In the contested and unexplored territories at the edge of the Empire, a boat is making its laborious way up stream. Riding along the banks are the mercenaries hired to protect it – from raiders, bandits and, most of all, the stretchers, elf-like natives who kill any intruders into their territory. The mercenaries know this is dangerous, deadly work. But it is what they do. In the boat the drunk governor of the territories and his sons and daughters make merry. They believe that their status makes them untouchable. They are wrong. And with them is a mysterious, beautiful young woman, who is the key to peace between warring nations and survival for the Empire. When a callow mercenary saves the life of the Governor on an ill-fated hunting party, the two groups are thrown together. For Fisk and Shoe – two tough, honourable mercenaries surrounded by corruption, who know they can always and only rely on each other – their young companion appears to be playing with fire. The nobles have the power, and crossing them is always risky. And although love is a wonderful thing, sometimes the best decision is to walk away. Because no matter how untouchable…

Kenstibec was genetically engineered to build a new world, but the apocalypse forced a career change. These days he drives a taxi instead. A fast-paced, droll and disturbing novel, BARRICADE is a savage road trip across the dystopian landscape of post-apocalypse Britain; narrated by the cold-blooded yet magnetic antihero, Kenstibec. Kenstibec is a member of the ‘Ficial’ race, a breed of merciless super-humans. Their war on humanity has left Britain a wasteland, where Ficials hide in barricaded cities, besieged by tribes of human survivors. Originally optimised for construction, Kenstibec earns his keep as a taxi driver, running any Ficial who will pay from one surrounded city to another. The trips are always eventful, but this will be his toughest yet. His fare is a narcissistic journalist who’s touchy about her luggage. His human guide is constantly plotting to kill him. And that’s just the start of his troubles. On his journey he encounters ten-foot killer rats, a mutant king with a TV fixation, a drug-crazed army, and even the creator of the Ficial race. He also finds time to uncover a terrible plot to destroy his species for good – and humanity too. Wow, has it really been almost an…

Jacob Carnehan has settled down. He’s living a comfortable, quiet life, obeying the law and minding his own business while raising his son Carter … on those occasions when he isn’t having to bail him out of one scrape or another. His days of adventure are – thankfully – long behind him. Carter Carnehan is going out of his mind with boredom. He’s bored by his humdrum life, frustrated that his father won’t live a little, and longs for the bright lights and excitement of anywhere-but-here. He’s longing for an opportunity to escape, and test himself against whatever the world has to offer. Carter is going to get his opportunity. He’s caught up in a village fight, kidnapped by slavers and, before he knows it, is swept to another land. A lowly slave, surrounded by technology he doesn’t understand, his wish has come true: it’s him vs. the world. He can try to escape, he can try to lead his fellow slaves, or he can accept the inevitable and try to make the most of the short, brutal existence remaining to him…. unless Jacob gets to him first and, no matter the odds, he intends to. No one kidnaps his…

Lucien de Fontein has grown up different. One of the mysterious and misshapen Orfano who appear around the Kingdom of Landfall, he is a talented fighter yet constantly lonely, tormented by his deformity, and well aware that he is a mere pawn in a political game. Ruled by an insane King and the venomous Majordomo, it is a world where corruption and decay are deeply rooted – but to a degree Lucien never dreams possible when he first discovers the plight of the ‘insane’ women kept in the haunting Sanatoria. Told in a continuous narrative interspersed with flashbacks we see Lucien grow up under the care of his tutors. We watch him forced through rigorous Testings, and fall in love, set against his yearning to discover where he comes from, and how his fate is tied to that of every one of the deformed Orfano in the Kingdom, and of the eerie Sanatoria itself.  The main narrative follows Lucien as he finally confronts enemies who have been hounding him for his entire life. Lucien’s journey from early childhood to adulthood has been fraught with danger. The Orfano, orphans, live a privileged existence, but there are those who would gladly see Lucien and the rest of his…

