Hi I'm Rosemarie and I like to write. I write short stories and longer fiction, poetry and occasionally articles. I'm working on quite a few things at the minute and wouldn't mind one day actually getting published in print.
Narrated by: Sian Clifford, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy Release date: 27-10-22
Death and then his granddaughter Susan StoHelit have a series of adventures across the Discworld, narrated by Sian Clifford, who also narrated Hogfather. I reviewed that one and the Witches books last May.
Sian Clifford isn’t too bad as a narrator and Peter Serafinowicz has a good DEATH voice. Bill Nighy’s footnotes are delivered in a deadpan tone that works well. I enjoyed the stories; I haven’t read them for a long time, so these books were a lovely reminder of how much I enjoyed them the first time around. I think I enjoyed some of them more now, because I read most of them as a teenager, and that was a while ago, given that I’m 40 in less than 4 weeks.
The development of Death and Susan as characters is particularly obvious if you listen to the books in order. By this I mean that Terry Pratchett was obviously developing the characters and the Discworld over time, and that the characters grew as people. Death becomes more human as he interacts with people, and Susan starts to understand her nature better. Their relationship also develops from almost disbelief to an uneasy alliance.
We also get to see The Sweeper in action and Albert doing something other than frying a pudding. If you don’t know who these people are, I highly recommend reading/listening to these books. Well worth it.
The audiobook of The Truth is narrated by Mathew Baynton, star of Ghosts, Yonderland and Horrible Histories. BAFTA and Golden Globe award-winning actor Bill Nighy (Love Actually; Pirates of the Caribbean; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) reads the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz (Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; Shaun of the Dead) stars as the voice of Death. Featuring a new theme tune composed by James Hannigan.
‘A lie can run round the world before the truth can get its boots on.’
William de Worde has somehow found himself editor of Ankh-Morpork’s first newspaper. Well, with a name like that…
Launched into the world of investigative journalism, alongside reporter Sacharissa Cripslock, William soon learns that the news is a risky business. For a start, his colleagues include a band of axe-wielding dwarfs and a recovering vampire with a life-threatening passion for flash photography.
It’s a big news week: the most powerful man in the city has been arrested, leaving Ankh-Morpork without a leader. And a dangerous criminal organisation will do anything to control the story…
The Discworld novels can be read in any order but The Truth is a standalone.
The first book in the Discworld series—The Colour of Magic—was published in 1983. Some elements of the Discworld universe may reflect this.
My Review
I’ve been listening to all of the new Penguin editions of the Discworld books and I’ve finally got around to reviewing one this year. I listened to The Truth over the last couple of days. I will probably be writing reviews over the next few weeks for all of the audiobooks I’ve listened to from the new Penguin editions. It may take some time.
I enjoyed this new edition of The Truth. I like the story anyway, but it was interesting to hear someone else’s interpretation of the characters. Mathew Baynton used slightly different emphasis on occasion which gave different interpretations to the sentences.
Mr Pin reminds me of the joking impressions of David Beckham – that squeaky voice and slightly ignorant tone. It definitely fits him as a character. I still don’t like the way these Penguin editions have characterised Drumknott, though. He’s been given a sibilant tone to his accent, like a snakes hiss. I think it’s a misinterpretation of the character.
Generally, I still prefer the Stephen Briggs editions, but this one is acceptable listening.
In this stunning conclusion to N. E. Davenport’s fast-paced, action-packed sci-fantasy duology, elite warrior Ikenna and her rogue cohort must outrun bounty hunters, their former comrades, and a megalomaniacal demi-god, all in the hopes of saving their friends and enemies from the racist and misogynistic oppression that threatens the continents from all sides.
After discovering the depth of betrayal, treachery, and violence perpetrated against her by Mareen’s Tribunal Council and exposing her illegal blood-gift to save her Praetorian squad, Ikenna becomes a fugitive with a colossal bounty on her head.
Yet, somehow, that’s the least of her worries.
