Simon Appleby
Simon Appleby is a Digital Project Manager for Octopus Publishing Group. He spends as much time as he can reading, mostly on the train, and is very happy to be working for a division of the UK’s largest publishing company. Simon reads mostly SF, fantasy, historical novels, history, and contemporary fiction, but dabbles with all sorts of other books from time to time. Simon is an active user of a number of book-related sites – he can be found on LibraryThing.com and BookMooch, among others. The most unusual book on his shelves is an Estonian first edition of The Colour of Magic, signed by Sir Terry Pratchett.
Degrees of Freedom, by Simon Morden
Reviewed on February 4, 2012
Degrees of Freedom completes the trilogy that began with Equations of Life and continued with Theories of Flight, and once again Samuil Petrovitch is in the thick of the action. Some time has passed since the events of the previous book, and Petrovitch has been hard at work rebuilding the Freezone, the northern half of [...]
Angelmaker, by Nick Harkaway
Reviewed on February 2, 2012
Nick Harkaway may be the son of John Le Carré, but for his second novel, the follow-up to The Gone-Away World, he demonstrates once again that his literary genes come from an altogether different part of the pool – because Harkaway’s work owes much more to other writers who have managed to meld the fantastical [...]
The Ascendant Stars, by Michael Cobley
Reviewed on January 26, 2012
So the trilogy ends (how many times have I written that in the last few years?) – and Humanity’s Fire reaches its conclusion. Following on from the packed Seeds of Earth and The Orphaned Worlds, Cobley has given himself plenty of loose ends to tie up: the fate of Darien hangs in the balance, with [...]
Ian Fleming’s Commandos: The Story of 30 Assault Unit in WWII, by Nicholas Rankin
Reviewed on January 12, 2012
After the great success of Churchill’s Wizards, Nicholas Rankin returns to the same formula by finding an unusual angle for telling the story of a relatively obscure, though highly distinguished, military unit. 30 Assault Unit was an innovative formation – a specialist group of commandos whose job was to go in with frontline troops and [...]
Snuff, by Terry Pratchett
Reviewed on October 24, 2011
Snuff is the 39th Discworld novel, and Sir Terry Pratchett’s 50th novel overall, a staggering achievement. This half-century seems a good moment to reflect on how far the Discworld has come since The Colour of Magic was published in 1983. From being a straight send-up of fantasy tropes (dragons, wizards, barbarian warriors, and so on), [...]
The Demi-Monde: Winter, by Rod Rees
Reviewed on October 23, 2011
For his début novel, the first in a four-book story cycle, Rod Rees has taken on the well-used SF theme of virtual reality and the consequences when worlds collide. From cyberpunk novels to some particularly well-known episodes of Star Trek (which, with its holo-decks, could conjure up virtual realities for its characters at the push [...]
Death of Kings, by Bernard Cornwell
Reviewed on October 21, 2011
Uhtred’s back – after a detour in to a one-off novel for his last outing, doyen of British historical novelists Bernard Cornwell has returned to continue the saga of Uhtred of Bebbanburg. Born an English noble but raised by Vikings, he straddles the divide that runs across what is now England in a way few [...]
Reamde, by Neal Stephenson
Reviewed on October 20, 2011
Neal Stephenson is something of a literary chameleon – his oeuvre includes Snow Crash, the cyberpunk classic with which he made his name, the sprawling historical trilogy of the Baroque Cycle, the massively popular geek thriller Cryptonomicon and most recently a book to put the ‘science’ back in to ‘science fiction’, the massive Anathem. The [...]
The Iron Jackal – A Tale of the Ketty Jay, by Chris Wooding
Reviewed on October 17, 2011
Here we go again: the Captain and crew and of the ship Ketty Jay burst back in to our lives in the third of their adventures, and a very welcome diversion they prove to be too. Since we first encountered them in Retribution Falls several years ago they have grown and developed as a team, [...]
