It’s fair to say that Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of my favourite contemporary authors. I’ve only read a handful of his works to date but every one of them has been excellent in its own way and the more I read the more eager I become for his next book. Made Things is no exception.
It’s an absolutely delightful novella that follows the trials and tribulations of puppeteer Coppelia as she finds herself getting pulled into the machinations of the local thieves guild and their ongoing struggles against the Magelords of Loretz. Tagging along for the ride are two of Coppelia’s little friends, Tef and Arc, mysterious homunculi who are themselves fighting to find a place in a world that’s much larger than they could ever imagine.
DISCLAIMER: I received an advanced reader copy of this title from the publishers and NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review. Many thanks to Black Thorn Books for giving me the chance to read and review this book.
In the year 1752 Tabitha Hart earns a living at the pleasure of whichever London gentlemen have the coin to pay for her time, but when her ailing mother calls her home to the village of Netherlea she has no choice but to reluctantly do as she is bid. Unfortunately, by the time she returns home it is too late. Despite the assurances of the village constable and the local doctor, Tabitha finds evidence in her mother’s almanack that suggests a darker truth to her death, and a mystery that threatens more darkness to come.
It’s that time of year where the nights are getting longer than the days and curling up next to a roaring log fire with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book starts to sound a lot like heaven, so it’s hardly surprising I’ve already got more than a few page-turners bookmarked for late-Autumn reading. To add to the small pile that’s slowly forming next to my comfy chair, here are five books coming out in November that I’m particularly eager to get my hands on.
There are some fantasy writers who don’t seem to get the recognition they deserve, and for my money Katharine Kerr is definitely one of them. Despite a writing career stretching back over thirty years few people outside her circle of fans have heard of her sprawling, fifteen book fantasy series (soon to be sixteen), and honestly, they really don’t know what they’re missing out on.
I’ve been seeing Benedict Patrick’s Yarnsworld books popping up on social media and review sites for a couple of years now, but despite having the first two sat on my to-read shelves for a long time I’ve never actually gotten around to reading any of them. Well, that’s all changed now, and if this short but thoroughly engrossing tale is anything to go by I shall certainly be adding the rest of the series to my priority list.
DISCLAIMER: I received an advanced reader copy from the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review. Thank you to Orbit Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
I have to admit this book ended up being very different to what I initially expected from the blurb. When I first found it on NetGalley I was imagining perhaps a psychological horror/thriller, with a creepy stalker protagonist à la Ira Levin’s Sliver. Well, that’s not how this one turned out.
