‘The Time Dweller’ – Michael Moorcock (Mayflower)

So here we are, the last review of 2011. Before we get into the book itself, this review is actually the one hundred and seventy fourth posted this year. That’s not bad going for me (I don’t think I’ll ever manage over five hundred in a year though!), especially with all the other demands on my time. I guess it just goes to show that there’s no such thing as not having time to read, at least not as far as I’m concerned :o)


And... back to the book at hand. While the subject matter is very different, it’s clear to see that Michael Moorcock was the Brandon Sanderson of the sixties and seventies (maybe even the eighties as well). Here is a man who just couldn’t help but write and some of his best known ‘sword and sorcery’ tales were actually written in a matter of days. I wish I could do that... It’s been an unofficial mission of mine to work my way through Moorcock’s back catalogue, over the last couple of years, and I’ve had a great time doing so. The stories may vary in quality but the imagination behind it all is nothing short of staggering and that’s why I’ll be continuing to read his works; despite ‘The Time Dweller’ not quite working out for me as a collection of short stories.

I’ve been reading a lot of short story collections just recently; I think there’s something about this time of year that makes me want to read in bite sized chunks rather than get stuck into something thick and meaty. I saw a copy of ‘The Time Dweller’, in my favourite second hand bookshop, and knew it would make for ideal reading over the Christmas/New Year period. Well that’s what I thought at the time...

I never expect short story collections (anthologies, whatever you want to call them) to be consistent, in quality, the whole way through. The law of averages seems to suggest otherwise and there’s also what I’m bringing to the book as a reader. That’s a lot for any book to work against so I never really get my hopes up. Sometimes this means I’m pleasantly surprised by a collection (one of which will be on my ‘favourite reads of 2011’ list tomorrow) and sometimes it works out even less well than I expect.

With certain stories in ‘The Time Dweller’ the problem for me was that whatever Moorcock was trying to say was drowned out in a mass of admittedly beautiful but overall stifling imagery. Don’t get me wrong, I love Moorcock’s use of imagery and settings but I love it far more when there’s a story happening against it all. I’m sure that there was something going on in these stories but I couldn’t see it (a re-read would probably take care of this but, in the meantime, I’ve got to go on first impressions). Take ‘The Golden Barge’ for instance, what was all that about? I liked the exploration of Jephraim Tallow’s character but why was he chasing the Golden Barge? And considering this pursuit was made out to be such a big deal, why did he stop for a break? There’s something to be said for stories that have you asking questions (and you end up re-reading them) but there is also such a thing as being too obscure and alienating the reader entirely...

It was the same kind of thing with ‘Wolf’ and ‘The Ruins’, both very atmospheric and beautiful looking reads but also reads where I struggled to find any point to the story. The saving grace here was that it felt like the answers were on the tip of my tongue and another read would make things a lot clearer; still an infuriating read in the meantime though. With ‘Wolf’ in particular, I found that the character was so interesting that I wanted to know a lot more than I was given.

That’s not to say that the entire book was like this though. While the stories I’ve mentioned didn’t work for me, others very much did and this kept the book ticking over nicely on the whole.

The thing I’ve found with Michael Moorcock’s short stories is that they keep popping up in different collections, often when you least expect them. I was reading ‘The Deep Fix’ and ‘The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius’ and thinking that they felt familiar. It turned out that was because I’d already mentioned them in a couple of other collections... I won’t go into them in detail here but you can read what I wrote Here and Here if you like.

‘The Time Dweller’ and ‘Escape from Evening’ (the latter following on from the former) make for a very strong opening to the collection with a beautifully drawn backdrop, of a very old if not dying Earth, throwing up interesting problems for the leading characters to face and overcome. The whole ‘nature of time’ thing generally goes right over my head but this time round Moorcock not only really nails it, in terms of clarity, but also gives us a different perspective to ponder by attacking the subject matter with two short stories.

‘The Mountain’ rounds off the collection in a good way with a compelling tale of obsession in the face of ultimate futility. My favourite tale though was ‘Consuming Passion’; the madness of the lead character makes this story a ‘must read’ but it’s the last few lines (and a possible connection with Ray Bradbury’s ‘Fahrenheit 451’, I’m not sure...) that make it all the more intriguing.

‘The Time Dweller’ ended up being a collection where the negatives ended up dragging the rest of the book down a little more than I’d normally be comfortable with. There are some gems here though, you just need to dig a little.

Seven and a Half out of Ten

(Cover Art courtesy of 'The Image Hive')

‘Unclean Spirits’ – M.L.N. Hanover (Orbit)

It feels like a long time since I last read any Urban Fantasy (actually, it was back in August but even that feels like a long time ago when we’re sat right on the cusp of the New Year) and it’s been even longer since I’ve read any of that kind of Urban Fantasy. You know the stuff I mean; feisty heroine should be keeping the peace but ends up falling for the local Vampire Master and the leader of the Werewolf Pack at the same time, cue lots of soul searching while the plot hangs around and wonders what to do next. I think that’s what killed my Urban Fantasy reading; it all felt very much like the same story was being told over and over again. When it got to the point where I could tell where the story was going next (with far too great a degree of accuracy) then I figured it was time to bow out and read something else instead.

And now here I am to tell you about the opening shot in a new(ish) Urban Fantasy series that I ended up quite enjoying, certainly enough to make me want to give the next book a shot when it comes out. What happened there? I’d pretty much decided that it would take something big to get me reading Urban Fantasy again and, these days, it doesn’t seem to get a lot bigger than Daniel Abraham.

If there’s a sub-genre then, more likely than not, you will find Daniel Abraham writing in it either under his own name or an assumed one. I’ve enjoyed his fantasy works and his space opera series opener (written with Ty Franck) is one of my favourite books of 2011; when I realised that Abraham was also writing as M.L.N. Hanover I knew I had to give his Urban Fantasy work a go as well. The end result? I’ll certainly be back to see how the sequel pans out.

Jayne Heller never really got on with her family; only her Uncle Eric was ever there for her and now he has been murdered. Jayne travels to Denver to settle Eric’s affairs, only to find that these are a lot more complicated than she ever realised. Not only is she the sole beneficiary of his estate (bank accounts bulging at the seams and property all over the world) but she also seems to have inherited his rather unconventional business...
Uncle Eric died fighting to rid the world of supernatural ‘riders’, parasites that possess humans for evil ends. Now it’s up to Jayne to avenge her Uncle’s death by finishing off the job he was trying to do when he died. If that job killed her Uncle though, what hope does Jayne have? Luckily she’s not in this on her own...

By the time I got to the end of ‘Unclean Spirits’ I was really into it and couldn’t put the book down until I saw exactly how it ended. I knew how it had to end, the beauty was in the details... but I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Things could have been so different though. You see, ‘Unclean Spirits’ is a real book of two halves (at least for me). The good news for fans of Urban Fantasy though is that the things that bugged me are all things that I’m pretty sure you will love.

A first glance at the plot had me feeling like I could be reading any one of a number of other Urban Fantasies; there certainly isn’t a lot that makes it stand out from the rest of the pack. You’ve got the heroine (from an oppressive family background) who discovers that not only is she a heroine but she has loads of cool fighting skills that make every confrontation look like a scene from ‘The Matrix’ (I like ‘The Matrix’ but that’s not the point...) You’ve got a good looking side kick that Jayne inevitably falls for but cannot have. There’s even the cool looking ‘jealous loner’ to provide a little bit of romantic uncertainty. I looked at all this and my first thought was, ‘well, this isn’t exactly original is it?’ This setup may well appeal to you but If I’m reading a book I want it to have an identity of its own and ‘Unclean Spirits’ suffers from fitting in a little too well with the rest of the scene.

It’s a good job then that M.L.N. Hanover is Daniel Abraham as the inevitable result of this is that there’s a lot more to ‘Unclean Spirits’ than at first meets the eye.
Hanover takes a very familiar looking set of building blocks and infuses them with a little spark of difference that makes everything a lot more readable; it kept me reading and that’s saying something given how I feel about Urban Fantasy!

Jayne Heller may be just like any other Urban Fantasy heroine and that goes for her self questioning as well. Where Hanover bumps things up to another level though is that Jayne isn’t just questioning what to do about her love life; we have a lead character here who questions her reaction to coming into an absolute fortune and (more importantly) will question how her decisions affect her colleagues. Hanover makes it clear that this is a dangerous world and the wrong decision can have fatal consequences. Already, we have a heroine who is prepared to think past the end of her nose and make it about other people too; I like that. This attitude of Heller’s has set up some interesting possibilities for the sequel and I’ll be there to see what happens next.

This world of vampires and werewolves (and so on) is also familiar but with just enough of a difference (once you get into the book) to keep the pages turning while you try to find out the answers to the questions posed by this new world. I’ve already said that this is a dangerous world and Hanover emphasises this with some bone crunching fight scenes that can have your teeth jolting in sympathy. Heller’s new found skills can come across as a little too good to be true but there’s no denying that it all looks great on the page and powers along a story that is already brimming with intrigue.

