Category: B

vocal?

Posted on by Greig

Battle of the Linguist Mages

Scotto Moore

This is a fun book full of invention written by an author that shows real promise.
is a huge fan of a particular video game that uses nonsense vocal commands to cast ‘spells’.
Her work as a PR consultant brings her into contact with the firm that produces the game and she finds herself brought into the inner circle where she learns that he vocal commands can have actual real world effects.

As I say it’s a lot of fun and I really enjoyed a lot of the invention on display here.
Unfortunately where the book falls down is in the area of plot because as the story draws to a conclusion it becomes messy and confusing.

I’m looking forward to future books where hopefully all the promise shown in this one bears fruit.

Rating: B

lake?

Posted on by Greig

Almost Just Friends

Jill Shalvis

Piper is scraping together the money to fix up her grandparents old home for sale when her troubled siblings return to town. Trying to hold it all together and deal with her attraction to the new neighbour causes things to go off the rails in ways that may prove to be for the best in the long run.

Rating: B

taprobane?

Posted on by Greig

The Fountains of Paradise

Arthur C. Clarke

I first read this book a long, long time ago as a library book. A few years ago, with fond memories, I bought a second hand paperback copy of the book to revisit at some point.
Having a desperate need to spend more time away from screens now that I’m working from home during the lockdown I picked a physical book from my shelves to give me that diversion.
The plot is that superstar engineer Vannevar Morgan has decided that his next project should be a space elevator. He has a special low-g developed wonder material that will allow it but he needs to build it on a mountain somewhere on the equator. The best spot just happens to be on the site of an ancient monastery.
This book is solid entertaining Science Fiction but honestly nothing outstanding – definitely not as good as I had remembered.
Worth a read but not worth going out of your way to get a copy.

Rating: B

subway?

Posted on by Greig

A City Dreaming

Daniel Polansky

M is a magician or as he would put in it “in with the management”.
This book is a series of rolling vignettes as we see what M gets up to after washing back up in New York after drifting all over the planet.
The main character is a charming rogue and the writing enjoyable.
The problem for me was that the story never coheres. Some vignettes are utterly trivial tales of life as a debauched New York who just happens to have magical abilities and others have a genuine sense of danger and high stakes.
The stories just feel random – there’s no sense of tension and release. It’s never building to something and certainly the war between magical queens promised in the blurb never materializes.
I don’t regret reading it – there was much to enjoy – but I just felt it could have been great if was a more conventional fantasy story.

Rating: B

princesses?

Posted on by Greig

Holiday in the Hamptons

Sarah Morgan

This is a re-read of a perfectly enjoyable romance novel. You can read my earlier, still accurate, review here. I picked it up because I’d just finished listening to the audiobook of New York Actually (which is the first of the Knight siblings books) and remembered that I liked this one best of the series and the audiobook wasn’t at a price I was prepared to pay.

Rating: B

portland?

Posted on by Greig

A Red-Rose Chain

Seanan McGuire

a red-rose chainThe latest instalment of the Toby Daye story finds her in Portland on a diplomatic mission to avert war between Faerie kingdoms. Obviously this being Toby nothing quite goes to plan.
I read this because I have been going through the series as audiobooks and this was the first I couldn’t find at a reasonable price. So old-fashioned physical reading was my only option.
Last time I read this I gave it a higher rating because I genuinely really enjoy the October Daye series but on a re-read in the context of the series it felt like a lesser work. Still good but not as good as the best books in the series

Rating: B

hudson?

Posted on by Greig

The Prenup

Lauren Layne

Very solid “fake married” contemporary romance.
Charlotte Spencer and Colin Walsh got married ten years ago. He wanted a green card and she needed to be married to come into an inheritance.
They’ve basically not seen each other since the wedding day. When Colin asks for a divorce it triggers a clause in their prenup that requires them to spend three months living together before they can part.
The result is inevitable but it’s a very entertaining journey. Worth the cost of a cheap ebook if you like a fake relationship tale.

Rating: B

pita?

Posted on by Greig

The Trouble With Mistletoe

Jill Shalvis

Willa runs a pet shop that’s also a sanctuary for waifs and strays – human or animal.
Keane’s just had a cat dumped in his lap and Willa’s shop may be the perfect solution.
Only trouble is she remembers their high school past and he doesn’t…
Solid, enjoyable and fluffy contemporary romance.

Rating: B