strange and random happenstance

With a Vengeance by Riley Sager
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One train. No stops. A deadly game of survival and revenge.

In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson's family. Twelve years later, she's ready for retribution.

Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family's downfall onto a luxury train from Philadelphia to Chicago, an overnight journey of thirteen hours. Her goal? Confront the people who've wronged her, get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line. Justice will at last be served.

But Anna's plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. As the train barrels through the night, it becomes clear that someone else on board is enacting their own form of revenge - and that they won't stop until everyone else is dead.

With time running out before the train reaches its destination, Anna is forced to hunt the killer in their midst while protecting the people she hates the most. In order to destroy her enemies, she must first save them - even though it means putting her own life at risk."

The new Riley Sager book is out, which means summer is FINALLY here!

A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge by Kate Khavari
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Brilliant botanist Saffron Everleigh faces her hardest challenge yet when she returns to her childhood home in the fourth book in the charming Saffron Everleigh mystery series.

Saffron Everleigh returns to Ellington Manor after her grandfather suffers a heart attack. Back in her childhood home for the first time in years, Saffron faces tense family relationships made worse by the presence of the enigmatic Bill Wyatt, hired on as a doctor to the ailing Lord Easting. But the man is no doctor - in reality, he is a mysterious figure involved in the trafficking of dangerous government secrets, and his presence at Ellington can only mean trouble.

When their neighbors, the Hales, invite a spiritual medium into the village who starts angling for Saffron's mother's attention, Saffron realizes that there is more afoot in her hometown than she originally thought. Not to mention inviting Alexander to Ellington has put their budding relationship under her family's microscope.

As tensions rise at Ellington, Bill demands that Saffron hand over old research documents belonging to her late father. With her relatives under his power as their 'doctor,' Saffron fears she may be forced to surrender the files along with her hopes of ever understanding her father's obscure legacy. Nothing and no one is as they seem at Ellington. It's through the perfumed haze of the séance's smoke that Saffron must search for the truth before it's too late."

SPIRITUAL MEDIUM! YAS!

London Particular by Christianna Brand
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"First published in 1952, London Particular was Christianna Brand's favorite among her own books, and it remains a fast-paced and witty masterpiece of the genre, showing off the author's signature flair for the ruthless twist. This edition includes an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger and Edgar(R) Award-winning author Martin Edwards.

Night falls in the capital, and a "London particular" pea-souper fog envelops the city. In Maida Vale, Rose and her family doctor Tedward struggle through the dark after a man has telephoned from Rose's house, claiming to have been attacked. By the time they arrive, the victim, Raoul Vernet, is dead. The news he brought from Switzerland for Rose's mother has died with him.

Arriving to the scene, Inspector Cockrill faces a fiendish case with seven suspects who could have murdered their guest - family members and friends with alibis muddled by the suffocating fog and motives wrapped in mystery. Now, the race is on to find the truth before the killer strikes again."

She sure had wit to name here characters Tedward and Cockrill!

The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay
Published by: Harper Muse
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set in the art world of 1970s London, The English Masterpiece is a fast-paced read to the end, full of glamour and secrets, tensions and lies, as one young woman races against the clock to uncover the truth about a Picasso masterpiece. Perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Ariel Lawhon.

As the recently promoted assistant to the Tate's Modern Collections keeper Diana Gilden, Lily helps plan a world-class Picasso exhibit to honor the passing of the great artist - and she's waited her whole life for this moment. The opening is beyond anyone's expectations - the lighting, the champagne, the glittering crowd, and the international acclaim - until Lily does the unthinkable. She stops in front of a masterpiece and hears her own voice say, "It's a forgery." The gallery falls silent.

Lily's boss, Diana, is polished perfection, schooled in art, and descends from European high society. She's worked hard to become the trusted voice in London's modern art scene and respected across the Continent. The Tate's Picasso Commemorative is to be her crowning achievement, featuring not only the artist's most iconic and intimate works, but a newly discovered painting - one she advised an investor to purchase. But when Lily makes her outrageous declaration, suspicion and scandal threaten everything Diana has achieved, as museums and collectors across Europe, already doubting most post-war acquisitions, fall into chaos and rumors of a world-wide forgery run wild.

All Lily has ever wanted is to follow in Diana's footsteps and take the art world by storm in her own right. Yet one comment puts not only her own career at risk but also her mentor's. Unless...Was she right? With the clock ticking and the clues starting to pile up against her, Lily must uncover the truth behind the Picasso before she loses not only the career she's always wanted, but her freedom.

Block off your calendar and lose yourself in The English Masterpiece, a thrilling read that will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end from the author who brought you The London House and The Berlin Letters."

Art world, check. Forgeries, check. Period drama, check!

A Murder for Miss Hortense by Mel Pennant
Published by: Pantheon
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Retired nurse, avid gardener, and renowned cake maker Miss Hortense has lived in Bigglesweigh, a quiet suburb of Birmingham, England, since she emigrated from Jamaica in 1960. She takes great pride in her home, starching her lace curtains bright white, and she can tell if she's being shortchanged on turmeric before she's taken her first bite of a beef patty. A career in nursing has also left her afraid of nobody, whether an interfering priest or a local drug dealer, and she's an expert in deciphering other people's secrets with just a glance.

Miss Hortense once used her skills to benefit the Pardner network - a local group of Black investors that she helped found. Until, that is, she was unceremoniously ousted from its ranks, severing her ties to the majority of her friends and community. That was thirty years ago. Now, as a new millennium dawns, an unidentified man has been found dead in the home of one of the Pardner members, a Bible quote written on a note beside his body. Suddenly, Miss Hortense finds her long-buried past rushing back, bringing memories of the worst moment of her life - and secrets behind an unsolved crime that has haunted her for decades.

It is finally time for Miss Hortense to solve a mystery that will see her and the community she loves pushed to their limits. The first novel from a bold, brilliant new voice, A Murder for Miss Hortense introduces a fear-less sleuth whom readers will never forget."

Trust me, this will be a television series before long. Read it now!

Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall
Published by: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the internationally award-winning creator of Broadchurch comes a brilliant new detective story following one man's death and the secrets that unravel in a coastal English village.

Nothing keeps a village together like secrets.

The villagers of Fleetcombe like to think of it as one of the most picturesque spots on England's coast.

But now, it's a disturbingly macabre crime scene.

A man is found dead, tied to a chair in the middle of the road, a stag's antlers on his head. The gruesome scene stuns the town, especially when the victim is identified: Jim Tiernan, who ran the White Hart pub. Tiernan's pub is at the center of village life and he knew everyone's secrets.

Detective Nicola Bridge grew up in Fleetcombe and has now returned, for the good of her family, from a life away in Liverpool. DC Harry Ward is ten years younger and, despite his newcomer status, determined to earn Nicola's trust. Because they don't have long to crack the storybook façade and find out just what the people of Fleetcombe have to hide.

And now, in the place she thought she knew so well, Detective Nicola Bridge is asking questions. Is she ready for what she's about to find?"

Remember when simply everyone was obsessed with Broadchurch? You will be well obsessed with this, only you won't to wait for weekly installments, how quickly you finish is up to you and how fast you can read.

Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Dukess
Published by: Gallery/Scout Press
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this delightfully funny and heartfelt new novel from the author of the "bittersweet page-turner" (The New York Times) The Last Book Party, an American woman travels to the English countryside when she discovers tickets her late mother had purchased for a murder mystery simulation in a small British town.

When thirty-four-year-old Cath loses her mostly absentee mother, she is ambivalent. With days of quiet, unassuming routine in Buffalo, New York, Cath consciously avoids the impulsive, thrill-seeking lifestyle that her mother once led. But when she's forced to go through her mother's things one afternoon, Cath is perplexed to find tickets for an upcoming "murder week" in England's Peak District: a whole town has come together to stage a fake murder mystery to attract tourism to their quaint hamlet. Baffled but helplessly intrigued by her mother's secret purchase, Cath decides to go on the trip herself - and begins a journey she never could have anticipated.

Teaming up with her two cottage-mates, both ardent mystery lovers - Wyatt Green, forty, who works unhappily in his husband's birding store, and Amity Clark, fifty, a divorced romance writer struggling with her novels - Cath sets about solving the "crime" and begins to unravel shocking truths about her mother along the way. Amidst a fling - or something more - with the handsome local maker of artisanal gin, Cath and her irresistibly charming fellow sleuths will find this week of fake murder may help them face up to a very real crossroads in their own lives.

Witty, wise, and deliciously escapist, Welcome to Murder Week is a fresh, inventive twist on the murder mystery and a touching portrayal of one daughter's reckoning with her grief, her past - and her own budding sense of adventure."

