Shelter by Dave Hutchinson
Dave Hutchinson , Sci-Fi , Solaris , Thriller / June 12, 2018

The Long Autumn is coming to an end. For almost a century after the coming of The Sisters, the surviving peoples of rainswept England have huddled in small communities and on isolated farms, scavenging the remains of the old society. But now society, of a kind, is starting to rebuild itself. In Kent, a brutal tyranny is starting to look West. In the Cotswolds, something terrible and only vaguely-glimpsed is happening. And in a little corner of Berkshire two families are at war with each other. After decades of simply trying to survive, the battle to inherit this brutal new world is beginning. A couple of years ago I picked up Europe in Autumn on a whim. I was travelling and needed something to divert my attention while on a flight (don’t get me started on how much I loathe flying). In the departure lounge I purchased the novel with absolutely no expectations. Something about the blurb captured my attention, but I had never heard of the author and had no idea what was in store. A couple of hours later the plane landed and I don’t think I had blinked during the entire flight. Dave Hutchison’s Fractured Europe novels…

Europe in Winter by Dave Hutchinson
Dave Hutchinson , Sci-Fi , Solaris , Thriller / November 3, 2016

Before we start a tiny warning. If you haven’t read books one and two of this ongoing series you need to stop reading this review right now. There are likely to be minor spoilers and I don’t want you hunting me down in the future and complaining that I didn’t mention them… I’m serious this is your last chance…  Have the uninformed masses gone? Good, then we can proceed. Union has come. The Community is now the largest nation in Europe; trains run there from as far afield as London and Prague. It is an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity. So what is the reason for a huge terrorist outrage? Why do the Community and Europe meet in secret, exchanging hostages? And who are Les Coureurs des Bois? Along with a motley crew of strays and mafiosi and sleeper agents, Rudi sets out to answer these questions – only to discover that the truth lies both closer to home and farther away than anyone could possibly imagine. If you’re a fan of thrillers that have a science fiction twist then look no further. Europe in Winter has it all – assassinations, intrigue, twists, turns, explosions, pocket universes and more high…

The Eloquent Page Awards 2015

Another year draws to a close, and I find myself in the midst of the little book vacation I always give myself. A couple of weeks off means I can come back to the blog refreshed and reinvigorated for the coming year. It also gives me the opportunity to reflect upon what I’ve read over the past twelve months. Now, it’s time for the annual Eloquent Page awards. The rules are as arbitrary as ever. I make up the categories myself and the only real requirement are that the winners are taken from within the books I’ve read this last year. I’ve tried to reduce the number of books I read in a year; I’m aiming for one a week. In the past the blog has taken over my life a little, but in 2015 I came pretty close to my target. The grand total was 60 books. So without further ado on to the awards themselves. The They Will Be Missed Award – Sadly, all good things to an end. The biggest disappointment for me in 2015 was that way back in January, the final book in the Ack Ack Macaque series, Macaque Attack by Gareth Powell arrived. *Sniffle*…

Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson
Dave Hutchinson , Sci-Fi , Solaris , Thriller / November 15, 2015

Please note – Europe at Midnight is a sequel to Europe in Autumn and this review will likely contain spoilers if you haven’t read the first book in this series. Dont say I didn’t warn ya! In a fractured Europe, new nations are springing up everywhere, some literally overnight. For an intelligence officer like Jim it’s a nightmare. Every week or so a friendly power spawns a new and unknown national entity which may or may not be friendly to England’s interests. It’s hard to keep on top of it all. But things are about to get worse for Jim. A stabbing on a London bus pitches him into a world where his intelligence service is preparing for war with another universe, and a man has appeared who may hold the key to unlocking Europe’s most jealously guarded secret.. I only read Europe in Autumn last week. I enjoyed it so much I went straight from that into Europe at Midnight. Near future Europe is falling apart, nation by nation. The United Kingdom is now far from united, and on the European mainland many other countries are following suit. As if this constantly shifting political landscape wasn’t complicated enough, it…

Europe in Autumn by Dave Hutchinson
Dave Hutchinson , Sci-Fi , Solaris , Thriller / November 8, 2015

A fractured Europe, a cook-turned-spy, a mighty web of espionage – but what happens when conspiracy threatens to overwhelm even reality itself? Europe in Autumn is a dystopian SF espionage thriller that evokes the Cold War novels of John Le Carré and the nightmarish world of Franz Kafka, taking place in a war and disease-torn Europe of hundreds of tiny nations. Rudi is a cook in a Kraków restaurant, but when boss asks him to help a cousin escape from the country he’s trapped in, a new career – part spy, part people-smuggler – begins. Recruited by the shadowy organisation Les Coureurs des Bois, Rudi is schooled in espionage. When he is sent to smuggle someone out of Berlin and finds a severed head inside a locker instead, a conspiracy begins to wind itself around him. With kidnapping, double-crosses and a map that constantly re-draws itself, Europe in Autumn is a modern science fiction thriller like no other. Ok, I’ll admit it. I am more than fashionably late when it comes to this particular party. What can I say? The life of a book reviewer is a battle against the same ever encroaching horror – so many books, so little…