… singing trains, strange worlds …
Once again we follow Zen Starling as he travels across the galaxy with Nova, the almost human Motorik, trying to work out their relationship – (How does that even work, a human and a Moto? Zen is asked.) – whilst fighting the Guardians for control of the Great Network. Continue reading “Station Zero : Philip Reeve”
… addictive mix of wild savagery and messy emotions …
Peadar is a master of combining thrilling horror with thoughtful characterisation, creating an addictive mix of wild savagery and messy human emotions. As with The Call, he drives The Invasion‘s plot forwards at a tremendous pace whilst adding just the right amount of intimate scenes for the reader to become very attached Continue reading “The Invasion : Peadar O’Guilin”
… perfectly paced and other worldly …
This is a perfectly paced ghost story about a girl living next to a derelict orphanage.
Pam Smy carefully weaves together the stories of two girls in a beguiling mix of diary and illustration. The ghost, Mary, writes heartbreaking entries of her bleak childhood in the diary which is discovered years later by the lonely Ella, whose story is told entirely through unscripted illustrations. With no narrator to help, we are left to piece together the gaps in each story.
Pam then intersperses the diary entries and cartoon narrative with heavy black pages to represent sleep. The cumulative effect of these blanks, combined with the silent illustrations, recreates the detachedness of a lonely childhood and gives the reader delightful pause to think about and guess (deliciously) what might happen next.
The whole effect is intriguing, creepy and otherworldly by turn and builds to a terrific climax.
Highly recommended.
Pam Smy studied Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, part of Anglia Ruskin University, where she now lectures part-time. Pam has illustrated books by Conan Doyle (The Hound of the Baskervilles), Julia Donaldson (Follow the Swallow) and Kathy Henderson (Hush, Baby, Hush!), among others. This is the first book she has both written and illustrated. Pam has a blog spot here which traces some of the development of this work.
This is my seventeenth review in the British Books Challenge 2017. Come and join us at over at Chelley Toy’s site.
Thornhill by Pam Smy was published on 24 August 2017 by David Fickling Books in the UK and on 29 August 2017 by Roaring Brook Press in USA.
It was recommended to me by Emily who runs Emily’s Bookshop in Chipping Campden. Thanks, Em!
… deliciously atmospheric …
Frances Hardinge‘s next novel is a thrillingly dark tale of witchcraft and possession set during the turbulent Civil War of the C17th. I have been given a First Five Chapters promotional extract by my indie bookseller, Emily, at Emily’s Bookshop. Thanks, Em!
The fierce Makepeace feels friendless and awkward. She is no more than a servant in her Uncle’s house. Her distant mother frequently locks the girl in a disused chapel at night. “You need to stay here and sharpen your stick.” For the woman knows there are ghosts that will try to invade Makepeace’s mind. Out on the marshes one day, she tries to rescue a dying animal, and the creature’s spirit becomes part of her. As a “by-blow”, she is sent to live at Grizehayes, her grandfather’s house, and this is where the adventure really begins …
… and I can’t wait to read the rest of it!
Frances has conjured up another passionate, caring outsider in Makepeace. Her character alone would make me read on. But this girl combined with the C17th and witchcraft is my idea of heaven. As always, her turn of phrase is sparkling: the terrifying minister whose preaching contains “love like a cold white comet”; and her pacing of the exposition is spot on, trailing just enough clues for the reader to guess at what’s to come.
Highly recommended.
Cover design moment: The gorgeous cover, reminiscent of mille fleur tapestry patterns, is by the very talented Romanian illustrator, Aitch. More of her work can be found here. And a blogpost about the ideas behind the design can be found at MyKindaBook here.
A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge will be published by Pan Macmillan on 21st September 2017.
… cracking page turner…
“I think I might be a murderer.” STAGS starts out at a cracking pace and never lets up until the end. Told in the first person, MA creates the very likeable Greer MacDonald, a scholarship student at an elite boarding school. Full of arcane rituals and costumes, Greer is lonely and desperate for approval until the invitation arrives for a long weekend away with Henry de Warlencourt, the most popular and wealthy boy in the school, and his friends. The action then moves to Henry’s country house in the Lake District for a weekend of hunting, shooting and fishing. With no telephones and no parents around, Greer gradually realises Henry’s ulterior motive to her inclusion.
