There are books you simply HAVE to read. Vampires Never Get Old was one of those for me. I first heard of the anthology ages ago, I think somewhere back in summer 2019 and have been anxiously waiting for it to come out – I admit, mainly because it contains V.E. Schwab’s first stand-alone short story. (Yes, I’m a fangirl, sue me) But this anthology is so much more than a single story – it is a diverse collection of stories reclaiming vampires from the Twilight craze of the early 2010s!

Thank you so much to Hear Our Voices for letting me join in the massive blog tour – check out the schedule here, and make sure to have a look at all the content produced by my wonderful co-hosts!

STAR RATING: 4/5 ✶

RELEASE DATE: 22/09/2020

SUMMARY: In this delicious new collection, you’ll find stories about lurking vampires of social media, rebellious vampires hungry for more than just blood, eager vampires coming out—and going out for their first kill—and other bold, breathtaking, dangerous, dreamy, eerie, iconic, powerful creatures of the night.

Welcome to the evolution of the vampire—and a revolution on the page.

Vampires Never Get Old includes stories by authors both bestselling and acclaimed, including Samira Ahmed, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, and Kayla Whaley. (from Imprint)

OPINIONS: I fell in love with Vampires Never Get Old at first bite (well, first story). Book opener Tessa Gratton manages to seduce readers into the world of vampires, just as the bisexual protagonist of her story has to make the choice whether to let herself be seduced by the pair of vampires and the allure of eternal life or stay human. Every story is accompanied by a short commentary by the editors about central themes of the story, how they relate to vampire lore and what the editors particularly liked – which I really enjoyed, as it gives insight into their thought process about putting together this anthology.

As a whole, the anthology is incredibly strong and does not have any stories that are particularly weak – I did not love all of them but I didn’t dislike any. Vampires Never Get Old is also an incredibly diverse anthology, which is wonderful – I think every single story features marginalised characters in one way or another, doing so organically. And damn, we need more books like this. Zoraida Cordova and Natalie C. Parker did a wonderful job chosing the authors and stories and putting together a great anthology.

Interestingly, my favourite story of them all wasn’t one of the ones I was expecting, but the one by probably the least well-known author out of the bunch: Kayla Whaley’s “In Kind”. The story of a so-called mercy killing, where a father murdered his severely disabled teenage daughter – only for her to be resurrected as a vampire was harrowing and emotional and raised many moral and ethical considerations that society needs to reconsider. Incredibly well-written, the frustrations of disabled people struggling to be heard in today’s society become clear in “In Kind”. If you only read one story out of this anthology, make it this one.

Of course I also loved V.E. Schwab’s “First Kill” – a Romeo and Juliet-esque story about a vampire and a vampire-hunter falling in sapphic love. I don’t think the woman can write anything I won’t adore, to be honest. Two girls, doomed love, secrets, what more is there to want! There are many other stories in this anthology that are wonderful, looking at so many different facets of vampires and the vampire mythology of the past few decades – the stories do tend to be based on modern vampires rather than the concepts taken from Dracula or Nosferatu. I won’t go into detail about all the stories here, but do rest assured that Vampires Never Get Old is an anthology you shouldn’t miss!

So get out your garlic bread to ward off any potential vampires, add Vampires Never Get Old to your Goodreads here, and order a copy from your favourite retailer ASAP. In the UK you can get a copy from Portal Bookshop here and from Hive here.

I think this might be a record, two blog tours on the same day! But both of these books are excellent and worth reading about. The Trouble With Peace is the second book in Joe Abercrombie’s The Age of Madness trilogy, following up on 2019’s A Little Hatred. A true work of Grimdark fantasy, this trilogy is set in a world more inspired by the eighteenth century than the Middle Ages, which makes it rather unique. There is technology, but no less war and manipulation, and fans of the genre will devour it.

Thank you to Patricia Deveer and Gollancz for including me in this blog tour and sending me a copy of The Trouble With Peace! I highly recommend you also head over and check out some of the posts of my wonderful co-hosts.

RELEASE DATE: 15/09/20

STAR RATING: 4/5 ✶

SUMMARY: Conspiracy. Betrayal. Rebellion.
Peace is just another kind of battlefield . . .

Savine dan Glokta, once Adua’s most powerful investor, finds her judgement, fortune and reputation in tatters. But she still has all her ambitions, and no scruple will be permitted to stand in her way.

