“This place has always been ruled by the vampire lords. Now they are plotting to destroy the city. Over my dead body”. For the second entry in Zombie Appreciation Month we move away from the end of the world toward a detective novel with a twist. I’m sure you can guess the nature of the twist? Nekropolis by Tim Waggoner is the first outing for the zombie detective. Hundreds of years ago, Father Dis and the five lesser ...
Welcome to Zombie Appreciation Month. Throughout October The Eloquent Page will take a look at different interpretations of zombies in modern literature. To begin with I’ve decided to start with a classic theme. I give you The End of the World. Will humanity triumph over the worldwide zombie plague, or will the walking dead inherit the earth? It seems only fair that the first book that I’m looking at is the one that gave me ...
Time to sneak in just one more review before Zombie Appreciation Month begins. After reading Patient Zero I was very keen to read more of Jonathan Maberry’s work. I really liked his idea of terrorists creating a pathogen that reanimates the dead and using them as a bio-weapon. Patient Zero whips along at a breakneck pace and I found the writing superb. In its sequel, The Dragon Factory, Joe Ledger and Echo team are back. However, ...
Throughout October The Eloquent Page will be concentrating on all things undead. I’ll be reviewing a number of different literary interpretations of zombies. From the latest anthology, via detective novels through to young adult fiction – I’ll be taking a look at how everyone’s favourite brain munchers have re-invented themselves over the last couple of years. You have been warned. Join me if you dare! [fb-shar...
When I decided to launch The Eloquent Page I made a conscious decision to try and post only book reviews. Less than three months in and here’s my third non book review related post. Didn’t take me long to jump that shark did it? I’ve lived in Nottingham for the last four and a half years but only discovered FantasyCon in 2009. In fact Mrs Cheesecake and I only discovered FantasyCon 2009 the week before and so only managed one fu...
Please note this review contains spoilers for those that have not read Kell’s Legend. When reading anything by Andy Remic you can rest assured that things are going to get brutal and bloody very quickly. I would definitely not recommend Kell’s Legend or it’s sequel, Soul Stealers, to those of you that are faint of heart. The violence is as graphic as it gets. The author doesn’t sugar coat anything. There are seas...
To celebrate the launch today of Angry Robot Books in the US and Canada please enjoy a sample chapter from one of their first releases, the magnificently brutally and action packed, Kell’s Legend by Andy Remic. For the Brits amongst you a review of the forthcoming sequel, Soul Stealers, will be published in the next couple of weeks. Angry Robot books have also just launched an eBook store. If you haven’t already I suggest y...
“Secret Experiment. Tiny Island. Big Mistake” At its most basic level, the story in Ancestor by Scott Sigler could be described as a number of chases. Firstly, we have the US government trying to track down renegade bio-engineering company Genada, as they try to operate above the law. Then we have the story of evil predators chasing people around an inhospitable island in the dead of winter. It would be really easy to right off this...
“When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week, then there’s either something wrong with your skills or something wrong with your world. And there’s nothing wrong with my skills.” I have a confession to make. I’m thoroughly unsettled by zombies. It doesn’t matter if they are the old style slowly shuffling undead or fast moving rage fuelled beasts made popular over the last couple of years. The whole conc...
Please note if you haven’t read Sixty One Nails, and I strongly suggest you do, there are some mild spoilers in this review. It’s not often that I pick up book by an untested author. I’ve made this mistake in the past and ended up reading some less than stellar fiction. Fortunately, the last time this happened I was lucky. I was in a bookshop in London and I found myself purchasing Sixty-One Nails by Mike Shevdon. I ...
“The cut and thrust of political manoeuvring is never as simple as the cut and thrust of real battle” For the most part I don’t usually enjoy politics as a form of escapism. I’ve tried on multiple occasions to read The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, for instance, but the further I get in the story the less and less I care about the characters. For me all the political scheming starts to wear a bit thin. When I read ...
The good people at Angry Robot have released a sample chapter from The Road to Bedlam, the forthcoming sequel to the excellent Sixty One Nails. Full review on the site soon. Enjoy this sneak peak....
“The end of the world is approaching and only one man can prevent it…” Five Greatest Warriors is the third in the series featuring all round good guy and action hero Jack West Jr. Written by Matthew Reilly, this book continues the adventures of West and his motley crew of mismatched soldiers as they race around the globe on an international treasure hunt. Their continuing objective is to solve centuries old clues that...