Category: Review

YA Horror Review: ‘Moth to a Flame’ by Michael Omer

This is the second book in the Narrowdale YA series. I’m not sure exactly which genre it falls under; I’d put it somewhere between suspense and horror, with paranormal elements. And as YA goes, it’s at the younger end, and wouldn’t be unsuitable for middle-graders, since the horror is muted, and the humour is cranked all the way up to eleven. In fact, the opening few chapters are as funny as anything I’ve ever read anywhere, and yes, that covers Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Bill Bryson. Main character Amy is an absolute delight, completely swept up in her own affairs, and since the book is written in the first person, we get to share all her dippy thoughts. The collision of Amy with algebra had me crying from laughing so hard. I know humour is a personal thing, but I defy anyone not to laugh out loud reading this. […]

Posted July 16, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Urban fantasy review: ‘Twiceborn Queen’ by Marina Finlayson

This is the second part of the urban fantasy series The Proving, and boy, is it a cracker. I loved the first part, Twiceborn, werewolves and all, but this one is, if anything, even better. It’s a rare accomplishment in a trilogy to maintain the momentum of the first book into the second, but here the author carries it off with style. SPOILER WARNING: the end of the first book had a number of spectacular reveals, and I really can’t talk about events in this book without referencing them, so it will be impossible to avoid spoilers for Twiceborn. Don’t read any further if you haven’t yet read it. There are no spoilers for this book, however. In Twiceborn, Kate O’Connor thought things couldn’t get worse after the death of her son, Lachie. Well, she was totally wrong about that. She found herself drawn into the war of succession between […]

Posted July 3, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Fantasy review: ‘An Altered Fate’ by Claire Frank

The second part of a series is always a difficult trick to pull off: have all the clever ideas been used up in the first part? Is the plot reduced to dull filler to bridge the gap before the finale? Do the nuances get lost in the rush to ramp up the action a notch? Well, all the answers here are a resounding no: this book is just as absorbing as the first. In the first book, the villain, Nihil, was defeated, but the results of his experiments are still roaming the kingdom of Halthas. A number of Wielders (magic users) have been altered, rendering them very powerful but also unstable. Some of them have surrendered to the lure of that power, and have become wildly destructive. Others seem to be under better control. The focus of the story is how to manage the altered Wielders: should they be killed? […]

Posted June 27, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 1 Comment

Archive review: ‘The Folding Knife’ by K J Parker

I read this book in January 2011, when I was only just finding my feet with reviewing. I mention below that it’s unlike anything else I’ve read, and four years later that’s still true. A strange but (for me) compelling book. As fantasy, it has no magic at all – or has it? I gave it four stars, and I still think that’s the right rating for me. I loved this book. I had no expectations going in, and had never read anything by this author before, but it was mentioned as a good fantasy book, I sampled it on the Kindle, and liked it, although it’s totally unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It is a slow book to get into, but there came a point about a third of the way in where I stopped trying to follow the details of the plot (they’re not relevant) and […]

Posted June 27, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Archive, Review / 0 Comments

Mystery/thriller review: ‘Low Tide’ by Dawn Lee McKenna

I loved the author’s debut work, ‘See You’, regarding it as one of the finest books I’ve read in recent years. So this opener for a new series was a must for me. The author very kindly sent me a copy in advance of release day, so I could be one of the first to read it – thank you very much! This is a very different book, a thriller built around thirty-something police lieutenant Maggie Redmond, divorced with two children. Maggie’s a very likable, very normal person, doing her job, raising her kids, not exactly struggling to get by but (like most of us) stuck in a bit of a rut. But Maggie has a secret in her past, and when ne’er-do-well Gregory Boudreaux turns up dead in an apparent suicide, her life threatens to unravel. She’s thrown into the path of Gregory’s uncle, the town’s rather charming chief […]

Posted June 7, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Sci-Fi Review: ‘Ambassador 1: Seeing Red’ by Patty Jansen

