Archive for September, 2010
Review: ‘Crash’ by J. G. Ballard
Title: Crash Author: J. G. Ballard Published: Vintage, 2004, pp. 224 Genre: General fiction Blurb: In this hallucinatory novel, the car provides the hellish tableau in which Vaughan, a ‘TV scientist’, experiments with erotic attrocities among crash victims, each more sinister than the last. Ultimately, he craves a union of blood, semen and engine coolant [...]
Review: ‘Oops!’ by Darrell Bain
Title: Oops! Darrell Bain’s Latest Collection of Short Stories Author: Darrell Bain Published: LL-Publications, 2010, pp. 207 Genre: Short stories Blurb: Oops! is the third collection of stories by Darrell Bain. When Cupid and a Gremlin bump heads, the sparks fly in a rare fantasy story by the author. Other stories in the collection include [...]
Review: ‘The Thirteenth Tale’ by Diane Setterfield
Title: The Thirteenth Tale Author: Diane Setterfield Published: Orion, 2007, pp. 470 Genre: Historical gothic mystery Blurb: Angelfield House stands abandoned and forgotten. It was once the imposing home of the March family – fascinating, manipulative Isabelle, Charlie, her brutal and dangerous brother, and the wild, untamed twins, Emmeline and Adeline. But Angelfield House conceals [...]
Review: ‘Mina Laury’ by Charlotte Bronte
Title: Mina Laury Author: Charlotte Bronte Published: Penguin, 1995, pp. 55 Genre: Classic juvenilia Blurb: Set in the imaginary kingdom of Angria, Charlotte Bronte’s early story of the Duke of Zamorna and his loyal mistress, Mina Laury, demonstrates the birth of her lifelong obsession with the degrees and forms of human passion. When, where and [...]
Review: ‘The Novice’ by Trudi Canavan
Title: The Novice (Black Magician Trilogy II) Author: Trudi Canavan Published: Orbit, 2007, pp. 581 Genre: Fantasy Blurb: Imardin is a city of dark intrigues and deadly politics, where those who wield magic wield power. Into this established order has blundered a young street-girl with extraordinary magical gifts. Adopted by the Magicians’ Guild, her life is [...]
Review: ‘The Age of Innocence’ by Edith Wharton
Title: The Age of Innocence Author: Edith Wharton Published: Virago, 1994, pp. 303 Genre: Modern classic Blurb:In the conformist, closed world of upper-class New York, Newland Archer anticipates his marriage to May Welland, a young girl “who knew nothing and expected everything”. Into this ordered arrangement bursts May’s cousin Ellen, the mysterious and exotic Countess [...]
Review: ‘Elementals’ by A. S. Byatt
Title: Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice Author: A. S. Byatt Published: Vintage, 1999, pp. 232 Genre: Short stories Blurb: A new volume of stories from A. S. Byatt is always a joy, and this one is rich and rare indeed. In the same distinctive format as The Matisse Stories and The Djinn in the [...]
Review: ‘And Another Thing…’ by Eoin Colfer, in the style of Douglas Adams
My husband-to-be has apparently been bitten by the book-blogging bug, and so I have decided to allow him one guest review, on probation. This may or may not become a regular feature… Title: And Another Thing… Author: Eoin Colfer (in the style of Douglas Adams) Published: Penguin, 2010, pp. 340 Blurb: Arthur Dent led a [...]
In my mailbox
“In my mailbox” is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren in which people share the books that they have acquired that week. This edition actually covers two weeks of book acquisition for me, as I was away last weekend and so didn’t get round to posting. In spite of this, the damage to [...]
Review: ‘The Last Witchfinder’ by James Morrow
Title: The Last Witchfinder Author: James Morrow Published: Phoenix, 2006, pp. 573 Genre: Historical fiction Blurb:In the spring of 1688, Walter Stearne, Witchfinder-General for Mercia and East Anglia, roams the countryside in search of heretics. His daughter Jennet is left behind in the care of her Aunt Isobel, who schools her in the New Philosophy [...]