MA builds tension and great empathy in S.T.A.G.S by choosing a close first person narrative. By keeping the locations tight, just the school and the house, she also leaves herself ample space to expand and explore the various relationships in this quite short book. A very readable story in the hands of an experienced writer.
Recommended.
Just a couple of kisses and very little actual violence, make this suitable for lower end YA or upper end MG. US readers should be aware that the 18 year olds drink, sometimes to excess.
MA Bennett is the pen name of Marina Fiorato, who has written a series of historical novels including the best selling The Glassblower of Murano. She is half-Venetian, born in Manchester and raised in the Yorkshire Dales. She is a history graduate and since worked as an illustrator, actress and film reviewer. She also designed tour visuals for rock bands including U2 and the Rolling Stones. Further information about these historical novels can be found at her website here. There doesn’t appear to be a separate MA Bennett website yet.
This is my twelfth review in the British Books Challenge 2017. Come and join us at over at Chelley Toy’s site.
Cover design moment: As this is an ARC, there are no details of the designer. The mottled dark brown background reminds me of worn leather – and therefore suggests a country house feel – whilst the eye catching golden stag’s head illustration possibly has a nod towards Harry Potter’s Patronus. I would have preferred either a stained glass window of St Aidan or a tapestry hunting scene but that maybe off putting for some YA readers.
S.T.A.G.S by MA Bennett will be published by Hot Key Books, an imprint of Bonnier Zaffre, on 10th August 2017 in the UK and Delacorte Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House, will publish the novel in the US in 2018. Feature film rights have already been bought.
It was lent to me by Emily who runs Emily’s Bookshop in Chipping Campden. Thanks, Em!
… absorbing and compelling ..
Imagine a Britain ruled by an elite where ordinary folk – you and me – are condemned to choose ten years of slavery to keep the economy going. Teenager Abi has a perfect plan to keep her family together by working for the Jardines, a family Skilled in magic. Only something goes terribly wrong and her brother, Luke, is sent to a grim Northern slavetown. This split allows reader to follow both Abi and Luke in their different worlds: the luxurious yet dangerous country house of Kyneston and the brutal factory complex of Millmoor.
The differing stories of Luke and Abi, and the lesser chorus of four other viewpoints, threw me for a while, as I do like to invest in one lead character. However Vic uses this technique to great effect and her compelling narrative and clean prose style makes for a smooth, fast read. Add some sparkling secondary characters including Renie-rhymes-with-Genie; the pitiful Dog; and the menacing Silyen; mix with a little romance and Vic has created a highly enjoyable adventure which rather catches the zeitgeist of an elite rich with a drone underclass …
My only slight quibble is that the ending was rather ragged. By that I mean consequences of the story’s climax are only briefly played out in this book with obviously much more to come in the second, Tarnished City.
Vic James is a current affairs TV director and Gilded Cage is her debut novel. She has twice judged the Guardian‘s The Booker Prize, has made films for BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4 News, and is a huge Wattpad.com success story. Under its previous title, Slavedays, her book was read online over a quarter of a million times in first draft. And it went on to win Wattpad’s ‘Talk of the Town’ award in 2015. Vic James lives and works in London … which means – HURRAH – she can be counted as the seventh review in my British Books Challenge 2017. Come and join us at over at Chelley Toy’s site.
Cover design moment: The cover design is by Joanna Thomson, a senior designer in the Pan Macmillan Art Department – and she is credited on the back. (Second HURRAH.) I loved the curly magical font and the strong, embossed silhouette of the cage. I wasn’t entirely sure of the relevance of the black bird (a crow?) and feathers apart the overall sinister implication but hopefully it will become clearer as the trilogy progresses. Further examples of her work can be found here.
Gilded Cage by Vic James was published by Pan Books on 26 January 2017. It is the first in the Dark Gifts Trilogy which will also include Tarnished City and Bright Ruin.