But, what if it was also a culling of the tourists dumb enough to come?

Kill You Darlings by Peter Swanson
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders comes an inventive, utterly propulsive murder-mystery in reverse, tracing a marriage back in time to uncover the dark secret at its heart.

Thom and Wendy Graves have been married for over twenty-five years. They live in a beautiful Victorian on the north shore of Massachusetts. Wendy is a published poet and Thom teaches English literature at a nearby university. Their son, Jason, is all grown up. All is well…except that Wendy wants to murder her husband.

What happens next has everything to do with what happened before. The story of Wendy and Thom's marriage is told in reverse, moving backward through time to witness key moments from the couple's lives - their fiftieth birthday party, buying their home, Jason's birth, the mysterious death of a work colleague - all painting a portrait of a marriage defined by a single terrible act they plotted together many years ago.

Eventually we learn the details of what Thom and Wendy did in their early twenties, a secret that has kept them bound together through the length of their marriage. But its power over them is fraying, and each of them begins to wonder if they would be better off making sure their spouse carries their secrets to the grave."

Murder looming as trust frays? Oh yes.

A Most Puzzling Murder by Bianca Marais
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"How do you solve a murder that hasn't happened yet?

Destiny Whip is a former child prodigy, world-renowned enigmatologist and very, very alone. A life filled with loss has made her a recluse, an existence she's content to endure until a letter arrives inviting her to interview for the position of Scruffmore family historian. Not only does an internet search for the name yield almost nothing, it's a role she never applied to in the first place!

She decodes the invitation's hidden message with ease, and its promise to reveal her family secrets proves too powerful a draw for the orphaned Destiny, who soon finds herself on Eerie Island. It's a place whose inhabitants are almost as inhospitable as the tempestuous weather. The Scruffmores themselves turn out to be not much better, a snarled mess of secrets and motives connected by their mistrust for one another.

Their newly arrived guest proves to be just as much an enigma to them as they are to her. While Destiny slowly works to unravel the mysteries hidden throughout the ominous castle, she struggles to interpret disturbing nightly visions of what is to come. In the midst of cryptic ciphers, hidden passages, and the family's magical line of succession, Destiny is certain of two things: one of the Scruffmores is going to die and she's running out of time to stop it.

Interspersed with riddles and puzzles that both Destiny and the reader must solve, A Most Puzzling Murder is a one-of-a-kind mystery that will leave you guessing and gasping until the very last page!"

I'm all for working to solve the crime!

The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Scream meets The Guest List in this wickedly compelling and compulsively page-turning thriller of friendship and murder from the author of The Lost Village, Camilla Sten.

On a remote island nestled off the coast of Sweden, four friends - Tilly, Anna, Linnea, and Evelina - meet every year. Best friends since childhood, the idea is to drink beer, dance by the water, and shake off the weight of life's expectations. The location of the island is a secret to everyone but them. One night of reckless fun and secret-sharing, and then they return to their normal lives.

Ten Years Later. Ever since she was a teenager, Tessa Nilsson has been consumed by the story of four friends who disappeared. As her true crime fervor turned into a wildly popular podcast, Tessa covered Sweden's most gruesome cases, but could never find the answers behind what happened to these women who disappeared. Now Tessa's podcast has crashed and burned, any chance she had at uncovering the truth vanishing with it.

Anneliese is Tessa's best friend, and before she walks down the aisle, she wants to have a bachelorette party. The destination: Baltic Vinyasa, a sleek, sophisticated yoga retreat on a small island off the coast - one with such similar characteristics to the tragedy years ago that it raises the hair on Tessa's neck. The idea is to drink gallons of cava, do sunrise yoga, and get in their last chance to bond with the bride. Tessa will not pass this up. It's her last chance to find out what happened to the four women, once and for all.

And it's someone else's last chance to get revenge."

Oh, mysterious spa of death!

Foreclosure Gothic by Harris Lahti
Published by: Astra House
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A multigenerational and deeply autobiographical Gothic tale of Hollywood dreams and upstate New York reality.

Foreclosure Gothic reimagines the American Gothic against the backdrop of today's Hudson Valley. The story tells of ex-Hollywood actor Vic Greener as he falls in love with the elusive Heather Roswell and the couple, following in the footsteps of Vic's father, resolves to make a life restoring one foreclosed home after another. Then comes the uncanny, destabilizing arrival of new tenants in their duplex, and the Greener's shocking discovery upon their departure.

With evocative and unsettling black and white photos throughout, this debut novel is at once a skewed portrait of three generations of Greener men, an intimate look at both childhood and parenthood and an examination of the friction between chasing one's dream and working to make money."

The title alone is so evocative of today's America. 

We Can Never Leave by H.E. Edgmon
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sweet Tooth meets The Raven Boys in this queer young adult contemporary fantasy about what it means to belong from H.E. Edgmon.

You can never go home...

Every day, all across the world, inhuman creatures are waking up with no memory of who they are or where they came from - and the Caravan exists to help them. The traveling community is made up of these very creatures and their families who've acclimated to this new existence by finding refuge in each other. That is, until the morning five teenage travelers wake to find their community has disappeared overnight.

Those left: a half-human who only just ran back to the Caravan with their tail between their legs, two brothers - one who can't seem to stay out of trouble and the other who's never been brave enough to get in it, a venomous girl with blood on her hands and a heart of gold, and the Caravan's newest addition, a disquieting shadow in the shape of a boy. They'll have to work together to figure out what happened the night of the disappearance, but each one of the forsaken five is white-knuckling their own secrets. And with each truth forced to light, it becomes clear this isn't really about what happened to their people - it's about what happened to them."

But keep in mind, what happened to their people could be what's about to happen to them...

A Girl Walks into the Forest by Madeleine Roux
Published by: Quill Tree Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Midsommar meets The Shadows Between Us in this alluring mash-up of horror and fairy tale from New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux, where a girl must embark on a harrowing journey through a deadly forest filled with otherworldly creatures, supernatural forces, and one maniacal villain who will stop at nothing to bring her down.

For as long as she can remember, Valla's been told her beauty would give her a life most people only dreamed of. So when the mysterious Count Leonid calls on her to be his betrothed, Valla jumps at the chance to leave her small, bleak village. The only thing standing in her way? The journey through the dangerous Gottyar Wood that many don't survive.

Filled with deadly and cunning creatures, the Gottyar immediately delivers on its reputation with an attack that leaves Valla injured; her face torn to shreds. Barely making it to the castle in one piece, Valla is relieved to finally be safe. But things have changed. Valla's face is no longer beautiful. And the Count is not happy...Valla thought making it through the Gottyar was a victory, but when she sees what awaits beyond the palace walls, the true battle begins.

In this ruthlessly female-forward narrative that borrows from the best of horror, fairy tales, and folklore, a chewed-up-and-spit-out heroine must lean on the brutality of nature and her biggest fears in order to win back what's she's been robbed of: her life."

Time for a little fairy tale female empowerment. 

The House of Two Sisters by Rachel Louise Driscoll
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young Victorian Egyptologist traverses the Nile River on a mission to undo a curse that may have befallen her family in this spellbinding novel.

Essex, 1887. Clementine's ability to read hieroglyphs makes her invaluable at her father's Egyptian relic parties, which have become the talk of the town. But at one such party, the words she interprets from an unusual amulet strike fear into her heart. As her childhood games about Isis and Nephthys - sister goddesses who protect the dead - take on a devastating resonance in her life, and tragedy slowly consumes her loved ones, she wonders what she and her father may have unleashed.

Five years later, Clemmie arrives in Cairo desperate to save what remains of her family back home. There, she meets a motley crew of unwitting English travelers about to set sail down the Nile - including an adventurer with secrets of his own - and joins them on a mission to reach Denderah, a revered religious site, where she hopes to return the amulet and atone for her sins.

With each passing day, she is further engulfed in a life she's yearned for all along. But as long-buried secrets and betrayals rise to the surface, Clemmie must reconcile the impossibility of living in the light while her past keeps her anchored to the darkness."

I mean, obviously I'm over the moon, because Egypt! But also, I'm oddly drawn by the Essex of it all.

The Palace of Illusions by Rowenna Miller
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Palace of Illusions brings readers to a Paris breathless with excitement at the dawn of the twentieth century, where for a select few there is a second, secret Paris where the magic of the City of Light is very real in this enchanting and atmospheric fantasy from the author of The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill.