‘Unclean Spirits’ isn’t an original read but Hanover’s treatment of the subject matter makes it a very entertaining book where the pages turn all too easily. I’ll be back for more and I reckon I’ll see you there with me. The series has been out, in the States, for a little while already. Anyone here read it?

Eight and a Half out of Ten

Richard Matheson – Some Short Stories...

A shorter than normal post today, so much to get done before Christmas...


We might act cool and make out that what’s on the cover on a book wouldn’t dissuade us from picking it up. I’m not so sure though, at least from my own perspective. I’ve still to see the Will Smith ‘I Am Legend’ although the reviews I’ve seen suggest that I might just be better off sticking with the book... Tor very kindly sent me a copy of ‘I Am Legend’ (so did Gollancz but that’s another story) and my first thought when I saw it was, ‘oh no, it’s got the Will Smith cover...’ I know that sounds really ungrateful but there you go.

I guess the point of this post really is to give you all a little heads up and say that even though the cover might seem off-putting at first give this edition a chance; there’s much more to this book than meets the eye and I’m really glad I picked it up.

Get past that front cover (which isn’t actually that bad...) and you’ll find that not only are you getting ‘I Am Legend’ but you’re also getting a collection of short stories as well. Short stories that scared the you know what out of me... The quality may vary but only because Matheson is prepared to take a shot at experimenting with different writing styles. ‘Dress of White Silk’ is written from the perspective of a small girl and her language stops the story from being as clear as it would like to be. The end line rescues things though and in some style. If there’s one thing that Matheson is good at, it’s a killer final line that turns everything on its head and leaves you gasping. ‘The Near Departed’ is a great example of this with the line “As soon as I get home”... It makes me shiver even now and I highly recommend you track this short story down even if you don’t read any of the others. I wasn’t too keen on ‘Dance of the Dead’ either as the attention paid to the spectacle seemed to come at the expense of any point to the story...

The short story section actually opens with ‘Buried Talents’, a weird tale that focuses on fostering a sense of unease around something that cannot be explained. The real twist comes in the final paragraphs though and the reader has to really pay attention if the final line is to make any sense. Re-read that bit as many times as you need to, the end result is worth it.

‘Prey’ is probably my favourite story in the collection, a fast paced and remorseless affair where a woman is trapped in her house by a killer doll. While I ended up skimming certain other stories (I’m looking at you ‘From Shadowed Places’, you meandered in all the wrong places) I couldn’t take my eyes off ‘Prey’ until it ended and, even then, it still played on my mind afterwards.

‘Witch War’ didn’t look like there was much to it at first but the shocks came through the contrast between these sweet looking girls (with their banal conversation) and what they were able to do to the enemy. Matheson doesn’t hold back and this just makes things that much more powerful.

Things took a comedic turn when I got round to reading ‘The Funeral’ (creepy but intentionally amusing) and this change in tone came at just the right time, after the creeping madness and inevitability of ‘Mad House’. ‘Mad House’ is a nasty but compelling read, I could see the ending coming but found myself reading on to see if Chris would realise what was happening and get out. Another powerful ending was on display here and Matheson turned Chris’ anger back on himself in a way that will have you eyeing your household furniture nervously (if you’re anything like me).

Things were rounded up with ‘Person to Person’, a devilish tale where Matheson keeps turning things round until neither the reader nor Millman knows what’s going on. The ending is all the more scary for this as you’re left still not really knowing any of the reasons behind it. What a way to keep you thinking about the story after you’ve read it...

‘I Am Legend’ is a book that’s worth picking up anyway but if you see the Tor edition (mass market) then definitely pick it up; there are some real gems here for those who enjoy a chilling read...

‘Morning Glories: Volume Two’ – Spencer, Eisma, Esquejo (Image Comics)

I have absolutely no discipline at all as far as books and comics are concerned. I am incredibly difficult to buy presents for as I can’t wait for my birthday/Christmas if I’m enjoying a series. I will also invariably skip to the end of a book to find out how things end. I’ve already told you, a few posts ago now, that I will continue to buy single issue comic books whilst waiting for the trade to come out so I can buy that as well.


After reading the first volume of ‘Morning Glories’ (scroll down a little bit or just click Here instead...) I was resolved to be good and leave off reading volume two until next week at least. After all, we’re looking at what could potentially be an excellent series here and I wanted to drag things out as much as possible (I have no idea when volume three will be on the shelves). All it took was one day off sick though, that’s all it took... I wanted to read something but couldn’t focus on a page full of words. A page full of words and pictures though...? Well, that was a different story and all the excuse I needed really after enjoying the hell out of volume one. So much for my being disciplined about this; you’ll probably see me in Forbidden Planet (picking up single issues) before the end of the year...

This is the point of the review where I normally give you a brief outline of the plot but... This is ‘Morning Glories’ and there is nothing resembling a plot, at least not yet. Once the series is complete I’m sure I’ll look back at this volume and see things very differently but that’s not what it’s like right now. All sorts of crazy stuff is happening and I’m not sure how much of this is happening in the school itself or in the mind of one of its newest pupils...

What we do get though is a little glimpse at the past lives of the six new students and what led them to enrol at the Academy. What this inevitably means is that many more questions are raised although I was pleasantly surprised to see one question, from volume one, answered. While more questions are raised, the end result is that things seem to be a little more cohesive this time round. Spencer threw you in at the deep end in volume one; you’re still in at the deep end now but now Spencer is letting you get your bearings a little and start to see what’s out there. And that’s where volume two really shines. We’ve had a chance to get to know the characters and even come to like them a little bit. By raising questions about their past, and tying this in with the school, both the plot and the characters became that much more intriguing to me and I didn’t think they could become any more so than they were already.

I also couldn’t help but feel for certain characters once I found out a little more about them, even characters whom I’d already come to dislike a little (Zoe and Ike, I’m looking at you two here...) Without giving too much away, Jun’s story is particularly powerful and if his was the only story going on here, I’d still want to hang around to see how it played out. Nick Spencer’s plotting throws up some real curveballs, along with the constant questions, and is dripping with the bizarre (‘so we created our own gods...’); it promises something superb and has more than succeeded in it’s aim to make sure that I stick around for the rest of it. Who is Abraham...?

I don’t know what changed but this time round I found myself really enjoying Eisma’s artwork, possibly because (like I said) things were more cohesive. With a plot like this maybe the art doesn’t need to be too involved after all, I don’t know...

‘Morning Glories: Volume Two’ has more than confirmed my sneaking suspicions that this series is definitely one to keep an eye on. I’m in for the long haul and, if you’re after a series that will keep you thinking about it, you should jump on board as well.

Nine and a Half out of Ten

‘Deliverance Lost’ – Gav Thorpe (Black Library)

There are a number of authors who churn out books on a fairly regular basis, almost to the point where I used to be able to plan my reading year around their output (at least that was the case before the little one decided I would never read any of my favourite authors ever again...) It’s the same deal with series and a number of these can always be relied upon to pop up here and there, throughout the year, as well. Like the ‘Horus Heresy’ books for example.

I’m sure that you already know I’m a fan of this series, and Black Library books in general, but that’s only because (apart from a notable exception) the books are well written and guaranteed to entertain. What’s to argue with there? Nothing really and that’s why I always keep an eye open for what the next ‘Horus Heresy’ book is and when I can expect to get my hands on it. Suffice it to say that I’ve been keeping an eye open for ‘Deliverance Lost’ (having thoroughly enjoyed ‘Raven’s Flight’ when I last listened to it) and when it finally arrived I moved it right up to the top of the reading pile. Was ‘Deliverance Lost’ worth displacing any number of equally readable books though? Well, yes and no...

After the events on Istvaan V, the Raven Guard Legion have been almost decimated and their Primarch is left wondering how he can possibly continue with the fight against the traitor Legions. It looks like the only way forward is to go out in a blaze of glory (three thousand loyalists against hundreds of thousands that number) but then intervention comes from none other than the Emperor himself...
Now Corax, the Raven Guard Primarch, is on a mission to rebuild his shattered Legion with previously secret gene tech handed to him by the Emperor. Corax’s aim is to overwhelm the traitors not only with superior numbers but with superior marines genetically engineered for that crucial edge over their erstwhile former brothers. His job will not be easy though... It wasn’t just the Raven Guard that returned from Istvaan, the treacherous Alpha Legion have infiltrated the survivors and are working from within to thwart Corax’s aims. The Alpha Legion Primarchs have been ordered by Horus to secure the gene tech for him but they want it for themselves as well...

If you think Black Library books are exclusively about big men firing big guns then ‘Deliverance Lost’ will have you swiftly reconsidering your position. It wasn’t the easiest book to get into though...

I’ve read a few of Thorpe’s books (plus a few short stories), just recently, which has given me a chance to work out why I seem to have trouble really getting stuck into his work. I think the bottom line is that Thorpe loves the setting a little too much and that gets in the way of the story itself.

