Category: Review

Fantasy romance review: ‘Dragon’s Rival’ by H L Burke

This is the third in the series The Dragon and the Scholar, and the story is blossoming now. It’s focused more on the personal elements than the background plot, but I found this more interesting anyway. The on-again off-again sort-of romance between dragon-prince Ewan and scholar Shannon has reached a critical point, and Ewan’s rival Ryan, another prince, is there waiting for Shannon when things fall apart. Everything depends on Ewan: will he admit his love for Shannon or deny it all to give her a chance of happiness with Ryan? I’m not generally a big fan of characters who say and do things to protect another character ‘for their own good’. It’s presumptuous and disrespectful not to allow them to make their own decision. But in this case, Ewan has been enchanted (or cursed, perhaps) by an evil sorceress, now dead, to take the form of a dragon permanently. […]

Posted September 17, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Fantasy review: ‘The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms’ by N K Jemisin

Right from the start I had trouble with this book. The story is told by Yeine, in a chatty but disjointed style, which hops here and there, jumping back from the here-and-now to fill in some backstory, sometimes abandoning the diversion. I can live with the erratic timelines, although it seems more of an authorial conceit than anything else, but the odd tone is grating. A slightly formal construction will be disrupted by a seemingly modern word, like ‘savvy’ or ‘sicced’. It’s very jarring, and rocks me out of the story at frequent intervals. And then Yeine herself is an odd sort of character. Her mother, from the ruling Arameri family, married into the northern family of Darr, so-called barbarians, although it isn’t obvious what they do that is any more barbaric than Arameri ways. But when Yeine is summoned to Sky, the seat of the Arameri family, and made […]

Posted September 11, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Mystery review: ‘The Treasure at Poldarrow Point’ by Clara Benson

This is the third in the Angela Marchmont series of cozies, and, seriously, I had a whale of a time with this book. It’s got smuggling, a secret room, mysterious tunnels, a missing diamond necklace and anonymous letters, not to mention a number of characters behaving in suspiciously odd ways. The plot is completely preposterous, of course, but the most amazing fun, and a great leap forward from the first two books in the series. The character of Angela herself is really beginning to shine, now. She’s turning into a wonderful heroine, intelligent and self-confident, with a relaxed approach to her investigations. Angela’s god-daughter, Barbara, is a magnificent side-kick. She’s twelve years old, and has that gung-ho let’s-have-a-go attitude that reminded me strongly of the Famous Five. While Angela is sedately looking stuff up in the library, Barbara is crawling through tunnels, picking locks, hiding in cupboards and creeping round […]

Posted September 9, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Mystery review: ‘What Washes Up’ by Dawn Lee McKenna

This is the third book in the sequence that started with Low Tide, and the author is really getting into her stride now. Florida cop Maggie Redmond, a divorced single mum getting by and tentatively inching towards a new relationship with fellow cop Wyatt, is a sympathetic heroine. But her life is quietly unravelling, with secrets emerging that draw her into the orbit of local crime-lord Bennett Boudreaux. As in all these books, there’s a crime-of-the-week, but the main feature is the intricate personal life of Maggie herself and the developments arising from the death of Gregory Boudreaux in Low Tide, which get murkier and more complicated than ever in this installment. The characters are so real, you feel you know them personally. However, the star attraction is McKenna’s glorious writing style, which is brilliant at the sort of superficial dialogue that hides an ocean of hidden meaning, and also […]

Posted August 24, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Mystery review: ‘The Mystery of Underwood House’ by Clara Benson

I enjoyed the first book in the Angela Marchmont series of country-house cozies set in the twenties, but to my mind this one worked a lot better. I didn’t guess the identity of the murderer, for one thing (although that particular character was definitely on my list), and this one felt much more satisfyingly complex. It also features Angela Marchmont, the lady detective herself, as the point of view character, which I think works much better than having her as a side character (as in the first book). Following her success in the previous murder, Angela is called upon by her friend Louisa to investigate her husband’s family. After his father’s death, a rather peculiar will left money to the four children only for their lifetimes, after which it reverts to the family solicitor. Now three of the four have died in mysterious circumstances. Is it murder? And if so, […]

