The world is dying. The race for the stars has begun and Britain is determined to be the first to reach the promised world of Terra-Two. A small, fast ship will carry 4 experienced astronauts and 6 carefully-selected teenagers to prepare Terra-Two for colonisation. But this golden opportunity may not be what it seems…
Elspeth Reeves has put the horrors of the Carrion King story behind her. When archaeologists unearth the bones of a long-dead witch, there are mutters that her centuries-old curse will be reawakened. But is the vengeful spirit of Agnes Levett really behind the spate of murders that follow?
Elspeth Reeves goes home to quiet Wilsby-under-Wychwood to regroup after her job and her relationship end abruptly. But there’s a body in the woods at the bottom of her Mum’s garden, and a black magician who will keep killing until he punctures the veil between the living and the dead. What does Ellie believe in? What does she have to prove?
Kellen son of Ke is searching for the legendary Ebony Abbey, rumoured to possess a cure for the shadowblack. Separated even from Reichis, he finds himself caught between mistrustful monks and a Jan’Tep war party intent on wiping out the shadowblack once and for all. Can he unlock his curse and thwart his father’s ambitions?
Continue reading “Soulbinder: learning to play the cards you’ve got”
Supernatural heroes won the Second Poppy War. Now war orphan Rin is determined to escape a future of marriage and drug running for her foster parents. She will fight herself to win a place at the Empire’s prestigious military academy – and fight everyone else to keep it. Can she learn enough to keep her country safe from the resurgent Mugen Federation?
Continue reading “The Poppy War: deconstructing expectations”
When the Sisters hit the Earth, they ended modern civilisation in minutes. Tidal waves wiped out coastal cities. The Long Autumn culled millions as oceans rose, crops failed and medicines ran out. 100 years later, opposing forces are trying to assert control over Britain’s scattered survivors. Welcome to the Aftermath.
Just how far will a group of experimental archaeologists go to re-enact Iron Age life and rituals? Time for a rare break from my usual genre diet to enjoy Sarah Moss’s brilliant new short novel, Ghost Wall. Continue reading “Ghost Wall: thin skins and thinner boundaries”
Sorlost is the heart of the richest empire in the world: ancient, proud, unconquered. But its self-regard is stronger than its armies. As nobles conspire for power and mercenaries flock to their call, who will prove ruthless enough to seize – and hold – power?
Continue reading “The Court of Broken Knives: poetic grimdark”
Kellen Argosi is both hunted and hunter – the Jan’Tep want him dead as a shadowblack-cursed traitor, while he is intent on thwarting their nefarious plot to possess the children of their foreign rivals. But Kellen is a 17-year-old with only one trick up his sleeve. You’d be right to think he’s at a disadvantage. Just as well he’s got friends to help him fight his family…
Continue reading “Charmcaster: friends are the family you choose”
Nina Beaulieu is a debutante, spending the Season with her cousin Gaetan and his glamorous wife Valerie. They will usher her into a glittering world of balls and find her a suitable husband. But Nina has a mind of her own, and talents that aren’t welcome in polite society. Can she be satisfied within its constraints?
Continue reading “The Beautiful Ones: love, duty and telekinesis”
War has begun. While Noon and Vostok struggle to forge their friends into a coherent fighting unit, Vintage unearths clues that will lead them away from the conflict in search of Ysgeril’s birthplace. But the enemy is moving against them in ways they’ve never seen before. Everybody needs allies, but who can trusted?
Returned to her family, Liesl pines for her austere young man and for her brother. But from Vienna to the Bavarian forest, people are dying with mysterious marks on their lips and throat. The old laws cannot be broken. The Underground must have it due. Someone must die if spring is to return…
Continue reading “Shadowsong: one does not simply walk away from the Underground”