Loki, that’s me. Loki, the Light-bringer, the misunderstood. The elusive, the handsome and modest hero of this particular tissue of lies.  Take it with a pinch of salt, but it’s at least as true as the official version, and, dare I say it, more entertaining. So far, history, such as it is, has cast me in a rather unflattering role. Now it’s my turn to take the stage. When it comes to a good yarn there is little more entertaining when there is a platinum rogue at the heart of it all. There is nothing better than that moment when you discover that most elusive of creations, the literary scoundrel. You know what I mean, one of those rare characters that by rights you should hate, but you can’t help but love. When it comes to reprobates Loki, the trickster god, is the grand-daddy of them all. Mad, bad and just a little bit dangerous to know. He’s the poster child for the self-absorbed. In fact, that doesn’t even come close to describing Loki’s attitude to, well, just about everything honestly. Harris casts her version of Loki as not only the main protagonist, but also the narrator of his own…

The Fell Sword is a direct sequel to The Red Knight. It is entirely possible that this review may contain spoilers if you haven’t read book one. As ever, don’t say I didn’t warn you! Loyalty costs money. Betrayal, on the other hand, is free. When the Emperor is taken hostage, The Red Knight and his men find their services in high demand- and themselves surrounded by enemies. The country is in revolt, the capital city is besieged and any victory will be hard won. But the Red Knight has a plan  The question is, can he negotiate the political, magical, real and romantic battlefields at the same time – especially when he intends to be victorious on them all? The second book of the Traitor Son Cycle picks up shortly after where The Red Knight left off. The outcome of the siege at Lissen Carak is still causing political fallout and the ramifications are being felt everywhere. Let’s make one thing perfectly clear before we go any further. The Fell Sword, like its predecessor, takes a bit of time to read. It’s around six hundred pages long so chances are that you’re not going to rattle through this in a…

France’s first nuclear submarine, Plongeur, is on her first sea trail. On board, one of the Navy’s most experienced captains and a tiny skeleton crew of sailors, engineers and scientists. The Plongeur makes her first dive and goes down, and down and down… Out of control, the submarine plummets to depth where the pressure will crush her hull, killing everyone on board. And beyond. The pressure builds, the hull protests, the crew prepare for death. The boat reaches down and finds…nothing. Her final dive continues, the pressure begins to relent, but the depth gauge is useless. They have gone miles down. Hundreds of miles, thousands… And so it goes on. And on board the crew succumb to mania and murder. Has the Plongeur left the limits of our world and gone elsewhere?  This book can I think best be described as odd. Things start off in a reasonably conventional manner; a French submarine crew take a new automatic submersible on its maiden voyage. However, the further away they get from dry land the more surreal events become. As they travel deeper and deeper, way beyond all possible depths, they start to encounter stranger and stranger phenomena.  Led by the formidable…

Occasionally some interesting book related news comes my way that I like to pass on. I’m a huge fan of Game of Thrones so when the following press release appeared in my inbox this morning I felt compelled to share. Gollancz Returns to Westeros with Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones: Seasons 3 & 4 ——— Visually Stunning Book Takes Fans Behind the Scenes of the Hit Series   The award-winning hit HBO® show Game of Thrones® has captivated millions of fans throughout the world with its compelling characters, intriguing plot twists, breathtaking sets, and enchanting elements of fantasy. As the show readies for its fourth season, Gollancz will revisit the world of Westeros to publish Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones: Seasons 3 & 4, the sequel to the international bestselling Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones, which covered the first two seasons of the series. Over 192 full-colour pages, this next installment in the official companion book series takes fans behind the scenes of seasons three and four, offering a look at the creation of the show’s award-winning visual effects, never-before-seen set photos and breathtaking production and costume designs, as well as in-depth examinations of key scenes and insight about the…

