Please note Hereward: Wolves of New Rome is the fourth book in an on-going series. It is entirely possible that this review might contain spoilers if you haven’t read what has come before. Don’t come crying to me and say you haven’t been warned. 1072 – The great battle has been lost. King William stands victorious. And for the betrayed and abandoned English rebels, the price of their crushing defeat is cruel: exile. Cut adrift from family, friends, home, their hopes of survival lie with one man, their leader Hereward. But can even that now-legendary hero navigate a safe course across a world torn by war? Their ultimate destination is the jewelled heart of the Christian emperor in the East, the New Rome – Byzantium. Here the English hope to find gold and glory by joining those pledged to protect the emperor, the elite and savage Varangian Guard. But this once-mighty empire is slipping into shadow. Beyond the vast walls, the endless Turkish hordes plan for an attack that could come at any moment. And within the sprawling city, rival factions threaten bloody mayhem as they scheme to seize the crown. Here begins a new chapter in the stirring tale…

When Brann is wrenched from his family home after witnessing its destruction and the death of those he holds dear, he is thrust into a life of slavery. Miles away, a deposed and forgotten Emperor seeks an instrument to use in his bid to rise once again to power. Ruthless and determined, nothing and no one will stand in his way. Brann might be the Emperor’s tool, but heroes can be forged in the most unlikely of ways… What does it take to be a hero? Is it something buried deep within, or can a hero be shaped by the events that surround them? This debut novel from Andy Livingstone sets out to explore that very topic. I warmed to Brann immediately. He has a way of looking at the world that is far more analytical than everyone else. When he finds himself in a dangerous situation, which happens more often than he would like, he has the ability to emotionally detach from events and view things from a more rational viewpoint. Brann is a keen observer of humanity and learns quickly. From farm boy to galley slave and then to page for a warrior Lord, it is fascinating to…

Deep in the heart of history’s most infamous concentration camp, a man lies dreaming. His name is Shomer, and before the war he was a pulp fiction author. Now, to escape the brutal reality of life in Auschwitz, Shomer spends his nights imagining another world – a world where a disgraced former dictator now known only as Wolf ekes out a miserable existence as a low-rent PI in London’s grimiest streets. I was fascinated by the premise of this novel as soon as I first heard about it. An alternate history, told as a story within another story. I was right to be intrigued. A Man Lies Dreaming is a provocative, mesmerising experience. I finished the book earlier this week and I’m still pondering it now. The scenes featuring Shomer in Auschwitz are heart breaking. His entire life has been utterly destroyed. His family and friends are gone, and now he only exists in his own personal hell. It feels almost like events occur in a bubble, there is no past or present for Shomer, the camp is in a state of constant now. The only time when he is not controlled is when he is unconscious. Shomer’s mind uses…

Edinburgh, 1888. A virtuoso violinist is brutally killed in his home. Black magic symbols cover the walls. The dead man’s maid swears she heard three musicians playing before the murder. But with no way in or out of the locked practice room, the puzzle makes no sense… Fearing a national panic over a copy Edinburgh, 1888. A virtuoso violinist is brutally killed in his home. Black magic symbols cover the walls. The dead man’s maid swears she heard three musicians playing before the murder. But with no way in or out of the locked practice room, the puzzle makes no sense… Fearing a national panic over a copycat Ripper, Scotland Yard sends Inspector Ian Frey to investigate under the cover of a fake department specializing in the occult. However, Frey’s new boss – Detective ‘Nine-Nails’ McGray – actually believes in such nonsense. McGray’s tragic past has driven him to superstition, but even Frey must admit that this case seems beyond reason. And once someone loses all reason, who knows what they will lose next… Over the last couple of years, I’ve started to really enjoy the odd foray into the realms of historical crime fiction. It strikes me that the…

Flamboyant, charismatic Matthew Cannonbridge was touched by genius, the most influential creative mind of the 19th century, a prolific novelist, accomplished playwright, the poet of his generation. The only problem is, he should never have existed and beleaguered, provincial, recently-divorced 21st Century don Toby Judd is the only person to realise something has gone wrong with history. All the world was Cannonbridge’s and he possessed, seemingly, the ability to be everywhere at once. Cannonbridge was there that night by Lake Geneva when conversation between Byron, Shelley and Mary Godwin turned to stories of horror and the supernatural. He was sole ally, confidante and friend to the young Dickens as Charles laboured without respite in the blacking factory. He was the only man of standing and renown to regularly visit Oscar Wilde in prison. Tennyson’s drinking companion, Kipling’s best friend, Robert Louis Stevenson’s counsellor and guide – Cannonbridge’s extraordinary life and career spanned a century, earning him a richly-deserved place in the English canon. But as bibliophiles everywhere prepare to toast the bicentenary of the publication of Cannonbridge’s most celebrated work, Judd’s discovery will lead him on a breakneck chase across the English canon and countryside, to the realisation that the…

