The Outlander by Gil Adamson, House of Anansi Press, 2007 - It begins in the frontier west - the age of horse and buggy with a widow in flight. She’s young and on the run after having killed her husband. She’s barely keeping ahead of two armed and dangerous looking men – her brothers-in-law. We …
Category: Books
Barbarians of the Beyond
Barbarians of the Beyond by Matthew Hughes, Spatterlight Press, 2021 – available through Amazon Matthew Hughes has had forty-two stories published in science fiction’s premier platform, the ‘Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction’. In addition he’s published over thirty books, he’s won or been nominated for every fantasy and science fiction award you can think …
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE
Fireflies and Chocolate, Ailish Sinclair, GWL Publishing 2021 (available through Amazon) In 1607 Jamestown was established and the early settlers soon began importing indentured European servants/laborers into the new world. The system of indentures in that period was similar to slavery, differing only in that those sold under indentures gained their freedom when they had …
Old Children’s Classic – Pinocchio
Pinocchio by Carol Collodi (my copy published by Simply Read Books, 2002, illustrated by Iasssen Ghiuselev) 1807 saw the first publication of Thomas Bowdler’s ‘Family Shakespeare’, an edition of the Bard’s works where all the parts deemed racy, blasphemous or otherwise unsuitable for the young or female readers were removed. ‘Cleaning up’ tales for children …
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
Has anyone had the experience of reading a book that is touted by critics as a masterpiece, got to the end and wondered why you bothered? Vladimir Nabokov wrote Lolita in 1955 and the book was so successful that he was able to give up a teaching career at Harvard and devote himself exclusively to …
The Odin Incident – Excerpt
In last week’s blog, I promised (or threatened, depending on how the message was received) to give you an excerpt of the latest draft of my fantasy book ‘The Odin Incident’ (One prophecy, Two destinies – Nine worlds in peril). This latest draft was inspired by Les Edgerton’s book on how to write entitled ‘Hooked’. …
Revisiting the Odin Incident
In a previous blog I mentioned a book called ‘Hooked’ by Les Edgerton, who writes about how to write. It’s one thing to read a book on how to improve your writing but what’s the point if you don’t apply the principles? One of the most interesting observations in the Edgerton book is his belief …
The Nothing Girl
The Nothing Girl by Jodi Taylor, Accent Press/Headline 2014 - What a wonderful book. There’s Jenny, an orphan taken in by her aunt and uncle, despite her debilitating stammer and her ‘other problem’. Then there’s Thomas, the large golden horse that only Jenny can see or hear. Jenny needs someone to watch out for her, …
The House in the Cerulean Sea
The House in the Cerulean Sea published by Tor books in 2020. Each year my DDD (dearest darling daughter) sends me a book. I look forward to this ritual as it gives me something to read that I would never have found on my own. It’s not that our tastes are a perfect match – …
Isabel Allende’s ‘A Long Petal of the Sea’
Isabel Allende – ‘A Long Petal of the Sea’, Ballantine Books, 2020 The first Allende book I read was ‘Daughter of Fortune’ and it left me with great admiration of the South American born author. After reading the ‘Daughter’ I followed up with its sequel ‘Portrait in Sepia’ and then went on to read ‘Island …
