Archives for reviews - Page 9
Woman in Arms by Russell Braddon [Book Review]
Woman in Arms by Russell Braddon My rating: 4 of 5 stars Nancy Wake (Photo credit: Wikipedia) I re-read this over the holidays. Woman in Arms is one of the books I've owned the longest of those on my shelves. The story is just as remarkable now as it was when I first read Woman in Arms around 1990. Nancy Wake was born in NZ, grew up in Australia and moved to France where she worked as a journalist before WW2. She married a frenchman just after the outbreak of WW2 and worked to help people escape from the nazis. Eventually the Gestapo were after her and she too escaped to London. She then trained as an SOE agent and went back in 1944 to wreak havoc between the invasion and liberation. Woman in Arms Woman in Arms was originally…
Asrian Skies by Anne Wheeler [Book Review]
Asrian Skies by Anne Wheeler My rating: 5 of 5 stars Asrian Skies is an awesome novel, reading a lot like Elizabeth Bear and Ann Leckie. There's action, politics, tension, space opera and a very personal story of a young woman trying to work out what she wants and how to deal with the responsibility thrust upon her. The book is really well written, and the characters multi-dimensional, especially the antagonist where we can see the underlying humanity that his inhumane interrogation somehow works around. Asrian Skies Asrian Skies is set in a universe where humans inhabit multiple star systems and have faster than light travel available. The main character, Avery Rendon, is training to become a fighter pilot with the Commonwealth armed forces. The Commonwealth is a loose confederation of systems that each have their own way of doing…
Steel & Lace edited by Francine Howarth [Book Review]
Steel & Lace - Anthology of 17th-18th century stories. by Francine Howarth My rating: 5 of 5 stars I occasionally stray into genres that aren't my preferred ones, usually to widen my reading experience and learn a little more about writing different sort of stories. Historical romance is one of the areas that I have entirely avoided, until now. I've had a prejudice against it, worrying that there will be a pinkwash over the history from the rose-tinted spectacles of damsel heroine lusting after her bare chested highlander. There was none of that in Steel & Lace, all the history was spot on, although there was just a little bit of lust. Steel & Lace I picked up Steel & Lace on kindle because it was free and I had previously read one of the authors historical fiction and really…
The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch [Book Review]
The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch The Furthest Station is a novella, so quite short, set between Foxglove Summer and The Hanging Tree. There's some interesting character development of some of the regular cast and also a couple of new characters. There are also some tantalising loose ends that I hope end up being explored in future stories. The Furthest Station Rush hour on the London Underground (Photo: Wikipedia) The main plot is of a ghost hunt on London Underground. Peter is joined by his younger cousin Abigail, who is turning out to be more than she appears on the surface. Abigail has an affinity with Foxes. Some things happen off-screen that I think may be connected with the Cry Fox graphic novel (which I've not yet read, I'm waiting for the collected edition before I acquire it). The Furthest…
This Deceitful Light by Jemahl Evans [Book Review]
This Deceitful Light by Jemahl Evans My rating: 5 of 5 stars This Deceitful Light is the sequel to The Last Roundhead and was well worth the wait. Reading it was like being back in the 17th Century. More than just history though, there's a strong mystery to it which drives the first half of the book. There's also a strong sense of underlying treachery which I'm sure drives the title of This Deceitful Light. The whole volume is held together with the background and context to Candy fighting his only duel, with Sir John Hurry, who we first met in the Last Roundhead. This Deceitful Light English: Battle of Marston Moor, 1644 by John Barker (Photo credit: Wikipedia) This Deceitful Light carries on the story of Sir Blandford Candy, his warts and all autobiography set down in his twilight…