Thorpe throws the full force of his writing into every aspect of ‘Deliverance Lost’ and the end result is a richly detailed work that can bring Corax, and his Raven Guard, to the fore in the best possible way. Brilliant stuff when Thorpe hits the target but what can also happen is that the story struggles to break free of detail that hinders the plot and stops it moving at the speed it really wants to. When that happened, I found myself just wanting things to pick up again. I might even have skimmed a few pages in desperation...

What’s annoying about this approach is that when the balance is right ‘Deliverance Lost’ is a story that approaches being superb. While I enjoyed these moments (and there were plenty of them) they did leave me wishing that the rest of the book could have been the same.

I’ve already mentioned that Thorpe’s attention to detail brings Corax, and his Raven Guard, to the fore in the best possible way and it does, it really does. Fans are absolutely going to lap up this insight into Corax’s psyche (tortured by failure but never once gives up trying to do the right thing) and the flashbacks to his early years really flesh out his character and leave you in no doubt as to why he behaves the way that he does.

The real meat of the book though, for me anyway, is the espionage and counter-espionage that are the inevitable consequences of any dealings with the Alpha Legion. This is where Thorpe really comes into his own, weaving a web of truth and lies that I found myself really wanting to untangle. This is more difficult than it looks... Everything comes together at the end but, in the meantime, there is a lot of misinformation to plough throw. Thorpe seems to find incredibly easy to send his readers down blind alleyways and into dead ends. Thorpe had me thinking that I knew where things were going and then constantly showed me just how wrong I was. I ended up feeling that I owed certain characters an apology for ever doubting their loyalties. Surprisingly enough, this was mostly the case with the Alpha Legion infiltrators where Thorpe has his lead infiltrator battling with implanted memories and doubting where his loyalties should lie. The outcome here may be inevitable but Thorpe strings the tension out wonderfully.

Space Marine books shouldn’t just be about the fighting but, at the end of the day, we reading about Space Marines and that’s what they do so... Thorpe sprinkles the espionage with moments of combat that are as bone crunching as the best of them. What’s more, Thorpe really has you feeling that the death of each individual Raven Guard Marine is another nail in the coffin of the Legion itself (there’s only so many of them left) and that proved to be all the investment I needed to keep reading. Well, that and gigantic Titan war machines levelling a city :o)

‘Deliverance Lost’ can be a stodgy read at times but stick with it and there’s a story inside that will reach out and grab you with everything it has. If you’re a gamer or a fan of military sci-fi/espionage then you really should give ‘Deliverance Lost’ a go when it’s published in January. Recommended.

Eight and Three Quarters out of Ten

‘Morning Glories: Volume One’ – Spencer, Eisma, Esquejo (Image Comics)

I’ve been after a new comic to try out for a while now. It’s not that I’m not enjoying what I’m reading, not at all, I just realised that I was after something new to spice up my comic book reading. Circumstances being as they are (my job is due to end in the middle of January...) I was loath to follow my usual practice of throwing stacks of cash at Forbidden Planet, and seeing what worked out, and the comic book shelves at the local libraries weren’t much help either so... I asked a good friend of mine what he was reading at the moment; he knows his comics and I trust his recommendations so... ‘Morning Glories’ was the recommendation, a series that was far enough away from my usual reading (zombies, horror and a little Conan here and there) to sound intriguing and just what I was after. I was able to get myself copies of volumes one and two and have found myself in the position where I’m having to stop myself cracking open volume two and finding out just what the hell is going on at the Morning Glory Academy. If I start reading too soon then I’m only going to have to wait for volume three that much longer. ‘Morning Glories’ is by no means a perfect read but it has proven to be an addictive story already; I’m well and truly hooked.


Morning Glory Academy is one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country but when six new students arrive to start the school year they find life at the Academy to be very different to what they had expected. Psychotic room mates and armed guards in the corridors are only the least of their worries and it soon becomes clear that their lives are at stake. Luckily for these students though, they were selected for this academy for any number of reasons that can be turned against the teaching staff. Some of these reasons aren’t even clear to the students themselves, yet.

I’ve got misgivings about ‘Morning Glories’; I’m eager to get cracking on volume two but I’m already wondering if volume one is the pivotal book where things either go on to greater heights or, well... they don’t.

Nick Spencer’s plot is nothing short of compelling reading with an underlying mystery wrapped up in a layer of smaller (yet no less important) questions that all need to be solved. There is so much going on and Spencer leaves his reader with the nagging suspicion that the answer is right there in plain sight, if only you could see it... That’s what ultimately kept me reading, the sure fire feeling that I would work it all out on the next page. Nice going there Nick, getting me all confident about working the mystery out and then leaving it all hanging on the last page. I will be back to see if any of my questions are answered in volume two.

This approach does have its drawbacks though. To be blunt, there were so many questions being raised that I had real trouble remembering the names of the six new students and that’s never a good sign. In fact, I couldn’t tell you those names right now... Having said that, the emerging dynamic of the group does throw up a few surprises here and there and I want to see how that develops as well.

While I’m sure that all these questions will be answered over the course of the series, the scattershot approach to raising these questions does make the plot seem a little piecemeal, there’s not really much to tie things together at this stage which does make me wonder how things will go in the next book...
At the end of the day though, it’s Spencer’s ability to pose these intriguing questions that means I will be back for the second volume, you just can’t argue with that kind of storytelling.

Joe Eisma’s art tends to veer towards being a little too simplistic, for me, but is never anything less than eye-catching. Rodin Esquejo’s cover art is gorgeous and had me half wishing that I’d collected single issues when the series kicked off. I can’t complain too much though, not when all of it wrapped up in this trade :o)

Right now, the jury is out regarding which way ‘Morning Glories’ will ultimately go but there is more than enough here to have me back for volume two. If you’re stuck for a comic book to read then you should check this book out.

Eight and a Half out of Ten

‘Age of Legend’ – Edited by Christian Dunn (Black Library)

If Black Library books find their way here then, more often than not, they’re usually set in the grim and dark universe of the forty first millennium. As much as I love reading these books (and you can see from the blog that I do) it’s not my favourite setting out of the two on offer from Games Workshop and the Black Library. No, my longstanding preference for fantasy over science fiction (the subject of a whole other post probably) has always seen me gravitate towards the ‘Warhammer’ setting of the Old World and the constant warfare raging between its member races. It’s well written (for the most part), the battles are suitably epic and there’s a lot more intrigue and story going on than you would think; certainly for a setting that is based around war gaming. The quality can vary but very few of these books have ever let me down.

One ‘Warhammer’ book that I’ve been looking forward to, for a long time now, is the ‘Age of Legend’ anthology, a collection of tales from the dawn of the Old World. My progress through the ‘Time of Legends’ series has been a bit slow to say the least (five books down and four to go...) so I thought it would make a nice change to get stuck into some shorter stories that would fill me in on the detail without taking their time about it. I didn’t get quite what I was after on that score as there’s a lot of background history to get stuck into and the book doesn’t really give a timeline that the stories can be placed against. What I did get though was a collection of thoroughly entertaining tales that served as a great way to blunt the niggly stresses of rotten days at work and a hyperactive baby that just will not sleep. Of course there were some stories that worked for me better than others did; I wouldn’t say that the overall quality was consistent across the board. The overall effect was a good one though; a veritable tidal wave of all out war (heroic deeds, desperate last stands, you name it...) laced with engaging characters who held their respective plots together nicely. As seems to be the tradition here, I’ll take a quick look at each individual story and tell you exactly what I thought of them...

‘A Small Victory’ – Paul S. Kemp
I’ve been following Paul Kemp’s work for a long time and it’s great to see him make an appearance here. Kemp’s work is great, whatever setting he writes in, and this is very much the case here with his tale of a man braving an onslaught of the undead to save the woman that he loves. No word is wasted in a union of zombie conflict and a character that you’ll root for. The ending is a little predictable but the way Kemp tells his tale will make you want to go back and re-read it, just to see if he was telling the tale that you thought he was... 9.5/10

‘Bloodraven’ – Sarah Cawkwell
This short story is very much an introduction to the character of Valkia the Bloody who we will see a lot more of next year. It’s also a tale of heroism against all the odds as an outpost of Dwarves must stand alone against an invasion of Chaos warriors from the north. Plenty of combat lends the tale a lot of energy which keeps things moving very smoothly. Where Cawkwell really shines though is in the way she takes what initially looks like a foregone conclusion and draws out the uncertainty until the last couple of pages. This is a battle that could go either way until the last sword stroke falls; I was utterly hooked. 10/10

‘City of Dead Jewels’ – Nick Kyme
Now here’s a tale that could have shone a lot more if it hadn’t been placed right next to the excellent ‘Bloodraven’. ‘City of Dead Jewels has a lot to recommend it (particularly the tale of the apprentice Dwarf Skalf) but what is meant to be a slow, measured hunt for a monster dwelling underground ends up dragging when placed against the more purposeful ‘Bloodraven’. Actually, ‘City of Dead Jewels’ dragged anyway. There’s also much made of relationships, within the hunting party, that doesn’t seem to come to any kind of fruition. Not a bad tale but could have been better. 7.5/10

