Banished by Liz de Jager
Fantasy , Liz de Jager , Tor Books , Young Adult / February 27, 2014

Kit is proud to be a Blackhart, now she’s living with her unorthodox cousins and sharing their strange lives. Especially since their home-schooling includes spells, fighting enemy fae and using ancient weapons. But it’s not until she rescues a rather handsome fae prince, fighting for his life on the edge of Blackhart Manor, that her training really kicks in. With her family away on various missions, Kit must protect Prince Thorn, rely on new friends and use her own unfamiliar magic to stay ahead Read more […]

The Book of the Crowman by Joseph D’Lacey
Angry Robot , Fantasy , Joseph D'Lacey / February 22, 2014

The Book of The Crowman is a direct sequel to Black Feathers. I strongly urge you to read Black Feathers first, honest, I’m not kidding you know. There is also a good chance that this review may contain spoilery type elements if you haven’t read book one. It is the Black Dawn, a time of environmental apocalypse, the earth wracked and dying. It is the Bright Day, a time long generations hence, when a peace has descended across the world. The search for the shadowy figure known only as the Read more […]

The Copper Promise by Jen Williams
Fantasy , Headline , Jen Williams / February 13, 2014

There are some far-fetched rumours about the caverns beneath the Citadel: some say the mages left their most dangerous secrets hidden there; others, that great riches are hidden there; even that gods have been imprisoned in its darkest depths. For Lord Frith, the caverns hold the key to his vengeance. Against all the odds, he has survived torture and lived to see his home and his family taken from him … and now someone is going to pay.  For Wydrin of Crosshaven and her faithful companion, Read more […]

The Iron Wolves by Andy Remic
Andy Remic , Angry Robot , Fantasy , Horror / January 1, 2014

Thirty years ago, the Iron Wolves held back mud-orc hordes at the Pass of Splintered Bones, an led a brutal charge that saw the sorcerer Morkagoth slain. Now, a new terror stalks the realm. Orlana the Changer, has escaped from the Chaos Halls and is building an army, twisting horses, lions and bears into terrible, bloody hunters, summoning mud-orcs from the slime and heading north to battle the mighty region of Vagandrak where, it is said, the king has gone insane…  General Dalgoran searches Read more […]

The Cormorant by Chuck Wendig
Angry Robot , Chuck Wendig , Fantasy , Supernatural / December 30, 2013

Please note The Cormorant is the third book in an on-going series. It’s entirely possible that this review may contain the odd spoiler or two. See I warned ya! Now I don’t expect any moaning if you spot one, you were warned! Miriam is on the road again, having transitioned from “thief”… to “killer”. Hired by a wealthy businessman, she heads down to Florida to practice the one thing she’s good at. But in her vision she sees her client die by another’s hand – and on the wall, Read more […]

The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough
Fantasy , Jo Fletcher Books , Sarah Pinborough / December 5, 2013

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have probably noticed that I’ve reviewed The Language of Dying before. I read the PS Publishing edition and utterly adored it. The novella is being re-released by Jo Fletcher Books today and as it is so bloomin’ good I thought someone else’s opinion might be worth exploring.  Over to @MadNad for her thoughts… Tonight is a special, terrible night. A woman sits at her father’s bedside watching the clock tick away the last hours of his life. Her brothers and Read more […]

Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
Fantasy , Gollancz , Joe Abercrombie / December 3, 2013

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 Read more […]

Beauty by Sarah Pinborough
Fantasy , Gollancz , Sarah Pinborough / November 8, 2013

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 Read more […]

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
Fantasy , Horror , Joe Hill , PS Publishing , Supernatural / November 1, 2013

In the run up to the convention we’re attending this week my better half @MadNad has indulged her latest passion… some fella called Joe Hill.  Imogene is young, beautiful, kisses like a movie star, and knows everything about every film ever made. She’s also dead, the legendary ghost of the Rosebud Theater. Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with a head full of big ideas and a gift for getting his ass kicked. It’s hard to make friends when you’re the only inflatable boy in town. Francis is unhappy, Read more […]

Ecko Burning by Danie Ware
Danie Ware , Fantasy , Sci-Fi , Titan Books / October 18, 2013

Ecko Burning is a direct sequel to Ecko Rising. Beware! If you haven’t read the first book this review may contain potential spoilers. Just sayin. The Bard is gone, and with him Ecko’s only possible way home. Told the grasslands are diseased and the blight is spreading, his companions demand his help. Together they seek weapons in a ruined city where both nightmare and hideous truth await them.  Ruthless and ambitious, Lord Phylos has control over Fhaveon city, and is using its forces to Read more […]

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
Fantasy , Gollancz , Scott Lynch / October 8, 2013

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 Read more […]

The Polaris Whisper by Kenneth Gregory
Blackstaff Press , Fantasy , Kenneth Gregory / October 4, 2013

Niclaus has just one aim in life – to win the Trial of Endurance to become the next leader of his village. The Trial is not without risks, and many have perished trying to complete it. But little does he realise that Cado, the leader of the magical village of Newgrange, has very different plans for him; plans that involve taking on the might of the Hakon the Black, the most feared Norse lord, and travelling far from everything he knows to defend the White Cross Followers. Hakon’s savagery Read more […]

Happy Hour in Hell by Tad Williams
Fantasy , Hodder , Horror , Supernatural , Tad Williams / September 26, 2013

Bobby Dollar has a problem or four of epic proportions. Problem one: his best friend Sam has given him an angel’s feather that also happens to be evidence of an unholy pact between Bobby’s employers and those who dwell in the infernal depths. Problem two: Eligor, Grand Duke of Hell, wants to get his claws on the feather at all costs, but particularly at all cost to Bobby. Problem three: Bobby has fallen in love with Casimira, Countess of Cold Hands, who just happens to be Eligor’s girlfriend. Problem Read more […]