Posted August 21, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Fantasy western romance review: ‘To The Gap’ by Kyra Halland

Well, that was a ball of fun, and no mistake. I’ve been loving the whole Daughter of the Wildings series, but I positively inhaled this fourth installment, quite unable to tear myself away from it. For anyone who likes a little fantasy served with their westerns, and a side helping of romance, this is absolutely the series for you. Start with Beneath The Canyons. Silas is a trained mage from Granadaia, sent to the Wildings as a bounty-hunter, catching rogue mages. Lainie is Wildings-born, with untrained mage power, which taps deep into the natural power of the region. Now they’re married and on the run, while Lainie learns to control her power and the two of them avoid mage-hunters and the hostility of Plain folk (those without magical ability). All they want is a safe place to live, and to be left alone, but those are proving hard to find. […]

Posted August 17, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Fantasy review: ‘The Living Throne’ by H Anthe Davis

This is the third book in the War of Memory series. I’ve already raved at extended length about the awesomeness of these books, so I won’t repeat all that. Suffice it say that if you like your epic fantasy with industrial-strength world-building, compelling characters, a plot that stretches itself over a whole continent and a vivid writing style with just a hint of horror, you should give this a try. Start with The Light of Kerrindryr. So how does this book stack up against the first two? Surely by now the tale must be hitting mid-series sag and getting bogged down in plot sprawl or weighed down with its own history? It’s true that there are two large books’ worth of the story so far, and a huge array of characters to keep up with. I’ve said before that this is a series that would justify its own wiki, and […]

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

Mystery Review: ‘Riptide’ by Dawn Lee McKenna

McKenna’s literary love story, ‘See You’, is one of the finest books I’ve read in recent years, so I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to enjoy her inimitable writing style applied to a series of cop thrillers set in the Florida panhandle. The first of the series, ‘Low Tide’, was a good starter, tidying up the immediate problems, while opening up enough intriguing backstory to fill the rest of the series. Maggie Redmond is a cop getting by as a single parent after divorcing her childhood sweetheart, David, when he got involved in drugs. Now she’s tiptoeing around a new relationship with fellow cop, Wyatt, while also finding herself inexplicably drawn into the orbit of the town’s resident bad guy, Bennett Boudreaux. And all the while, she’s trying to forget traumatic events in her past. But when a severed leg turns up in a shrimp net, Maggie has to […]

Posted July 31, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Mystery Review: ‘The Murder At Sissingham Hall’ by Clara Benson

I love a good country house murder mystery, something that Agatha Christie specialised in but which is hard to find nowadays. This is a very good substitute, which captures the social nuances and language perfectly, and if the identity of the murderer isn’t the hardest thing in the world to work out, well, at least I can bask in my own cleverness. I’m usually a sucker for the red herrings, so it’s nice to guess right for once. The story starts with Charles Knox returning from several years in South Africa, where he’s conveniently made his fortune by gold mining. He’s met by his old friend Bobs and Bobs’s sister Sylvia, now all grown up and a possible love interest. But Charles was once engaged to Rosamund, now married to Sir Neville Strickland, and when he’s invited to their country house and there’s a murder, things get a bit murky. […]

Posted July 27, 2015 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Fantasy Novella Review: ‘Birthright’ by Tammi Labrecque

This is a novella which marries a murder mystery with fantasy, a happy combination. Tyrnill is a song-healer, journeying about from place to place putting her skills to good use, and learning her craft. When she finds herself in the small village of Kineford, she meets Brim, an agent of the King known as a King’s Shield, who calls upon her services to help him investigate a spate of recent deaths. The writing style is pleasantly lyrical, a welcome change from the gritty tone of much recent fantasy, and the society and manners are delightfully old-fashioned (to 21st century ears). Tyrnill leaves her horse tied up outside the inn, still loaded with all her luggage, while she eats and chats and relaxes, and lo, horse and luggage are still there later. No opportunistic thieves here. On the other hand, Tyrnill’s liking for high-heeled shoes and revealing gowns feels terribly modern. […]

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