For heroes like Leo dan Brock and Stour Nightfall, only happy with swords drawn, peace is an ordeal to end as soon as possible. But grievances must be nursed, power seized and allies gathered first, while Rikke must master the power of the Long Eye . . . before it kills her.

Unrest worms into every layer of society. The Breakers still lurk in the shadows, plotting to free the common man from his shackles, while noblemen bicker for their own advantage. Orso struggles to find a safe path through the maze of knives that is politics, only for his enemies, and his debts, to multiply.

The old ways are swept aside, and the old leaders with them, but those who would seize the reins of power will find no alliance, no friendship, and no peace, lasts forever. (from Gollancz)

OPINIONS: While it took me a very long time to get settled with A Little Hatred, I enjoyed The Trouble With Peace far more from the start and found it extremely compelling – I ended up reading the five hundred page novel in two installments over a couple days (while I was already tired from working on my dissertation, so good job, Mr. Abercrombie, don’t let it get to your head!). These books are very addictive once you get into them and sort out the different strands in your head. Pro-tip: there is a list of characters at the end which helps a lot, consult that throughout, not just at the end! The ending of The Trouble With Peace is both very satisfying and an evil cliffhanger making you want more immediately, so I’m very glad that there is more to come – the third volume in the trilogy will be published next year and I can’t wait to read and review it too!

I think my favourite part of the series so far is that the women are the ones with the brains, pulling the strings, and manipulating, whereas the male of the species tend to be brawny – and to an extent, naive. Believing themselves to be one thing when they are not, only to be led in a different direction by the women close to them is wonderful to see. It is no wonder that my favourite characters in the series are Rikke and Savine. Fiercely independent women set to have their own way no matter the cost to themselves and others. That is not to say that they are portrayed as positive characters – as is befitting a Grimdark novel, they, as are the remaining characters, are multi-layered and morally murky, selfish and power-hungry.

The world-building is also excellent, as is the writing, sprinkled in with humour. Never boring, the Age of Madness trilogy is a must-read for any fan of Grimdark fantasy! Add it on Goodreads here, and order yourself a (signed) copy of The Trouble With Peace via Waterstones here.

Very fittingly, this review is going up on a D&D day! Even If We Break is a locked-house thriller set around an RPG weekend in which a group of teenagers try to salvage their friendship… or do they? Featuring amazing queer and disability rep, as well as my favourite thing, RPGs, Marieke Nijkamp has managed to craft a unique contribution to the YA canon that will make a lot of young people feel seen!

Thank you to Midas PR, Amber Choudhary and Sourcebooks Fire for including me in this blog tour and sending me an ARC of Even If We Break! I highly recommend you also head over and check out some of the posts of my wonderful co-hosts.

RELEASE DATE: 15/09/20

STAR RATING: 4/5 ✶

SUMMARY:

FIVE friends go to a cabin.
FOUR of them are hiding secrets.
THREE years of history bind them.
TWO are doomed from the start.
ONE person wants to end this.
NO ONE IS SAFE.

For five friends, this was supposed to be one last getaway before going their separate ways—a chance to say goodbye to each other, and to the game they’ve been playing for the past three years. But they’re all dealing with their own demons, and they’re all hiding secrets.

Finn doesn’t trust anyone since he was attacked a few months ago. Popular girl Liva saw it happen and did nothing to stop it. Maddy was in an accident that destroyed her sports career. Carter is drowning under the weight of his family’s expectations. Ever wants to keep the game going for as long as they can, at all costs.

When the lines between game and reality start to blend with deadly consequences, it’s a race against time before it’s game over—forever.

Are you ready to play? (from Sourcebooks Fire)

OPINIONS: Please please, dear authors, write more books featuring nerd-catnip like RPGs! I absolutely devoured Even If We Break over the span of a few hours last week and I think this unique twist was my favourite part about it. On top of that, the book featured a very diverse cast of protagonists in terms of gender and disability, and addressed a host of issues faced by young people growing up in today’s society.

As the author themselves is gender non-conforming, autistic and has EDS, all represented in the book, these portrayals are well-crafted and nuanced rather than being there merely for show or harmful. Finn is a trans boy with EDS (not explicit on the page but confirmed by Marieke on Twitter), Maddy is autistic, and Ever is non-binary. While the group is ethnically not as diverse, they actually poke fun at that fact themselves in the story. (Prescription) drug abuse and social class are further issues addressed in Even If We Break, making it a multi-layered story past the surface plot.

