“Once upon a time, we fought demons together. Now we are older, wiser. We give our demons different names. And no names at all. This is not a story about growing up. It is a story about thinking you had grown up already. And finding it wasn’t that simple after all.” Hopeless, Maine, Inheritance …
I can’t recall ever starting to read a book with a nice cup of tea, with rose scented candles flickering on the table and soft Celtic melodies playing in the background. But there was something about this cover. A hint of magic as I touched it. Hauntingly beautiful, a friend said once, which is all …
I recently read two short stories by Mark Lawrence, which left me with a distinct certainty, that if someone had made a decision for me, ruling that I was only allowed to read Mark Lawrence for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t even object. The first of these stories was Bad Seed. ‘Bad Seed’ …
As a fan of the Broken Empire series I started Prince of Fools with some mild apprehension. I love the way Mark Lawrence writes, but other people, who already read the book, often used the word ‘different’ to describe it and I didn’t like different. I wanted the same, whatever this particular blend was I …
Hesitant we may be, but when God opens a door for us, we eventually go through – whether it leads to life or death. But what might that life be like, if we are given half the blessings others were so generously granted? A life of shadows. A life of shame. Until one day the …
In the end it came to one last game of life and death. Colours of sixty-four squares alternated between light and dark, but every move was painted sharper, every piece was coated brighter, than ever before. Gentle harmonies lulled me into an uneasy dream, softening my heart with beauty and laughter, closing my eyes to …
I don’t quite remember anymore how I came upon The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. I was looking for something new, something different. There was something about the little girl on the cover, calling to me ‘Me! Pick me!’ And I did. I probably won’t be the first to advise new readers …
Once upon a time there was a Prince of a Thousand Promises. He was told to be brave, he was told to be ruthless, he was told to be immoral, he was told to be the greatest. Truly he did not look like much to me the first time, so I walked past him and …
Luke Scull is one of a handful of authors whom I got to know first as a person to some extent before actually reading his book, having last year interviewed him for Bloody Cake News’s Facebook page and then spent two hours sitting next to him chatting at BristolCon, in the company of his wife, Yesica and two …
While it’s a sort of habit of mine to lend or more often give away my books, it’s been a long time since I was given someone else’s to read. Receiving a book of a friend, who loved it, is like discovering a world following in his or her footsteps, occasionally sharing a flinch or …
Mitriel Faywood 