Author Archive: PaulineMorgan
Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson book 10) by Patricia Briggs (book review).
There seem to be two approaches to contemporary urban fantasy. Often there is the need for secrecy, not allowing the mundane human population to become aware of the fact that dangerous supernatural beings live amongst them. The reasons given are prejudice and fear. Proponents of this approach are authors such as Jim Butcher in his […]
The Infinite Library And Other Stories by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo (book review).
For some time it has been a tradition to ask contributors to an anthology to write stories on a particular theme. Since the imagination can head off in any direction, the stories often take varies approaches with only the theme linking them. Single author collections with a theme running through the stories is rarer. Two […]
Concrete Faery by Elizabeth Priest (book review).
There are some writers who set out to produce a ‘funny’ book. The problem is that one person’s sense of humour is somewhere on a very wide graph with childish slapstick at one end and the dry wit of Oscar Wilde at the other. The worst kind of ‘humorous’ novel is when the feeling that […]
Raising The Stones (SF Masterworks) by Sheri S. Tepper (book review).
There is a danger, especially amongst the readers of genre fiction, to forget authors after they have died. Everyone always wants the next book by an author but if there isn’t one, they are not interested. This is understandable with the number of books to choose from, but short-sighted as there are some brilliant books […]
The Fall Of Dragons (Traitor Son book 5) by Miles Cameron (book review).
There are authors, particularly crime writers, who pride themselves on writing the possible so that when they have an action scene, they have already acted it out. The converse of this are the groups of wargamers who re-enact famous battles, picking apart the flaws in the strategy of the generals at the time. Fantasy wargamers […]
Etched In Bone (The Others book 5) by Anne Bishop (book review).
Many people consider Homo sapiens to be the top predator. How wrong they are! Match man against tiger and the outcome is inevitable. The truth is that, like the rat, humans are opportunistic omnivores. They adapt their diet to circumstances. Writers of urban fantasy have speculated that there are more dangerous predators hidden amongst our […]
The Neon Court (A Matthew Swift Novel) by Kate Griffin (book review).
It is not often that a writer can achieve acclaim under three different names. Usually, if an author changes direction they are informed that they will be treated like a new author and subsequently will be offered a lower advance. Quality, though, will always shine. This author started her career at fourteen, publishing ‘Mirror Dreams’ […]
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 […]