And that is where the book’s great value lies in my opinion. There are amazingly crafted characters with aims, dreams and elaborate backstories that only shimmer through in the book itself. There is a world behind the story that will help many teens feel seen, and that is incredible. For me, that more than makes up for the fact that the mystery itself in Even If We Break was quite transparent, and I figured out what was going on relatively early on. Nevertheless, the story was well-written, and the inclusion of the RPG cleverly done.

I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Even If We Break as soon as you can – add it to your Goodreads here, and order a copy from Waterstones here.

Today is my stop on the Iron Heart tour run by Caffeine Book Tours! Click here to see the full schedule and to support this awesome book and my hard-working co-hosts. Iron Heart is the sequel to Crier’s War and concludes the duology about a human and an android falling in love and it’s beautiful and emotional and amazing.

I am incredibly grateful to Shealea and Caffeine Book Tours for choosing me to be part of this tour and letting me read Iron Heart early, and a massive thanks to HarperTeen for providing me with an eARC!

RELEASE DATE: 08/09/20

STAR RATING: 4.5/5 ✶

SUMMARY: For too long the cruel, beautiful Automae have lorded over the kingdom of Rabu, oppressing the humans who live there. But the human revolution is on the rise, and at its heart is Ayla. Once handmaiden, now fugitive, Ayla escaped the palace of Lady Crier, the girl Ayla had planned to kill . . . but instead fell in love with. Now Ayla has pledged her allegiance to Queen Junn, whom she believes can accomplish the ultimate goal of the human rebellion: destroy the Iron Heart. Without it, the Automae will be weakened to the point of extinction.

But playing at Ayla’s memory are the powerful feelings she developed for Crier. And unbeknownst to her, Crier has also fled the palace, taking up among travelling rebels, determined to find and protect Ayla.

As their paths collide, neither are prepared for the dark secret underlying the Iron Heart. (from HarperTeen)

OPINIONS: Crier’s War was good, but Iron Heart is even better – you can tell that Nina Varela is really coming into her own as a writer, becoming more confident and escaping the dreaded second-book-syndrome. Iron Heart is grippingly written, I tried to space out reading it in bits over the course of a day, but every time I tried to take a break, I was back at it within a couple of minutes. And I have really been struggling to stay focused on my reading. So congrats Nina, great job!

And oh, the tension, the longing, the buildup between Crier and Ayla. It really is an epic love story. It is only really hinted at in Crier’s War, but the sequel picks up right after the end of the first book and the relationship keeps developing organically. Even though the two girls spend large chunks of the story apart, they remain connected in so many ways, which is wonderful. They also both grow so much over the course of the story – from idealistic kids to women part of leading a rebellion.

Seriously, I need more of this kind of writing – well-written sapphics with real character growth, alchemy, rebellion, history and the all-important question of what it means to be human and alive. Nina, please keep writing and supplying us with wonderful queer YA for many years to come!

Add Iron Heart on Goodreads here, and order a copy from Book Depository here!

A tale of necromancy, vampires and shenanigans, reminiscent of Terry Pratchett writing for the modern woman, Alice James’ Grave Secrets is a delight of a paranormal romance. I’ve hyped this up so much that my partner’s mum has just taken the ARC off me to read herself, so I guess that speaks for itself!

Many thanks to Rebellion Publishing and Hanna Waigh for sending me an ARC and including me on this blog tour!

RELEASE DATE: 03/09/20

STAR RATING: 4/5 ✶

SUMMARY: Toni Windsor is trying to live a quiet life in the green and pleasant county of Staffordshire. She’d love to finally master the rules of croquet, acquire a decent boyfriend and make some commission as an estate agent. All that might have to wait, though, because there are zombies rising from their graves, vampires sneaking out of their coffins and a murder to solve. It’s all made rather more complicated by the fact that she’s the one raising all the zombies – oh, and she’s dating one of the vampires. It can’t be the best decision she’s ever made, but he’s so pretty. Really, what’s a girl meant to do? (from Solaris)

OPINIONS: Grave Secrets is one of the most hilarious books I have read in a long time. I was chuckling the whole time I was reading Toni’s story and at times even laughing out loud – my poor partner who was trying to write their dissertation at the same time! Toni is a wonderful heroine, flawed and complex, spunky and independent. She knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go after it, all the while being a kick-ass necromancer and adorkable at the same time.