When an Austrian nobleman offers a substantial donation to the University of Oxford, Charles Maddox is called on to investigate the generous benefactor. It is a decidedly mundane task for the increasingly renowned criminal investigator, but Maddox welcomes the chance to trade London’s teeming streets for the comforts of a castle in the Viennese countryside. Comfort, however, is in short supply once Maddox steps onto foreign soil—and into the company of the mysterious Baron Von Reisenberg. A man of impeccable breeding, the Baron is nonetheless the subject of frightened whispers and macabre legends. Though Maddox isn’t one to entertain supernatural beliefs, the dank halls and foreboding shadows of the castle begin to haunt his sleep with nightmares. But in the light of day the veteran detective can find no evidence of the sinister—until a series of disturbing incidents prove him gravely mistaken and thrust him into a harrowing quest to expose whatever evil lurks behind the locked doors of the Baron’s secretive domain. After a terrifying encounter nearly costs him his sanity, Maddox is forced to return home defeated—and still pursued by the horror he’s unearthed. Owing to a string of gruesome murders committed by an elusive predator branded the…

August 1945, Germany. The Allies have won the war. Now they have to win the peace … Silas Payne is a Scotland Yard officer seconded to Germany to help implement the Allied policy of denazification. When a former Waffen SS soldier is found murdered in the cellar of a requisitioned house, Payne begins an investigation that leads him on a tortuous path of discovery through the chaos of post-war Germany and pits him against a depraved killer who will stop at nothing to protect his secret. The central premise behind Werewolf had me hooked right off the bat. The thought that a serial killer was going about their ghastly business using the ending of a war for cover. It seems so blindingly obvious now when I think about it. Confusion and chaos on every street corner, Allied soldiers getting contradictory orders, while Axis forces attempting to flee or surrender. It’s the perfect place to indulge the darkest of acts isn’t it? People are still dying every day, who is going to miss a few more? More to the point, will anyone even care? Silas Payne is more than used to dealing with worst of humanity. He has spent years working…

LEGENDS AREN’T BORN. THEY’RE FORGED. Dug Sealskinner is a down-on-his-luck mercenary travelling south to join up with King Zadar’s army. But he keeps rescuing the wrong people. First, Spring, a child he finds scavenging on the battlefield, and then Lowa, one of Zadar’s most fearsome warriors, who’s vowed revenge on the king for her sister’s execution. Now Dug’s on the wrong side of that thousands-strong army he hoped to join ­- and worse, Zadar has bloodthirsty druid magic on his side. All Dug has is his war hammer, one rescued child and one unpredictable, highly-trained warrior with a lust for revenge that’s going to get them all killed . . . It’s a glorious day to die. Turns out Iron Age Britain is not an easy place to get by in. The country is fragmented into many warring tribes constantly at one another’s throats. Bickering warlords try to grab hold of as much land and power as they can manage while trying to ignore the ever growing threat of the Roman Empire. Dug Sealskinner is a slightly shabby warrior, past his best, with a suitably world-weary outlook towards life. It’s not difficult to spot, the sardonic attitude, resigned acceptance of…

Irregularity is a collaboration between the National Maritime Museum and award-winning publisher Jurassic London: a collection of fourteen original stories from some of the most exciting voices in contemporary fiction. Using the Longitude Act as the jumping off point, Irregularity is inspired by the great thinkers of the Age of Reason – those courageous men and women who set out to map, chart, name and classify the world around them. The great minds who brought order and discipline to the universe. Except where they didn’t. Irregularity contains new stories from Nick Harkaway, Claire North, Adam Roberts, E. J. Swift, Tiffani Angus, Rose Biggin, Kim Curran, Richard de Nooy, Archie Black, Simon Guerrier, Roger Luckhurst, Henrietta Rose-Innes, James Smythe, M. Suddain and Adam Roberts. The anthology includes an afterword from Sophie Waring and Richard Dunn, Head of Science and Technology and Royal Museums Greenwich. The stories are illustrated by Gary Northfield, based on imagery from the archives of the National Maritime Museum. The cover shows “Resolution”, a work by Howard Hardiman. It’s been a while since I’ve read an anthology and when Irregularity dropped through my letterbox it appeared that the book gods were indeed smiling on me. Fourteen new works…