In the run up to the 1900s World's Fair Paris is abuzz with creative energy and innovation. Audiences are spellbound by the Lumiere brothers' moving pictures and Loie Fuller's serpentine dance fusing art and technology. But for Clara Ironwood, a talented and pragmatic clockworker, nothing compares to the magic of her godfather's mechanical creations, and she'd rather spend her days working on the Palace of Illusions, an intricate hall of mirrors that is one of the centerpieces of the world's fair.

When her godfather sends Clara a hideous nutcracker for Christmas, she is puzzled until she finds a hidden compartment that unlocks a mirror-world Paris where the Seine is musical, fountains spout lemonade, and mechanical ballerinas move with human grace. The magic of her godfather's toys was real.

As Clara explores this other Paris and begins to imbue her own creations with its magic, she soon discovers a darker side to innovation. Suspicious men begin to approach her outside of work, and she could swear a shadow is following her. There's no ignoring the danger she's in, but Clara doesn't know who to trust. The magic of the two Parises are colliding and Clara must find the strength within herself to save them both."

A World's Fair is catnip to me, through in some Nutcracker magic, and I'm so in.

The Lamplighter's Bookshop by Sophie Austin
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Every book tells a story. Every heart hides a secret.

In the shadowy aisles of the Lamplighter's Bookshop, secrets lie as thick as the dust...

When Evelyn Seaton answers an advertisement for an assistant at a forgotten bookshop in York, she is not the only one with something to hide.

There she meets the enigmatic and prickly William Morton, an aspiring writer keeping secrets of his own. But when the walls that Evelyn has built around herself start to crumble, there is only one person she can turn to.

As the layers are brushed away, can Evelyn and William find the courage to write the next chapter of their story?

The Lost Bookshop meets The Lost Apothecary in a beguiling novel full of secrets..."

I will always read book set in York because of it's connection to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily - her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family's estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte's tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow - but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That's why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers...and revenge.

This is a story about life -
how it ends, and how it starts."

Make sure to order now because ALL first editions are signed!

Doctor Who Icons: Shirley Jackson and the Chaos Box by Kalynn Bayron
Published by: Penguin Group UK
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 160 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The best stories should never be unwritten...

When a strange signal echoes through time to the heart of the TARDIS, the Doctor follows it to the home of Shirley Jackson. But the strangeness deepens when they find a sinister figure sowing chaos and discord with the use of a glowing box - encouraging a crowd to murderous deeds.

Catapulted back to Shirley Jackson's own era by the TARDIS, the Doctor (with the help of the time-struck author) must discover the origins of the box, and the terrible power that it wields..."

Wait, The Doctor meets Shirley Jackson!?! In a book meant for eight to twelve-year-olds? What the actual fuck.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bianca Marais, Camilla Sten, Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who, H.E. Edgmon, Harris Lahti, Kate Khavari, Madeleine Roux, Peter Swanson, Rachel Louise Driscoll, Riley Sager, Rowenna Miller, Sophie Austin, V.E. Schwab

Ever since The White Queen took the world by storm in 2013 Starz has made a bit of a name for itself with rather bawdy historical dramas. One could almost call them historical fantasies, given their laxity with regard to historical accuracy, but I think complaining about historical dramas is one of the reasons we like to watch them so much. To be drawn into a love story or political machinations while totally trashing a farthingale or a stomacher, now that's the stuff. Though a should say Bridgerton deserves it's own circle of hell for what it does to Regency fashion. Seeing as Starz has run through a fair portion of Philippa Gregory's back catalog, they've turned to other sources over the years, most notably Diana Gabaldon and her Outlander empire with the odd historical text thrown in. And each and every one of these shows I've devoured, even if sometimes Starz has let their audiences down by cancelling remarkable shows even after they've "renewed" them. I will forever lament Becoming Elizabeth and Dangerous Liaisons. Though I will say I don't know how Becoming Elizabeth could have continued after the death of Thomas Seymour, whereas my brother wanted it to last just long enough to watch Edward VI die. But seriously, both could have had Outlander level fanbases given the chance. Well, maybe that's stretching it, but I would have always tuned in. I first heard about Mary and George when Julianne Moore was on an episode of The Graham Norton Show. I don't remember what she was promoting, but she was talking about filming in England and my ears perked up. I was intrigued and when after a little research I saw Tony Curran was in the show I was going to watch it no matter what. It's Tony "I was Vincent van Gogh on Doctor Who" Curran for crying out loud! And yes, I apologize, I was totally ignorant as to who Nicholas Galitzine is, I now know better. This show is an odd one. It leans into the queerness and the lascivity of the English Court during the reign of James I which makes it more historically accurate and sets it apart from the crowd. The problem is you don't like a single character. You pity Tony Curran as James I, but Mary and George Villiers are nasty pieces of work. It's not just that Mary wants to protect her family, she's greedy for status and will get it however she can, even if that's pimping out her son to the king. Everyone is just lewd and unlikable, but I think that was entirely the point. You aren't supposed to like the monarchy, you're supposed to be shocked that people this fucked up are in control. And for that added dash of meta humor Nicola Walker as Elizabeth Hatton is sheer brilliance. She's there being snarky and calling everyone out. She is a gem in a pile of feces. But in the end the takeaway I was left with was this show perfectly melded the high art and the low. The bodily functions of copulation with cinematography that mimicked Rembrandt's greatest works. It might have been lewd, but oh how beautiful it was.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Doctor Who, Elizabeth Hatton, George Villiers, James I, Julianne Moore, Mary and George, Mary Villiers, Nicholas Galitzine, Nicola Walker, Rembrandt, Starz, The White Queen, Tony Curran

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: August 30th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 592 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Little does Julie Mao realize that when The Scopuli was taken it would set in motion a chain of events that will forever change the solar system. Jim Holden and his crew make their living as ice miners. Their ship, The Canterbury, receives a distress call from The Scopuli and they go to investigate it. Holden, Naomi, Amos, Alex, and Shed board their ship to ship vessel, The Knight, to go get a closer look. The Scopuli is derelict. There are no signs of any life. No signs of Julie. But Holden knows something is wrong, so they head back to The Knight and that's when The Canterbury is blown out of the sky by what Holden assumes is a stealth ship belonging to Mars. In his rage at such senseless waste Holden broadcasts the destruction of The Canterbury to the whole solar system, not caring if this triggers a war between Earth and Mars. Not caring about any ramifications, just hoping for justice for the friends he lost. But Holden hasn't quite connected the dots. He and his four crew members should have died on The Canterbury because whatever they found on The Scopuli is worth killing for. He's determined to find out exactly what it all means, damn the consequences. Detective Miller has been taken off his usual beat on Ceres. His higher ups have given him the case of a missing girl to be investigated as a favor to her wealthy Lunar family. The girl is Julie Mao. She was a decorated pinnace pilot who gave it all up. She became active in politics and moved to Ceres and joined the OPA. The Outer Planets Alliance is a thorn in the side of Detective Miller, but a thorn he can deal with. He understands their desire to not be controlled by Earth. People on Earth can't comprehend what it's like out in the belt so why should they be allowed any say? He might not be the best at his job, and he might drink a little too much, but he's also like a dog with a bone, he will figure out what happened to Julie, even after his boss demands he drops the case, damn his job and his sanity. It's not long before he learns about The Scopuli and realizes that Holden might be the only one who can answer his questions. But when they finally meet at Eros Station things are much more complicated than either of them imagined and everything is about to change.