Her menagerie of men is just as fun and exciting – there is a three-hundred year dead zombie named Bredon who loves to eat, the handsome vampire Oscar, dashing doctor Peter, who happens to be human, and what about the rakishly dangerous vampire Benedict Toni loves to hate? While this first volume of the story is quite clear on her loyalties, it leaves a lot of speculation for the future as Toni’s chemistry with all of these men is high and she might have to re-evaluate her options after everything that happens in Grave Secrets….

Grave Secrets is well-written, funny, sexy, and highly addictive – I need more as soon as I can get it. I cannot wait for the second volume of the Lavington Windsor Mysteries to be released so I can get my fix of this wonderful paranormal romance series and decide on which ship to stan. Add Grave Secrets on Goodreads and order a copy via Waterstones or your book dealer of choice!

As you have probably heard (because I’ve been telling everyone I’ve met), I co-founded a blog tour company, Phoenix Fire Tours a little while ago, and we are currently running our very first tour! Bright Raven Skies by Kristina Pérez was published on the 25th of August and is the conclusion to her Sweet Black Waves trilogy based on the legend of Tristan and Eseult, and centers the character of Branwen.

For the full tour schedule and links to all posts, check out the Phoenix Fire blog here! We are also running a giveaway for a finished copy of the book for a lucky winner with a US or UK shipping address: CLICK HERE TO ENTER

I loved this third installment just as much as the first two – the same wonderfully complex characters, unashamed bodily autonomy and determination that make the series such a treat dominate Bright Raven Skies as well. It is thrilling, fast-paced and will keep the reader enthralled from start to finish. Full of twists that you don’t see coming, Branwen will have to choose between her light and dark sides once and for all in this satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.

Now, I said I would be writing about the food featured in this book today. I think that came up more often in the earlier volumes, as I paid full attention this time and there were barely any instances of meals that the characters eat! I was hoping for a nice feast that I could choose something from to recreate and treat you all to a recipe for – I love medieval cookery, which is full of the combination of sweet and savoury, with dishes like meat pies spiced with honey and raisins.

The main thing that Branwen and Essie consume in Bright Raven Skies is not food, but rather drink: Blackberry Wine. This sweet concoction is their drink of choice throughout their stay in Kernyv. I wish I was able to recreate this myself, but I don’t trust myself to brew alcohol (yet) – though I do have some friends back in Switzerland who know how to brew mead! I do imagine this Blackberry Wine as a sort of mead cut with blackberry juice, low in alcoholic percentage, sweet and utterly drinkable. I’m not sure how available these things are here in the UK, but in Switzerland where I grew up, me and my friends actually drank mead laced with cherry juice as our beverage of choice growing up, so I feel quite nostalgic about the idea of Blackberry Wine.

I don’t want to encourage anyone to drink, but if you do drink and have the chance to pick up something along those lines at a medieval fair or a castle or somewhere similar, I do recommend it!

In 2054, a time past the ubiquity of the internet, Bots are everywhere. They look like humans, but they are still Bots and are considered as not much more than unfeeling slaves. Told entirely from the perspective of Jared, one of those Bots, Set My Heart To Five explores what happens when a Bot develops feelings, and what it means to be human. Using a unique writing style – a Bot trying to imitate a sort of human flow-of-consciousness – interspersed by screen-written moments, Jared and his world come to life and become more human than the supposed humans around him.

Set My Heart To Five is a heart-breaking, tear-jerking, funny story that I suspect will captivate its readership quickly. Jared is charming and infuriating, and – surprisingly identifiable with!

Add Set My Heart To Five on Goodreads, or order it from your retailer of choice, such as Waterstones, and check out my interview with the author below!

Many thanks to Midas PR and Amber Choudhary for including me on this Blog Tour, and to them and Fourth Estate for the advance review copy of the novel.

RELEASE DATE: 28/05/20

STAR RATING: 4/5 ✶

INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR, SIMON STEPHENSON:

SET MY HEART TO FIVE’s premise includes humanity locking themselves out of the internet. What inspired you to imagine life without what is a lifeline for most people?

