Archives by Tag '1980′s'
Review: ‘Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man’ by Fannie Flagg
Sometimes an author is known for one book more than any other, and this is certainly true of Fannie Flagg, best known as the author of . Whether it’s because this is her best book or whether it’s because of , I don’t know as, though I’ve had that book on my shelves waiting to be [...]
Review: ‘The Pigeon’ by Patrick Suskind
Patrick Suskind is an author better known for his book (one which I have on my shelves but have not yet managed to read). Although I’m trying not to buy books by authors I already have on the TBR pile unless it’s for the cause of completing a series, I found myself unable to resist [...]
Review: ‘The Pillars of the Earth’ by Ken Follett
Title: Author: Ken Follett Published: Pan, 1999, pp. 1076. Originally published 1989 Genre: Historical fiction Blurb: 1123. A time of violent civil war, famine, religious strife and battles for royal succession And a time when man’s greatest skills and aspirations gave birth to a daring and impossible dream — the building of the magnificent cathedral [...]
Review: ‘The Hammer of the Sun’ by Michael Scott Rohan
Elof, master smith, and his band of true friends, face their greatest challenge when they confront their nemesis with inferior forces and crippling odds that must not give into a stronger power. (Goodreads Summary) I have never before been this disappointed with the final installment in a trilogy. In fact, had it not been the [...]
Review: ‘Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis’ by Wendy Cope
Wendy Cope is very clever. She’s good at taking much of what poetry holds dear and pricking its balloon. Her humour is an acquired taste and one short poem from “Strugnell’s Haiku” sets the tone of this volume, first published in 1986, to great popular acclaim. “The leaves have fallen / And the snow has [...]
Review: ‘La Prisonniere’ by Malika Oufkir
Malika Oufkir was born into a proud Berber family in 1953, the eldest daughter of the King of Morocco’s closest aide. She was adopted by the king to be a companion to his little daughter, and at the royal court of Rabat, Malika grew up locked away in a golden cage, among the royal wives [...]
Review: ‘The Silver Pigs’ by Lindsey Davis
When Marcus Didius Falco, a Roman “informer” who has a nose for trouble that’s sharper than most, encounters Sosia Camillina in the Forum, he senses immediately all is not right with the pretty girl. She confesses to him that she is fleeing for her life, and Falco makes the rash decision to rescue her—a decision [...]
Review: ‘The Dark Portal’ by Robin Jarvis
In the sewers of Deptford there lurks a dark presence which fills the tunnels with fear. The rats worship it in the blackness and name it jupiter, lord of All. Into this twilight realm wanders a small and frightened mouse. Far from family and friends he perishes, and is the unwitting trigger of a chain [...]
Review: ‘The Forge in the Forest’ by Michael Scott Rohan
The siege of Kerbryhaine had been raised, the Ekwesh hordes vanquished, the Mastersmith slain. But for Alv — now Elof the Smith — the war was not yet won: Kerbryhaine was still a divided city; the Ekwesh, bloodily defeated, would look for revenge; and the Ice, implacably malevolent, continued its inexorable march southward. So from [...]
Review: ‘The Anvil of Ice’ by Michael Scott Rohan
First in a trilogy that blends magic with prehistory, here is a tale of potent magicks, immortal struggles, and human courage in the face of evil forces and awesome odds that follows Elof and his band of adventurers in a battle with the evil Mastersmith Mylio. (Goodreads Summary) I picked up this trilogy second hand [...]