Sam Harby
Sam Harby is a former student of English Literature at both the University of Nottingham and the University of Sheffield, desperately seeking an editorial role within the publishing industry. He enjoys magical realism and fantasy novels especially, but is usually happy to read anything he can get his hands on. He hopes one day to write his own novel when time allows.
The True History of the Blackadder, by J.F. Roberts
Reviewed on October 14, 2012
‘History has known many great liars’, as the opening narration for the first ever broadcast episode of The Black Adder notes, and a claim that the Blackadder dynasty itself hopes to demonstrate. So is the pretense for this history of the Blackadder family, written and released for the thirtieth anniversary of the original pilot episode of Edmund’s exploits. The [...]
The Diviners, by Libba Bray
Reviewed on September 22, 2012
Evie O’Neill, an excitable and energetic young girl, feels trapped in the small-town suburban world of Zenith, Ohio, longing for the bright lights and wild nights of 1920s New York City. Idolising the flapper girls of the 1920s, and seemingly modelling herself on the ultimate flapper Zelda Fitzgerald (even down to ending up in a [...]
The Chemickal Marriage, by G. W. Dahlquist
Reviewed on September 19, 2012
The Chemickal Marriage is the closing part of Dahlquist’s Dream Eaters trilogy, following on from The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters and The Dark Volume. The novel picks up its story shortly after the events of the second’s conclusion, with accidental heroine Celeste Temple laying low and recovering in a hotel room after her [...]
Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul, by David Adams Richards
Reviewed on August 17, 2012
Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul follows the thoughts and memories of the titular Markus Paul, reflecting on the effects of a complex mystery on the lives of a small community of Micmac Indians of a First Nations reserve near New Brunswick, Canada. The mystery: the death of the young intelligent Micmac Hector Penniac, [...]
Catching the Sun, by Tony Parsons
Reviewed on June 12, 2012
After a harrowing experience at his London home, Tom Finn becomes disillusioned with British life, and uproots his family for the idyllic setting of Thailand, and Phuket’s Hat Nai Yang Beach. Here, life seems perfect, immersed in a world of sun, sea and sand, surrounded by unspoiled nature and away from the hectic, dangerous Western [...]
Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change The World, by Jane McGonigal
Reviewed on April 10, 2012
‘Reality, compared to games, is broken’. This is the assertion that Jane McGonigal makes early in her treatise on the world of gaming and its relation to the real world. McGonigal strongly feels the world of gaming, especially in regards to computer and video games, has long been misjudged, too often being rejected as a [...]
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The Bookgeeks Interview
Mark Oldfield
Mark Oldfield has worked in criminological research for over 20 years. He has a PhD in Criminology from the University of Kent and has carried out research in the areas of risk assessment and prediction and as well as evaluative research on policing, prisons and probation. He has also taught in various Universities on research, crime and criminal justice.
