Book Reviews – Page 39 – Everything Is Better With Dragons

Pen & Sword Review: The Last Days of Steam, by Malcolm Clegg

The Last Days of British Steam — By Malcolm Clegg
Imprint: Pen & Sword Transport
Pages: 144
Illustrations: 200 black and white illustrations
ISBN: 9781526760425
Published: 7th August 2020

This volume covers the final decade of British steam, looking at steam traction in a wide variety of geographical locations around the British Railways network.

The book covers a wide variety of classes of locomotives, that were withdrawn during the last decade of steam traction, some examples of which are now preserved.

Malcolm Clegg has been taking railway pictures since the early 1960s and has access to collections taken by friends who were recording the steam railway scene during this period.

This book is a record of his and other people’s journeys during the last decade of steam in the 1960s.

My Review

This book is a collection of photographs from the 1960s of steam engines. The author has clearly been taking pictures for a long time and this was an interesting time in British transport. When the rest of the world was moving to diesel and electric, Britain stayed with steam. Then the government destroyed the network in favour of motorways and private transport, because the minister in charge had a vested interest in road building. New engines were scrapped when they still had thirty years of working life in them. What a travesty!

The book is substantial and covers a large range of engines, with captions giving details of the engine pictured and the place, if known. The images are in black and white which adds to the nostalgia of the book. The book is glossy and substantial, which is useful for those who are interested in trains of the era, reconstruction and reclamation of trains that they might find, or railway model enthusiasts.

Children’s Picture Book Review: Nomit and Pickle go shopping, by C.E. Cameron

My Review

This is a children’s book about two siblings called Nomit and Pickle who need to go shopping. Nomit is a bit absent-minded and Pickle gets a little frustrated. There isn’t much food left in the shop and but Nomit finds a treat that she knows Pickle will like, so the pair learn to compromise. It’s rather a sweet book that teaches the lesson of compromise and tolerance of differences, with some fun illustrations. The abstract shapes of the characters adds to the joyous nature of the story.

Review: All Systems Red, by Martha Wells

40653269 — Hardcover, 176 pages
Published January 22nd 2019 by Tor.com (first published May 2nd 2017)
ISBN
1250214718 (ISBN13: 9781250214713)

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighbouring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

Review: Grubane, by Karl Drinkwater

Grubane

Major Grubane is commander of the Aurikaa, the most feared cruiser in the UFS arsenal.

His crew is handpicked and fiercely loyal. Together, they have never failed a mission, and their reputation precedes them.

But this time he’s been sent to a key planet that is caught up in political tensions at the centre of the freedom debate. What he thought was a simple diplomatic mission turns out to be the hardest choice of his career. His orders: eliminate one million inhabitants of the planet, and ensure their compliance.

Grubane has also rediscovered an ancient game called chess, and plays it against the ship AI as a form of mental training. But maybe it could be more than that as he finds himself asking questions. Can orders be reinterpreted? How many moves ahead is it possible for one man to plan? And how many players are involved in this game?

Purchase Link – https://books2read.com/b/Grubane

Review: Who Killed Patrick?, by Syl Waters

Who Killed Patrick?

Sun, sea and… murder in Fuerteventura!

Boring. Going nowhere. That was Tarah’s life in the UK, before she moved to Fuerteventura to start a new adventure. But things came unstuck quicker than she’d planned. A dead guest on the holiday complex she manages threatens to pull apart her hoped-for dream life.

If she wants to keep her job and save the reputation of the business, she’s got to find out what happened to Patrick. Did he die of natural causes – or was he murdered?

Tarah’s pet guinea pig, Mr Bob, has a knack for sniffing out trouble and he suspects foul play. The mission is on: Who Killed Patrick?

With the assistance of Mr Bob and Diego, a local plumber, Tarah turns amateur sleuth to find out the truth.

Can Tarah and Mr Bob find the murderer before it’s too late? Will they be able to save the business and protect their blissful new life?

Purchase Links

UK –https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08BJ4RPTS/

US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BJ4RPTS/

Review: The Quickening, by Rhiannon Ward

48997632. sy475 — Hardcover, 320 pages
Published: February 6th 2020 by Trapeze
ISBN:1409192172
ISBN13: 9781409192176
Edition Language: English

Feminist gothic fiction set between the late 19th century and the early 20th century – an era of burgeoning spiritualism and the suffragette movement – that couldn’t be more relevant today.