‘The Last Charge’ – Andy Hoare
I wasn’t too sure about ‘The Last Charge’ either... Here’s a tale where the ending is given away by the title and the lead character isn’t quite strong enough to make the story interesting in the meantime (you get glimpses of pathos but only glimpses). There’s a nice array of monsters on show but the story doesn’t make the best use of them... 7/10

‘The Ninth Book’ – Gav Thorpe
I’ve found myself reading a lot of Gav Thorpe’s books just recently and have found that his slow, methodical approach to recounting events has been a little offputting. Not this time though! Thorpe’s tale of a vampire, a Chaos Warband and a group of human mercenaries (caught in the middle) is exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure. I’m not sure who this mysterious vampire is but I wouldn’t mind seeing more of him as well. 9/10

‘The Gods Demand’ – Josh Reynolds
When you live in a world that can punish the slightest loss of attention with instant death, what can the constant stress do to a man? Josh Reynolds gives us a idea with his story of a Count’s battle to defend a town from an invasion of beastmen. Count Ludendorf will do anything to defend his people but at what cost to his sanity? Was he even sane to begin with? Reynolds brings the realities of war in the Old World crashing down on the reader and pulls no punches. You might wince at the demands made on Ludendorf (plus those that he makes of others) but his steadfast refusal to back down makes for some absolutely glorious battle scenes. 9/10

‘Plague Doktor’ – C.L. Werner
I’m never quite sure whether I like C.L. Werner’s work or not but this time round I definitely did with his tale of an opportunistic scavenger who bites off a lot more than he can chew when he decides to impersonate a plague doctor. The confrontation, right at the end, plays second fiddle to the fractious relationship between Grau and Kahlenburg; a relationship of dependency that highlights what a harsh and unforgiving place the Old World can be. I loved the way that Werner hides the real menace in the shadows and throws it at the reader right at the very end! 9.5/10

‘The City is Theirs’ – Philip Athans
The Orcs are invading the city of Nuln and all that stands between them and victory is a grief stricken Halfling... I liked the premise here but the execution really didn’t work for me. The mix of character viewpoints made the battle look even more confusing than it probably was and when the viewpoint switched to Katzchen (the Halfling) I couldn’t make out what was going on. There was a sense of something massive happening but it didn’t really focus into much detail... 7/10

‘The Second Sun’ – Ben Counter
Here’s a tale that stands out from the rest because there is no combat whatsoever, ‘The Second Sun’ also bridges the gap between the past and present in a way that none of the other stories do, I liked the way that Counter had two stories running parallel to each other and the arrogance of the Bright College left the tale hanging on an ominous note. There was more than enough here to have me interested in more of this particular tale if Counter was to ever write it 9/10

‘Aenarion’ – Gav Thorpe
I’m not really going to go into detail about what I thought of ‘Aenarion’, simply because I’ve already reviewed the audio-book over Here and it's basically the same story. As with James Swallow’s ‘Heart of Rage’, it’s good to see these audio-books perhaps reach a slightly wider audience by making the jump to print format. I can’t help but feel a little sorry though for the people who have forked out for the CD and now find themselves coming across it again... A great tale though.

‘The Shrinking Man’ – Richard Matheson (Gollancz)

Is it just me or does time seem to flow more and more quickly as the end of the year draws ever closer? This is my way of saying that not only do I still need to write my ‘Smugglivus’ post (it’s coming, honest!) but I still haven’t started on ‘The Heroes’. It’s also my way of saying that it was only four weeks ago that I watched ‘The Incredible Shrinking Man’ but it feels like a lot longer...


You can read what I wrote over Here but the gist of it goes a little something like this,

The film was so good, in fact, that I went out and bought the book not long afterwards. Check it out, seriously...


So, not only a film that I watched the hell out of but a film that prompted me to visit ‘Amazon New & Used’ the following day and pick up the book. Thanks to the Richard Matheson connection, ‘The Incredible Shrinking Man’ may have also nudged me in the direction of re-reading ‘I Am Legend’. Was the film really that good? Yes, yes it was.


All in all then, ‘The Incredible Shrinking Man’ made for a great way to spend an hour and a bit. Now I need to get on and read the book...

Yep, I was full of the praise that day wasn’t I? I’ll stand by it as well; ‘The Incredible Shrinking Man’ was an excellent film. I didn’t hang around getting myself a copy of ‘The Shrinking Man’ but, things being the way they are these days, it took me a little longer than normal to get round to reading it. I got there in the end though and picked up the book with high hopes of a novel that was as effective as the film. My hopes were realised but what I didn’t realise, at the time, was that ‘The Shrinking Man’ would prove to be one of the most difficult reviews I’ve ever found myself having to write...

It’s around this point in a review that I give a little blurb on what the book is all about. I’m not going to go into too much detail this time round as I’ve covered this already when I spoke about the film (click on the link at the top if you haven’t already). Suffice it to say that Scott Carey has been exposed to a cloud of radioactive spray and is slowly, but steadily, shrinking. And as Scott Carey shrinks, his problems just keep growing larger and larger.

I thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Shrinking Man’, a book that somehow contrived to lose the ‘incredible’ out of the title but was no less incredible for it. Sitting down to write about it though proved to be a different matter entirely...

You see, the thing is that either the film is a very faithful adaptation of the book or the book dovetails very closely with the film. Actually, looking at the comment next to my film post, it looks like the book came first. The end result though is that I found myself in a position where I’d already said everything about the story itself whilst covering the film adaptation. It’s that faithful to the book.

So, was there anything new I could write about 'The Shrinking Man'? As it happened, yes :o)

Whereas the film sticks to a fairly straightforward, and linear, portrayal of Carey’s shrinking the book jumps backwards and forwards along the timeline, using seemingly random landing points to show us either a new facet of Carey’s character or a problem caused by his shrinking. The ‘film storyline’ works in terms of setting up just how relentless Carey’s shrinking is. I have to say though that I much preferred how the book approached things as the emphasis is more on Carey himself and how he reacts as his previously comfortable becomes something else entirely. The film veers off from the book and that it only gives a brief nod to the changing dynamic between Carey and his wife. The book goes into a lot more detail here and we get to see a much greater degree of emasculation on Carey’s part. He wants to make love to his wife but, as he shrinks, she cannot help but treat him like a child and this fosters a real sense of tension when they are together. Not only does Carey become ‘less of a husband’ but he also becomes ‘less of a father’ as well; in the book he has a daughter and Matheson uses this changing dynamic to strip away a little more of Carey’s manhood. By the end of the book, Carey’s character is stripped right down to the basics and it’s this that ultimately enables him to not only survive but also to move on with his new life. It’s an intriguing journey made all the more detailed by it being written down instead of shown on the screen.

The book also gives us an opening, into the story, that is far more effective than the film’s and has to rank in my top five list of great novel openings that hook the reader right from the off (now there’s a post that I will have to write sometime). Possible spoilers coming up here... We are given a brief description of what happened to Carey (radioactive spray) but no idea of what it will lead to. We are then shown Carey’s passage through a strange and bewildering landscape that seems strangely familiar. The reader’s perspective pans out to show us the cellar and it’s then we realise Carey’s true predicament. Matheson’s approach is masterful, throwing the reader titbits, to keep them interested, and then hitting them right between the eyes with the revelation. Even I was hooked and I knew the story before I’d picked the book up. Matheson takes things one step further by making the confrontation between Carey and the spider a real matter of life and death where the giant environs of the cellar can contain deadly traps for the unwary (at least one passage actually made me jump). The added theme of the spider’s perceived desire for revenge (which you don’t find out about until much later on in the book) adds some real urgency to these passages.

Despite having seen the film only a few weeks beforehand, I couldn’t help but find myself being irresistibly drawn into the story once again and I didn’t put the book down until I’d finished. The idea of people shrinking isn’t a new one but I’d say that it’s Matheson’s treatment of the theme that makes ‘The Shrinking Man’ a book that well deserves its place as an ‘SF Masterwork’. I’ve seen copies still available in bookshops but Amazon is probably the place to go if you’re after a bargain. Whichever way you go, pick a copy up.

Ten out of Ten

‘Doctor Who: Borrowed Time’ – Naomi A. Alderman (BBC Books)

Over the last year or so, it has become clearer to me that I much prefer ‘Doctor Who’ in it’s natural home, on the TV, rather than in book form. Not that I don’t enjoy the books not at all (especially if it’s Michael Moorcock taking up the writing duties) but, for me, the quality has been a lot more consistent in the show. As far as the books go though, for every ‘Dead of Winter’ there is a ‘Touched by an Angel’... To be blunt, the TV show churns out winners a lot more than the books do.

That’s not to say that I’ll stop reading the books though (no matter what I might have said after reading ‘Touched by an Angel’). The simple fact of the matter is that I love ‘Doctor Who’ and I’ll seek out my fix wherever I can (especially now the TV show is over for the time being) whether it’s old clips on Youtube, the old Target novelizations or what BBC books are bringing out at the moment. Which brings me neatly onto Naomi Alderman’s ‘Borrowed Time’. ‘Touched by an Angel’ was so disappointing that I briefly considered not bothering with the books anymore but ‘Borrowed Time’ was there, waiting to be read, so I thought I’d give it a go. I’m really glad I did. ‘Borrowed Time’ isn’t a perfect read, by any means, but I had a lot of fun with it all the same...

