Sharp Ends “is the ultimate collection of award winning tales and exclusive new short stories from the master of grimdark fantasy, Joe Abercrombie. Violence explodes, treachery abounds, and the words are as deadly as the weapons in this rogue’s gallery of side-shows, back-stories, and sharp endings from the world of the First Law. Let’s get this out of the way right up front –  I’m a huge fan of The First Law trilogy. In fact, I’ll go further than that, I’m a huge fan of all the books set in the First Law universe. With that confession in mind, you’ll not be surprised when I tell you the opportunity to learn more about some of the characters, and the world that they inhabit, was too good to miss. Sharp Ends, Joe Abercrombie’s latest, collects together thirteen adventures chronicling life over a twenty-six year period. The good news, if you’ve read any of Abercrombie’s First Law books then there is going to be so much here you’ll enjoy. Some of my personal favourites… A Beautiful Bastard – The Union army may be full of bastards, but there’s only one big enough to think he can save the day single-handed when the…

A small group of commuters and tube workers witness a fiery apocalypse overtaking London. They make their escape through a service tunnel. Reaching a door they step through…and find themselves on a wild shore backed by cliffs and rolling grassland. The way back is blocked. Making their way inland they meet a man dressed in a wolf’s cloak and with wolves by his side. He speaks English and has heard of a place called London – other people have arrived here down the ages – all escaping from a London that is burning. None of them have returned. Except one – who travels between the two worlds at will. The group begin a quest to find this one survivor; the one who holds the key to their return and to the safety of London. And as they travel this world, meeting mythical and legendary creatures, split between North and South by a mighty river and bordered by The White City and The Crystal Palace they realise they are in a world defined by all the London’s there have ever been. Reminiscent of Michael Moorcock and Julian May this is a grand and sweeping science fantasy built on the ideas, the…

I was dead for 13 minutes. I don’t remember how I ended up in the icy water but I do know this – it wasn’t an accident and I wasn’t suicidal. They say you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but when you’re a teenage girl, it’s hard to tell them apart. My friends love me, I’m sure of it. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t try to kill me. Does it? I enjoyed my recent dalliance with crime, so I decided it was time for a little bit more. In order to mix things up however, I decided that rather than go with another traditional tale, I’d try reading a novel with more of a modern, psychological bent. At first glance, Natasha appears to have it all. She is unquestionably the most popular girl in school, she has friends who would do anything for her and she is on the fast track to great things. It was easy to imagine that there would be many who would want to be near her or even be exactly like her. So why then, would someone want her gone? If she is so universally popular, who has it in…

A woman with wings that exist in another dimension. A man trapped in his own body by a killer. A briefcase that is a door to hell. A conspiracy that reaches beyond our world. Breathtaking SF from a Clarke Award-winning author. Tricia Sullivan has written an extraordinary, genre defining novel that begins with the mystery of a woman who barely knows herself and ends with a discovery that transcends space and time. On the way we follow our heroine as she attempts to track down a killer in the body of another man, and the man who has been taken over, his will trapped inside the mind of the being that has taken him over. And at the centre of it all a briefcase that contains countless possible realities. Tricia Sullivan returns to the genre with a book that will define the conversation within the genre and will show what it is capable of for years to come. This is the best book yet from a writer of exceedingly rare talent who is much loved in the genre world. I always enjoy that moment of trepidation that arrives whenever I’m reading an author’s work for the very first time. I’ve…

Please note – The Girl on the Liar’s Throne is the third book in The Erebus Sequence and it is likely that if haven’t read the first two then this review may contain minor spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you in advance. Anea, once the Silent Queen of Landfall, find herself imprisoned in the dark waters far beneath the vast castle of Demesne. Her throne, like her memories, have have been stolen. Eris, the impostor, discovers even the semblance of ruling is a lonely business in a place as corrupt as the Ravenscourt. Her rule, like her appearance, is a sham. They are a world apart but entangled in a web of subtle deceit, old secrets and dark ambitions. As an ancient enemy plots his rise, old alliances must be laid aside and new friendships formed. Can the Silent Queen regain her throne? Will Eris break free of her prison of lies? Can the kingdom escape the ruin that civil war will bring? It seems as though all the series I’ve started over the last couple of years are coming to an end at the same time. Earlier this month there was Judged by Liz de Jager, the final…

Please note The Cathedral of Known Things is a direct sequel to The Relic Guild. If you haven’t read this first then it is highly likely there will be elements of this reviewed that could be considered a little bit spoilery. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…Still there? Good show, onwards! Divided, hunted and short on resources, the surviving members of the Relic Guild are in real trouble. Their old enemy, the Genii, and their resurrected master have infiltrated Labrys Town and taken over the police force. So the Relic Guild must flee their home, and set off on a dangerous journey across the worlds of the Aelfir. One that will lead them to a weapon which might destroy the Genii. Or the whole universe… And forty years before all this, the war which led to the fall of the Genii continues. And what happens to the Relic Guild during that conflict will change the course of their desperate flight. Over the last couple of years there have been a raft of exciting new talents appear on the UK fantasy fiction scene. Liz de Jager, Jen Williams and Den Patrick have all released multiple books that are great fun. Last…

