I absolutely adore this series, pacy, kick ass funny, clever and just so entertaining.
We are back at The‘Long story short, a man fell out of the sky.’
I absolutely adore this series, pacy, kick ass funny, clever and just so entertaining.
We are back at The Stranger Times, Stella is enjoying life as an almost student when a man falls out of the sky in front of her and ends up buried in the pavement. How he ended up in the sky at all has non-obvious answer and this is where The Stranger Times comes in. They have to prove Stella’s innocence as dark powers think she is involved. Vincent Banecroft is meanwhile being made to atone for his sins by a six foot eight walking funeral of a man. Banecroft is not keen, being banished to a hellscape is no fun.
As usual this is snappy, bonkers and brilliant. There is a lot going on but I just love the flow of these books and this is the best yet, perhaps because I have got to know all the characters. Vincent is still awful but I love him, Stella has developed so much, Ox and Reggie are like a bickering old couple and Grace is sublime…and a ninja! Plus we get new characters- Brian, love him! And all sorts of crazy mayhem ensues.
This is a series that for me can just run and run, fabulous!...more
‘Moira Everharts genius was in understanding how stationary can be so much more than stationary.’
Never was a truer phrase spoken!
It says how much I lo‘Moira Everharts genius was in understanding how stationary can be so much more than stationary.’
Never was a truer phrase spoken!
It says how much I love this series that I finished book 2 (This Charming Man) and immediately picked up this one to follow on as soon as possible. This is now a series I love, up there with Rivers Of London and is on my autobuy list now for sure. We are back at the Stranger Times, Hannah has resigned as assistant editor ...more
‘Vincent Banecroft, editor at large and arsehole in charge, was challenging’
A man is dead, he walked out in front of a truck and that was that. Except‘Vincent Banecroft, editor at large and arsehole in charge, was challenging’
A man is dead, he walked out in front of a truck and that was that. Except he had fangs and a stomach full of someone else’s blood. The crew at The Stranger Times are back with even more weird goings on to report on. The fact that Vampires are popping up in Manchester does not go down well with The Founders (the secret organisation that invented them as an allegory) or with The Folk (magical people hiding in plain sight and wanting a quiet life). There is a lot going on, kidnap, weird trapdoor plumbing and ground breaking swearing and the paper need to sort it all out and fast.
I have found a new fab series! Having read the first book The Stranger Times last month, I couldn’t wait to read this one! The same faces at the paper are back, Vincent Banecroft is still supremely awful and brilliant. We get to know the other staffers on the paper a bit better, especially Reggie and Ox. The fabulous Hannah is our small fix of normality in it all.
This is so well plotted, pacy and funny. I galloped through this one, it’s full of magic, blood sucking vampires, razor sharp dialogue, is totally chaotic but fabulous for it!
And FYI just be careful which book groups you join ...more
The Stranger Times is Manchesters go to newspaper for the unexplained and inexplicable, dedicated to reporting the weThe Stranger Times - CK McDonnell
The Stranger Times is Manchesters go to newspaper for the unexplained and inexplicable, dedicated to reporting the weird and wonderful, but mostly the weird.
The editor is foul; tempered,smelling, mouthed and thinks little of the paper or the people he works with. The rest of the staff are a bunch of misfits and there have been a succession of assistant editors. The next ‘Tina in line’ for this position is Hannah Willis, who arrives with problems of her own.
In her first week tragedy strikes and they have to do some actual serious investigating and leads them to find that some of the nonsense they had published could in fact be terrifyingly real…
This has all the joy of Pratchett’s Discworld, Aaronovitch’s Rivers Of London series and Jasper Ffordes Thursday Next books - an urban fantasy that is pitch perfect and funny to boot. The collision of the real with the weird is clever, hilarious and just hugely enjoyable to read. There are some dark topics covered, it’s not all laughs, but I loved the mix and it was all pertinent to the plot.
I have to say the characterisation is brilliant, I loved sensible Grace and how Hannah got more feisty as time went on. But it is Vincent Banecroft the editor who topped my chart list, just an awful man but in a brilliantly funny way. I’d love to meet him but would have to stand several feet away!!
This is such good fun to read and the plot gallops along at pace. It kept me hooked from start to finish and I can’t wait for the next books in the series which are lined up on my shelf!
Back with a large slice of fantastical dark academia we are at the Alexandrian Society once more.
The group of six magicians who were offered the oppoBack with a large slice of fantastical dark academia we are at the Alexandrian Society once more.
The group of six magicians who were offered the opportunity of a lifetime are now five. They had to kill one of their number for limitless power, they thought it was easy and then it went wrong. Things are unravelling. Libby died, well Nico and Tristan saw her body, but here what does that mean? Nico wants to find her, Tristan is taking risks to unlock his powers. Parisa has found something dangerous in Daltons mind, Reina is barred from knowledge she craves and Callum who was marked for death, survives. As the morals of the caretaker Atlas Blakely are questioned, which side will they choose and where or when is Libby Rhodes?
This is the follow up to The Atlas Six and I had to go back and remind myself what happened because otherwise I would be all at sea. This is a complex, twisting and fantastical plot. A difficult follow up and initially I struggled to place what was happening within minds and dreamscapes it can be confusing to know what is going on!
‘Well, I’m sure it was…not at all some kind of ongoing experiment to indoctrinate you into their cult of homicidal academia.’