It's rare that I pick up a straight up science fiction book. And Leviathan Wakes is a weird one to pick up because it's an amalgam of all that came before. Yes, it stands on its own, but so much is borrowed or re-interpreted that it's sometimes hard to let it stand on its own. You can't help thinking what else it reminds you of. Here's a little Firefly, here's a little Battlestar Galactica, here's a little Doctor Who, here's a little Red Dwarf, here's a little Blade Runner. Each and every one of these instances pulls you out of the book. I can almost forgive Fred Johnson being Yaphet Kotto from Alien, but when Kaylee literally walks onto Holden's ship, well, that's a step too far. Yet of ALL the references crammed in the most obvious is Blade Runner. Because Detective Miller is just Rick Deckard under another name and without the whole is he, isn't he a replicant controversy. Now, I'm not saying this is a bad thing, I'm just saying it's a thing. It's actually the Noir aspect of this book that is a little divisive, not the Blade Runner homage. It's hard to get a Noir story right. You have to have just the right amount of hard drinking, bitterness, and delusions, which Miller does have. But the problem is balancing Miller's plot with Holden's plot. While they do eventually connect and Holden's plot has a mystery at its center, it is in no way Noir. And when the two storylines merge, the Noir aspect is sacrificed to the bigger storyline. So then why do it at all in the first place if you're going to eventually ditch it? I just feel that this dichotomy between the two narrators should have been thought out more in advance. Yes, it's good to have two very distinct narrators, but they shouldn't feel like they inhabit two different genres. A book needs to be some sort of cohesive whole to work and the styles of these two characters seem to be constantly fighting. In fact I wonder if perhaps this book was written more like the letter game, seeing as James S.A. Corey is actually two people. That might account for the two narrative styles being at such odds. They really needed an editor to fix this. And to fix the inner monologues, the overblown space politics, and the space battles that go on too long. But they got the future right. They made it believable, and that means I'll stick around for a few more volumes.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alien, Battlestar Galactica, Blade Runner, Detective Miller, Doctor Who, Firefly, For the Love of Book Clubs, James S.A. Corey, Jim Holden, Julie Mao, Letter Game, Leviathan Wakes, Noir, Red Dwarf, Science Fiction

When it was announced that there was going to be a new adaptation of H.E. Bates's Pop Larkin books I was honestly baffled. I know reboots and reimaginings are all the rage, but the early nineties television series for ITV, The Darling Buds of May, is a legit television classic and made a star of Catherine Zeta-Jones while further cementing David Jason and Pam Ferris's status as British living legends. In fact it was one of the first big British television series that I was able to get through Netflix in the days of DVDs by mail. For some reason the discs I kept getting for episodes five and six which adapted A Breath of French Air always arrived damaged. But I persevered and eventually, as in at least a month after starting the episodes, I got to see Anna Massey in all her glory. Because so much in life comes down to, is Anna Massey in it? And if the answer is yes then I have to see it. This has backfired a few times, but for every production of The Robinsons there's a He Knew He Was Right. But when Bradley Walsh was announced as Pop Larkin after his successful run on Doctor Who I knew I wanted to watch the newest adaptation. And then they cast Sabrina Bartlett as his daughter Mariette. Everyone has actors they can't stand. They see them and they just can't watch them. Sabrina Bartlett is that for me. The only role I've ever liked her in was in Poldark, because she was murdered. When Arya was wearing her face on Game of Thrones I couldn't handle it. Then when she showed up on Bridgerton, hell no. Other shows she has been in over the years I have successfully blocked memory of her from. Like Victoria, she was on that!?! Guess I can't rewatch it. But then I got Acorn so I could see the final season of Doc Martin and I try to use my subscription services to the max so I thought, what could it hurt? It's only seven episodes. Even if I hate it it's only a week! But then I was surprised. I loved the new adaptation. Somehow Sabrina Bartlett was perfectly cast as the headstrong Mariette. In fact every single member of the cast was perfect. Sure, this a rural idyll, an England that never was, where everyone is happy and there's more than plenty on the table and tax men become family members, but I didn't care, I fell in love with the Larkins! And then tragedy struck! As in scandal, chaos, all was not right in Kent! Rumors abounded that all was strife behind the scenes. Sabrina Bartlett quit and was replaced with someone cast just because they had the hair and teeth. But Sabrina Bartlett wasn't the real problem, apparently that was the actor playing Charley, Tok Stephen. There might have even been inappropriate pictures texted to Sabrina so everyone was naturally shocked that he wasn't fired and was coming back for season two. But the truth is he was sidelined. The show lost something of it's spark. They didn't want another romance to be the focus of the second season so they asininely decided that Pop would go to prison. While this is actually what happens in the third book in the series it just felt depressing and contrived and too much of an overbearing story arc. Add to that everything seemed to be overly lite to look all sunny when it wasn't, overall the second series felt like a badly put on stage play, all surface, no depth. Continued rumors of tension behind the scenes meant that this is the last this iteration of The Larkins will grace out screens. Of course Bradley Walsh took the bullet and said it was due to his busy schedule. Very gentlemanly of you Bradley, Pop would be pleased.  

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Anna Massey, Bradley Walsh, Bridgerton, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Doctor Who, H.E. Bates, Mariette Larkin, Poldark, Pop Larkin, Sabrina Bartlett, The Darling Buds of May, The Larkins, Tok Stephen

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch
Published by: Gollancz
Publication Date: February 25th, 2020
Format: Paperback, 404 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

What do you do when at face value it looks like you're on the outs at your job? You use that to go undercover at a shady tech startup that values secrecy and loyalty above everything else. Or at least values it second to a good Douglas Adams homage. Tech guru Terrence Skinner has left California behind for the grey skies of London. Could it be for personal safety, which is what's bandied about among the employees, or could it have to do with whatever is in Serious Cybernetics Corporation's second building, Bambleweeny? It's rumored that that is where Deep Thought is, because the guy really can't pass up a Douglas Adams joke. But Peter knows that they're up to no good because of a run in he had a month before his first day at SCC. A run in with an American practitioner who was working at the London Library where he is looking into recovering the Mary Engine. The Mary Engine is the supposed creation of Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace and if the Faceless Man owned it, which Peter knows to be the case, then it has to be seriously magical. Of course the Faceless Man's daughter sold it on eBay resulting in previous catastrophic attempts to retrieve it, so it's reappearance in the hands of Terrence Skinner is worrisome. Which is why Peter is now a Vogon at SCC, that's security to the layman. And Terrence sure needs protection when Peter stops one of Skinner's own employees from stabbing him. The incident leads Peter to be a bit of a celebrity among the staff but more importantly it gets him an in with Skinner. Because the attacker worked in Bambleweeny this allows Peter to get behind that mysterious locked door to discover that Skinner might have created not just Artificial Intelligence but Artificial General Intelligence. Which is where the money really is. This AGI could change everyone's life. And sure, Skinner sounds convincing, but Peter lives in a world where magic exists, and, well, magic is more likely than AGI, which means everything must come back to the Mary Engine. With the help and hindrance of other practitioners Peter starts to formulate a plan. The problem is that this is bigger than he thought and he was really not cut out for undercover work. This could end very badly.

There's one thing no one who's a fan of Aaronovitch will ever doubt, and that's his geek cred, and I'm not even counting that he wrote for Doctor Who. Because if there's one thing true geeks love it's Douglas Adams references from the overt to the obscure and arguing about the singularity. And here Arronovitch has built an entire book around these core beliefs. Because yes, Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a religion as is the belief we will all be killed by Cylons. And possible baddie boss aside, who hasn't wanted to work at a company that has Vogons and Magrathea as job titles and locations? But the veneer of Adams isn't where False Value shines, it's in it's handling of Artificial Intelligence, Deep Thought as it were. AI is right at this moment an issue that everyone is dealing with, along with trying to grapple with what this means for us as a species. And I don't think it's a coincidence that both AI and the singularity came into the vernacular in the fifties, AI preceding the idea that AI will destroy us all by only about two years. Yet it's only truly now that the extreme warnings signs those of us raised in the eighties to recognize are blaring klaxons. Skynet people! SKYNET! But the thing is, the question asked daily is, is this true AI? Because most times, especially in fiction, if we're told it's AI there's no way it's AI. It might look like it can pass the Turing Test, but can it really? Because the truth is what the vast majority of people believe is AI, which at this precise moment is "writing" and "creating" and "making art," isn't AI, it's a complex program that has scrapped the entire internet and is plagiarizing the work of others. Others who are losing jobs because of AI. When one of my friends was playing with Midjourney I told her to stop. Immediately. She was helping the program learn while taking away jobs from artists such as myself. Never help the machines to rise up! Aaronovitch has a wonderful character with Peter because he understands all of this yet is skeptical. He knows when people tell you AI you should look for the man or woman behind the curtain. And because of his line of work, it could be a ghost literally in the machine. A very vindictive ghost. But still, it's not AI. But one day it just might be. I mean look how much of a shit show it is when the AI is really just a misnomer. So for now, us humans are the real danger, we were the Cylons all along.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ada Lovelace, AI, Ben Aaronovitch, BSG, Charles Babbage, Cylons, Deep Thought, Doctor Who, Douglas Adams, False Value, London Calling, Mary Engine, Peter Grant, Skynet, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Vogons

Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
Published by: Gollancz
Publication Date: March 1st, 2011
Format: Paperback, 375 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