England, 1925. Louisa Drew lost her husband in the First World War and her six-year-old twin sons in the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. Newly re-married to a war-traumatised husband and seven months pregnant, Louisa is asked by her employer to travel to Clewer Hall in Sussex where she is to photograph the contents of the house for auction.

She learns Clewer Hall was host to an infamous séance in 1896, and that the lady of the house has asked those who gathered back then to come together once more to recreate the evening. When a mysterious child appears on the grounds, Louisa finds herself compelled to investigate and becomes embroiled in the strange happenings of the house. Gradually, she unravels the long-held secrets of the inhabitants and what really happened thirty years before… and discovers her own fate is entwined with that of Clewer Hall’s.

Review: The CWA Vintage Crime Anthology, Edited by Martin Edwards

Publication date: Aug 2020

Fiction: FICTION / Thrillers / Crime
Product format: Paperback
Price: £9.95; $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-78758-547-8

Series: Fiction Without Frontiers
Imprint: FLAME TREE PRESS
Distribution: Marston Book Services

Available in HARDBACK, PAPERBACK and
EBOOK editions

Vintage Crimes will be a CWA anthology with a difference, celebrating
members’ work over the years. The book will gather stories from the mid-
1950s until the twenty-first century by great names of the past, great names of the present together with a few hidden treasures by less familiar writers. The first CWA anthology, Butcher’s Dozen, appeared in 1956, and was co-edited by Julian Symons, Michael Gilbert, and Josephine Bell. The anthology has been edited by Martin Edwards since 1996, and has yielded many award winning and nominated stories in the UK and overseas.
This new edition includes an array of incredible and award-winning authors:
Robert Barnard, Simon Brett, Liza Cody, Mat Coward, John Dickson
Carr, Marjorie Eccles, Martin Edwards, Kate Ellis, Anthea Fraser,
Celia Fremlin, Frances Fyfield, Michael Gilbert, Paula Go sling,
Lesley Grant- Adamson, HRF Keating, Bill Knox, Peter Lovesey, Mick
Herron, Michael Z. Lewin, Susan Mo o dy, Julian Symons and Andrew
Taylor.

Review: Sex and Sexuality in Victorian Britain, by Violet Fenn

Price: £13.99
ISBN: 9781526756688
Published: 18th May 2020

Peek beneath the bedsheets of nineteenth-century Britain in this affectionate, informative and fascinating look at sex and sexuality during the reign of Queen Victoria. It examines the prevailing attitudes towards male and female sexual behaviour, and the ways in which these attitudes were often determined by those in positions of power and authority. It also explores our ancestors’ ingenious, surprising, bizarre and often entertaining solutions to the challenges associated with maintaining a healthy sex life.

Did the people in Victorian times live up to their stereotypes when it came to sexual behaviour? This book will answer this question, as well as looking at fashion, food, science, art, medicine, magic, literature, love, politics, faith and superstition through a new lens, leaving the reader uplifted and with a new regard for the ingenuity and character of our great-great-grandparents.

Review: The Twins of Auschwitz, by Eva Mozes Kor, with Lisa Rojany Bucciere

In the summer of 1944, Eva Mozes Kor and her family arrived at Auschwitz.
Within thirty minutes, they were separated. Her parents and two older sisters were taken to the gas chambers, while Eva and her twin, Miriam, were herded into the care of the man who became known as the Angel of Death: Dr. Josef Mengele. They were 10 years old.

THE NAZIS SPARED THEIR LIVES BECAUSE THEY WERE TWINS.
While twins at Auschwitz were granted the ‘privileges’ of keeping their own clothes and hair, they were also subjected to Mengele’s sadistic medical experiments. They were forced to fight daily for their own survival, and many died as a result of the experiments, or from the disease and hunger rife in the concentration camp.

Publishing for the first time in the UK in the year that marks the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation, The Twins of Auschwitz shares the inspirational story of a child’s endurance and survival in the face of truly extraordinary evil.

Also included is an epilogue on Eva’s incredible recovery and her remarkable decision to publicly forgive the Nazis. Through her museum and her lectures, she dedicated her life to giving testimony on the Holocaust, providing a message of hope for people who have suffered, and worked toward goals of forgiveness, peace, and the elimination of hatred and prejudice in the world.

PUBLISHED BY MONORAY
06/08/2020 | Paperback | £7.99