This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books they’ve read and share what they have got up to during the last week.
It’s been a really quiet, peaceful week – a healing week. The days are lengthening and despite bursts of torrential rain and rather bitter northerly breezes, Spring continues to spring in the garden, which is disgracefully weedy and overgrown. I’m hoping as the weather improves that this is the year I get to grips with it for the first time in three years. The pics below show the brave plants prepared to battle the weeds to make a showing – my favourite is the Amber Wave heuchera which is looking fabulous.
The boys went off to Cornwall with their Dad and sisters on Monday. By all accounts and the slew of pictures, they all had a wonderful time. They returned yesterday so everyone had a lovely break. Himself and I hadn’t appreciated just how much we’d needed a few days together, without being Papa and Gran, to just focus on ourselves and each other. Himself has been busy painting his models and looking forward to reorganising his Warhammer orc and goblin armies – it’s lovely to see his enthusiasm again. As for me, I spent a fair amount of the week sitting next to him, while writing the fifth book in the Picky Eaters series, Conclave of Dragons.
Books I’ve read this week:
On the Horns of Death – Book 2 of the Ancient Crete Mystery series by Eleanor Kuhns
Ancient Crete, 1450 BC. When young bull leaper Martis finds Duzi, the newest member of the bull leaping team, dead in the bull pen early one morning. Made to look like he met his end on the horns of the bull, it’s clear to Martis that this was no accident . . .
Martis once again finds herself thrown into a dangerous game of hunting down a murderer as the deaths start to mount. An old friend of Martis’ sister, and possible lover to Duzi, is the next person to be found dead, and Martis’ investigations lead her to believe love and jealousy are at the heart of these crimes against the Goddess.
Is someone targeting the bull leaping community? Or is there something else at play? With only the Shade of her sister Arge to confide in, Martis struggles to untangle the growing web of secrets which stretch around her.
Without a doubt, the ancient Greek setting and details about Martis and her daily life is what stood out for me with this entertaining historical whodunit. I also really like the young protagonist. 8/10
About Time – Book 4 of the Time Police series by Jodi Taylor
Patience is not a virtue known to the Time Police. And Commander Hay is facing the longest day of her life…
After their heroic efforts to safeguard the Acropolis and prevent the Paris Time-Stop, the Time Police have gone from zero to hero. Then one fateful mission to apprehend a minor criminal selling dodgy historical artefacts blows up in all their faces.
An officer is attacked within TPHQ. A prisoner is murdered. And investigations are about to lead to the one place where no officer can legally tread. Worst of all, trouble is brewing for Luke, Jane and Matthew as a shocking revelation threatens to tear Team Weird apart for good.
No one else writes with quite the energy that Taylor brings to her books. Funny, full of action and often poignantly sad – they are always a roller-coaster read and this highly enjoyable offering is no exception. 9/10
AUDIOBOOK – Witch King by Martha Wells
“I didn’t know you were a… demon.”
“You idiot. I’m the demon.”
Kai’s having a long day in Martha Wells’ Witch King…
After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.
But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?
Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions. He’s not going to like the answers.
I’m not sure why the dialogue is included in the blurb – it makes it sound as if this book is funny, and it isn’t. While I enjoyed it, particularly the setting, I found Kai rather closed off and unlike the wonderful Murderbot, we aren’t in first-person viewpoint to be able to fully appreciate his character. However, I loved the world and the stakes and would happily read more about Kai and his adventures. 8/10
Terminal Uprising – Book 2 of the Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse series by Jim C. Hines
Human civilization didn’t just fall. It was pushed.
The Krakau came to Earth in the year 2104. By 2105, humanity had been reduced to shambling, feral monsters. In the Krakau’s defense, it was an accident, and a century later, they did come back and try to fix us. Sort of.
It’s been four months since Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos learned the truth of that accident. Four months since she and her team of hygiene and sanitation specialists stole the EMCS Pufferfish and stopped a bioterrorism attack against the Krakau homeworld. Four months since she set out to find proof of what really happened on Earth all those years ago.
