Author Archive: PaulineMorgan
Warbird by Jilly Paddock (book review).
What seems like a lifetime ago and is probably much more than that for some of the readers of this is if students wanted to watch a favourite TV programme, they had to gather in a communal area and share one small screen. That was how we watched ‘Star Trek’ when it first appeared. We […]
Shadow Captain (Revenger series book 2) by Alastair Reynolds (book review).
There are two schools of thought regarding space travel in fiction. One is to stick to the science as we know it and keep the space-going vessels below the speed of light, the other is to embrace the idea that we will eventually find ways to breech the light-speed barrier either by developing the technology […]
The Dread Wyrm (Traitor Son Cycle book 3) by Miles Cameron (book review).
Once a book has been published, it is impossible to correct flaws in the construction of a fantasy world without causing major discontinuity problems. Thus areas in the first volume of a fantasy series that are incongruous in the imagined world are set and unchangeable and attempts to rectify them will either create inconsistencies or […]
Night And Silence (October Daye book 12) by Seanan McGuire (book review).
Once, the usual format for publishing was the one-off book, the standalone. This had one set of characters which occurred only with the pages of that book, a common practice still in the world of ‘literary fiction’. The trilogy, as a continuous narrative, came into its own with the explosion of fantasy literature. While three […]
Mistletoe by Alison Littlewood (book review).
Strong emotions can leave their mark. One of the theories behind hauntings is that powerful events are recorded by the fabric of the place they happen in and are replayed when the right trigger is tripped. Other ghostly sightings are attributed to unfinished business on the part of the deceased. This might be benign or, […]
Magic Triumphs (A Kate Daniels novel book 10) by Ilona Andrews (book review).
In a more and more competitive market, writers have to do more to make themselves noticed, not only by the potential publishers but by the readers as well. Thus, the first novel in a series needs to put the protagonists into great peril, ramping up the tension and perhaps allowing them to survive by the […]
The Monster Of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht (book review).
A difficult thing to decide is exactly what a monster is? In horror, it is often as a term to describe a hideous, dangerous and probably supernatural creature that menaces from the shadows. The word ‘monster’, though, just means big. These are recognisable monsters but more scary are those that are not outwardly recognisable. They […]
Sword And Pen (The Great Library book 5) by Rachel Caine (book review).
Fire is capable of destroying in a way that is spectacular and devastating. Precious things, whether mementos lost in a house fire of important archaeological artefacts like those destroyed in the conflagration in Rio’s Museum can never be replaced. Most people have heard of the fire that supposedly destroyed the Great Library of Alexandria. It […]
The North Beyond Part 2: Maesrhon by P.M. Scrayfield (book review).
‘The North Beyond’ is one big novel divided into four books, of which this is the second part. As a result, there is little to guide the reader in the architecture of this fantasy world. Part one was the story of Numirantoro (none of the characters have a familiar diminutive), her childhood and how she […]
Electric Forest by Tanith Lee (book review).
One of the problems with choosing from the plethora of books on offer is which one. Should it be something a friend with similar tastes has recommended, a new author you’ve not yet sampled or one of the ‘classics’. The term ‘classic’ is itself a minefield. Younger readers tend to think of them as on […]