Andrew Brown never seems to have enough time to get everything done, a really bad thing when you’re working at an investment bank and your main rival for promotion is always one step ahead of you. How come Sameera Jenkins always seems to find those extra few minutes in the day, where is she finding the time?
Mr Symington and Mr Blenkinsop have just the answer; they are prepared to lend Andrew time at a very reasonable rate of interest, in the same way that they have been lending time to everyone else at the bank. Has anyone read the small print though? No, they haven’t and that’s where the Doctor comes in.
The Doctor senses danger and goes undercover at the bank to find out just what is going on. Events become a little more urgent though when Amy borrows a little time for herself and realises just what it’s going to take to pay it back...

Like I said, ‘Borrowed Time’ isn’t a perfect read but what it’s just like is watching one of those madcap episodes of ‘Doctor Who’ on the TV. You know, the ones where everyone seems to be running a lot and there’s always a monster hiding round the corner when you least expect it. That’s ‘Borrowed Time’ and it was a lot of fun to read. I’d love to see a few more ‘Doctor Who’ books just like this one if that’s ok?

Now I’ve got no idea what compound interest is and precisely the kind of mind that refuses to grasp the concept. I can write a blog but numbers make me want to go and hide somewhere with loads of books to distract me, that’s just the way I am I guess :o)

What this meant of course was that when the Doctor tried to explain what was going on, to Amy Pond, the whole lot went straight over my head and I couldn’t help but find myself thinking of cake (read the book and you’ll see why...) Now this isn’t the book’s fault but I found myself wondering how the younger section of the Doctor Who fan base would cope with that explanation... The short answer is ‘probably better than me’ but I still wonder if those passages could have been a little bit clearer (and if anyone wants to leave a comment next to this post, that explains compound interest, I’d be very grateful thanks!)

Once you get past this though you’ll find yourself slap bang in the middle of some classic ‘Doctor Who’ storytelling. As far as I’m concerned, Naomi Alderman hits the target dead on with what she brings to the page.

Alderman kicks things by somehow letting us know exactly what’s going on but dressing it up as a mystery, that we need to get to the bottom of, all at the same time. We know what’s happening (well, some of it) but the Doctor and his companions don’t and the Doctor’s inquisitiveness is infectious, I wanted to be around to see him discover the big picture. That big picture is a delightful blend of investment banking with an alien flavour that intrigued me more than enough to keep reading. I loved the way that Alderman took something fairly mundane and shows the reader that the rest of the galaxy is at it as well, it has just been taken to a whole new level...

I’ve already mentioned the abundance of running in the plot, whether it’s away from something or a frantic dash to be somewhere so the day can be well and truly saved. The predatory Messrs Symington and Blenkinsop are ‘Doctor Who’ monsters in the nastiest tradition, full of teeth and utterly remorseless. They’re also very quick on their feet and this has the added affect of keeping the plot moving rapidly whenever they make an appearance. Events move along quickly and you end up moving along with them. Alderman builds up enough of a rapport with her characters to make you care about what happens to them (especially Amy Pond) and when you add this to the underlying mystery, and those monsters snapping at the Doctor’s heels, you end up with a book that almost demands you keep reading.

A large chunk of ‘Borrowed Time’ went over my head and perhaps could have been explained a little more clearly but this is more than made up for with the rest of the book. What you’ve got here is a tale that any fan will love and I hope that Naomi Alderman writes more ‘Doctor Who’ books in the future.

Nine out of Ten

‘Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth’ – Ethan Nicolle & Malachai Nicolle (Dark Horse Comics)

It’s embarrassing to admit but I am a comic book seller’s dream customer. If I’m going to buy a story it will inevitably be in trade format. Not only does it save me a few pounds but they look so much nicer on the bookshelf (well, more like in my cupboard at the moment; Hope is not getting her hands on my comic books!) I save it saves me money but... Every now and then I can’t resist getting the single issues as well, especially if I’ve really enjoyed a story and want to know what happens. I’m particularly weak here when it comes to ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘The Goon’.


This was the case way back in March this year (seems like so long ago now...) when I couldn’t help but pick up the first issue of the ‘Axe Cop’ mini-series ‘Bad Guy Earth’. Have a quick read of the review that I posted and you’ll see that both my wife and I were giggling like a couple of school kids, all the way home on the bus, as we read it. Me being me (and my daughter being, well, a hyperactive attention demanding toddler) I never picked up the other two issues and that March review looked to be in danger of becoming an unfinished tale. Luckily for me (and you ‘Axe Cop’ loving blog readers) the trade came out a couple of months ago and, once I realised it was on the shelves, I didn’t hang around picking it up.

‘Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth’ is written by a seven year old boy so attempting to summarise the plot is an impossible task at best. And why would you want to? Ethan and Malachai Nicolle clearly revel in the surreal world of Axe Cop and are more than happy to just go with the flow and see where the story takes them. That seems to be the way ‘Axe Cop’ is written (and I just know that we can all remember playing games like that when we were little, don’t pretend you didn’t) and it’s certainly the best way to read it. Just go with the flow; accept that there will be dinosaurs that can breathe fire and have gatling guns for arms, accept that entire planets can be destroyed with a tiny ‘Planet Shocker’ (it has a ‘giant’ button) and accept that Dinosaur Soldier can’t help but transform into something else whenever he comes into contact with blood (President Zombie Bear Cop? Yep...) If you still really want to know what the plot is, Axe Cop and his team must stop two psychic brothers (from outer space) turning our planet into ‘Bad Guy Earth’. I still think you’re missing the point though.

‘Bad Guy Earth’ is your chance to take a little trip back in time and be six or seven years old again, playing games in your back garden on a sunny August afternoon. Malachai Nicolle and his imagination are your hosts for the ride and you are in good hands. You might not be able to play games, like you did when you were a kid, but Malachai’s sheer joy and exuberance more than make up for it. No monster is too big and no explosion is too big either. Malachai throws Axe Cop at the most hideous dangers with the kind of joyous confidence that only a six year boy can have in his heroic creation. It’s no surprise then that Axe Cop always wins, the story just wouldn’t work otherwise (and it definitely won’t work if you approach it with an adult mindset, just relax and suspend that disbelief a little). The outcome is never in any doubt but it’s the journey there that counts, a journey that is crammed full of awesome :o)

What a story like this needs is an artist that completely gets the vision of the writer and if you’re the writer’s big brother then that is never going to be a problem. It’s clear, just by looking at each page, that only Ethan Nicolle could draw Axe Cop. He’s the guy with the insight into Malachai’s imagination and it shows with pages jammed full of monsters, explosions and a law enforcement who will chop your head off if you’re a bad guy. There’s no beating around the bush here, Ethan Nicolle absolutely nails the artwork to the extent where I found myself wondering what the point of the ‘Guest Artist Gallery’ was...

‘Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth’ is a superb read and the most fun I’ve had since I read the last ‘Axe Cop’ book. Comic books just don’t get any more fun than this.
Nine and a Half out of Ten

‘Kultus’ – Richard Ford (Solaris)

What with one thing and another, it’s been a crazy week that has left me with urge to start drinking strong coffee (possibly some Lucozade as well) and never stop. A week where all the things that needed urgent attention were rapidly obscured behind an ever thickening cloud of ‘brain fog’  that has done its level best to stop me functioning. (What? ‘Brain Fog’ is a real term...) And would you believe that, at the time of writing, it’s still only Thursday? I’ve still got another day to get through before weekend kicks in? A weekend, might I add, that’s also full of things that I need to get done...

As far as my reading goes then, it was obvious then that I needed something to clear the fog and give me enough of a boost to get over that last hurdle before the weekend. Obvious to everyone apart from me that is... The only reason I picked up ‘Kultus’ was because of the rather eye-catching cover. Have another look at it, have you ever seen a book cover better designed to ensure that you pick the book up to check out the blurb? Nope, me neither.
I’m a sucker for good cover art and that’s what got me reading ‘Kultus’. What I wasn’t expecting though was a shot of steampunk powered adrenalin that had me quite literally buzzing for more.

Thaddeus Blaklok is not a person you want to be on the wrong side of, not ever. Not only is he a mercenary and demonist but he’s more than a bit of a bastard in general, someone who will make sure you stay down when you’re on the floor... and then give you an extra kicking just because he felt like it.
Blaklok‘s the ideal man then for a mission where he will be working for the very denizens of Hell itself. The Key of Lunos is far more than just a very well guarded museum curio; it can open gates that should never be opened and there are people in the city of Manufactory who want to open those very gates. Blaklok has no idea who he’s working for but the job seems simple enough; get the Key of Lunos and make sure that no-one else gets their hands on it. How hard a job can it be? Very hard when you’re just one man against a city teeming with gangsters, mercenaries, brutal law enforcers and heel spawned monsters. Luckily for Blaklok, there’s far more to him than a vicious right hook...