Private Eye: The First 50 Years, by Adam Macqueen
Reviewed on October 17, 2011
Happy 50th Birthday to the Eye, that curious and enduring mixture of investigative journalism, satire and outright silliness which has been a fortnightly feature of my life since my teens. Like many people at that age did (and hopefully still do) I picked it up because I liked the cartoons, and as I matured I [...]
In the Name of the King, by A.L. Berridge
Reviewed on September 22, 2011
After his initial, formative adventures in Honour and the Sword (during which I convinced myself that the noble André de Roland was going to meet a premature end, on account of the fact that the book consists of lots of people talking about him in the past tense), the Chevalier de Roland is back to [...]
Theories of Flight, by Simon Morden
Reviewed on September 21, 2011
A welcome return to the Metrozone and the adventures of Samuil Petrovitch. In the previous volume of the Metrozone Trilogy, Equations of Life, he took on and defeated the sentient intelligence of the New Machine Jihad, devised a set of equations that completely redefined physics, and got the girl. Now he’s back, and the book [...]
The Godless Boys, by Naomi Wood
Reviewed on September 15, 2011
Naomi Wood’s debut novel takes as its premise the idea of a religious schism in England – but this is not a split between sects, rather a reckoning between the forces of the Church and militant atheism. England has become a theocracy, and the Godless have been banished. Some of them, the first wave, were [...]
The History of England, Volume 1: Foundation, by Peter Ackroyd
Reviewed on September 14, 2011
Novelist, historian, biographer, Peter Ackroyd is a multi-talented writer and now he’s put his historical hat on once more and turned to possibly his most ambitious project yet: after ‘biographies’ of London and the Thames, we have the first installment of a multi-volume history of England, starting in pre-history and concluding with the death of [...]
Darkie’s Mob: The Secret War of Joe Darkie, by John Wagner and Mike Western
Reviewed on September 2, 2011
It says a lot about the impact of World War II that war comics in Britain became, from the 60s, a pervasive artistic form that lasted for several decades. No other war inspired the same volume of war stories in this way – but then, no other war had action on land, sea and air, [...]
The Terminal State and The Final Evolution, by Jeff Somers
Reviewed on August 16, 2011
So, Avery Cates’ adventures, which began with The Electric Church way back in 2007 have come to an end four years later – and in many ways, they end with both a bang and a whimper. Legendary gunner Cates, the Gweat and the Tewwible, twice more contrives to be in the thick of the action, [...]
Stands a Shadow, by Col Buchanan
Reviewed on August 13, 2011
The follow-up to Buchanan’s excellent debut Farlander sees the continuation of the terrible war set in motion by the Empress Sasheen as she continues her quest to conquer the Free Ports, last bastions against the depravity and cruelty of the Empire of Mann. Her son is dead, killed by Roshun assassins who paid a terrible [...]
A Dance with Dragons, by George R.R. Martin
Reviewed on August 10, 2011
It’s a mark of how long GRRM makes his fans wait that this website was not even conceived of when I read this book’s predecessor – but the long hiatus aside, the question must be, was it worth that wait? The answer: an emphatic, resounding, roaring YES! My appetites awoken by the televisual feast that [...]
Honour and the Sword, by A.L. Berridge
Reviewed on July 9, 2011
In an unashamed homage to Alexandre Dumas and the Three Musketeers, A.L. Berridge brings us a swashbucking tale of honour and, er, swords set on the borders of France during the bloody religious conflict that was the Thirty Years War. She (for Berridge is a woman, something that neither the book jacket nor the writing [...]
The Caspian Gates, by Harry Sidebottom
Reviewed on July 5, 2011
Ballista is back! The Caspian Gates is the fourth outing for Harry Sidebottom’s barbarian-turned-Roman hero, and he’s still up to his neck in trouble. Having been unwilling acclaimed as an Emperor by his troops at the end of the previous book, The Lion of the Sun, Ballista is now viewed with deep suspicion by the [...]