I once again found myself not instantly liking these characters, except perhaps Libby. She is the only one I truly rooted for but as in The Secret History (where I couldn’t stand the characters either!) I couldn’t stop reading. It is dark, thrilling, at times a little impenetrable but oh so addictive read!
‘There are fractures amongst the remaining initiates. It will not be difficult to find the cracks in the societies foundation.’
The relationships are messy, anguished and they are all selfish &£@?ed up individuals, but they do seem to ultimately want to help each other, whilst there is a very dark undercurrent which will come to fruition in the final installment, I ended up racing through this and now I have to wait for the last part…....more
The third book in The Pantheon series and we are back with a bang! Barrington very kindly gives us a ‘what happened previously’ to bring you up to speThe third book in The Pantheon series and we are back with a bang! Barrington very kindly gives us a ‘what happened previously’ to bring you up to speed. And I mean a LOT has happened but in a nutshell - Punnr and Brante surrendered to the Titans at the end of the last book to save their own skins and so that Punnr can continue to try to find his sister who had previously betrayed her own comrades. We get a little flashback to his sister and then we are back in the twentieth year and Punnr and Brante fighting for their lives.
‘Kill the King.’…..’
Oh the absolute joy of being back in the pantheon! Honestly this is such a great series, with a fabulous blend of fantasy and reality in a world just brilliantly constructed. Each time I read one of these I get totally subsumed into the world, I feel like I know these people and root for them, I’ve said it before, they would make great films!
This book is more complex than the previous two, we meet all seven Palatinates, characters have moved on, changed identities and we also learn more of their civvy identities and names. I wasn’t sure at first, I really liked the set up of the first books but there are changes and it really ups the ante and I loved it! It’s a lot to take in, the story moves apace and you are totally absorbed into the story. There is fighting as before but it all feels more considered, Tyler is searching for his sister still, his friendship with Forbes developing. Lana is battling her own personal demons, especially Skarde and we also follow young Oliver at the training school.
And then there’s the fact that the battle has widened to involve the other palatinates and the Titans hatch a plan to destroy The Horde and so amalgamate the two palatinates. Then they can fight higher up the order and perhaps face The Legion itself? Told you it was complex!
This book does not disappoint, full of action, and with a simply fabulous ending I Cannot WAIT for the next book, I am simply rubbing my hands with glee for this!
This series is such a find! I know, it’s been out for a while but as a huge Rivers of London and Jasper Fforde fan this is right up my alley and I’m aThis series is such a find! I know, it’s been out for a while but as a huge Rivers of London and Jasper Fforde fan this is right up my alley and I’m annoyed it’s taken me this long to discover it! Firstly the world building is great, it all makes sense and the time-travel concept is brilliantly clever, I just loved it! Team Weird are just that but I was really rooting for them all. It’s fast paced, funny, witty and addictive reading with missions to Tutenkahmuns tomb and the actual Ides of March (14th March 44BC to be precise) plus having to get themselves out of all sorts of scrapes and a murder charge. A first class piece of urban fantasy and I am definitely reading the rest of this series!...more
‘Absolutely scunnered. I swear, story of my life.’
I really loved The Library Of The Dead when I read it last year but I think that this book is even b‘Absolutely scunnered. I swear, story of my life.’
I really loved The Library Of The Dead when I read it last year but I think that this book is even better. Ropa has grown into herself, she is feisty, brilliant, funny and just so cool ...more
I listened to this as an audiobook and was a free download on Audible.
This short story features Peter Grant with sidekick Toby the dog and archivist PI listened to this as an audiobook and was a free download on Audible.
This short story features Peter Grant with sidekick Toby the dog and archivist Professor Postmartin investigating reports of a poltergeist at the British library. They are called in to investigate by librarian Ms Elizabeth Winstanley and stake out the bowels of the library to find out who or what is mysteriously moving objects around.
I’ve never really listened to audiobooks before but I loved this one. The voice talent of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith was fantastic and really chimed well with my own impressions from reading the Rivers of London series previously. This is a short sideshow compared to the main novels but it still maintains all the humour and charm of them in a small but perfectly formed kick ass package!...more
False Value is the 8th full novel in the Rivers of London series by @baaronovitch I have read all the others but not in order, which originFalse Value
False Value is the 8th full novel in the Rivers of London series by @baaronovitch I have read all the others but not in order, which originally made things slightly tricky as there is a narrative thread through them all but they can be read as stand alone novels. • This book again features Peter Grant the Met Police’s first apprentice wizard, who is about to become a father to a River goddesses twins and has a new job in Terence Skinners Serious Cybernetic Corporation. There is a secret hidden in SCC originating in the past with Ada Lovelace, mixing it up with a wink to The Hitchhikers Guide and Deep Thought and the scary future of AI. A new darkness is brewing and could be the beginning of a great new thread for this series of novels. • It is magically, intricately plotted and comically on a par with Terry Pratchett. I had read that it was not as strong as the previous novels, I miss Lesley May and there was less from Nightingale, who I love, and the genii locorum of the rivers where the series began but it is going to take us potentially in a slightly new direction, hopefully leading to expansion and continuation of a great series. • My down the rabbit hole took me to the real Beverley Brook. It’s name is derived from the European Beaver, Middle English word bever and meadow; ley, so the Beaver Meadow Stream....more
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