A body is just a body unless something uncanny happened to it. Cyrus Wilkinson apparently dropped dead of a heart attack while playing with his jazz quartet. He wasn't the first and he won't be the last jazz musician to die in such a fashion. But his body is different. As PC Peter Grant examines the body he sees why he was brought in. Or should that be hears why. Because he hears the strains to the song "Body and Soul." Despite outward appearances, this man died by magic. And the song is the key. Which means instead of turning to his boss, DCI Thomas Nightingale, he's turning to his dad. "Lord" Grant was a legend in his time. That's when he was able to play and not crippled by his addiction. It has always broken his father's heart that Peter just doesn't like jazz, but he is more than happy to spend time with Peter looking for the exact version of "Body and Soul" that Cyrus Wilkinson's body was emitting. This version has a little swing, a little something special, and it was played by one Ken "Snakehips" Johnson who died in the Blitz when a bomb hit the Café de Paris in Soho. Which leads Peter into the heart of Soho. He's sure that Cyrus Wilkinson's death wasn't the first and won't be the last. Someone is draining the life force out these talented musicians like some sort of jazz vampire, and yes, he realizes that he should have probably thought of a better name, but it's too late to change it now. With Nightingale recuperating from his recent gunshot wound and Lesley on medical leave in Brightlingsea, Peter is on this case by himself, until he picks up the remaining members of Cyrus Wilkinson's quartet as his own Irregulars who view him as a descendant of royalty. But really, the "Lord" is just a moniker gifted to his father by Ray Charles. But then there's also Simone. Simone was living with Cyrus Wilkinson before his death and she just keeps showing up wherever Peter turns. Sure Soho is small, but it can't be a coincidence. Soon she is all he is concerned with. His obsession leaves his police work by the wayside. Peter needs to remember there are jazz vampires and something far worse walking the streets of Soho and he's at the center of it.

As it so happens with the randomness of the universe I read two books set in Soho back to back. One perfectly captured Soho, and let's say, it wasn't the one written by a heavily lauded author known for her historical fiction, it was the one written by a former writer of Doctor Who novelizations which happened to include jazz vampires. While repeatedly saying jazz vampires might make you think that this book which perfectly blends the paranormal with the procedural might be a bit absurd and silly, I would counter that there's more snark and the humor is perfectly dark so the jazz vampires really do make sense even if Peter will forever feel a bit silly about giving them that name. There's also this storied history about Soho, we see the layers of time and the shifting of taste and music. I kept thinking it was the supernatural equivalent of Last Night in Soho. These two different forms of art captured a time and a place better than the previously alluded to historical fiction award winner. Then adding the procedural element on top and, oh my, I started to get Endeavour vibes. That seediness, that world where the line between cops and criminals was so narrow as to hardly exist. Clubs with smoke clinging to the wallpaper and the ever present threat of danger. And don't even get me started on the Strip Club of Doctor Moreau. Again, sounds funny, but really terrifying. Like the most horrific mashup of the London nightclub scene with "human" trafficking. I devoured this book over two days in which I literally did nothing else that wasn't necessary to keep myself alive. I enjoyed the first book, I worship this one. But what has given Peter a permanent place in my heart is his opinion on jazz. Peter's inner monologue when his Dad "played a couple of bars of 'Body and Soul', stating the melody before vamping and then taking the line in a direction that I've never been able to follow or appreciate. He looked disappointed at my reaction - he keeps hoping that I'll grow into it one day." Made my heart sing. I can't stand jazz, I can't stand the vamping. I NEED a melody that doesn't spiral off into wankery for thirty minute impromptu solos of experimentation. The music will never take me, or Peter, like that, and I am forever grateful to find a kindred soul.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ben Aaronovitch, Doctor Who, Endeavour, Jazz, Jazz Vampires, Kate Atkinson, Last Night in Soho, London Calling, Lord Grant, Moon Over Soho, Nightingale, Peter Grant, Rivers of London, Soho, The Island of Dr. Moreau

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: January 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. The Ivy League is going straight to hell in the sequel to the smash New York Times bestseller Ninth House from #1 bestselling author Leigh Bardugo.

Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy "Alex" Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory - even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.

Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can't call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies' most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren't just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she'll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university’s very walls.

Thick with history and packed with Bardugo's signature twists, Hell Bent brings to life an intricate world full of magic, violence, and all too real monsters."

It's here! It's finally here! As I keep obsessively watching for the postal worker...

The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: January 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"She's an outsider desperate to belong, but the cost of entry might be her darkest secret in this intoxicating debut about a clique of dangerously ambitious students.

Edinburgh, Scotland: a moody city of labyrinthine alleyways, oppressive fog, and buried history; the ultimate destination for someone with something to hide. Perfect for Clare, then, who arrives utterly alone and yearning to reinvent herself. And what better place to conceal the secrets of her past than at the university in the heart of the fabled, cobblestoned Old Town?

When Clare meets Tabitha, a charismatic, beautiful, and intimidatingly rich girl from her art history class, she knows she's destined to become friends with her and her exclusive circle: raffish Samuel, shrewd Ava, and pragmatic Imogen. Clare is immediately drawn into their libertine world of sophisticated dinner parties and summers in France. The new life she always envisioned for herself has seemingly begun.

Then Tabitha reveals a little project she's been working on, one that she needs Clare's help with. Even though it goes against everything Clare has tried to repent for. Even though their intimacy begins to darken into codependence. But as Clare starts to realize just what her friends are capable of, it's already too late. Because they've taken the plunge. They're so close to attaining everything they want. And there's no going back.

Reimagining the classic themes of obsession and ambition with an original and sinister edge, The Things We Do to Our Friends is a seductive thriller about the toxic battle between those who have and those who covet - between the desire to truly belong and the danger of being truly known."

Labyrinthine Scotland with students up to no good!

Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: January 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this gripping, horror-laced debut, a young Cree woman's dreams lead her on a perilous journey of self-discovery that ultimately forces her to confront the toll of a legacy of violence on her family, her community and the land they call home.

When Mackenzie wakes up with a severed crow's head in her hands, she panics. Only moments earlier she had been fending off masses of birds in a snow-covered forest. In bed, when she blinks, the head disappears.

Night after night, Mackenzie's dreams return her to a memory from before her sister Sabrina's untimely death: a weekend at the family's lakefront campsite, long obscured by a fog of guilt. But when the waking world starts closing in, too - murder of crows stalks her every move around the city, she wakes up from a dream of drowning throwing up water, and gets threatening text messages from someone claiming to be Sabrina - Mackenzie knows this is more than she can handle alone.

Traveling north to her rural hometown in Alberta, she finds her family still steeped in the same grief that she ran away to Vancouver to escape. They welcome her back, but their shaky reunion only seems to intensify her dreams - and make them more dangerous.

What really happened that night at the lake, and what did it have to do with Sabrina's death? Only a bad Cree would put their family at risk, but what if whatever has been calling Mackenzie home was already inside?"

What if your dreams could kill you?

The Nightmare Man by J.H. Markert
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: January 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"T. Kingfisher meets Cassandra Khaw in a chilling horror novel that illustrates the fine line between humanity and monstrosity.

Blackwood mansion looms, surrounded by nightmare pines, atop the hill over the small town of Crooked Tree. Ben Bookman, bestselling novelist and heir to the Blackwood estate, spent a weekend at the ancestral home to finish writing his latest horror novel, The Scarecrow. Now, on the eve of the book's release, the terrible story within begins to unfold in real life.

Detective Mills arrives at the scene of a gruesome murder: a family butchered and bundled inside cocoons stitched from corn husks, and hung from the rafters of a barn, eerily mirroring the opening of Bookman's latest novel. When another family is killed in a similar manner, Mills, along with his daughter, rookie detective Samantha Blue, is determined to find the link to the book - and the killer - before the story reaches its chilling climax.

As the series of "Scarecrow crimes" continues to mirror the book, Ben quickly becomes the prime suspect. He can't remember much from the night he finished writing the novel, but he knows he wrote it in The Atrium, his grandfather's forbidden room full of numbered books. Thousands of books. Books without words.

As Ben digs deep into Blackwood's history he learns he may have triggered a release of something trapped long ago - and it won’t stop with the horrors buried within the pages of his book."

A mysterious manor, books becoming reality? Yes yes.

Ghost Music by An Yu
Published by: Grove Press
Publication Date: January 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of the "original and electric" Braised Pork (Time), An Yu’s enchanting and contemplative novel of music and mushrooms follows a former concert pianist searching for the truth about a vanished musician.

For three years, Song Yan has filled the emptiness of her Beijing apartment with the tentative notes of her young piano students. She gave up on her own career as a concert pianist many years ago, but her husband Bowen, an executive at a car company, has long rebuffed her pleas to have a child. He resists even when his mother arrives from the southwestern Chinese region of Yunnan and begins her own campaign for a grandchild. As tension in the household rises, it becomes harder for Song Yan to keep her usual placid demeanor, especially since she is troubled by dreams of a doorless room she can't escape, populated only by a strange orange mushroom.