Between trying to protect their secrets and fighting the xenocidal Prodryans, who’ve been escalating their war against everyone who isn’t Prodryan, the Krakau have their tentacles full.
Mops’ mission changes when she learns of a secret Krakau laboratory on Earth. A small group under command of Fleet Admiral Belle-Bonne Sage is working to create a new weapon, one that could bring victory over the Prodryans … or drown the galaxy in chaos.
To discover the truth, Mops and her rogue cleaning crew will have to do the one thing she fears most: return to Earth, a world overrun by feral apes, wild dogs, savage humans, and worse. (After all, the planet hasn’t been cleaned in a century and a half!) What Mops finds in the filthy ruins of humanity could change everything, assuming she survives long enough to share it. Perhaps humanity isn’t as dead as the galaxy thought.
I love this series, which is very funny in places. Mops is a wonderful heroine and this adventure, set within the ruins of a vanished civilisation, is vividly depicted. I’m looking forward to getting hold of the final book in the series with mixed feelings as I’ve loved my time with the Pufferfish crew and would like more than just three books. 9/10
The Ward Witch – Book 1 of the Unholy Island series by Sarah Painter
Mysterious, magical, and a little bit deadly… Welcome to Unholy Island.
Esme Gray runs the guest house and tends to the ethereal wards that protect the island. She’s sheltering from a terrible past and will do anything to stay safely hidden.
Luke Taylor has been searching for his missing twin for months, but has begun to believe that his brother might be dead. With his hope in tatters, a tip off leads him to a remote tidal island in the North Sea. It’s further out than the famous Holy Island, and far stranger.
Visitors shouldn’t be able to stay for more than two nights, so when Luke breaks this rule, the close-knit community is sent into turmoil. The residents of Unholy Island have secrets and they intend to keep them.
When Luke stumbles across one of the islanders dead on the shore, he finds himself under suspicion, made worse by his own troubles washing up on the tide.
Esme is drawn to Luke, but she doesn’t trust her own instincts. That’s not ideal for a witch — especially when there is a killer on the loose and a storm is rolling in…
I’ve loved Painter’s Crow Investigations series and have read all the books so far. I was pleased to see the new series is set in the same world with the same interesting magical system. This book grabbed me from the first page and wouldn’t let go – Painter beautifully evokes the beauty and isolation of a magically hidden community. An outstanding start to a new series. 10/10
The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow
What if Mary Bennet’s life took a different path from that laid out for her in Pride and Prejudice? What if the frustrated intellectual of the Bennet family, the marginalized middle daughter, the plain girl who takes refuge in her books, eventually found the fulfillment enjoyed by her prettier, more confident sisters? This is the plot of The Other Bennet Sister, a debut novel with exactly the affection and authority to satisfy Austen fans.
Ultimately, Mary’s journey is like that taken by every Austen heroine. She learns that she can only expect joy when she has accepted who she really is. She must throw off the false expectations and wrong ideas that have combined to obscure her true nature and prevented her from what makes her happy. Only when she undergoes this evolution does she have a chance at finding fulfillment; only then does she have the clarity to recognize her partner when he presents himself—and only at that moment is she genuinely worthy of love.
I absolutely loved this one. Hadlow provides us with a sensitive, intelligent young woman, who has been dismissed for her plain looks even as a child. Mary Bennet’s over-serious, pompous declarations throughout P & P are shown as her attempts to find a place within a family where beauty, wit and charm are prized above everything else. I loved this version of Austen’s classic and will be looking out for anything else by this author. 10/10
My posts last week:
Castellan and His Wise Draconic Tips on Life
Hope you, too, had some brilliant books to tuck into and wishing you all a happy, healthy week😊.
f the weekly meme over at the 
It’s been another quiet week, although I did manage to teach Tim via Skype on Monday and have our fortnightly Writing Group meeting on Zoom. Himself is still driving trains, although he finds it an eerie experience as formerly busy stations are deserted.
house since driving down to see our parents for Mothering Sunday a fortnight ago, so we went for a walk along the seafront yesterday morning. As you can see, it was deserted despite the lovely weather so it was easy to be mindful of the social distancing.