I do completely agree that the internet – and technology in general – can be a wonderful force for good, and at their best they bring us together.

There is an incredible poem by Lavinia Greenlaw called ‘A World Where News Travelled Slowly’ which – even though it was written in the 1990’s – is about the challenges of communicating meaningfully when technology means we can now say just about anything to anyone at any time. So, with that sort of notion in mind, I wanted to set my story in a world where communication was a little more difficult than today.  This of course also made it easier to write about loneliness and disconnection.

As an aspiring editor, I am always curious about the author/editor relationship. What can you tell us about working with the team at Fourth Estate?

Well, obviously 4^th Estate are home to so many incredible authors it’s a dream come true for them to publish Set My Heart To Five.  My editor at 4^th Estate is Helen Garnons-Williams, and she has edited many brilliant books, including Jon McGregor, so I knew I was in the best of hands. The first time we spoke I was – ironically enough, because Jared lives in one – staying in a friend’s rented pool house in an area called Echo Park, and I remember listening to her talk about the book and just being so utterly thrilled that she not only got exactly what I was trying to do, but had some smart ways to improve it.

In terms of the process, working as a screenwriter naturally involves endless redrafting and collaboration, so I’m maybe more accustomed to that than some.  That said, nothing every really leaves my desktop until I am fairly happy with it, so I think the manuscript 4^th first read was maybe 85-90% what ended up in the finished book. Of course that 10% can make all the difference (and hopefully it did!).

What do you love most about being an author?

There’s always a huge thrill in simply hearing people have even read my work, let alone enjoyed it.  When my last book was published I did a few book festivals and getting to meet other writers, hear them speak and then talk shop was a real thrill.  Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can do such things again. 

How does your creative process differ between writing prose and screenwriting?

I think the real difference is simply in strategy – a screenplay is a middle-distance run, whereas a novel is a marathon.  So, with a screenplay – depending on context – often I will try and rattle out a first draft as quickly as I can, whereas with a  novel you of course have to pace yourself a little more.

What are some books you are excited to read in the upcoming weeks or that you have loved recently?

Next up for me is Sophie Heawood’s The Hungover Games.  She’s a brilliant – and hilarious – writer, and I can’t wait to get stuck in.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

As a screenwriter, Simon nonetheless continues to be much in demand on both sides of the Atlantic.  He spent two years writing at Pixar in San Francisco, and originated and wrote Amazon’s forthcoming feature film LOUIS WAIN (starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy). Julia Roberts attached to his screenplay TRAIN MAN, and the film rights to SET MY HEART TO FIVE were pre-emptively acquired by Working Title Films, Focus Features, and Nira Park’s Complete Fiction Pictures. Edgar Wright is set to direct the film from Simon’s screenplay. 

One of Simon’s most memorable moments from his time in Hollywood was taking a meeting with an actor he admired most, and then having said actor kindly insist on driving Simon home in his distinctive vintage Porsche while telling him about his mind-blowing stories about his canonical body of work.  As a token of thanks, Simon then gave that car to the villain in Set My Heart To Five!

Today I have a very special blog tour for you: my very first audio book review! Bad Love by Maame Blue is part of one of the most exciting publishing projects of this year, Jacaranda’s #Twentyin2020 campaign. The indie publisher has vowed to publish twenty books by Black British writers this year, which Audible will be exclusively producing as audio books. Already released under the #Twentyin2020 campaign are: Lote by Shola von Reinhold, Through the Leopard’s Gaze written and narrated by comedian Njambi McGrath, The Space Between Black and White written and narrated by Esuantsiwa Jane Goldsmith and Under Solomon Skies by Berni Sorga-Millwood, narrated by Damian Lynch. Bad Love is narrated by Vivienne Acheampong, an actress and comedian, best known for featuring in Death in Paradise (2011), The Trap (2015) and Turn Up Charlie (2019).

Many thanks to Amber Choudhary from Midas PR for inviting me on this tour and Audible and Jacaranda for providing an advance copy of the audio book of Bad Love.

RELEASE DATE: 18/06/20

STAR RATING: 4/5 ✶

SUMMARY:

Bad Love tells the story of Ekuah Danquah, a London-born Ghanaian who is 18 years old when she falls in love for the first time. As both narrator and protagonist now in her 30s, she delves into her memories of angst and confusion that dismantled her experience of that first, impactful romantic relationship. It meets none of her rigid expectations and instead shines a light on other significant relationships in her life, especially the marriage of her parents, something she had long considered an unhappy pairing.

