Author Archive: PaulineMorgan
The Revolution Trade (Merchant Prince Omnibus) by Charles Stross (book review).
Being a professional writer is a precarious business. It takes months to write and polish a book but in times of economic downturn publishers have a tendency to cut their lists. A new editor might want to ‘rejuvenate’ a list and turn down the next book or they may just not like it. Where the […]
Outpost (Donovan book 1) by W. Michael Gear (book review).
When a writer changes genres, the after-effects can be either good or bad. There is a distinct danger that the readership built up will not be enamoured with the change in direction. Conversely, the new readers may discover areas of literature they hadn’t thought of trying before. It gives publishers a headache as well as […]
League Of Dragons (The Final Temeraire Novel) by Naomi Novik (book review).
Once an author starts playing with history, they need to be very sure of where they are going with their ideas. In some cases, changes can be relatively minor and are made to make the story flow better. Hilary Mantel admits to have condensed some of the events in ‘Wolf Hall’ because to include every […]
The Immortal Throne (City 2) by Stella Gemmell (book review).
When an author dies with a book unfinished there is always an issue: should someone else complete it or should it be left unpublished. Perhaps the extant work should be issued with any notes pertaining to it. One of the best known unfinished novels is ‘The Mystery Of Edwin Drood’ by Charles Dickins which has […]
Resurgence by C.J. Cherryh (book review).
In days gone by, when reading matter was all print, either in the form of books or magazines, publishing houses had more staff. Editors had the space to give their authors guidance in order to produce the best work possible for the benefit of all: reader, writer and publisher. As in so many walks of […]
Shorefall (The Founders Trilogy book 2) by Robert Jackson Bennett (book review).
To many, the term ‘fantasy’ means either an invented world where the technology level is mediaeval, the highest form being the forging of steel, or a contemporary setting peopled with supernatural creatures like vampires and werewolves. True, a lot of fantasy can be encompassed by variations on these themes but sometimes the imagination of the […]
A Plague Of Swords (The Traitor Son Cycle book 4) by Miles Cameron (book review).
It seems strange to be reading about a very contagious plague sweeping across the civilised world at a time when one is doing just that in the real world. ‘A Plague Of Swords’ is the fourth book in what is sub-titled ‘The Traitor Son Cycle’. Seeing what has gone before, there is an impression that […]
Imaginary Numbers (InCryptid novels book 9) by Seanan McGuire (book review).
Authors are very good at hunting out little documented information and embroidering it to produce something potentially spectacular. It is rare for anything to be totally original, that comes with imaginative weaving of new approaches with the extant. A cryptid is an animal whose existence is unsubstantiated. Examples such as Bigfoot and Yeti are common […]
Bone Silence (Revenger trilogy book 3) by Alastair Reynolds (book review).
Space Opera was a term coined in the 1930s and related to fictional adventures set almost entirely off-planet. Spaceships ignored the problems of relativity and crossed huge voids in days or even hours. The majority of the characters were male, aliens were there to fight or subjugate and any woman was someone to be rescued. […]
Marked by S. Andrew Swann (book review).
The idea of alternative histories and parallel worlds are tropes that have been common in SF and fantasy literature for a long time. The thing that has changed over the centuries is the way the protagonists reach the alternative world. Initially, it would have been through dreams or magic. Now, more elaborate and often pseudoscientific […]