Nice Dragon many friends, but just when he thinks he’s starting to make progress, a new threat arrives. Turns out, things can get worse. Heartstriker hasn’t begun to pay for its secrets, and the dragons of China are here to collect. When the Golden Emperor demands his surrender, Julius will have to choose between loyalty to the sister who’s always watched over him and preserving the clan he gave everything to protect.
Beyond the walls of the small village of Mythen Rood lies an unrecognizable world. A world where overgrown forests are filled with choker trees and deadly vines and seeds that will kill you where you stand. And if they don’t get you, one of the dangerous shunned men will.
accelerated. Entire star systems—and billions of people—are becoming cut off from the rest of human civilization. This collapse was foretold through scientific prediction… and yet, even as the evidence is obvious and insurmountable, many still try to rationalize, delay and profit from, these final days of one of the greatest empires humanity has ever known. Emperox Grayland II has finally wrested control of her empire from those who oppose her and who deny the reality of this collapse. But “control” is a slippery thing, and even as Grayland strives to save as many of her people from impoverished isolation, the forces opposing her rule will make a final, desperate push to topple her from her throne and power, by any means necessary. Grayland and her thinning list of allies must use every tool at their disposal to save themselves, and all of humanity. And yet it may not be enough. Will Grayland become the savior of her civilization… or the last emperox to wear the crown?
of one of the great hive cities of twenty-sixth century Earth. Her job is hunting down criminals before they commit their crimes, but this time a simple case leads on to something far bigger. This is a case where Amber’s team have to face the unknown and break all the rules they usually follow, while Amber has extra burdens she can’t share with anyone. She has a personal mystery to solve, and questions she wants answered, but curiosity is a dangerous trait in a telepath.
This edition was produced by Berkley in June 2017 and is my favourite. I think the starscape is absolutely beautiful and also suits the mood and content of the story. It also works really well as a thumbnail. If I had a quibble, it would be that I wish the title and author font had been given a bit more love and attention as they are rather boring.
Published in June 2017 by Pan Macmillan, this cover is eye-catching and reasonably attractive, though I don’t like it as much as the previous effort. However I do like the bright orange lettering, which works well against the backdrop. My main misgiving is that the book deals with the aftermath of a lethal virus and this cover looks a bit too cosy for the content.
This Italian edition, published by Leggereditore in June 2017, suffers from the same issue as the previous cover – it almost looks as though it could be a cover for a children’s book. And while this isn’t the gory type of post-apocalyptic story, the themes are only suitable for adults.
This edition, produced by Pan in March 2018 is an interesting example of what a difference an alternative colour scheme can make to the same design. I far prefer this version as I think both the orange lettering and the sky stands out more effectively. I also like the fact the woman is moving, rather than standing still.
This cover was published in November 2017 by Thorndike Press Large Print and is my least favourite. I’ve no quarrel with starscapes – in fact I’m a real sucker for them, but this is a particularly charmless effort with hardly any stars. It looks as though someone has knocked together this cover after browsing Shutterstock for all of ten minutes. Which one of these is your favourite?
A century after environmental and economic collapse, the people of the Coast Road have rebuilt their own sort of civilization, striving not to make the mistakes their ancestors did. They strictly ration and manage resources, including the ability to have children. Enid of Haven is an investigator, who with her new partner, Teeg, is called on to mediate a dispute over an old building in a far-flung settlement at the edge of Coast Road territory. The investigators’ decision seems straightforward — and then the body of a young woman turns up in the nearby marshland. Almost more shocking than that, she’s not from the Coast Road, but from one of the outsider camps belonging to the nomads and wild folk who live outside the Coast Road communities. Now one of them is dead, and Enid wants to find out who killed her, even as Teeg argues that the murder isn’t their problem. In a dystopian future of isolated communities, can our moral sense survive the worst hard times?
Brainfluff 