Red Runs the Helmand, by Patrick Mercer
Reviewed on July 2, 2011
The third and final book of former soldier Patrick Mercer’s Anthony Morgan novels, Red Runs the Helmand is the first of Mercer’s book I have read, but fortunately no familiarity with Morgan’s previous adventures is necessary to enjoy the adventure. Set in the Afghan province of Helmand, this is clearly intended to have parallels with [...]
Jack Absolute, by C.C. Humphreys
Reviewed on July 1, 2011
The first of C.C. Humphrey’s Jack Absolute novels to be published, but actually the second tale, chronologically speaking (The Blooding of Jack Absolute being the prequel), Jack Absolute is an enjoyable slice of Georgian military adventure that’s executed with plenty of verve. The character of Jack Absolute, a Captain in the British Army, is positioned [...]
God Collar, by Marcus Brigstocke
Reviewed on June 27, 2011
Are you there Marcus? It’s me, Simon. I’m pretty sure you exist, because I’ve been to see you recording The Now Show, so there might be a little less existential angst in this review than in your book, but I just wanted to say (assuming that you do in fact exist) how much I enjoyed [...]
The Lost Fleet: Fearless and Courageous, by Jack Campbell
Reviewed on June 24, 2011
Following on from the first book, Dauntless, these are the second and third volumes in Jack Campbell’s military SF series The Lost Fleet, republished this year by Titan Books. They tell the continuing story of the attempt by the Alliance Fleet to get home after its defeat and betrayal by its arch-enemies, the Syndics. By [...]
Diary of a Dog-Walker: Time Spent Following a Lead, by Edward Stourton
Reviewed on June 18, 2011
Based on a fortnightly column in the Telegraph that Edward Stourton wrote for several years, Diary of a Dog Walker is a worthwhile addition to the pet memoir canon. Stourton acquired Kudu, an English Springer Spaniel, while he was still presenting The Today Programme on Radio 4, on the basis that he was mostly out [...]
Leviathan Wakes (Expanse Series), by James S.A. Corey
Reviewed on June 18, 2011
This large slab of space opera is the first in a new series, and marks the debut of James S.A. Corey, which is actually a pen name for the writing combo of fantasy author Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, who is George R.R. Martin’s assistant. Abraham has many books to his credit already, but this [...]
Songs of the Earth (Wild Hunt Trilogy), by Elspeth Cooper
Reviewed on June 16, 2011
The first volumes of new fantasy series are not exactly a rarity, so it takes something special to stand out in the current market – and with certain authors pushing the genre in new directions, it takes even more courage to stick relatively close to the classic swords-and-sorcery template. That’s what Elspeth Cooper has elected [...]
The Subterranean Railway, by Christian Wolmar
Reviewed on June 14, 2011
Love it or loathe it, the Tube is a massively important aspect of London’s transport system, hardly ever out of the news for one reason or another (strikes, safety problems, cost overruns, overcrowding). I am a Central Line user who has become acclimatised to overcrowding, delays and poor facilities – but Christian Wolmar’s important and [...]
Kaboom, by Matt Gallagher
Reviewed on May 4, 2011
Based in part on a blog that he wrote while serving in the US Army in Iraq between 2007 and 2009, Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War is Lieutenant (later Captain) Matt Gallagher’s account of what it was like to be in the forefront of the US ‘Surge’, the massive influx of [...]
Winter Quarters, by Alfred Duggan
Reviewed on May 4, 2011
Winter Quarters is a classic piece of historical fiction first published in 1956, written by Alfred Duggan, a prolific author and contemporary of Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Powell at Oxford; and in the interests of reading an author who has influenced many modern historical novelists, I thought it would be a worthy read. I was [...]
The River of Shadows, by Robert V.S. Redick
Reviewed on April 30, 2011
River of Shadows is the third volume in Robert Redick’s planned trilogy, after The Red Wolf Conspiracy and The Rats and The Ruling Sea – but, as other writers have discovered, it can be difficult to wrestle a long story arc in to submission, and the series will now conclude with a fourth volume. Another [...]
