In Her Name: Empire – Michael R Hicks.

I’m not a huge reader of the Science Fiction genre, but when this book was recommended to me by none other than Michael R Hicks on twitter, I thought I’d give it a read. I also had the bonus of this read being free on Kindle, so what do I have to lose? Who knew, I may even enjoy it.

Enjoy it I certainly did. The journey of the human child Reza as he grows to manhood captured by an alien race, which see him as an experiment and novelty rather than a sentient being, is compelling and gripping. The world which Hicks has created is well thought out and immersing, at no point in the story did any of the minor details jolt me out of the story. 

The Kreelan culture is well thought out too, there is a reason for everything that is mentioned in the novel, nothing is frivolous and alien for the sake of it, which for me is an important aspect of world creation. If a building is curvy, it needs a good reason to be that way! Thankfully, in Hick’s novel, there are these reasons.

The book is a real page turner and the language is well commanded but at the same time, it is not a chore to read. It was a real pleasure to grab five minutes to read it and not feel lost in verbose imagery. The metaphors and similes are often amusing and well thought out. Not a cliché in sight, which is always nice!

The character development was superb throughout as well. Reza becomes more imbedded in the Kreelan culture the longer he is there but he never loses sight of his own humanity and it is this that creates great conflict at the end of the novel. I was shocked at the choices that he makes but not surprised. I won’t give it away as I hope some of you will go out and read this book. You should do if you are a lover of traditional Science Fiction novels. It is the first of a trilogy and although I don’t have the burning need to go out and read the next one right this second like I did with Joe Abercrombie’s The Blade Itself trilogy, I will be purchasing the next one in the near future.

Thank you Hicks, for suggesting your novel in some shameless self-promotion! It really worked for me

Broken Dreams - Nick Quantrill

I’ll start this post off with a confession; I’m not a big reader of detective novels. My parents are but it was never really a genre I could get behind for one reason or another but when one of my colleagues at my new work mentioned her husband had a published book, I made it my job to give it a read.

The first thing that struck me was the story. There are two main arcs in the novel and you find yourself really wanting to know what happens. One is the murder of a successful woman and the other is the tracking down of a young woman for her mother who is dying of cancer. Both are interwoven together and the way the plot flings you is artfully done.

The story itself is set in the city of Hull, which is where I live, so it was nice to know the areas the author was talking about. He gets it spot on without ramming the topography of the city down the reader’s throat.

The characters are instantly likeable and you find yourself sympathising with them. You really do want them to win, even when the odds seem stacked against them. It can’t be an easy job being a private detective and this is shown so well throughout the novel.

The only stumbling block for me was, at times, the dialogue didn’t really match what was happening at the time. You’re told the character is angry, but the words he says don’t really reflect this. It’s only a minor point though and I think that as Nick writes more books, this will fade away.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in either Hull, or detective novels, or both. I look forward to reading his latest novel, which is out next month.

Next Review: In her Name: Empire – Michael R Hicks.

Avengers Angel: Lost Angels: Book One, Heather Killough-Walden

I’d like to say I enjoyed this book, but I’d be stretching the truth a bit. 

The first major disappointment for me was discovering that this was actually a vampire novel in disguise. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the odd novel about vampires but I like to know what I’m getting myself into. When I chose this book it was because I thought it was a supernatural novel about angels, not vampires. Vampires are alluded to from the start of this novel and one of the four angels is in fact a vampire, another is a movie star playing a vampire and ends up becoming one as well. I understand why Azrael, Angel of Death, would fall to earth as a vampire but it seemed a bit contrived making Uriel, who’s name mean Light of God; he is associated with the sun, a vampire. It came across as ridiculous. To then have the Angel of the Christian God compare the taste of something to ambrosia, nectar of the Roman Gods, was just uncomfortable.

 

Don’t get me wrong, this book had some very good ideas running through it, love, loyalty and brotherhood, even the Fallen Angel ended up helping the Archangels in the end but it was so poorly executed it was just difficult to enjoy. The language was heavy handed, some of the metaphors so glaringly obvious I felt like I was being smacked in the face with them. Not something I enjoy, figuratively or literally if I’m honest. Take Gabriel for instance, Killough-Walden has given him a Scottish accent, brilliant! However writing in the accent itself should be left to Irving Welsh, it makes it tricky to read and is jolting for the reader. 

The use of supernatural abilities is referred to throughout the novel, as you would expect from a book in this genre, however to refer to them as ‘Vampire Powers’ or just ‘Powers’ didn’t sit well with me. It came across as a cop-out, our language is diverse and beautiful, to use this basic term seemed weak to me. In the end, the powers were pretty much useless so what was the point in having them in the first place?

That said, there are some positive points to this novel, the part where the two protagonists are spending time together, particularly the bit where they are flying is written well and enjoyable to read.

All in all though, I don’t think I will be reading the sequel!

Just a quick introduction today.

It occures to me that, since I was brought a Kindle for my birthday last October, I am reading a horrendous amount of books. I usually stick to fantasy but have been known to venture out into other genres when the mood takes me. I'm pretty opinionated about what I read and feel its about time I begin sharing my thoughts and opinions on what I read, who knows, someone might even listen.

I am currently reading Avengers Angel: Lost Angels: Book One by Heather Killough-Walden, so this will be the first book I write a proper review of. I've nearly finished it so will leave it there before I say too much.

Watch this space for upcoming reviews.

Signing off


Rushby!