Book Reviews – Page 18 – Everything Is Better With Dragons

Review: Wormhole, by Keith Brooke and Eric Brown

https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/wormhole/
Release Date: 2022-11-22
Formats: Ebook, Paperback

Blurb

2110 Earth is suffering major resource shortages, and the impact of climate change is peaking, with much of the planet’s equatorial regions turned to lifeless desert and populations displaced. Colonies have been established on Mars and the Moon, but these cannot hope to sustain any more than a scant population of hundreds of citizens.

Attention has turned to the need to discover an extra-solar colony world. European scientists, using discoveries made at CERN, have identified the means of creating a wormhole in the space-time continuum, which would allow interstellar travel. However, to do so they must first physically transport one end of the wormhole to where they want it to be, so setting up a wormhole will always rely on physical travel first of all.

A ship is sent to Mu Arae, earth-like planet discovered 10 years before. It is a journey that will take 80 years, the crew, who will eventually set up the wormhole on the planet, kept in suspended animation. But only a few years into the trip, catastrophe strikes and the ship blows up en route, killing all aboard.

2190 Eighty years after the starship set out.

Gordon Kemp is a detective working in the cold case department in London. Usually he works on cases closed ten, twenty-five years earlier. Now, however, he has been assigned a murder investigation closed, unsolved, over eighty years ago. What he unearths will change history and threatens everything we know about what the powers that be have planned for Earth.

The tragedy that befell the ship 80 years before is not what it seems and the past and the present are radically different to what everyone on Earth believes.

We made the journey. Why has it been kept a secret?

Author Bios

ERIC BROWN – Eric Brown is the BSFA award-winning author of more than 20 novels and as many novellas. He has had many short stories published in Interzone magazine and was, for many years, the SF and Fantasy reviewer for The Guardian

KEITH BROOKE – Keith Brooke is the Philip K. Dick award shortlisted author of more than a dozen novels for adults and teenagers. He was the editor for Infinity Plus magazine and has written non-fiction on the SF genre for Palgrave Macmillan.

Review: Strong Female Character, by Fern Brady

Blurb

A summary of my book:

I’m diagnosed with autism
20 years after telling a doctor I had it.
My terrible Catholic childhood: I hate my parents etc.
My friendship with an elderly man who runs the
corner shop and is definitely not trying to groom me.
Homelessness.
Stripping.
More stripping but with more nervous breakdowns.
I hate everyone at Edinburgh uni etc.
REDACTED as too spicy.
After everyone tells me I don’t look autistic,
I try to cure my autism and get addicted to Xanax.
REDACTED as too embarrassing.

If you’ve ever been on a night out where you got blackout drunk and have laughed the next day as your friends tell you all the stupid stuff you said, that’s what being autistic feels like for me: one long blackout night of drinking, except there’s no socially sanctioned excuse for your gaffes and no one is laughing.

In this book, Fern uses her voice as an autistic, working class woman from Scotland to bring her experiences with sex work, abusive relationships and her time spent in a teenage mental health unit to the page. Written with unflinching honesty, Strong Female Character is a game-changing memoir on sexism and autism.

(I changed some of the blurb copy because Fern Brady has made it clear she doesn’t like being referred to as neurodivergent and wants people to use ‘autistic’ instead.)

Review: Expectant, by Vanda Symon

PUBLICATION DATE: 16 FEBRUARY 2023 PAPERBACK
ORIGINAL | £9.99 | ORENDA BOOKS

Blurb

The shocking murder of a heavily pregnant woman throws the New Zealand city of Dunedin into a tailspin, and the devastating crime feels uncomfortably close to home for Detective Sam Shephard as she counts down the days to her own maternity leave.

Confined to a desk job in the department, Sam must find the missing link between this brutal crime and a string of cases involving mothers and children in the past. As the pieces start to come together and the realisation dawns that the killer’s actions are escalating, drastic measures must be taken to prevent more tragedy.

For Sam, the case becomes personal, when it becomes increasingly clear that she is no longer safe, and the clock is ticking…

Review: The Jaguar Path, by Anna Stephens

Second chunky new fantasy in two days, I’m spoiling you all!

THE JAGUAR PATH
│16 FEBRUARY 2023│
HB │ EB │EA
Anna Stephens

Book Two of the new epic fantasy trilogy by the acclaimed author of GODBLIND.

The Empire of Songs reigns supreme. Across all the lands of Ixachipan, its hypnotic, magical music sounds. Those who battled against the Empire have been enslaved and dispersed, taken far from their friends and their homes.

In the Singing City, Xessa must fight for the entertainment of her captors. Lilla and thousands of warriors are trained to serve as weapons for their enemies. And Tayan is trapped at the heart of the Empire’s power and magic, where the ruthless Enet’s ambition is ever growing.

Each of them harbours a secret hope, waiting for a chance to strike at the Empire from within.

But first they must overcome their own desires. Power can seduce as well as crush. And, in exchange for their loyalty, the Empire promises much.

Review: Song of Silver, Flame like Night, by Amelie Wen Zhao

2 FEBRUARY 2023
HB│EB│EA
Amélie Wen Zhao

Blurb

Once, Lan had a different name. Now, she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her when they invaded her kingdom, killed her mother, and outlawed her people’s magic. She spends her nights as a songgirl in Haak’gong, a city transformed by the conquerors, and spends her days
scavenging for remnants of the past. For anything that might help her understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother, in her last act before she died.

No one can see the mysterious mark, an untranslatable Hin character, except Lan. Until the night a boy appears at the teahouse and saves her life.

