everything right? I'll let you know when I get to the end of the book so watch this space.

 What Larkwood did well in The Unspoken Name was the world building and, thankfully, that is carried on in The Thousand Eyes. It feels very visual and that's what I like.

As for the main characters, Tal stands out for me so far as someone who has grown (seeing him 15 years on with a protégé who is pretty much a replica of younger Tal is good fun). There seems to be less of Csorwe and Shuthmili so far but that may change I guess.

The Thousand Eyes is a faster moving tale than The Unspoken Name and feels more of a Fantasy/Sci-fi hybrid than I remember the first being but that's not a bad thing.

I've been waiting what feels like ages for this book to be published and (so far) I'm not disappointed in the slightest

Thanks to Black Crow PR for inviting me onto the tour for this book and for providing the review copy (and hey, look at the cover art, isn't it rather gorgeous).

Please have a look at the reviews by the other bloggers on the tour (below)

The Last Lumenian and True Teryn by S G Blaise

                         ABOUT THE LAST LUMENIAN 

 MOST PRINCESSES NEED SAVING. THIS ONE WILL SAVE YOU.

She is a rebel. Lilla is fighting for the refugees's freedom from oppression. The king, her father, lost touch with reality ever since Lilla's mother died. Now everyone else is paying the price.

The arrival of Callum, a powerful Teryn general, complicates Lilla's life. His presence leads to conflicted feelings and friction with Arrov, a handsome pilot and fellow rebel.

Her life is not what she imagined it to be. Not by far. Meddling gods, love interests and sudden magical abilities have no room in Lilla's world, but that has become her new reality. No matter how hard she pushes them away, it's too late. They all seek to control her anyway.

Now the Era War between two ruling archgods forces Lilla to act: accept who she really is magic and all; find true love; fulfill her destiny by defeating the Archgod of Chaos and Destruction before He finds her. The Last Lumenian.

 So, what did I think? Well I am more of a fantasy reader than a Sci-fi reader (I like my Sci-fi to not be too tech heavy and sciency) but this combination of the two worked really well for me. Lilla makes for a believable lead she's brave, clever, sassy at times but also given to panic attacks at time. The books are certainly aimed at a new adult audience (in my opinion) and I guess that makes the Sci-fi more my level and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

 The story itself has the usual fantasy tropes,-mages, Gods, Destiny etc. but thrown into the mix is romance, a love triangle, plenty of banter and some excellent world building. 

 With its shortish chapters the story flies by at a good pace and I was greatful that I had book 2 to hand to dig straight into. 

 Speaking of which... 

                     ABOUT THE BOOK

ALL BEGINNINGS COME AT A PRICE. ARE YOU WILLING TO PAY IT?

Lilla must recruit the biggest and most dangerous army in the Seven Galaxies, but the Teryn emperor will not comply unless Lilla earns the blessing of the Teryn Guardian Goddess Laoise.

Dealing with gods is never easy. Guardian Goddess Laoise’s condition for bestowing her blessing is for Lilla to bring her the mysterious Heart Amulet. Now Lilla is trapped in a strange place with no way out, no idea where to go or how to find the amulet.

The only way for Lilla to complete her mission is to uncover the biggest secret of all Teryns. Will she survive discovering the secret of what it means to be a True Teryn?

 True Teryn really gets the story going, with what I like best in my fantasy reads - a good old fashioned quest for a maguffin. The maguffin in this case is the Heart Amulet but Lilla doesn't know what it is or where exactly to find it. Her quest, as is often the case will allow her to find out more about herself (the 'real Lilla' I guess you could say). Everything that was good in book 1 is even better here in True Teryn

 SG Blaise has done it again with the world building here (and as it's the seven galaxies I'm excited to see what there is going forward with this). The characters are growing into themselves and the story is getting better and better. The style of writing is very visual as well which is not an easy thing to get right.

 Something else to note is the cover art on these books, I mean, have you seen them?? That is luscious cover design (that's part of the reason I have these books on kindle as well as physical copies - so I can keep the covers as pristine as possible).

 I'm giving both books 4/5* just because I think this series will keep getting better and better

 Thanks to Smith Publicity for inviting me to review these books and for providing the review copies. 

 Both books are available now