‘Kultus’ is by no means a perfect read and I’ll go into more later on. ‘Kultus’ is very good at what it does though which is the literary equivalent of throwing a bucket of ice cold water into the reader’s face and leaving them gasping. I was certainly left gasping more than once; I couldn’t help but wince a few times as well. Ford is quite happy to have his ‘hero’ Blaklok pull no punches whatsoever and the results are appropriately bloody. Blaklok wades through a sea of blood and broken bones and absolutely nothing is going to stop him from getting to what he wants, even if he doesn’t fully understand why the Key is so important. Ford keeps things ticking over nicely by making everyone that Blaklok goes up against at least twice his size and keen to dish out a pounding. The result of each confrontation is always slightly in doubt (especially the explosive finale, I really couldn’t put the book down at this point) and its Blaklok’s sheer bloody-mindedness that keeps things moving, you can’t help but want to hang around and see if there is something that can finally put him down. There were also enough hints at Blaklok’s dark past to make me want to find out more about him, I’m hoping for at least one book that features him.

The plot itself is a manic head rush of  heists and standoffs; no-one seems to be capable of holding on to the Key of Lunos for more than half a chapter and sometimes you feel like the plot is almost trying to keep up with its own headlong pace as the Key falls into yet another set of hands. Everyone is out to get the upper hand on everyone else and there is a real atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust coursing through the novel. What I found here though was that while I didn’t know which character would suddenly betray the others, I did know that it would happen and that lent a repetitive feel to the pace of the plot. I knew there was going to be another big ‘switch around’, I was expecting it in fact, and the plot lost its ability to surprise as a result.

What I also found was that more attention was paid to the plot than its surroundings. This is fair enough; plot should take precedence but not entirely at the cost of scene setting. I knew that the city of Manufactory was heavily polluted and... that was about it (apart from the gorgeously realised ‘Repository of Unnatural History’). It’s not that Ford doesn’t let you know where his characters are, I just didn’t really get a feel for what that meant. I’ve said this before about other books; if there’s no scene setting then, in some respects, a book is only doing half of its job.

There’s no denying that Ford really delivers on that half though. ‘Kultus’ is a rip-roaring, bone crunching beast of a book that drops you right in the middle of the action and leaves you ducking to avoid flying fists and Hellfire (seriously, watch out for the Hellfire...) I couldn’t help but feel though that it could have been a whole lot more though if a little attention had been paid to the setting. I’ll definitely be back for any sequels though, I’ll let you know how things pan out...

Eight and a Quarter out of Ten

‘The Alloy of Law’ – Brandon Sanderson (Gollancz)

The blog has been going for a little while now (four and a bit years and counting, go me!) and what I find myself doing more and more is to go back and look at earlier reviews I’ve posted, just to get caught up on the events of a series really, especially if it’s been a couple of years since I read the last book. Whilst reading ‘The Alloy of Law’, I dipped back into the blog to see what I’d thought of Sanderson’s earlier works... only to find that I’ve barely read any of them.

There are loads of posts going on about what Sanderson is up to (signings and so on) but only two posts about his books. These posts covered the first two Mistborn books and, as it happened, I couldn’t finish the third one and have never been able to get into his work since. Warbreaker? Never opened it. The last two ‘Wheel of Time’ books? I’m keep telling myself that I’m waiting for the series to end before I get stuck into these (the truth is more along the lines of ‘Crossroads of Twilight’ killed this series for me...) ‘The Way of Kings’? It started off promisingly but fell foul of the ongoing ‘no time to read big thick books’ issue and is currently nestled somewhere under my bed...
Clearly something had to be done, if only to figure out for myself just why it is that I can’t get into Sanderson’s work. ‘The Alloy of Law’ came along at just the right time then as it’s relative brevity (only three hundred and twenty five pages long) ensured that I’d have time to give it a read and finally clear things up once and for all. Imagine then, how surprised I was to find that I really enjoyed ‘The Alloy of Law’ and that I might have been wrong the whole time. Now I find myself in the position of having to dig under the bed for that copy of ‘The Way of Kings’ but if it’s anything like ‘The Alloy of Law’ it’ll be worth it...

Three hundred years have passed since the events of the ‘Mistborn’ trilogy shaped the world of Scadrial. The main players have disappeared into history (or even religion) but the world continues to evolve and change in their absence. While Scadrial is still a world of magic, steam and electricity power day to day living and ever growing towers and railway lines stand as monuments to this. Outside the cities though, Allomancy and Feruchemy still play an important role in the enforcing of frontier justice in the ‘Roughs’; land where life is unfortunately still very cheap.
Waxillium Ladrian was one such law keeper until a family tragedy forced him to return to the city of Elendel and take up the duties of Lordship over one of the noble houses. Wax is determined to restore his house to its former glory but his past life won’t let him go that easily, especially when a wave of crime overtakes the city. Wax has twenty years of law keeping experience to draw upon but the mean streets of Elendel can be even more dangerous than the wide open plains of the Roughs...

‘The Alloy of Law’ is a book that is incredibly easy to get into and more than a little difficult to put down as a result. The following phrase is probably bandied about a little too much these days (and I’m as guilty as anyone else) but ‘The Alloy of Law’ is genuinely one of those books where the pages somehow turn themselves while you sit there comfortably and enjoy the ride.

Having never finished the third ‘Mistborn’ book (I can’t even remember what it’s called, damnit) I did wonder how easy it was going to be to get into ‘Alloy’ without that prior knowledge. The answer was ‘incredibly easy’ as it happened. Sanderson gives us enough time between ‘Mistborn’ and ‘Alloy’ for the plot and setting to stand very nicely on its own. ‘Alloy’ is a book that can be read by newcomers and there were enough links to the first trilogy to satisfy long time readers and fans. It’s inevitable though (just because of where the book sits in the overall timeline) that will be some spoilers for those who haven’t read the ‘Mistborn’ books. You can’t get away from that, just the fact that this book exists as it does hints at the ending of the original trilogy. I was fine with that and you might be as well; if you haven’t read the ‘Mistborn’ books though then you might want to bear this in mind.

The story itself presents the reader with an apparently unsolveable mystery and then prompts us to sit back and watch whilst Wax solves that mystery within a very short space of time. Does Sanderson make it too easy for Wax to get to the bottom of things (given how quickly the mystery is solved)? I did wonder at first but then put this down to Sanderson having to write a much tighter plot than normal and not having as much space as a result. Clues are discovered quickly and answers arrived at in a manner that is a little too good to be true; Sanderson balances this out though by showing us exactly how Wax (and his companion Wayne) come to these conclusions. There are no intuitive leaps here, just two guys who have done detective work for a long time and are very good at what they do.

All the while that the mystery is being solved, Sanderson is spicing things up with the kind of action that you can only get in the world of the Mistborn. We’re talking ‘Matrix’ style action again with all sorts of acrobatics being performed as a result of burning metals in your body (I still can’t quite get my head around the intricacies of this but I’m getting there). This time round though, there’s a ‘Western theme’ being played out and it’s all credit to Sanderson that he fits his magic system into this newer setting so well; it feels so natural and like it should be there. These confrontations are spectacular and the ‘Wild West’ spin made for a refreshing change to me.

Waxillium is set up to be a sympathetic character right from the beginning (even I felt for him after that initial shootout) but the ease with which he fell back into his old life made that initial bout of sympathy feel a little bit contrived when I looked back at it. After that, Wax became a character that I followed more because of his tenacity than any sympathy that I had for him (which was none really). He’s a guy that will take one hell of a kicking and still keep trying to do the right thing; you’ve got to admire a man like that.
The character I was more interested in was Wayne; a man also trying to do the right thing but still bound, by his own internal logic, to break the law in any number of minor ways. I also couldn’t place his accent (the only cockney on Scadrial?) which may have been the point...

The setting was as well drawn as I remember it being in the ‘Mistborn’ books and Sanderson does a fine job of keeping to the roots of the first trilogy whilst also showing how the world has moved on. I couldn’t help but think though that the setting grew less detailed the further the characters moved into the depths of the city...

This niggle (as well as the others) was a minor one though. ‘The Alloy of Law’ was a thoroughly entertaining read that I couldn’t get enough of. Any book that makes you want to go out and read everything else an author has written is doing its job very well indeed.

Nine and a Half out of Ten

P.S. If you're in the US then Tor are publishing 'The Alloy of Law', you probably knew that already though ;o)

‘Them or Us’ – David Moody (Gollancz)

When I reviewed ‘Hater’ and ‘Dog Blood’, I mused a little bit on what we really mean by ‘hate’ and how (more often than not) we’re far off the mark when we say that we hate something. We are though, aren’t we? ‘Hate’ is such a strong word with only one outcome to it; we’re not talking half hearted ill feeling here, if you hate someone then you want them dead and out of your life forever. There are a number of people that I really dislike (some of them might even know who they are...) but I don’t want any of them dead!