When a parcel of mushrooms native to her mother-in-law's province is delivered seemingly by mistake, Song Yan sees an opportunity to bond with her, and as the packages continue to arrive every week, the women stir-fry and grill the mushrooms, adding them to soups and noodles. When a letter arrives in the mail from the sender of the mushrooms, Song Yan's world begins to tilt further into the surreal. Summoned to an uncanny, seemingly ageless house hidden in a hutong that sits in the middle of the congested city, she finds Bai Yu, a once world-famous pianist who disappeared ten years ago.

A gorgeous and atmospheric novel of art and expression, grief and survival, memory and self-discovery, Ghost Music animates contemporary Beijing through the eyes of a lonely yet hopeful young woman and gives vivid color and texture to the promise of new beginnings."

The surrealism of this type of storytelling is in a league of it's own.

Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: January 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 160 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young girl discovers an infinite variety of worlds in this standalone tale in the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Wayward Children series from Seanan McGuire, Lost in the Moment and Found.

Welcome to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go.

If you ever lost a sock, you'll find it here.
If you ever wondered about a favorite toy from childhood... it's probably sitting on a shelf in the back.
And the headphones that you swore this time you'd keep safe? You guessed it....

Antoinette has lost her father. Metaphorically. He's not in the Shop, and she'll never see him again. But when Antsy finds herself lost (literally, this time), she discovers that however many doors open for her, leaving the Shop for good might not be as simple as it sounds.

And stepping through those doors exacts a price.

Lost in the Moment and Found tells us that childhood and innocence, once lost, can never be found."

Surprisingly we had to wait ten days into the new year before getting our first Seanan McGuire fix!

Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed
Published by: Pantheon
Publication Date: January 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A brilliantly original debut graphic novel that imagines a fantastical alternate Cairo where wishes really do come true. Shubeik Lubeik - a fairy tale rhyme that means "your wish is my command" in Arabic - is the story of three people who are navigating a world where wishes are literally for sale.

Three wishes that are sold at an unassuming kiosk in Cairo link Aziza, Nour, and Shokry, changing their perspectives as well as their lives. Aziza learned early that life can be hard, but when she loses her husband and manages to procure a wish, she finds herself fighting bureau­cracy and inequality for the right to have - and make - that wish. Nour is a privileged college student who secretly struggles with depression and must decide whether or not to use their wish to try to "fix" this depression, and then figure out how to do it. And, finally, Shokry must grapple with his religious convictions as he decides how to help a friend who doesn’t want to use their wish. Deena Mohamed brings to life a cast of characters whose struggles and triumphs are heartbreaking, inspiring, and deeply resonant.

Although their stories are fantastical - featuring talking donkeys, dragons, and cars that can magically avoid traffic - each of these people grapples with the very real challenge of trying to make their most deeply held desires come true."

A graphic novel set in Cairo? Has someone been reading my mind again?

Doctor Who: Origins by Jody Houser
Published by: Titan Comics
Publication Date: January 10th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This unique Doctor Who graphic novel brings a fresh take on the beloved time-traveler with a brand-new never-before-seen adventure starring the Fugitive Doctor! 

Eisner-nominate writer Jody House (Supergirl, Stranger Things) and fan-favorite artist Roberta Ingranata (Witchblade) return for another spectacular time-traveling adventure which deepens the lore of the Doctor Who universe.

The clandestine Time Lord organization called Division has sent the Doctor to eliminate a threat to Gallifrey. Joined by her new partner, Taslo, they soon discover something amiss. What secret are the Time Lords hiding? And how much danger does it put them in? Discover exactly why the Doctor became hunted by Division and branded a fugitive...

Buy it, read it, then travel back in time to read it for the first time all over again...!"

I love all these inbetween Doctors, the War Doctor, the Fugitive Doctor, who knows what others we'll get!?!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alex Stern, An Yu, Comics, Deena Mohamed, Doctor Who, Egypt, Graphic Novels, Heather Darwent, Hell Bent, J.H. Markert, Jessica Johns, Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House, Seanan McGuire, The Fugitive Doctor, The War Doctor

The Blood Card by Elly Griffiths
Published by: Mariner Books
Publication Date: November 3rd, 2016
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Could the death of Edgar and Max's old commander be linked to a plot to undermine the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II? Edgar is investigating the death of a local fortuneteller who worked on the Brighton Peer. His boss wants him to rule it a suicide and move on but her Romany family is convinced it was murder. Meanwhile Max is being a good father by agreeing to appear on television. He knows variety is dying, despite his current two week run in London. But is a throwback television variety special for the coronation really the best way to pay tribute to the world that has been his life since he was young? He knows he's the star attraction and by being on the bill his daughter Ruby will get her big break, and she was born for television, but it just seems so tawdry. Which is why another murder investigation with Edgar is a welcome relief. General Petre from the military comes to alert them to Colonel Cartwright's death and takes them to the crime scene to see if the two of them can pick up on anything the other investigators could have missed. There are several items of interest, an old show flyer that had Tony "The Mind" Mulholland on the bill, a newspaper clipping about a mesmerist in New York who caused a woman to faint, and a playing card, the ace of hearts, most commonly known as the blood card. Their former commander was investigating an anarchist plot against the coronation at the time of his death so really it's Edgar and Max's patriotic duty to investigate what happened. Because of Max's obligations to his audience and his daughter it's up to Edgar to fly off to New York. Strange things are happening in Albany. The mesmerist died just before Edgar arrived and his own life is also threatened. But nothing is as dangerous as the threat to the Queen. It looks like there is a real danger and only Edgar, Max, and their fellow friends and investigators will be able to tie it all together and save lives.

While the clash of the old and the new with regards to the world of variety has been a constant theme in the previous volumes this one really brings it to a head. Anyone who has watched The Crown or Doctor Who knows that the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is what really brought television into everyone's homes in England. Prince Philip's gamble not only paid off but fundamentally changed British culture, shifting how the British public took in entertainment. The world of variety was already dying and television was the nail in the coffin. Tony "The Mind" Mulholland expounded on television being the future of variety back in the first book, but here we get to see how Max and Ruby will fit into the new world order. This was very reminiscent of "The Reluctant Juggler" episode of The Edwardians. That episode was looking backward and forward simultaneously, being both depressing and nostalgic. But here, during the television special, as on that episode, for one moment the old and the new live in harmony. The question remains though if Max will be put out to pasture so the new generation embodied by Ruby will flourish or will Max find a way to succeed. Besides this overarching theme about variety there were lots of other interesting conversations to be had about diverse subjects from subliminal advertising to the treatment of those interned during the war. Some of these got to play out fully, but I felt that not only was the idea of subliminal advertising mishandled and misunderstood by otherwise bright characters but it could have been so much more than a red herring. But no book is perfect and this one isn't an exception, especially in regard to Edgar's trip to Albany. I'm sure us Americans get this wrong when we write about Britain, and the opposite is very true here. I couldn't help but wonder if Elly Griffiths had actually ever been to the United States. Everything was just off. It was like The Twilight Zone. It was supposed to be America but it just wasn't. Also, Brits really have no idea about distances in the United States. We are FAR larger than you can imagine. Albany wouldn't have signs to Canada. It's almost two-hundred miles from Albany to Canada! It would be like Madison having signs to Minneapolis! Which we don't.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Coronation, Doctor Who, Edgar Stephens, Elly Griffiths, Magic Men, Max Mephisto, Murder Most Foul, New York, Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth, Television, The Blood Card, The Crown, The Edwardians, Variety

Mad and Bad: Real Heroines of the Regency by Bea Koch
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: September 1st, 2020
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, urged her niece, Lady Caroline Lamb, to "boldly mould, invent, design." That could be the clarion call for all the women contained in these pages. They formed their own interconnected society of scientists, artists, philanthropists, writers. They gave each other encouragement and support, because they lived in a society where they were viewed as second class citizens. Yet in their spheres they made a mark. What's odd is that all these women, from Anne Lister to Mary Anning, are viewed as exceptions to the rule. They were trailblazers for the female sex. They are the chosen ones remembered by history. To an extent. But with modern historians going back and reevaluating the Regency they are finding more and more woman who lived life on their own terms. Without going back and looking at how these women influenced their time period in their own way we aren't getting a full view of history. We are getting a prejudiced, skewed, masculine view. History is always said to be written by the winners. Well, for thousands of years that was white men. And white men didn't want to think about minorities, or in fact anyone other than themselves. Yet these people existed. There are arguments to be made that Jane Austen herself showed a very white world, but that's because she never got to finish Sanditon. Georgiana Lamb, like the real Dido Belle, was a woman of color. Who knows how she would have fared if the novel had been completed. Thankfully we have the television adaptation showing us a very fierce, independent, and headstrong young lady. And speaking of Austen, have you ever wondered about the women who controlled Almack's? The grand dames who could make or break your season with a single voucher? Well, they weren't at all the elderly dragons you thought they were, they were living breathing women, who made alliances and friendships and decisions based on these aspects of their lives. A few of them were quite notorious for other reasons too. Because what happens when you pull back the curtain is you see so much more than what you ever expected. People in the past almost become ossified by history, especially when told from a certain point of view. It's time to bring them into the light like Mary Anning's findings. It's time for the truth to be told in the hopes that more history will emerge.