Zen is a practitioner – one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom, whose abilities were rumoured to be drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be long lost. Magic to be hidden from the Elantians at all costs.

Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep within. Fate has connected them, but their destiny remains unwritten. Both hold the power to liberate their land. And both hold the power to destroy the world.

Review: No More Fairy Tales, anthology edited by D.A. Baden

No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save the Planet

A collection of inspiring, funny, dark, mysterious, tragic, romantic, dramatic, upbeat and fantastical short stories. These 24 stories are written by a variety of authors, with the aim to inspire readers with positive visions of what a sustainable society might look like and how we might get there.

The stories are diverse in style, ranging from whodunnits to sci-fi, romance to family drama, comedy to tragedy, and cover a range of solution types from high-tech to nature-based solutions, to more systemic aspects relating to our culture and political economy.

Purchase Links

No More Fairy Tales

Review: Pagan Portals – 21st Century Fairy, by Morgan Daimler

Format: 104 pages, Paperback

Published: February 1, 2023 by Moon Books

ISBN: 9781803410463 (ISBN10: 1803410469)
https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/moon-books/our-books/pagan-portals-21st-century-fairy

Blurb

When people think of fairies they often picture beings who dwell in the wilderness, solidly anchored in the past. Yet the truth is that fairies are as present and active in the world today as ever, found as easily in cities as they are in wild places. 21st Century Fairy explores fairy beliefs and encounters in the modern world, framed by folklore, modern fiction and personal experience, to show readers the possibilities that are out there. Learn whether fairies evolve and what a modern city in the fairy world might be like. Be open to the possibility of tech fairies existing alongside fairies in nature and learn how they interact with human technology. Much like the human world, the fairy world is stunningly diverse and constantly changing. 21st Century Fairy is a guide to seekers who want a modern context for these ancient beings.

Review: Out Of The Blue, by Robert Tregoning and Stef Murphy

**Information about the Book**
**Title:** Out of the Blue
**Author:** Robert Tregoning
**Illustrator:** Stef Murphy
**Publisher:** Bloomsbury Publishing
**Release Date:** 2^nd February 2023
**Genre:** Picture Book

Blurb

ONLY BLUE ALLOWED, by Blue government demand. Anything that isn’t blue, by colour law, is banned.

In a very blue house on a very blue street, sits a little boy who feels as blue as the world around him. For this little boy has a BIG secret: he loves the colour yellow.

In a world where only one colour is allowed, will he be brave enough to tell his dad? And will they be able to defy the rules and create a world where EVERY colour is welcome?

One boy and his dad are about to come OUT OF THE BLUE and into life in technicolour!

A stunning celebration of being yourself and living in ALL the colours of the rainbow, from debut author Robert Tregoning and rising star illustrator Stef Murphy. Championing difference, diversity and pride, this gloriously illustrated picture book is perfect for fans of Perfectly Norman, Grandad’s Camper and Julian Is a Mermaid.

Review: Trouble, by Katja Ivar

PUB DATE: January 19, 2023
MARKET: Nordic Noir
BINDING: Paperback B-Format
PRICE: £9.99
EXTENT: 224 pages
ISBN: 9781913394-776

The third in the series featuring Hella Mauzer, to follow on the success of Evil Things and Deep as Death.
A Nordic Noir of the first-order set in Helsinki in 1953. A dark political thriller at the heart of the Cold War; a novel about ruthless ambition and betrayal, but also about the challenges of being a single professional woman in post-war Europe.

Helsinki, June 1953, at the heart of the Cold War. Hella, now a reluctant private investigator, has been asked by her former boss at the Helsinki murder squad to do a background check on a member of the Finnish secret services. Not the type of job Hella was hoping for, but she accepts it on the
condition that she is given access to the files concerning the roadside death of her father in 1942, at a time when Finland joined forces with Nazi Germany in its attack against the Soviet Union. German troops were sent to Finland, the Gestapo arrived in Helsinki and German influence on local
government was strong, including demands for the deportation of local Jews.

Colonel Mauzer, his wife and other family members were killed by a truck in a hit and run incident. An accident, file closed, they said. But not for Hella, whose unwelcome investigation leads to some who would prefer to see her stopped dead in her tracks.

TBR Pile Review:The Train Happy Journal: 30 days to kick start your intuitive movement journey, by Tally Rye

Format: 112 pages, Paperback

Published: December 2, 2021 by Pavilion Books

ISBN: 9781911682257 (ISBN10: 1911682253)

Blurb

Personal Trainer and Broadcaster Tally Rye is one of the key figures in the global intuitive fitness movement.

In her first book, Train Happy she encouraged us to change the way we think about exercise, teaching readers to approach movement with a mindset of self-care rather than self-punishment and in doing so to rediscover the joy in eating and moving more mindfully.

In The Train Happy Journal, Tally builds upon the core principles of intuitive movement from self-care, body acceptance and body positivity to intuitive eating with interactive exercises and journal prompts to help readers reflect upon their relationship with fitness, think about how it has been influenced by Diet Culture and ultimately get them feeling good about moving their body.

The journal is interwoven with colourful illustration and expert advice as well as inspiring quotes and testimonies from a cross section of representational voices – with room for the reader to document the inner work intrinsic to a successful intuitive movement journey.

My Review

I’ve read through this journal and I’m working through it with reference to my current exercise plan and also in reference to my past exercise routines. I like the pages looking at why I exercise and the thoughts I have around it. I am finding it useful. The book recaps some of the material in Train Happy, in less detail. I preferred this journal to the main book; I think it is more useful.