Please note Murder is a direct sequel to Mayhem. It is entirely possible that this review may contain spoilers if you have not read the first book in this duology. Dr Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, is still recovering from the events of the previous year when Jack the Ripper haunted the streets of London – and a more malign enemy hid in his shadow. Bond and the others who worked on the gruesome case are still stalked by its legacies, both psychological and tangible. But now the bodies of children are being pulled from the Thames… and Bond is about to become inextricably linked with an uncanny, undying enemy. When we last met Dr Thomas Bond he, and his small group of allies, had defeated an evil that was stalking the streets of London. That encounter had left everyone it touched fundamentally changed. Years have passed and Bond is still suffering from the after effects. When evil resurfaces in the city, he is once again compelled to intercede but is the doctor strong enough to survive a second battle? In some chapters the point of view shifts from the good doctor to various other characters. Julianna Harrington and Henry Moore both…

Gosh, has it really already been twelve months since we all survived the Mayan apocalypse? It’s amazing how quickly we all forgot about that isn’t it? All those giant beasties, strange lights in the sky and everything. Crazy times, eh? Never mind, I’m sure there will another rapture-like event arriving imminently. While we’re waiting, why not pull up a chair and we can talk a bit about some of the top genre books that have arrived in the last year. I’ve decided, as I’ve done in the past, to hold an impromptu little awards ceremony. As ever the categories and winners are decided on by a crack team of intelligent, well-educated genre experts me. Here they are then, in no specific order, without any further rigmarole/needless waffle. Welcome Return of the Year Award – The Republic of Thieves delivered exactly the experience I was hoping for. I found myself getting happier and happier with each passing chapter. Just wonderful to have Locke Lamora, Jean Tannen and the other Gentlemen Bastards back. Great to see Scott Lynch’s return and to confirm he is still delivering exquisitely crafted fantasy. Character of the Year – Ack-Ack Macaque – This was a no brainer. C’mon people, he’s a cigar smoking, smart-mouthed simian who flies…

Forget everything you know about the big bad wolf. It’s not that simple any more. Here are werewolves, skin walkers, demons and unknown dangers. Nothing can be relied upon, not species not shape, not gender. In this second Fox Pocket collection of short flash fiction we explore what happens when nothing is what it seems. You’ll need more than a red hood this time. The idea of this collection immediately appeals. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of weres and shapeshifters. Hell, I‘ll even go so far as admit I was a devotee of Manimal back in the day (oh yeah, I went there). The promise of an entire book full of shape-shifting tales is just too good to pass up. Fifteen stories from fifteen different authors, each promising insight into the animal within. Here are some of the standouts – Carlos by K.A. Laity – Poor old Carlos. Everyone deserves the chance to indulge in the thing that they love, but the life of a shape-shifting rodent isn’t always a happy one. This rather beautiful little story ends on a pitch perfect bittersweet note. Eigi Einhammr by Rahne Sinclair – Harald has been caught poaching the King’s…

WEWELSBURG CASTLE, 1940. The German war machine has woken an ancient threat – the alien Vril and their Ubermensch have returned. Ultimate Victory in the war for Europe is now within the Nazis’ grasp. ENGLAND, 1941 Foreign Office trouble shooter Guy Pentecross has stumbled into a conspiracy beyond his imagining – a secret war being waged in the shadows against a terrible enemy. The battle for Europe has just become the war for humanity.   I don’t read a massive amount of alternate history, but I have to admit that something about the premise of this novel immediately appealed to me. Secret Nazi schemes involving advanced alien races and the quest for the Nietzschean superman. A plot like that sounds as though it could certainly hold the promise of something entertaining. Rising against the Nazi/Vril threat are the men and women of Station Z, the British department who exist shrouded in the utmost secrecy. They are tasked with stopping Axis plans by any means necessary, even if that involves working with “the most evil man who ever lived”. There are also a handful of chapters that cover the action from the perspective of the Axis soldiers. These provide a nice…