R Cawkwell

TBR Review: The Brides of High Hill, by Nghi Vo

TBR Review: City of Last Chances, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Format: 496 pages, Paperback
Published: May 2, 2023 by Head of Zeus — an AdAstra Book
ISBN: 9781801108430 (ISBN10: 1801108439)

Description

Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller Adrian Tchaikovsky’s triumphant return to fantasy with a darkly inventive portrait of a city under occupation and on the verge of revolution.

There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse.

What will be the spark that lights the conflagration?

Despite the city’s refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.

Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places.

Ilmar, City of Long Shadows.

City of Bad Decisions.

City of Last Chances.

TBR Pile Review: Cursed Cocktails, by S.L. Rowland

Format: 280 pages, Paperback
Published: February 18, 2023 by Aethervale Publishing
ISBN: 9798987850206

Description

When life gives you lemons, squeeze them into a stiff drink and stir.

After twenty years defending the frozen north against some of the most dangerous threats in the nine kingdoms, Rhoren “Bloodbane” has finally earned his retirement. While the blood mage’s service to the realm may have ended, burning veins and aching joints remain, and Rhoren soon learns that a warmer climate offers relief from his chronic pain.

And a chance at a fresh start.

In the warm and relaxing atmosphere of Eastborne, the umbral elf finds a new purpose and a sense of belonging. He may have left the frozen north behind, but he brings with him the skills and strength gained from a lifetime of defending the realm. Along with his most prized possession—a book of drink recipes inherited from his father.

Spilled cocktails may not carry the same weight as spilled blood, but opening a tavern brings a unique brand of challenges. With the right friends and a little bit of luck, he might just have a recipe for success.

Blog tour calendar: Birdie, by J.P. Rose

British Fantasy Awards 2024

Last night I attended the BFS Awards, and thought I’d share the winners. I am sure there are already lists out there and the ceremony was live streamed.

The awards were hosted by Stew Hotston. The awards aren’t ready yet (supply chain issues) so the are replaced by framed prints and will be delivered eventually.

The first award was the BFS Short Story competition.

Presented by Stew Hotston

Catherine Rose Davis
P = f/A, by Hannah ?
Samuel, by Very Bruce

Art Competition

Presented by Jenni Coutts

Fungus Night, by ?
Night Witch, by Sophie Hill
Survival, by Tara Bush

Best Collection

Presented by Shona Bond

Jackel, Jackel: Tales if the Dark and Fantastic, by Tobi Ogundiran (Undertow Publications)

Best Novella

Presented by Nick Wells

The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar, by Indra Das (Subterranean Press)

Best Non-Fiction

Presented by Pete Sutton

Writing the Future, eds. Dan Coxon and Richard V Hirst (Dead Ink)

Best short fiction

Presented by Priya Sharma

The Brazen Head of Westinghouse, by Tim Major (IZ Digital)

Best Anthology

Presented by Robin Duncan

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, ed. Jordan Peele (Picador)

Best Artist

Presented by David Moore

Asya Yordonova

Best Audio

Presented by Neil Bond

The Tiny Bookcase, by Nico Rogers and Ben Holroyd-Dell

(Nico’s speech was very funny!)

Best Independent Press

Presented by Bella Pagan

Flame Tree Press, collected by Nick Wells on behalf of everyone at Flame Tree

Sydney J Bounds Award for Best Newcomer

Presented by Anna Smith Spark

Teika Marija Smits, for “Umbiblical” (Newcon Press), and “Waterlore” (Black Shuck Books)

Best Magazine/Periodical

Presented by Jenni Coutts

Shoreline of Infinity

The August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel

Presented by Ramsey Campbell

Don’t Fear the Reaper, by Stephen Graham Jones (Titan)

Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel

Presented by Stephan Aryan

Talonsister, by Jen Williams (Titan)

Charles Edward Wagner Award

Presented to Shona Kinsella

Ramsey Campbell

Legends of FantasyCon

Presented by Karen Fishwick

Debbie Bennett

You don’t have to, but if you want to, you can make a donation below. It keeps me in pens, books, and allows me to travel to events like FantasyCon. I’m currently saving to got to World Fantasy Convention 2025. It’s in Brighton, that place is expensive!

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My FantasyCon 2024

It’s about half six on Sunday afternoon. The last panel ended almost three hours ago. I’ve had a nap and finally have some time to write about my experience of FantasyCon 2024.

Maria and the Space Dragons Investigate #1 – October 2024 instalment

To catch everyone up:

Our protagonists, an autistic human named Maria and their supervisor, Lah-Shah, who is a member of an alien species known to humans as ‘star dragons’, have been sent to investigate possible illegal actions in a newly inhabited planetary system. The organisation they work for is an intergalactic association of species deemed sentient enough, and humans are the newest, most junior members, after several hundred years of contact.

Lah-Shah has deposited Maria on the plant, pretending to be a research student interested in xenobiology, while he searches the system for the signs of an earlier team sent to do a thorough review of the planets for sentient life, who haven’t been heard from in a month.

Review: Elemental Forces – Horror Short Stories, Edited by Mark Morris

Product format: Hardback
Price: US$26.95; £20.00;
ISBN: 978 1 78758 867 7
Extent: 304 pp

Description

Elemental Forces is the fifth volume in the non-themed horror series of original stories, showcasing the very best short fiction that the genre has to offer, and edited by Mark Morris.

This new anthology contains 20 original horror stories, 16 of which have
been commissioned from some of the top names in horror, and 4 selected from the 100s of stories sent to Flame Tree during a short open submissions window. A delicious feast of the familiar and the new, the established and the emerging.

Previous titles in the series, all still in print, are: After Sundown, Beyond the Veil, Close to Midnight and Darkness Beckons.

Blog tour calendar: Dark As Night, by LILJA SIGURÐARDÓTTIR, TRANSLATED BY LORENZA GARCIA

Angry Robot Blog Tour Review: The Armageddon Protocol, by Dan Moren

Release Date: 2024-09-24
Formats: Ebook, Paperback
EBook ISBN
24th September 2024 | 9781915998019 | epub | £4.99/$6.99/$7.99
Paperback ISBN
24th September 2024 | 9781915998002 | epub | £9.99/$18.99/$23.99

Description

On the heels of the terrorist attacks on the planet Nova’s capital, the Special Projects Team finds itself targeted by the ambitious new head of the Commonwealth Intelligence Directorate, Aidan Kester. When Kovalic and General Adaj are arrested on charges of treason, Tapper, Brody, Sayers, and Taylor are forced to go on the run. While Kovalic and the general attempt to uncover an Illyrican mole within the Commonwealth’s intelligence apparatus, it’s up to the rest of the team to clear their friends’ names, even if that means making a deal with an old enemy to carry out a daring heist that might just get them all killed.

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