To say that this book is just about the Regency is stretching things. As Bea Koch admits in her introduction the women that came before and the women that came after are just as important to an understanding of the time period, and I get that, I do. But a cynic would say, maybe it's just because there really weren't that many badass women in the Regency itself, while an optimist would say that she just wanted to find a way to include Anne Lister in her book. Because who wouldn't want Anne Lister in their book? Though the Anne Lister section is rather slight and Bea directs you more to the television show Gentleman Jack than bothers to spend too much time on Anne. And that is one of the flaws of this book, we have women of society, of royalty, of arts, oddly not of letters, of science, of lovers of women, of minorities, and of religion, and yet each section just feels a little too short, like a blurb in Who's Who. In all seriousness I almost expected to find "Walter Elliot, born March 1, 1760, married, July 15, 1784, Elizabeth,daughter of James Stevenson, Esq. of South Park, in the county of Gloucester, by which lady (who died 1800) he has issue Elizabeth, born June 1, 1785; Anne, born August 9, 1787; a still-born son, November 5, 1789; Mary, born November 20, 1791." There isn't much depth here, but it's a good place to start. It's almost like CliffNotes. If you've read Austen and want a little bit more history, here's as good a place as any to get just that little bit more, especially in regard to Almack's and the female royalty of the time. Personally I found the later chapters about "The Fairer Sex" and "Historical Accuracy and Regency England" the most interesting. Mainly because I find it fascinating when people's prejudices show, in particular with the casting of Bridgerton, that they never realized that queer people and people of color actually existed back then. Just because the world you've allowed yourself to be exposed to is so narrow that doesn't mean otherness doesn't exist. As for those women I found most mad and bad? The sculptor Anne Damer is top of the list, the exquiste way she trolled her detractors with The Three Witches of Macbeth painting is chef's kiss perfection, I also really loved seeing Mary Seacole in these pages and not just on the recent season of Doctor Who. Though I do wonder why Bea Koch didn't mention the Princess Caraboo film...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anne Damer, Anne Lister, Bea Koch, Dido Belle, Doctor Who, Gentleman Jack, Georgiana Lamb, History, Jane Austen, Mad and Bad, Mary Anning, Persuasion, Prejudice, Princess Caraboo, Racism, Regency Romp, Sanditon

George Mann is a fantasy author whose diverse range of books are always must buys for me, seriously, just look at the picture of the bookshelf below, that's just some of my collection. I first discovered him through his Newbury and Hobbes series when I picked up a copy of The Affinity Bridge on vacation, an interesting experience I have previously recounted. So when I heard George was setting up a blog tour for his newest publishing endeavor, Motherbridge: Seeds of Change, I contacted him immediately. I had to be a part of this. We readers who have a platform need to make sure we vocally support authors we love so that they keep doing the work we hold so dear. So here's some fun and I hope thoughtful questions for George that he was kind enough to answer. AND if you need more George after this here's a Q and A from back in 2014 he did for my blog. Enough from me, over to George!

Question: If someone knows you only from some of your franchise work, be it Doctor Who, Star Wars, Warhammer 40,000, what would you tell them about yourself to get them to pick up something else you’ve written?

Answer: I guess I'd frame myself as a fantasy writer, really. In that my Newbury and Hobbes series take the form of mystery plots, but at their heart they’re Victorian fantasies, filled with weird and wonderful goings-on, the supernatural, and adventure. Likewise my other work, such as Wychwood, or Ghosts of Manhattan, or Engineward. I love to dabble in different genres, but what I always come back to is fantasy and myth. I love creating mythic stories that have their roots in folklore and superstition, or at least feel like they could have sprung from that same well.

Question: We met at TelsaCon in 2011 but we discovered we had actually attended the same David Bowie concert back in 2000. What was your favorite song that Bowie sang during that show?

It has to be 'All the Young Dudes.' Or maybe 'Absolute Beginners.' I loved that show, and the band he was touring with at the time, too. It's probably the most 'rock and roll' thing I've ever done, flying to NYC for one night, just to see David Bowie. I only had a rucksack with me and literally flew in, went to the gig, then slept at a cheap hotel. We only had time to grab breakfast and pop up to the top of the Empire State Building the next morning before flying home. What a great experience, though. I still think about that gig all the time.*

Question: You’ve done books, music, audio books, comics, now an animated series, what medium have you not done yet that you’re excited to do and could it be VR? Or do you secretly want to become a YouTube influencer with Cavan Scott and your channel Strange Matter?

Answer: Ha! I can't see myself as an influencer! I’ve not really considered VR, although never say never! I think it’d probably be live action TV. That's still very much on my bucket list. I love long form storytelling, with a tale that unfolds over several episodes, and I’d love to get my teeth into a meaty TV project.

That aside, though, there's still so much I want to do in the other mediums I'm already working in. More novels I want to write, more comics I want to co-create with great artists. And more stories I want to tell inside some of the worlds I've been lucky enough to be invited to write within, too.

Question: What can you tell us about your dark fantasy reimagining of King Arthur Blood of Camelot you’re working on with Cavan Scott?

Answer: Oh, Blood of Camelot is hugely exciting! As I mentioned earlier, I have a deep and abiding interest in folklore and mythology, as does Cav - it’s one of the reasons we’re such good friends. We wanted to do something new together, having written a number of Doctor Who comics and audios together, as well as two Sherlock Holmes audio plays for Audible.

The story is a dark reimagining of the original Arthurian myth, that sees Arthur lose his way in his effort to protect Camelot from the plague of fae creatures that are constantly attacking the borders of his realm. Believing he is the only one who can save Camelot, that in order for Camelot to survive, he himself must persist, he murders Merlin - the last of an ancient Elven race - and drinks his blood to consume his power. In the process, he becomes the thing he’s always tried to fight against - a monster. It's left to Guinevere, a knight of the Round Table, and Lancelot, to lead the resistance and try to fight back against the tide of darkness consuming the land.

Question: Animation has a very loyal fan base, despite what Netflix is doing gutting their department, is there an animated show that holds a special place in your heart?

Answer: Too many to name! As a child I used to love The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Battle of the Planets, Ulysses 31. These days I love watching anime with my kids, and we're loving things like Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer and Seraph of the End.

Question: You are a very prolific author, in the next few months alone you have Motherbridge, out now, and in July both The Albion Initiative and a Carnival Row tie-in. My question is, does this mean you know that season two of Carnival Row is coming this summer and you’ve been sworn to secrecy? OMG, have you seen it!?!

Answer: Ha ha ha! I couldn't tell you even if I knew, I'm afraid. But I will say this - I've read the scripts and you’re going to love it.

But yes, I've been busy! Some of that is to do with the spate of pandemic lockdowns that we all went through, and the fact that release dates got bumped back, and some is just because I find it hard to say no to such amazing projects. I mean - who’s going to turn down the chance to write official Carnival Row continuation comics???

Question: With the end of your long running Newbury and Hobbes series with The Albion Initiative does it feel like you’re shedding the mantel of Steampunk author or do you feel that over the years you’ve diversified enough that Steampunk is like your origin story and you’re now so much more?

Answer: That’s an interesting question. I mean, yes, The Albion Initiative is the final Newbury and Hobbes story...for now. But I don’t think I’ll ever walk away from them completely. For example, there’s an unannounced Newbury and Hobbes novella coming this year, too. And there'll be more stories in the future. Maybe not novels, though, we'll have to see.

As to shedding/taking on new mantles...I’m not sure the mantle of 'steampunk author' has ever sat that easy on my shoulders, to be honest. I’ve always seen myself as more of a fantasy writer, and the Newbury and Hobbes series very much borrowed the aesthetic of the steampunk genre, but also dipped into other loves and inspirations, such as Doctor Who, Hammer Horror, James Bond...I think the other work I’ve produced over the years has borne that out. If you look at it as a body of work, the one word I’d use to sum it all up is 'fantasy.' So I think that’s a better fit.

