-
Review: Loki by Melvin Burgess
It is almost like this was written for me. I am a sucker for Norse retellings. Doubly so when they are from Loki’s point of view. And this is a retelling of the Norse Myths from Loki’s point of view so obviously I am here for it. Loki is always a figure of fascination, as a trickster and purveyor of chaos and often being the villian of the piece. Melvin Burgess here gives Loki a voice and a chance to intepret the norse myths his way. This is an earthy retelling, bodily functions and plenty of bedroom shenanigans including the weird things that gods of several mythologies like to do…
-
Book post squee
Today has been long train delays and fixing stuff but I came home to some delightful book post from Orbit UK. How lovely does Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies look? If I’m honest I was smitten with the title. If ever there was a book for Unicorn towers it’s this one. Review will be out in the new year but I had to share the pretty.
-
Lost Mojo
It has taken months for the desire to come back and its been a slow and incremental thing. But the habit is back and it is reliable and again I can get some solace by escaping to worlds created by others.
-
Selecting Next Reads
Selecting books to read, how do you do it? My pile of unread books teeters in various places around the very small London house in which we live. My partner sighs with exasperation at me and not a little fondness as I amass more books than I can get through. I absolutely have the intention to read them, but I never have the time to get through as many as I think I should. There are also many books languishing on my kindle that I need to read too. This can lead to me being overwhelmed by choice when I finish a book. I need to know what I should…
-
Girls and Aliens
This was quite the collection, five contrasting stories that featured girls and aliens in often very dark and disturbing ways.
-
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky – a Squee post.
Its rare that I feel compelled to write about something I’m reading before I’ve finished reading it but Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time has crawled under my skin and it is preying on my mind so I need to tell you all why.
-
Review: The Silver Tide by Jen Williams
Trilogies are tricky things to work properly they should do more than simply be one long story there should be themes that ebb and flow. Narratives which build and peak and then build again. I usually count myself lucky if the trilogy I read is three decent books which hold together well. And then there’s Jen William’s Copper Cat trilogy which I am so deeply in love with right now it is a little bit obscene.
-
The books I do not read
I am a recovering book snob. I’m in the process of overcoming the baggage I picked up whilst studying English Lit at university. I’m now able to read widely not caring for some invisible judge and yet there is one line I do not want to cross. Why can’t I read romance? That’s not to say I haven’t read any I’ve dabbled in the paranormal romance end of things and faeries who like to get hot and heavy. But straight romances in genre terms are problematic. A lot of this is bound up in my heavy allergic reaction to the tag chick lit. I have never been a chick, I…
-
Jane's Great Re-Read: Lords and Ladies By Terry Pratchett a Review
Lords and Ladies is the fourth Granny Weatherwax and the witches book. If Wyrd Sisters is Macbeth, Lords and Ladies is a Midsummer’s Night Dream. This picks up post Witches Abroad just when the trio have arrived back from Genua and sprints off into the distance. This book is about belief; it is about susperstition; it is about quantum and iron.
-
For Pterry
I was thirteen when I read my first Terry Pratchett novel. It was Good Omens with Neil Gaiman and I loved that book as only a teenager could. I obsessed over Crowley and Aziraphale and it has been a favourite of mine for a long time. After Good Omens came the Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic which were okay but the novel that got me hooked was Wyrd Sisters. As the cauldron bubbled an archaic voice shrieked: “When shall we three meet again?!!” There was a pause. Finally another voice said, in far more ordinary tones: “Well I can do next Tuesday.” Wyrd Sisters Over the years I…