Her grandfather’s longtime allies refuse to offer help, and the Blood Emperor’s Warlord is tracking her. She’s also struggling to control the enormous power she was granted by the Goddess of Blood Rites…and come to terms with the promises she made to get such power.
Amidst all of this, the Blood Emperor wages a full-scale invasion against Mareen and leaves a trail of decimated cities, war crimes, and untold death in his wake. As the horrors increase, Ikenna and her team realize they must assassinate the Blood Emperor and quickly end the war. But the price to do so is steep and has planet-shattering consequences.
The price to do nothing, though, is annihilation.
War has erupted. Alliances are fracturing. And Ikenna is torn between her loyalties, her desires for revenge, and the power threatening to consume her. With the world aflame, only one thing is certain: blood will be spilled.
My Review
I enjoyed this book. I stayed up all night reading it. This may not be the most coherent review due to lack of sleep. Seriously, I sat down at half eight last night to read a few chapters before bed and realised I read all night when it started getting light, and finished reading the book at 6:03 a.m., and was stunned for a few moments. I have the Illumicrate Exclusive Edition which has blue edges and a red cover. It matches/contrasts with my Illumicrate Exclusive Edition of The Blood Trials. I also reviewed that book as part of the blog tour and was excited to find out what happened next.
The book begins some short time after the end of The Blood Trials; Ikenna and her team have spent time among the northern Microstates trying to gain allies for their war against both the Blood Emperor and the Tribunal of Mareen, but aren’t having much luck. They turn to a criminal syndicate for the means to fight their war, but don’t get to spend long with their new ally because they get attacked by Praetorians from Rhysian War House and mercenaries.
Eventually, they end up in the hands of Ajani, the Apis of Accacia – the second in command of the Blood Emperor, Nkosi. Ikenna and Ajani do not get on well, but for the good of Iludu, they make an agreement to work together long enough to kill Nkosi and put Ajani on the throne of Accacia. Ikenna doesn’t trust Ajani and assumes he’s going to kill her when he gets a chance, and Ajani doesn’t do much to reassure anyone on her team.
After a traumatic encounter with Krashna, the ancient god of Mareen, and being saved by Kissa, the goddess of Kanai, Ikanna learns that she needs to commune with her goddess, Amaka, to gain more control of her powers, but she doesn’t listen and things start to go very wrong with their plans. Eventually, Ikenna listens and comes into her power and learns that she is more than just a blood-gifted warrior. Her ancestry is more complex than that.
This is sci-fantasy. The cultures are technologically advanced but also use magic, some of the countries are stratified societies and monarchies, and most have a difficult relationship with religion. I quite enjoy this mix of magic and technology.
Ikenna and Darius’s relationship develops and their conversations addressing their personal issues is one of the best parts of the book. The fights are really fun too. Ikenna is slowly developing as a person, she is still often childish but has moments of maturity which improve her as a character. The team are becoming a cohesive unit, and they survive repeated attempts on their lives, from both the Mareen Republic and the Accacian Empire, as they try to gather allies to reset the planet.
The latter chapters which cover the war with the Tribunal and Ikenna’s revenge on Selene Rhysian and her family, feels a bit rushed. I can see a further series where Ikenna and the Invictus squad fight the gods, and Selene and Enoch team up to give Ikenna problems.
This is really two books squished into one, and it would have been best to end it at page 291, and then have the events after the death of Nkosi and the rearrangement of the world in a third book. The war against the Tribunal and the battle at the Krashna’s Citadel should have been the a third book. I don’t think this is the author’s fault, but a publishing decision. I would love to see Nia Davenport get a chance to write the two novels this was meant to be.
PUBLICATION DATE: 11 MAY 2023 HARDBACK ORIGINAL | £16.99 | ORENDA BOOKS
Blurb
A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then the first body appears…
Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer’s block, Hannah has the feeling that she’s doing something wrong.
When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hanna is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjörður – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colourful local characters – for inspiration.
But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman’s young son is pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah.