Chinaman, by Shehan Karunatilaka
Reviewed on April 20, 2011
Sri Lanka is not a place one necessarily associates with contemporary literature, but this former Dutch and then British colony is well known for its cricketing heritage, having become a significant power in the game since its team won the World Cup in 1996 (and recently lost out in the World Cup final for the [...]
Equations of Life, by Simon Morden
Reviewed on April 4, 2011
There’s always room in my life for books like Equations of Life. What’s not to like about a cyberpunk dystopia set in London (the only surviving city in the country), populated by Yakuza gangsters, armed nuns, vicious criminal gangs and genuis hackers? Samuil Petrovitch is a Russian emigre making a living in the London Metrozone, [...]
Odin’s Wolves (Raven 3), by Giles Kristian
Reviewed on April 1, 2011
Odin’s Wolves is the third of Giles Kristian’s tales of Raven, the young Englishman who becomes part of Sigurd’s Wolfpack, a ferocious and marauding pack of Norsemen. Vikings are a popular subject for historical fiction, with no less a writer than Bernard Cornwell making the struggle between King Alfred and the Danes the focus on [...]
The Dead Hand, by David E. Hoffman
Reviewed on March 29, 2011
As Japan faces the most serious nuclear incident that the world has seen since Chernobyl, prompting a global re-evaluation of the safety of otherwise of nuclear power. it seems somehow fitting that David E. Hoffman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Dead Hand is here to remind us of a time when not just nuclear power but [...]
The Wise Man’s Fear (Kingkiller Chronicle 2), by Patrick Rothfuss
Reviewed on March 28, 2011
The long-awaited sequel to Patrick Rothfuss’ debut novel The Name of the Wind is here – and it’s a monster. Weighing in at 994 pages of reasonably close-set type, it’s the kind of book that strengthens your arm muscles as you’re reading. Authors who publish books of such monstrous size have to work extra hard [...]
Sea of Ghosts (Gravedigger Chronicles 1), by Alan Campbell
Reviewed on March 14, 2011
Alan Campbell has a delightfully dark imagination. When he sets out to craft a new fantasy setting, he seems to have the ability to create something highly original which does not, as so much fantasy does, labour under the weight of previous authors’ conceptions. While there are faint echoes of China Mieville’s The Scar in [...]
The Crippled God, by Steven Erikson
Reviewed on March 9, 2011
WARNING! Review contains some spoilers! And so it ends – a series of ten of the most remarkable fantasy tomes you could ever hope to read. Steven Erikson’s masterpiece weighs in at three million words. And I’ve read them. I can’t say I remember all of them, but I have done The Malazan Book of [...]
I Was Douglas Adams’s Flatmate, by Andrew McGibbon
Reviewed on March 8, 2011
Based on the Radio 4 series of the same name, I Was Douglas Adams’s Flatmate is based on the conceit of interviewing someone whose relationship with a famous person was based not on straight friendship or peerdom: thus we have Douglas Adams’s flatmate, Johnny Cash’s tailor, Chet Baker’s last ever tour manager, and Andrew McGibbon [...]
The Ground is Burning, by Samuel Black
Reviewed on March 6, 2011
Nobody could accuse debut novelist Samuel Black of a lack of ambition: for his first outing, set in Renaissance Italy, he has told his tale from the perspective of three famous men, Cesare Borgia, Niccolo Machiavelli and Leonardo Da Vinci. Black weaves this story over a period of around fifteen years, overlapping and intersecting the [...]
End Game, by Matthew Glass
Reviewed on March 2, 2011
For his second outing, pseudonymous thriller writer Matthew Glass has chosen to tackle the machinations of the international money markets and the realities of international diplomacy. So confident are publishers Corvus in this book that the jacket brashly proclaims “The best thriller you’ll read this year or your money back” – and they mean it [...]