They burned her home. They stole her brother and sister. But vengeance is following. Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she’ll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she’s not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old stepfather Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb’s buried a bloody past of his own, and out in the lawless Far Country, the past never stays buried. Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts. Even worse, it will force them into alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust. . . The past never stays buried . . . After reading the book blurb above you could easily be mistaken for thinking that Joe Abercrombie has flipped his lid. Where the hell is the grimness? What has happened to the darkness? Shouldn’t…

It’s that MadNad person again. This time she is casting her beady eye over Sarah Pinborough’s latest. Beauty is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story which takes all the elements of the classic fairytale that we love (the handsome prince, the ancient curse, the sleeping girl and, of course, the haunting castle) and puts a modern spin on the characters, their motives and their desires. It’s fun, contemporary, sexy, and perfect for fans of ONCE UPON A TIME, GRIMM, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN and more I had been eagerly awaiting the final part in Sarah Pinborough’s fairy tale trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed Poison and Charm, so I was confidant I would enjoy Beauty. I was wrong. I loved it! Probably my favourite of all three, Beauty wraps up, or more accurately, closes the story loop as chronologically the events here happen prior to Poison. The Huntsman is one of the central characters in this piece which cleverly ties it to the other two parts. Other characters from other stories are interwoven, but this character particularly seems significant in all three parts. An ever-present Prince, and a red-cloaked maiden complete the lead ensemble. Beauty is loosely based on…

Sometimes when I write a review I mention at the beginning the word “spoilers”. Guess what? This is the third book in an on-going series. If you haven’t read books one and two, I can 100% guarantee the S-word is entirely appropriate in this case…Honest, I’m not kidding… Ignore my warnings at your own peril. Having pulled off the greatest heist of their career, Locke and his trusted partner in thievery, Jean, have escaped with a tidy fortune. But Locke’s body is paying the price. Poisoned by an enemy from his past, he is slowly dying. And no physiker or alchemist can help him. Yet just as the end is near, a mysterious Bondsmagi offers Locke an opportunity that will either save him – or finish him off once and for all.  Magi political elections are imminent, and the factions are in need of a pawn. If Locke agrees to play the role, sorcery will be used to purge the venom from his body – though the process will be so excruciating he may well wish for death. Locke is opposed, but two factors cause his will to crumble: Jean’s imploring – and the Bondsmagi’s mention of a woman from Locke’s past…

Time from another guest review from MadNad…  It’s Cinderella, but not as you know her… Imagine an enchanted footman, two ugly sisters, a magical ball and a romance to remember . . . and now turn the page for the true tale of Cinderella, told the way it always should have been . . . As Mr Cheesecake tasked me to review Poison, it seemed logical that I would also review Charm, the second in a trilogy of adult fairy tales from Sarah Pinborough, when the opportunity arose. Boosted by the large and small screen revival of fairy tales, this series of books from Gollancz are perfectly timed. I will state, in the spirit of full disclosure, that despite growing fond of shows like Grimm and Once Upon A Time, I probably would not have picked this book up, and I would have missed out on a treat. I am never one to turn down an opportunity to read any of Pinborough’s work, although previous things of hers I have read are more horrific in nature. Her writing is so unbelievably skilled. She has a way of painting a picture with a few well-chosen words that leaves me breathless, and…

Time to kick off what I’m tentatively calling “Sarah Pinborough Appreciation Week” here at The Eloquent Page. I can think of no better way to begin than with a guest review so without any further nonsense, let me hand you over to my better half @MadNad.  It’s Snow White, but not as you know her… Take a wicked queen, a handsome prince, a beautiful princess, and a poisoned apple… … and now read the true story of Snow White, told the way it always should have been… Like a lot of adults, I don’t usually read fairy tales. However, due to the popularity of shows like Grimm and Once Upon A Time, fairy tales are now once again in vogue and are being read not only by children. In the first of what is a trilogy of adult fairy tales, Sarah Pinborough has written a version of Snow White that has enough elements in it to appear familiar to those of you who read this as a child, but is retold in a way that will open your eyes to questions that your younger self never knew it had. The story is set in a timeless fantasy world of multiple…