David Moody is a man who really knows what it’s like to really hate. He should do, Moody has already written two books detailing the breakdown of society when one half of the populace suddenly realises that it must kill the other half if it is to survive. Both ‘Hater’ and ‘Dog Blood’ have stayed in my head ever since and not just because of that initial premise. Where both books shone for me is that Moody is not afraid to follow that path to its inevitable conclusion, no matter how dark and bloody the path is. ‘Disturbing’ isn’t a strong enough word for the resulting journey but you can’t help but make that trip. After all, who among us wouldn’t want to see the results when an author pulls the curtains right back on his creation and lets his readers see it in all its bloody glory?
It was this raw honesty that gripped me for the first two books and made sure that I picked up ‘Them or Us’ pretty damn quickly when it came through the door a couple of days ago. I had to see how it all ended and, although it wasn’t the ending that I saw coming, Moody didn’t disappoint.

The war between the Haters and the Unchanged is almost at an end but will there be anything left for the eventual winners? After the events of ‘Dog Blood’, much of the United Kingdom is a smoking radioactive ruin and the few remaining safe areas are hotly contested by surviving Haters. The coastal town of Lowestoft is one such area and Danny McCoyne has not only found himself there but has made himself indispensable as a man who can ‘hold the hate’ and therefore hunt out surviving Unchanged.
As the Unchanged grow less in number though, pressure increases on Lowestoft’s ruthless leader (Hinchcliffe) to consolidate his position by other means and Danny finds himself in a number of situations that he’d rather not be in, including a pivotal confrontation that could have immense repercussions for everyone still alive. Danny has a decision to make, it’s either ‘Them or Us’ and there’s no third way...

If you’ve dropped at least one nuclear bomb on your main character (ok, not ‘on’, it’s more like ‘very near to’ but you know what I mean) after he’s clawed his way out of a rapidly disintegrating city, where can you go with him next? The answer is ‘nowhere really’, not when the rest of the country is in the same kind of situation and the war on the Unchanged is becoming a fight to survive instead. The only direction you can go is down and that’s where Moody takes us.

This approach is, for me, the main reason why ‘Them or Us’ feels a little more lacklustre than the previous two instalments. Everything that’s flammable has been blown up. All the people who need to die are pretty much dead. All that’s left is to either carry on fighting whatever is in front of you, and rail against the inevitable, or quietly accept your fate and wait for the end. Danny McCoyne’s story essentially ended in ‘Dog Blood’, ‘Them or Us’ is an exercise in tying up loose ends that doesn’t sit particularly comfortably with the other two books in the trilogy. I wouldn’t say that this is Moody’s fault particularly; if anything it’s a case of following the natural flow of the plot just that little bit too far.

That’s not to say that ‘Them or Us’ didn’t need to be written though, Danny is a character that I wanted to keep on following and ‘Them or Us’ rounds his story off in a manner that is inevitable yet strangely fitting at the same time. Danny is a man who never wanted to be in the position he has found himself in and will do anything to distance himself from the conflict. His ability to ‘hold the hate’ makes for an interesting perspective on the events of the book (and the trilogy as a whole) as it sits him right in the middle of the two opposing factions whilst giving him enough internal conflict to keep him interesting enough to make you wonder what he’ll do next. Being able to ‘hold the hate’ is exactly what makes Danny so important to everybody though and this throws him right into the middle of the plot when he would rather be on the outskirts. I couldn’t help but feel for him and that’s one of the things that kept me reading, Danny McCoyne is a man who always tries to do the right thing.

Moody also gives his readers an interesting look at how life ‘post conflict’ is panning out. The short description would be ‘not very well at all’ but Moody’s characters all live in such a way to make for a compelling post apocalyptic society, with the strongest Haters living off a starving underclass that is too tired to fight anymore. Brief flurries of violence (both against the few surviving Unchanged and each other) propel the plot forwards at a decent rate, and at just the right times, as well as conveying Moody’s message in a stark and unforgettable manner. The war was ultimately pointless as the winners don’t have the mindset to do anything with what’s left other than wait for the inevitable end. It’s a bleak message but one that’s very much in keeping with the overall tone of the series in general.

The final chapters of ‘Them or Us’ hearken back to the more frantic feel of the previous books and not only signed things off in the style I’d come to expect from Moody but also served to emphasise the utter futility of this war. There is nothing left to fight for but no-one realises it as they can’t see past the hate and fear.

‘Them or Us’ is a gradual tailing off of the ‘Hater’ trilogy rather than an explosive finale. While this kills the pacing and flow to a degree, it also serves as the ideal platform for what Moody has been trying to say with this series. In that sense, it provides a fitting end to the trilogy and keeps up the tradition of these books staying in my head a long time after I’ve finished them. If you’ve read the last two books then I reckon you’ll get a lot out of ‘Them or Us’. If you haven’t read the trilogy, and you’ve got the stomach for it, go and pick up ‘Hater’.

Eight and Three Quarters out of Ten

‘Zombo: Can I eat you please?’ – Al Ewing and Henry Flint (Rebellion)

It was a couple of weeks ago now that I had a little bit of a moan about zombie fiction and that’s not something that you see very often around these parts is it? I mean, you’re looking at the guy who loves nothing more than to pick up a book full of the shambling (and rotting) dead; I can’t get enough of it. The thing is though... Well, you’re essentially reading the same story over and over again aren’t you? The dead rise, people get eaten and any survivors try to make a life for themselves amongst the ruins (whilst either shooting a loved one, who has been bitten, or having the crazy member of their team shows the zombies where they are...) How the author treats their characters is where the differences lie but, at the end of the day, it’s the same plot propping each book up.

If you’re after something a little different though (that still has zombies) then there are books out there will take care of business for you. A couple of weeks ago it was ‘Double Dead’, this time round it’s Al Ewing’s ‘Zombo’. As it happens, Ewing does have previous form for tweaking bits of the zombie sub-genre and turning it into something fresh. His ‘I, Zombie’ remains a book quite unlike any zombie book I’ve ever read as well as being one of the few zombie books that has made me feel physically sick. Great stuff :o)
So when I was given the chance to read ‘Zombo’ I pretty much jumped at the chance. After all, I’d never read a book with a zombie main character that was desperate to enter ‘X-Factor’, until now...

When Flight 303 crashes on the lethal death world known as Chronos things really don’t look good for the surviving passengers, not good at all. There are death worlds out there that are far more dangerous than Chronos but there is plenty here to make life for our stranded survivors pretty damn grim... and very short.
Luckily for the passengers though, Flight 303 was also carrying a top secret government experiment designed specially to combat environs such as Chronos. Enter Zombo! Part zombie, part human ghoul; he might end up eating you but you can rest assured that he will ask nicely first before taking a bite...

I don’t think I’ve ever read a zombie book that manages to be irreverent and frightening all at the same time. ‘Zombo’ manages to combine both approaches with some considerable aplomb and, as a result, was a book that I couldn’t help but chuckle at (even while I was reading certain pages with my eyes half open).

Having read Al Ewing’s work previously, I thought I had some idea of what to expect from ‘Zombo’ but, as is the norm, Ewing still managed to pull the rug out from underneath me by ramping things up to another level entirely. A bodyguard duo who are really one person, inbred hillbillies who play ‘Twister’ whilst snacking on our rapidly depleting group of survivors, a zombie entering X-Factor... Yep, I still can’t quite get my head round that last one and that’s the beauty of Ewing’s writing. Ewing may go a little too far over the top, every now and then, but you can always rely on him to come up with something that will stick in your head for days afterwards.

Al Ewing really doesn’t like Russell Brand and I could take a pretty good stab at guessing his feelings on Robbie Williams as well...  As amusing as what happened to them was, these were the moments that things went a little too far over the top and I felt that I wasn’t reading a story, more like an opportunity for Ewing to take a little revenge on people he doesn’t like. I don’t blame Ewing for this but couldn’t help but wish he’d done it elsewhere and just let the story run on its own. It’s a great story just on it’s own. I’ve mentioned the irreverence already but there is also plenty here to scare as well; whether it’s a jungle planet picking off people one by one (the bit where one woman just disappeared, leaving a pair of shoes behind, was particularly effective) or fleeing zombies through the bowels of a space station. Everything runs at a madcap pace and Henry Flint’s vivid artwork does its bit to keep your eyes on the page. Here’s an artist with a surplus of red ink and he’s not afraid to use it...

‘Zombo’ does suffer when Ewing decides to take out minor celebrities (for no reason that actually advances the plot) but on the whole is a lot of fun and another reminder that there’s a lot more that can be done with zombie fiction than you would think. I’m hoping for more to come from Zombo but if Ewing wants to write more zombie fiction then I’d pick it up whether Zombo makes an appearance or not.

Eight and a Half out of Ten

‘Blood of Aenarion’ – William King (Black Library)

Elves. If there’s a ‘fantasy world’ then you can pretty much bet your life savings that the Elves settled there first (probably while fleeing an unnamed evil from beyond the sea) and built a long lived civilisation and empire due to their near immortality and just being generally better than those scruffy haired humans living in those caves over there.
For everyone that thinks Elves are a little too smug and need to be taken down a peg or two... don’t worry about it, Elves are more than capable of doing that all to themselves. If they’re not growing too complacent (not noticing that those humans have come out of their caves now and are looking pretty handy with a sword) then they’re growing more decadent with age and letting their empire go to wrack and ruin. That’s where the Elves of the Warhammer world come in, a previously mighty empire divided with one half of the population trying to stave off the murderous attentions of the other half. Just the kind of dynamic that sits very well in the war torn battlefields of the Old World.