This was a serendipitous find, since science fiction isn’t my usual fare. But having tripped over it, I started reading and was instantly hooked. The book starts with a bang – literally, since almost the first thing that happens is a massive explosion which seriously injures the Nations of Earth President, during a meeting with our hero, Cory Wilson, the ambassador of the title. Cory is about to take up a position as Earth’s ambassador to the united non-Earth nations (gamra) who control interstellar travel. Now, everything is in disarray, his gamra partner has been arrested, and Cory himself is under suspicion. And from here on, the pace is relentless, without a moment for Cory (or the reader!) to catch his breath. This is as much political thriller as scifi, with various factions chasing after Cory or offering him aid, with the usual problem of who to trust. Cory’s own […]

Posted June 6, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Mystery Review: ‘The House At Sea’s End’ by Elly Griffiths

This is the third in the series of murder mysteries featuring forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway, a somewhat grumpy, overweight, wine-guzzling, cat-loving lady, and one of my favourite characters. Once again, there’s a mysterious set of bones unearthed which our trusty heroine has to help to identify with her scientific skill. This time the bones are war-time era, buried during the dark days when an invasion by Hitler was believed to be imminent. But the coast is being eroded by time and tide, and the bones are exposed to twenty first century science. Now, to be honest, the science part of the investigation is perfunctory, at best. There are some police investigations ongoing, but I never found that aspect of the story compelling, or even particularly interesting. No, it’s the characters that make this book come alive. Ruth, the frumpy almost-middle-aged new mum. Nelson the grumpy cop. Michelle, his perfect […]

Posted May 22, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Regency romance review: ‘The Secret History of the Pink Carnation’ by Lauren Willig

This was recommended by a friend when I lamented the difficulty of finding decent Regency romances these days that have some modicum of connection to the actual era, and don’t play fast and loose with historical details. And it’s true enough that the historical details do feel very realistic. The author has obviously done her research. Unfortunately, while the settings are very credible, the characters simply aren’t. Now, this is partly my problem: I just find it very hard to read about Regency ladies clambering in and out of windows at night, and having almost-sexy-times with rakish blokes in masks and otherwise behaving recklessly, without comparing them with Jane Austen’s much more sedate heroines. Or even Georgette Heyer’s, whose characters were always spirited, but never, ever silly. So your mileage may vary, but for me I had trouble believing any of this. The premise: in an era of Englishmen secretly […]

Posted May 18, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Fantasy Romance Review: ‘The Coup’ by Erica Dakin

I positively inhaled this book – I just couldn’t read it fast enough. This is the third book in the Theft and Sorcery series. I really enjoyed the first two, but this one is the best of the lot, for me. Although each book can be read independently of the others, there are some characters from the earlier books that turn up here. Big, big warning for those who might find it problematic: there’s a heap of graphic sex in the book, bordering on erotica, and there’s also some robust language. One of the enjoyable aspects of this series is that there’s a time-skip from one book to the next. This opens up the possibilities for interesting social changes. In the first book, half-elves were slaves, the lowest rung on the social ladder (after full-blooded elves, the aristocracy, and humans, effectively the middle classes). In the second book, the enlightened […]

Posted May 14, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Fantasy Review: ‘Dragon’s Debt’ by H L Burke

This is the second in the Dragon and the Scholar quartet, and follows on with the story of Ewan (the dragon) and Shannon (the scholar). The first book ended with the two of them flying off into the sunset, but it was a long way from being a happy ending, what with him being a dragon and all. So naturally, after a pleasant interlude together, things start to go downhill. There’s trouble afoot in the Kingdom of Westshire, which borders our heroes’ own kingdom of Regone. Strange beasties have been snatching young girls from their homes, and Ryan, the heir to the Westshire throne, is set on putting an end to it. Into the midst of this comes Ewan’s brother Edmond, now King of Regone, bent on wooing Ryan’s sister Brighid. Her father, King Riley, isn’t at all happy about it. When things come to a duel, Ewan and Shannon […]

Posted May 6, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 1 Comment