OPINIONS:

First of all, looking at the breathtaking cover makes me rather upset that I only got to review an audio book and not a physical copy so I could stare at the cover for hours instead of actually reading and reviewing it. But I have to say, I loved the experience of having an audio review copy – I’ve been binging audio so much recently that I absolutely flew through Bad Love.

Ekuah is a great leading voice throughout the book, and it is lovely to have a book narrated by a character so clearly rooted in London and the Arts. As someone who predominately reads SFF, Bad Love has made a welcome change and shown me once again that contemporary fiction can be incredibly powerful. Growing up with Ekkie throughout the course of the book resonated with me as a woman in my mid-twenties, struggling with some of the same issues that she is facing. Between the UK, Ghana and Italy, Ekkie discovers who she is and what she wants, through and despite the relationships in her life.

Bad Love is incredibly well-written, and audio book narrator Vivienne Acheampong brings it to life just as well. It approaches the intangible and complicated subjects of love and relationships with grace and nuance, and refuses to paint a rosy picture. Love is shown to be just as toxic, heart-breaking, beautiful and exhilarating as it is in real life.

I highly recommend you give this book a read or listen! Add Bad Love on Goodreads here, and order it either in audio from Audible UK directly here, or in print from Jacaranda here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Maame Blue is a Ghanaian Londoner, writer, and project manager for not-for-profit organisations. As well as co-hosting Headscarves and Carry-ons – a podcast about black girls living abroad – she regularly runs social media campaigns for www.bmeprpros.co.uk and sporadically blogs over at www.maamebluewrites.com.  In 2018 she won the Africa Writes x AFREADA flash fiction competition for her story Black Sky. She has since been published in AFREADA, Afribuku, and Memoir Magazine; with stories forthcoming in Storm Cellar Quarterly and Litro Magazine.

A novel about isolation far timelier now than it was when Laura Lam wrote it, full of defiant women and space hijinks. I am thrilled to present my stop on the blog tour for Goldilocks today. Do check out the other stops on the tour to read what my co-bloggers have to say!

Many thanks to Wildfire and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for having me and providing me with an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

RELEASE DATE: 30/04/20

STAR RATING: 4/5 ✶

SUMMARY: Ravaged by environmental disaster, greed and oppression, our planet is in crisis. The future of humanity hangs in the balance – and one woman can tip it over.

Despite increasing restrictions on the freedoms of women on Earth, Valerie Black is spearheading the first all-female mission to a planet in the Goldilocks Zone, where conditions are just right for human habitation.

It’s humanity’s last hope for survival, and Naomi, Valerie’s surrogate daughter and the ship’s botanist, has been waiting her whole life for an opportunity like this – to step out of Valerie’s shadow and really make a difference.

But when things start going wrong on the ship, Naomi starts to suspect that someone on board is concealing a terrible secret – and realises time for life on Earth may be running out faster than they feared…

OPINIONS: I did not know much about Goldilocks before I started reading, sucked in by the beautiful cover and wanting to branch out into outer space for a change from COVID-times. Little did I know that Goldilocks would turn out to be an incredibly timely novel dealing with themes of isolation, loneliness and close confinement (yes, I, a supposedly smart person, did not make the connection between social isolation and long-distance space travel). Laura Lam looks at the social dynamics of being cooped up over long periods, and the ensuing change in relationships and developing tensions in a nuanced and poignant way, and it was a treat to look at our current lives from such an estranged perspective.

A group of women hijacking a spaceship set to go to a new planet light years away from Earth, in a society biased against women’s rights, makes for an interesting story in the best of times. Add in intrigue, a dying earth, ethical conundrums and a deathly plague, and you have a story you cannot put down.

Goldilocks was incredibly well written and consistently fast-paced. Although I usually prefer books that are a bit slower, it worked well in this instance, and kept tension high throughout. The details were well-crafted and the characters personable and strongly motivated. It shows that Laura Lam knows what she is doing, and without spoiling anything, I loved the intricacies of the story and the moral dilemmas facing the characters. The one thing that didn’t quite work for me was the framing device – it felt anti-climactic, and unnecessary. I would have preferred it if Naomi’s story could have stood by itself, although to a certain extent the framing shows the greater progress and impact of the story.