The Lost Fleet: Dauntless, by Jack Campbell
Reviewed on February 21, 2011
Dauntless is the first volume in the six-book Lost Fleet series, now reissued with a fetching new series of jackets by Titan Books. Sitting firmly in the sub-genre of military science fiction, they tell the story of the human Alliance fleet, which is defeated, demoralised and cut off deep in the home space of its [...]
The Afrika Reich, by Guy Saville
Reviewed on February 16, 2011
Guy Saville’s debut novel follows in the tradition of imagining a world in which the Nazis were victorious in World War Two – Len Deighton’s SS-GB and Robert Harris’s Fatherland are big jackboots for Saville to fill, and I am pleased to say that he manages to fill them with aplomb in this, the first [...]
The Living Daylights (Penguin Mini Modern Classics), by Ian Fleming
Reviewed on February 14, 2011
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Penguin’s Modern Classics series, they have released a series of 50 dinky, £3 paperbacks by a diverse range of the authors they have been lucky enough to have in their lists over the years – view the full list. This particular volume contains two of Ian Fleming’s James Bond [...]
Shadowheart, by Tad Williams
Reviewed on February 7, 2011
So, Tad Williams’ epic Shadowmarch series, originally a trilogy but now a much classier-sounding quartet, reaches its weighty (722 page) conclusion in the form of Shadowheart, and in it, Williams proves that he has matured and improved as a writer since his previous fantasy series, Memory, Sorrow & Thorn, which held me spellbound as I [...]
WG’s Birthday Party, by David Kynaston
Reviewed on February 6, 2011
David Kynaston’s small but perfectly formed cricket history tells the story of the annual Gentlemen vs Players fixture that took place at Lord’s, and that was one of the showpiece events of the English cricket season. What made the 1898 version of this fixture so notable was that it coincided with the 50th birthday of [...]
Hart of Empire, by Saul David
Reviewed on February 3, 2011
I admit I was somewhat underwhelmed by the first outing of Saul David’s half-Zulu soldier and adventurer George Hart in Zulu Hart. Highly conspicuous problems with dialogue and with the likeability of the central character marred my enjoyment of what should have been a much better book than it was. The excellent news to report [...]
Son of Heaven (Chung Kuo, Book 1), by David Wingrove
Reviewed on January 28, 2011
The Chung Kuo series was originally published between 1989 and 1999, in 9 volumes – but with an apparently rushed ending that author David Wingrove was unhappy with. Now with a new publisher (Corvus), two new prequel novels, a planned series of 20 (yes, 20) volumes in total and a release schedule taking us through [...]
The Hammer, by K.J. Parker
Reviewed on January 24, 2011
The third of a triptych of standalone novels (the previous two being The Company and The Folding Knife), shows K.J. Parker once again doing what she does best: fantasy fiction that’s much more about the fiction than it is about the fantasy. Set on a distant peninsula, Parker shows that she understands the effects isolation [...]
The Black Prism (Lightbringer 1), by Brent Weeks
Reviewed on January 18, 2011
The emergence of so many new and boundary-testing fantasy authors in the last ten years or so – Steven Erikson, Joe Abercrombie, K J Parker to name but three – as well as the development of urban fantasy as a genre, has as times felt like it is in danger of making traditional, swords-and-sorcery high [...]
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Simon Kernick
Simon Kernick is one of Britain’s most exciting new thriller writers. He arrived on the crime writing scene with his highly acclaimed debut novel The Business of Dying, the story of a corrupt cop moonlighting as a hitman. However, Simon’s big breakthrough came with his novel Relentless which was selected by Richard and Judy for [...]
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Five copies of John le Carré’s Smiley vs Karla Trilogy to be won
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was one of the big film releases of 2011, and to celebrate its release on DVD we have five copies of John le Carré’s Smiley vs Karla Trilogy to be won – consisting of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley’s People.
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