Sharakhai, the great city of the desert, center of commerce and culture, has been ruled from time immemorial by twelve kings—cruel, ruthless, powerful, and immortal. With their army of Silver Spears, their elite company of Blade Maidens, and their holy defenders, the terrifying asirim, the Kings uphold their positions as undisputed, invincible lords of the desert. There is no hope of freedom for any under their rule. Or so it seems, until Çeda, a brave young woman from the west end slums, defies the Kings’ laws by going outside on the holy night of Beht Zha’ir. What she learns that night sets her on a path that winds through both the terrible truths of the Kings’ mysterious history and the hidden riddles of her own heritage. Together, these secrets could finally break the iron grip of the Kings’ power…if the nigh-omnipotent Kings don’t find her first. Within a handful of pages, and a violently efficient pit fight, I was convinced Twelve Kings and I were going to get along famously. I’m glad to confirm that this initial assessment was one hundred percent correct. Putting it simply, Bradley Beaulieu’s latest is enormously entertaining fiction. The people who find themselves in vast…

Thanks to the fine people over at Gollancz, I have the first two books in The Wolfhound Century Trilogy by Peter Higgins* to give away to you lovely reader types. How do we win? you cry. Couldn’t be simpler my friends. All you need do is visit my Facebook page and follow the simple instructions below.   * Both books are available to purchase now.

Toby’s life was perfectly normal . . . until it was unravelled by something as simple as a blood test. Taken from his family, Toby now lives in the Death House; an out-of-time existence far from the modern world, where he, and the others who live there, are studied by Matron and her team of nurses. They’re looking for any sign of sickness. Any sign of their wards changing. Any sign that it’s time to take them to the sanatorium. No one returns from the sanatorium. Withdrawn from his house-mates and living in his memories of the past, Toby spends his days fighting his fear. But then a new arrival in the house shatters the fragile peace, and everything changes. Because everybody dies. It’s how you choose to live that counts. As a rule, the things that frighten me are the things I tend to become most obsessed with. Death is right up there at the top of the list. It’s that ultimate fear of the unknown and I actively spend a great deal of my free time thinking about it. I know that may sound a horribly morbid, but honestly it not. I’ve come to the conclusion that this…

Please note The Boy Who Wept Blood is a sequel to The Boy With The Porcelain Blade and it is highly likely that if you haven’t read that first book then this review will contain something akin to spoilers. Be warned!    Ten years have passed since the disappearance of Lucien and his protégé, the young swordsman Dino, is struggling to live up to Lucien’s legacy. Sworn to protect the silent queen Anea as she struggles to bring a new democracy to Demesne, Dino finds himself drawn into a deadly game of political intrigue as the aristocratic families of Landfall conspire to protect their privilege. Always ready to prove himself as a swordsman Dino is anguished to discover that in order to fulfil his vow he must become both spy and assassin. And all the while the dark secret at the heart of Demesne is growing towards fulfilment. The King is dead, long live the Queen! Ten years have passed since the events in The Boy With The Porcelain Blade, and Demense is now ruled by Anea. She has promised to replace the old regime with a fairer society, hoping to ultimately create a republic where there is less of…

Decades after an alien virus changed the course of history, the surviving population of Manhattan still struggles to understand the new world left in its wake. Natural humans share the rough city with those given extraordinary—and sometimes terrifying—traits. While most manage to coexist in an uneasy peace, not everyone is willing to adapt. Down in the seedy underbelly of Jokertown, residents are going missing. The authorities are unwilling to investigate, except for a fresh lieutenant looking to prove himself and a collection of unlikely jokers forced to take matters into their own hands—or tentacles. The deeper into the kidnapping case these misfits and miscreants get, the higher the stakes are raised. There is little denying that Game of Thrones has made George R R Martin a household name. The books and the television show are massively, insanely popular and rightly so.  I’ll admit that though I thoroughly enjoy my visits to Westeros, and all of its political machinations, I have always had more of a soft spot for Martin’s other magnum opus, the Wild Cards books. Since the late nineteen eighties, this ongoing series of mosaic novels, that Martin edits with Melinda M Snodgrass, has cleverly reinvented the superhero genre…

Time for a guest review from my partner in crime @MadNad. The sharp eyed amongst you may have spotted I’ve reviewed this title before, but it’s being re-released as a movie tie-in so I thought it may be high time for someone to revisit and offer their opinions. So without further ado over to @MadNad and Joseph Hillstrom King Once, Ig lived the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician, the younger brother of a rising late-night TV star. Ig had security and wealth and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more – he had the love of Merrin Williams, a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring and unlikely midsummer magic. The beautiful, vivacious Merrin was gone – raped and murdered, under inexplicable circumstances – and Ig the only suspect. He was never tired for the crime, but in the court of public opinion, he was and always would be guilty. Now Ig is possessed of horns, and a terrible new power – he can hear people’s deepest, darkest secrets – to go with his terrible new look. He means to use it to find whoever killed Merrin…

Magic caused the war. Magic is forbidden. Magic will save us. It was said the Labyrinth had once been the great meeting place, a sprawling city at the heart of an endless maze where a million humans hosted the Houses of the Aelfir. The Aelfir who had brought trade and riches, and a future full of promise. But when the Thaumaturgists, overlords of human and Aelfir alike, went to war, everything was ruined and the Labyrinth became an abandoned forbidden zone, where humans were trapped behind boundary walls a hundred feet high. Now the Aelfir are a distant memory and the Thaumaturgists have faded into myth. Young Clara struggles to survive in a dangerous and dysfunctional city, where eyes are keen, nights are long, and the use of magic is punishable by death. She hides in the shadows, fearful that someone will discover she is touched by magic. She knows her days are numbered. But when a strange man named Fabian Moor returns to the Labyrinth, Clara learns that magic serves a higher purpose and that some myths are much more deadly in the flesh. The only people Clara can trust are the Relic Guild, a secret band of magickers…