Add Goldilocks to your Goodreads here, and order yourself a copy of this excellent novel via The Portal Bookshop, my favourite indie (it’s sold out lots of places, but the lovely folks at Portal Bookshop have secured copies!).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Laura Lam is the author of several science fiction books, including Radio 2 Book Club selection False Hearts. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in anthologies such as Nasty Women, Solaris Rising 3, Cranky Ladies of History, Scotland in Space, and more.

Originally from California, she now lives in Scotland with her husband, and teaches Creative Writing at Edinburgh Napier University.

You can find her on Twitter as @LR_Lam.

To end April on an exciting note, I am thrilled to be part of the Random Things Blog Tour for The Heron Kings by Eric Lewis, published by Flame Tree Press today! An epic grimdark fantasy set in a country at war, focusing on a healer rather than a warrior, reminding me of nothing more than a Dungeons and Dragons campaign where the players have taken over.

Many thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours and Flame Tree Press for having me and providing me with an advance copy of the book!

RELEASE DATE: 23/04/20

STAR RATING: 3/5 ✶

SUMMARY: After a warlord slaughters her patients, Sister Alessia quits the cloister and strikes out on her own to heal the victims of a brutal dynastic conflict. Her roaming forest camp unwittingly becomes the center of a vengeful peasant insurgency, raiding the forces of both sides to survive. Alessia struggles to temper their fury as well as tend wounds, consenting to ever greater violence to keep her new charges safe. When they uncover proof of a foreign conspiracy prolonging the bloodshed, Alessia risks the very lives she’s saved to expose the truth and bring the war to an end. (From Flame Tree Press)

OPINIONS: If you are looking for a fun romp through gritty fantasyland, The Heron Kings might just be what you need. Featuring a ragtag team bumbling through a land at war, trying to survive between enemy factions while healing, plundering and tricking their way to survival and accidentally landing themselves in deeper waters than they expected, this really does remind me of the dynamic of a D&D campaign where the DM has lost control and the players have taken over. While entertaining, it does make it a bit hard to follow at times – but then, I read an advance copy and the signposting could easily have been fixed in final edits.

I thoroughly enjoyed Alessia’s character holding up the story – it is not often that a healer is put front and centre, and especially one that starts out with lofty morals but soon grows a pair and becomes adept at weathering the challenges of uncertain times. She is a refeshing main character for the genre, and I hope to read more women like her in the future! Her companion, Ulnoth, is less pleasant – I hated the bastard, even though I thought he was intended to be more of a hero-type. To me, he often acted incongruously, and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. The secondary characters often only pop up once or twice, or stay otherwise non-descript. I feel fleshing them out more could have given the book more substance and elevated it.

In general, there were some stellar scenes – I remember one featuring a whore very fondly – while the book as a whole seemed to never quite find the true heart of its story. There was a lot of violence, much of it not strictly necessary for the plot or character development (think random bodies found with mutilated genitalia and it being made clear that mutilations had happened as a means of execution), which made me personally roll my eyes, as I feel that the genre has moved past that in recent years. I do think a lot of what I didn’t like as much about The Heron Kings is down to its nature as a debut novel and a bunch of smaller issues that are due to reading a digital ARC that I am confident will have been fixed in the final version.

All in all, I do recommend The Heron Kings as a fun way to spend an afternoon or evening in lockdown, and read a tropey, epic, grimdark fantasy that will take you away from everything that is shitty in our world! Get yourself a copy from Hive (hardback/paperback), or your indie of choice!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: By day Eric Lewis is a PhD research chemist weathering the latest rounds of mergers and layoffs and still trying to remember how to be a person again long after surviving grad school. In addition to subjecting his writing to one rejection after another, he can be found gathering to himself as many different sharp and pointies as possible and searching for the perfect hiking trail, archery range of single malt Scotch. Don’t ask where, because he’s never lived anywhere for longer than five years.

His short fiction has been published in Nature, Electric Spec, Allegory, Bards and Sages Quarterly, the anthologies Into Darkness Peering, Best Indie Speculative Fiction Vol. 1 and Crash Code, as well as other venues detailed at ericlewis.ink. THE HERON KINGS is his first novel.