William King is best known for kicking off the long running ‘Gotrek and Felix’ series (now in the capable hands of Nathan Long) and has also catered for the Warhammer 40K side of things with his ‘Space Wolf’ series. The Black Library hasn’t seen an awful lot of him for the last few years but now he’s back to give readers his take on two of the mightiest Elf heroes of all. Regular Warhammer gamers might want to correct me on that last sentence as there’s a lot of this world that I’m still finding my way around. One thing that’s clear even to me though is that William King is building Teclis and Tyrion up to be something pretty special and he’s written a book that backs this up.

The twins Teclis and Tyrion have a bright destiny in front of them. Tyrion is an unparalleled swordsman with an eye for the ebb and flow of warfare unlike any other. Teclis has a natural gift for magic that will mark him out as potentially the most powerful sorcerer of the age. This is all a long way in the future though as there are more pressing concerns that could stop the twins from even reaching adulthood...
Tyrion and Teclis can claim direct descent from the line of Aenarion, first and greatest of all the Elven Kings, but this comes with the risk of being struck by a deadly curse that could demand their immediate execution.  The twins must travel to the court of the Phoenix King, and be tested, but even this comes with its own dangers. The city of Lothern is full of Elven intrigue all waiting to trip up two naive Elves from the wild lands of Chrace; any such trips could easily prove fatal. If that wasn’t enough, not only does the Witch King himself have his eye on the twins but a daemon from the dawn of history itself has broken free from its prison and has sworn revenge on the line of Aenarion. Even if Tyrion and Teclis can escape all this attention, the island of Ulthuan itself could fall into a war it can ill afford...

It’s been a long time since I’ve read anything by William King (in case you were wondering, it was ‘Trollslayer’ and I had a lot of fun with it thanks) so I only really had vague recollections and a love of any cover drawn by Raymond Swanland to get me going with ‘Blood of Aenarion’. That proved to be more than enough though; once I was in that was pretty much it, I devoured ‘Blood of Aenarion’ but (if we’re going to stick with the whole eating metaphor) some of it did make for some stodgy reading. Having said that though, I’m in a position now where I’m already looking forward to next Christmas and the release of the next book in the trilogy, ‘Sword of Caledor’.

From practically the very first page, William King throws the reader straight into the last days of Aenarion’s rule; a time of swords, blood and the very real possibility that the world will end in fire. Once you’ve managed to surface from the frantic pace of battle (and you really are dropped in the middle of it) what you get is a great way to start any book. The pace flows like quicksilver and you’ve got to run to catch up. Bang! Before you know it you’ve been drawn into what looks to be one massive adrenaline rush of a book. The enemies are truly monstrous but the heroes are big enough to make a stand that will echo down the ages. Even if you don’t know your Warhammer history you’ll be left in no doubt that you’re witnessing something momentous.

And then it all comes crashing to a juddering halt.

Don’t get me wrong, any book has to introduce its main characters and let the reader know what they’re all about. It’s just that, after such a rip roaring start to the book, to have things slow down that quickly makes the flow of the entire book choppy to say the least. And how many times do we really need to know that Tyrion and Teclis are something special? Really?  I don’t know about you but I only need telling the once, maybe twice if something huge happens. By telling us so often, King doesn’t leave himself much room (if any) to actually show us who these characters are right at the start. To be fair, this is addressed in the later stages and I not only got right into the heads of Tyrion and Teclis but I also got a real feel for their relationship and what they meant to each other. I just couldn’t help but feel that this had all been approached the wrong way round. Tell us who the characters are first, then show us what makes them so special.

Luckily for us though, all the other aspects of ‘Blood of Aenarion’ are bang on the money. Once the twins reach the city of Lothern then the game is well and truly on and King delivered as far as I was concerned.
Where King really got it right for me was his creation of a scenario where Tyrion and Teclis are possibly in danger whichever way they turn. You’ve got a daemon tearing up the countryside (escalating the tension of the book with each new conquest) and the brooding menace of the Witch King promising dark events to come in the future. If this wasn’t enough, the city that Tyrion and Teclis should be safe in is full of intrigue and ready to take advantage. This makes for some deliciously uncertain passages where a mere double-cross is considered passé; we’re talking real intrigue here.

King signs things off with a battle sequence that’s in keeping with how he kicked the novel off. I had an idea how things had to turn out but all credit to King that I couldn’t take my eyes off the page in the meantime, especially for the explosive finale.

‘Blood of Aenarion’ isn’t without its issues but rises above these, as the plot progresses, to become a gripping read that has you on your guard as well as the main characters. I’ve got high hopes for this series and I’ve got every faith that William King will deliver.

Eight and Three Quarters out of Ten

‘Doctor Who: Touched by an Angel’ – Jonathan Morris (BBC Books)

Welcome to the last day of November (that was quick, where did the month go?) and a review for a book that I actually read way back in September, I think. That’s the way my reading seems to gone over the last few months; books were read but then seemed to spend a lot more time on the ‘I really need to review this’ pile than they would do normally. I don’t know why this is, actually... yes I do.
I try to review everything that I finish reading but doing this really depends on the reaction I get from reading a book. A strong reaction (positive or otherwise) will invariably lead to a book being reviewed here shortly after I finish reading; that’s pretty much why you’ve probably seen a number of positive reviews in quick succession here. If it’s a book that doesn’t really leave me feeling anything though... Well, if a book doesn’t fully engage with me then I’ll often find myself not really wanting to engage with it in return (especially just recently). This is all the more disappointing when it’s a ‘Doctor Who’ book that I’m reading but you can’t win em’ all I guess. I promised a review though so...

Eight years after his wife’s death, Mark Whitaker is still grieving and has no idea how he will get his life back on track. That is, until the day he receives a battered envelope containing a set of instructions and one simple message... ‘You can save her’.
Mark now has a second chance at happiness and will do whatever it takes to save his wife Rebecca. The Doctor however knows that far more is at stake than the life of one woman. The Weeping Angels have returned and they will stop at nothing less than using history itself as a weapon in order to achieve their aims...

I’ve mentioned it before but Doctor Who novels are great comfort reads for me and with the best ones it’s like reading an actual episode of the show straight off the page. Because of this I always look forward to the new releases and will always pick them up for a read. After ‘Touched by an Angel’ though, maybe this won’t always be the case. For the first time in a long time I can see myself re-reading a few old favourites instead of picking up the latest book.

‘Touched by an Angel’ is the story of a man wracked by grief who is given the opportunity to bend time itself in order to be reunited with his one true love. As far as this goes, the book works very well with a story told in flashbacks of how Mark and Rebecca came to be together. You get a really strong feeling of how much Rebecca means to Mark and the grief he feels at her passing and, with this more than sold foundation, it’s not too much of a leap at all to see how Mark would do whatever he could to bring her back. The ending is a little bit predictable but the reasoning behind it is made very clear so you can understand why it has to turn out the way it does (even if, like me, you’re secretly hoping for something else entirely).

So what’s the big issue then? A bittersweet tale of time travelling romance is just the kind of thing that the current series of Doctor Who seems to thrive on so what could possibly go wrong here? Unfortunately, Morris’ treatment of the Doctor himself pretty much killed things off for me when it really should have got things going...

What I love about the Doctor (whether he’s on the screen or in a book) is the sense you get that he is doing everything on the fly. He may be the most intelligent being you’re likely to come across but villainous aliens will give him a run for his money and he’ll only save the day at the very last minute. As a result, you may know when to expect the ‘big reveal’ but there’s always a tense time guaranteed before you get there.

Not here though, not in ‘Touched by an Angel’. The Doctor is in control of things just a little too much and things fall into place just a little too neatly for there to be any real tension at all. If there’s no tension then there’s no fun, not for me anyway, not when everything is explained away so neatly and so quickly. It got to the point where every eventuality was covered so well that I found myself thinking that the book only needed maybe ten pages maximum to tell its story, not the two hundred and thirty seven pages that we get. Explaining everything away via ‘Bill and Ted’s Theory of Time Travel’ was funny in ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ but it’s just annoying here.

This approach also had the knock on effect of rendering perhaps the scariest new monsters in Doctor Who ineffective and pretty much pathetic. The Doctor takes care of the Weeping Angels without breaking a sweat and I had to ask myself why I’d bothered reading if things were going to be taken care of that easily. The answer was a very quick ‘it’s Doctor Who’ (have you guessed I’m a bit of a fan?) but that answer rang a bit hollow this time round.

‘Touched by an Angel’ is a tale that delivers on one front but fails to deliver on what it really needed to in order to make it a good ‘Doctor Who’ novel. Like I said, a real shame...

Six out of Ten