“Bloodsucking Fiends – A Love Story” and “You Suck – A Love Story” by Chrisopher Moore

Time for another two-fer. In 1995, Christopher Moore published “Bloodsucking Fiends“.
Jody, like so many others, is living out a normal life in the city of San Francisco, as odd as that sounds, when she is attacked in a dark alley. When she finally awakes underneath a dumpster, an entire day has passed, her hand is severely burned, [...]

“The Elves of Cintra” by Terry Brooks

(This review also includes the prequel, Armageddon’s Children–I read both books back to back and the story flows so well that it’s hard to distinguish where one book ends and the other begins, so no spoilers for either!)I didn’t rush out to buy Armageddon’s Children when it first came out for the simple reason that [...]

“Power Play” by Joseph Finder

Joseph Finder’s “Power Play” is a fast-paced and involving corporate thriller, which seized me in its jaws and refused to relent until the final page.
I’ll admit I had my doubts…that the story would unfold predictably and be cliché-ridden (can anyone really blame me? The most entertaining thriller I’ve come across so far is Michael Jackson’s), [...]

“The Blade Itself” by Joe Abercrombie

The Blade Itself has been lying in my desk draw for several weeks now, and I could honestly say I could slap myself for not reading it straight away. “Why?” I hear you ask! It’s quite simple. It is one of the most entertaining books I have read in the past year!
Now that’s quite a [...]

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” by JK Rowling

At last, the long-awaited final installment in the Harry Potter series is amongst us. And let me just say, it’s about time! It’s been a decade since Philosopher’s Stone was released, can you believe that?
So, with great anticipation and relief that I finally held the last entry to the saga, I dove in.
There’s something [...]

“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood

“The Handmaid’s tale” is a dystopic novel set in Gilead. In the aftermath of a coup, the United States has gone under drastic changes. Women are now classed as second-class citizens or worse. Each caste of woman wears different colour clothing, and has different duties.
Wives enjoy the most “freedoms” and authority, and dress in blue. [...]

“Skullduggery Pleasant” by Derek Landy

Suzanna from the Terry Brooks forum brought this book to my attention, and I’m really glad she did.
Skulduggery Pleasant focuses on the skeleton wizard-detective of the same name (he won his current skull in a poker game—don’t ask what happened to his old one!) and a young girl named Stephanie.
Stephanie’s uncle—a horror fiction writer—left her [...]

“Orcs” by Stan Nicholls

“Orcs” isn’t a bad book as such; it’s just not a good one.
It follows the escapades of an orc warband, in search of artefacts they have no real understanding of. From the blurb, you’d be led to believe that the story follows the evil guys, or at least anti-heroes.
However, instead of the interesting feast it [...]

“Season of the Witch” by Natasha Mostert

“Season of the Witch” delves into several complex issues—memory, magic, parapsychology…. but maintains its readability in the face of the accurate, quite detailed information it exposes the reader to. In other words it does not get “bogged down” when explaining the necessary background facts and history the reader may not be familiar with.
Gabriel—an electronic scam [...]

“The Lies of Locke Lamora” by Scott Lynch

If you’re a regular visitor to Internet book forums, I doubt you will have been able to avoid the hype surrounding this book. A few of you may have run straight to the bookstore to buy a copy- some of you may not have been bothered too much, and a couple of you may have [...]