… brilliant page turner …
I have come rather late to the Tearling party! I loved this book. It’s a brilliant page turner with an incredibly strong narrative and well drawn, likeable (or dastardly) characters. On her 19th birthday the soldiers come for Kelsea to take her to be crowned as Queen of the Tearling … if she survives that long. There’s a wicked Uncle, an evil witch, bandits, slavery and a loyal pack of personal guards. As the book blurb quote from HEAT magazine says helpfully : “Did you like The Hunger Games? Partial to an episode of Game of Thrones? Then you’re going to want to dive straight into this.” I particularly enjoyed that fact that Kelsea is not the perfect heroine. She is not superfit, has trouble handling a sword and has a puppy crush on someone. Yet, her heart is in the right place and she’s trying to make up for her appalling mother’s legacy. I also was greatly entertained by the growing relationship between Kelsea and her bodyguard, Lazarus. Highly recommended.
btw The book does have some sex and hints at rather horrid and gruesome slavery so it’s for older teens.
Erika Johansen grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and became an attorney. Now she lives in England … which means – HURRAH – she can be counted as the sixth review in my British Books Challenge 2017. Come and join us at over at Chelley Toy’s site.
Cover design moment: The UK cover for this book of a bear trap on a red cushion is cute and to the point, if slightly cloying for such a strong protagonist and very little romance . The design continues through the series and are by Sarah Whittaker, a Senior Designer, at Transworld Publishers.
The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen was published by Bantam Books on 16 July 2015. It is the first in the Tearling Trilogy which includes The Invasion of Tearling and The Fate of the Tearling (Dec 16).
… spirited helter skelter adventure …
Irene Winters is back! Attacked by venomous spiders and snakes and chased by archenemy Alberich, the Librarian is in a desperate chase to save her beloved Library
from attack whilst protecting her Victorian detective friend, Vale, and dragon assistant, Kai, from further chaos. Another spirited helter skelter adventure through the many alternative worlds linked by the great Library. I particularly liked Irene’s entanglements with Alberich, a truly dastardly villain, and her continuing balancing act between the chaotic Fae and rigid dragon characters. Both of these add depth to the frenetic pace of events which point to Genevieve’s past work as a roleplaying game writer.
This is the third in Genevieve’s Invisible Library series. My review of the first, The Invisible Library, is here and it is panning out to be an enjoyable sequence.
Cover design moment: Neil Lang from the Pan Macmillan art department continues to produce the excellent covers for this series. With their distinctive foil spines and Victorian silhouettes, they are both instantly recognisable and compliment Genevieve’s style. A link to further work by him is here.
This book is the fourth review in my British Books Challenge 2017. Come and join us at over at Chelley Toy’s site.
The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman was published by Pan on 15 December 2016. I bought it from Emily’s Bookshop. Hiya Em!
… brilliant, pacey sequel to Rebel of the Sands …
Amani is back, fighting against the odds amongst the deadly politics of the Sultan’s Harem. Now a respected leader in the Rebel Forces, she is betrayed and ends up a prisoner in the Palace with her powers disabled. This is where Alwyn really hits her stride and the story picks up pace with an intriguing thread about the three brothers: the Sultan, the Rebel Prince and Amani’s lover, Jin; and the overarching question: who exactly is the traitor?
Recommended.
ps. I would like to request a cast list at the front of the next book to navigate my way around all the characters and do recommend new readers start with the first in the series, Rebel of the Sands.
Cover design moment: Unfortunately there isn’t any trace of the designer on the review copy but the strong, vibrant design is as good as Rebel of the Sands. The lettering and patterning are very distinctive and its unusual colour will help the book to stand out on a crowded bookshop table … which is the point, right? (The US cover design on the other hand … hmm …)
As Alwyn lives in London, this book is the first in my British Books Challenge 2017. Huzzah.
Traitor to the Throne will be published 2 February 2017 by Faber and Faber. Emily at Emily’s Bookshop lent me her review copy. Thanks, Em!
Rigg's Cabinet of Curiosities 