Paperback Publication date: April 20th 2023, The History Press
Blurb
Robin Hood, Dick Turpin, Ronnie Biggs, the Krays … All have become folk heroes, glamorised and romanticised, even when they killed. But where are all the female crooks? Where are the street robbers, gang leaders, diamond thieves, bank robbers and gold smugglers?
Queens of the Underworld reveals the incredible story of professional female criminals from the 17th century to today. From Moll Cutpurse who ruled the Jacobean underworld, to Victorian jewel thief Emily Lawrence and 1960s burglar Zoe Progl, these were charismatic women at the top of their game.
But female criminals have long been dismissed as either not ‘real women’ or not ‘real criminals’, and in the process their stories have been lost. Caitlin Davies unravels the myths, confronts the lies, and tracks down modern-day descendants in order to tell the truth about their lives.
‘A riveting dive into the criminal underworld and the women who queened it there’ – Helena Kennedy QC
‘A rollicking account of all kinds of crime committed by women, who have not only been forgotten or ignored, but who put their male counterparts to shame’ – Julie Bindel, The Spectator
In the follow up to his Sunday Times bestseller, The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben compares tree planting to battery farming
‘In clear, vivid prose with impeccable reasoning, Peter Wohlleben makes a compelling case that almost everything we do in modern forestry management may be dead wrong. What should we do instead? Let the wisdom of the trees quell our human arrogance, heal the forest and restore our sweet, green world’ Sy Montgomery, author of How to be a Good Creature and The Soul of an Octopus
TREES CAN SURVIVE without humans, but we can’t live without trees. Even if human-caused climate change devastates our planet, trees will return—as they do, always and everywhere, even after ice ages, catastrophic fires, destructive storms, and deforestation. It would just be nice if we were around to see them flourish.
The Power of Trees is forester Peter Wohlleben’s follow-up to The Hidden Life of Trees, a Sunday Times bestseller that sold millions of copies worldwide. In his latest book, he is dismissive of token gestures in terms of tree planting. Just as he compared forest trees to ‘families’ and urban trees to ‘street urchins’ in his first book, in The Power of Trees he uses equally powerful metaphors to compare tree planting to battery farming (‘Switching to fast-growing species and breeding trees for desired traits brought results like those achieved by factory farming: individuals ready for harvest at a young age, all with a relatively uniform carcass weight.’). However, he also joyfully describes trees determination to survive, describing seedlings breaking through the earth where you least expect them, as ‘stalwart tree children’.
This latest work is as fascinating and eye-opening as it is trenchant in its critique: on the one hand, Wohlleben describes astonishing discoveries about how trees pass knowledge down to succeeding generations and their ability to survive climate change; on the other, he is unsparing in his criticism of those who wield economic and political power—who plant trees exclusively for the sake of logging and virtue signaling—even as they ruthlessly exploit nature. The Power of Trees is a love letter to the forest and a passionate argument for protecting nature’s boundless diversity, not only for the sake of trees, but also for us.
Cozy Craft Mysteries can be read in any order. A funny whodunnit series, full of charming characters and mysteries that will keep you guessing to the very end.
A wedding is a cause for celebration. Not only do dressmakers Penny and Izzy get an invite to the big day but they have an unusual dress commission to complete for one of the guests.
It seems Penny’s only problem is deciding which potential boyfriend to take as her plus-one guest — practical handyman Aubrey or cultured fabric expert Oscar.
But bigger problems arise when the maker of the wedding cake is found dead in the grounds of the stately home where the wedding is to take place.
And when another key individual in the wedding plans is also murdered, it seems like someone has deadly plans to prevent this marriage.
Can Penny and Izzy unravel the mystery and solve this crime before the big day is fatally ruined?
If your ideal book features mystery, friendship, cute romance, crafting and a charming rural setting then this is the book for you.
Caring Conservationists Who Are Changing Our Planet.
Travel around the world and discover the stories of 20 conservationists and the endangered animals they are helping to save, including the orangutang, blue whale, Indian tiger, rhino, honeybee, Komodo dragon and sea turtle. Positive, uplifting and packed full of information, with 20 fun activities for children to try, this book will show children no one is too small to make a difference.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 