Not that I’ve ever had a problem being considered a steampunk author! I love playing in the genre and the people I’ve met amongst the fandom have all been so lovely and welcoming.

Question: Seeing as many of your stories are set within the same universe do you have any personal headcanon that there were Wookies long ago in the world of Newbury and Hobbes?

Answer: Heh. No. I think it’s important to keep these things separate, when you're writing in other people's worlds. I know I've dabbled before with little crossovers into one of my Doctor Who novels and some Sherlock Holmes stories, but I see those more as little Easter Eggs, harking back to some key influences, rather than trying to build a cohesive universe that embraces them all. I suppose the only thing that links them, really, is that the stories are written by me, so I suppose some of the same voice and preoccupations bleed through those different stories.

Question: While you’ve created many interesting worlds of your own, you’ve played in some very big franchise sandboxes, from Doctor Who to Star Wars. What franchise do you dream of working with?

Answer: Both Doctor Who and Star Wars are a huge amount of fun to write for, and I hope there’ll be many more opportunities to write more for them both in years to come. In terms of franchises I’d love to write for and haven't yet: Spider-Man, Batman, James Bond, Conan the Barbarian all spring to mind. All big influences from my youth too.

Question: And, this follow-up question is actually mandatory; you’ve written a lot for Doctor Who so who would you like to see as the next Doctor?

Answer: I’m SUPER excited to see Ncuti Gatwa take on the role! I think he’s going to be brilliant. Beyond that, I don’t know! I’d be a rubbish casting director! I just want great stories with an actor who’s enthusiastic to be there!**

Question: And on to an equally hard question, I know this is like picking your favorite child, but of all the characters you’ve written, do you have a favorite?

Answer: That is a super-tough question. I don't know. Maybe Ellie from the Wychwood books, because strangely she's the most autobiographical of the characters I've written. I feel a real affinity for her. But then...I do love writing stories for Newbury, too...

Question: Moving more specifically to the reason we’re here, the release of Motherbridge, what was the first comic that you remember making a lasting impact on you? And yes, it can be terrifying, like how I learned about shock treatment from a Return to Oz comic.

Answer: Since I'm in the UK, it's a slightly more difficult question to answer, because we have a tradition for funny kids' comics like The Beano, The Dandy, Buster, Whizzer and Chips and the like. Anthology comics filled with short, funny strips. They all played a big part in my early comic reading.

When I eventually discovered American comics, it was through the Marvel UK reprints of Spider-Man and Star Wars. I adored them, and the characters that were often introduced in back-up strips. Later still, I discovered imported comics and started reading Batman and Daredevil. I remember a particular issue of Daredevil that introduced Typhoid Mary and that sticks very much in my mind.

Question: What comics are automatically on your pull list?

Answer: Spider-Man and Batman. Usually Daredevil. Anything set in the Hellboy universe by Mike Mignola. Anything drawn by Humberto Ramos. Tom Taylor’s Nightwing. Cav's Star Wars: The High Republic and Shadow Service series. And then...whatever looks good, or is written by someone whose work I admire. My pull list is substantial, but it shifts around all over the place!

Question: Recently you had two covers of the Star Wars Adventures you wrote illustrated by the amazing Francesco Francavilla. Is there anyone else working in comics who you dream of working with? Get it out there in the universe and see if we can actualize it.

Answer: Yes! I’d love to have some covers created by Esad Ribic, and I’d love to work with both Phil Noto and Humberto Ramos. Oh, and JH Williams III!

Question: What was it like writing a direct to trade comic versus one released monthly?

Answer: Well that’s an interesting question in this case! Initially, we were planning to produce Motherbridge as a four-issue mini series, but when Covid hit we only had one issue written, and everything had to go on hold because the comic stores and comic distributors were all rightly closing to protect their staff. Later, when things started to stabilize and the market opened up again, we realized Motherbridge might better suit the OGN treatment rather than floppies, so I revisited the first script and then wrote the rest of it with that in mind.

For me, the main difference is that, as a writer, you can pace yourself a little differently. You don’t have to get all the reveals and hooks out as quickly in that first or second issue, because anyone who’s reading the graphic novel is in for the long haul - at least for those 80-odd pages! It’s a bit like writing a prose novel in that respect - while there are clear conventions of format and medium, you have a whole book in which to tell your story.

I need to say something about Aleta’s incredible artwork here, too. She worked so hard on this book, and it shows on every single page. I was so lucky to be able to work with her, and she’s realized Hayley and her world in a way that was exceeds anything I ever imagined.

Question: There are so many stories where nature takes over, usually post-apocalyptic, but in Motherbridge nature taking over is a positive thing, what made you want to flip the trope?

Answer: It’s very much a reaction to the world around us right now, and what's going on with the climate. Rewilding seems to be such an important part of what's needed to save the world from the intensive industries that we've developed to sustain us. I wanted to look at what a world might look like where nature had tried to balance the system for us, how a radical natural revolution could change the planet - and the sorts of reactions that different people would have. I guess it's a love letter to the Earth, in a way. We have a tendency in post-apocalyptic fiction to see nature as a wild, untamed, sinister thing as you say - I wanted to show the flipside of that, to remind us that we're part of the natural world, not aside from it.

Question: Motherbridge seems so of the moment, with climate change, immigration, walls, even separation from loved ones, which many of us suffered due to Covid, yet comics have a lengthy production time, how did you manage to capture this relevancy?

Answer: It's actually been in development for a long time, but the wind seems to have been blowing in this direction for a good while. It's obviously quite a political comic, a gut reaction to the anti-immigration policies instigated by various world governments, a reaction to the symbolism of border walls and isolationism. I guess, in some ways, Motherbridge is a bit of a scream in rage at the way our leaders seem intent on leading us down an increasingly grim path, seemingly ignoring all the important lessons of history. So it started long before Covid, and was written and drawn by the wonderful Aleta during the pandemic period. It can’t help but be informed by that.

Question: Even more startlingly relevant is this world you have created where the masculine military industrial complex and governments are forcing Mother Nature to die in order to achieve their goals. This seems like a confluence of events that you couldn’t dream up. Do you believe that with enough education, enough people reading articles, and stories like Motherbridge, that we can positively effect the world around us?

Answer: I really do, yes. I mean, Motherbridge is a comic. It's a story. It's entertainment. I have no misconception about that. It's not a political treatise and it's not going to change the world. In some ways, it's deeply personal, too - about my reaction to the world and where it's headed. But at the same time, isn't the point of a story to transmit ideas? To help create empathy for others - to allow people to see through someone else's eyes for a while? From the earliest myths, this is what we see - cautionary tales, human stories, tales that warn, tales that help us engage with the world in a different way. If just one person reading Motherbridge looks at the world outside their window and thinks a little bit more compassionately about the people out there - well, the story has done more than I could ever have dreamed of.

I think that's what I hope for. That through stories, and articles and news reports and television shows - that we can all learn to look beyond ourselves and try to understand what's going on in other people's lives, and to offer out our hands to help them, and maybe ask for help from them, too.

That all sounds very grand. This is, like I said at the start, just a comic book. But I do think that's the power of story. Not my story, in particular, but the collective stories that we tell each other and through which we share our experiences of the world.

Question: This book feels like it would be good for any age to read, especially as you present large topics in a non-condescending manner. Was your plan to educate as you entertain or was that just a welcome side effect?

Answer: I think it's a welcome side effect. I'm no expert in these things. Like I said above, this is a personal story, a personal reaction to the world. It's a fantasy. But if it makes someone think, even for a moment, then I'll be a very happy man indeed.

Question: Will there be further adventures for Hayley Wells?

Answer: Time will tell! Both me and Aleta would love to delve back into Hayley’s world and tell people what happens next. I have a plan. It'll depend on how well this first book sells, as to whether we get to do more. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed!

*Interesting fact, but of George's two choices I would chose 'Absolute Beginners' because it's the first time Bowie sang it in concert since 1987. Though my personal choice is 'Wild is the Wind' which opened the show because hearing Bowie's voice for the first time coming out of the darkness was transcendent. And yes, that is an actual picture I took of Bowie singing 'All The Young Dudes!'

**I literally sent this question to George on a Thursday and that Sunday Ncuti Gatwa was announced, and I am equally excited by the casting.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:01 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Aleta Vidal, Carnival Row, Comics, Covid, David Bowie, Doctor Who, Fantasy, Francesco Francavilla, George Mann, Motherbridge, Newbury and Hobbes, Star Wars, Steampunk, The Affinity Bridge, The Albion Initiative