Scifi

After the events of the Brightonomnicon, the teenage Jim O'Malley/Rizla is back in his native Brentford. But all is not well: it seems that Germany won the 2nd world war and now his favourite café serves Bratwurst rather than ‘a full English' for breakfast. Hugo Rune reappears to take Rizla back in time to the ‘40s to help restore history and again defeat Count Otto Black. Again a series of mysteries and who-dunnits need to be solved, this time following the theme of a pack of Tarot cards. ..read more

A hapless teenager is rescued from drowning, but loses his memory. His rescuer is Hugo Rune the self-styled Perfect Master, Guru's Guru, etc, etc. Together they solve 12 mysteries and thwart rune's dark nemesis Count Otto Black.

Initially when I first saw this book, I was put off by the fact that it was a trilogy, it seemed rather heavy and voluminous, despite that it had essentially ticked all the right boxes. I needn't have worried. Celia Friedman is a master at weaving great plot lines, building nicely rounded out characters and creating a well padded out backdrop, with only sometimes being stuck in the details. She paces the story well, taking her time in places to build upon angst and tensions, then rushing you into the thick of action and adventure.

Much the same as the previous offering from this trilogy, Black Sun Rising, part two greatly expands upon the plot line, builds a deeper emotional attachment or hatred for Celia Friedman' main antagonists and keeps her style of writing fairly well balanced. When True Night Falls also builds upon the religious fervency, bringing an interesting but important view to humanity upon Friedman' world.

Hopefully this will not disappoint the senses and will keep you hooked for her final volume in this trilogy, Crown Of Shadows.

The final instalment of this trilogy comes to an end, and what a climax. Celia Friedman has managed to skilfully entwine religion, sci fi and the land of the Fae into an exhilarating ride for all partaking of this adventure. The group of antagonists mature and you find yourself emotionally invested in their well being and willing them to succeed in their quest to save the human race.

Oh dear - I think that this is a book that you'll either love or hate. I personally found it an enjoyable read, that to me kept on the same level with no major highs or lows on the excitement factor. However I did like the premise of the action taking place on Mars between the two cities(why are there never any towns - only cities!) - but I do like my action to be faster to keep me reading to the end.

Not a bad book - just slow.

The first book in a trilogy about the Valisan family. This story is about the young prince Leo and his friend Garviel, who are on the run from Loether, the barbarian who has taken over the kingdom of Penraven.

This is an exciting story, with a plot that gallops along at a cracking pace. Well plotted with believable characters but with so many loose ends that I cannot wait for the next book.!

To me, this is the high mark to which all "future / alternate history" books need to be judged by and is a testament to Dick's brilliance/ Positing a "what if" scenario around the allies losing the second world war we see a frightening plausibility that Dick spins into a virtual framework of paranoia and oppression. Throw in a fair smattering of eastern philosophy and you have one of the best science fiction novels ever written.

Like Thomas Ligotti, I was not familiar with Cory Doctorow's work and I really wish I'd been told about him before now. Doctorow's branch of science-fiction borders on being too computer nerdy sometimes, but it's inspired and fresh none-the-less.

The adaptations are all so different to what I'm used to; very quirky and full of personality. My own favourite is "Craphound" which is about one man and his alien as they trawl through the various "bring and buy" sales looking for the perfect bargains! Inspired, as I said.

Sometimes writing is descriptively compared to food - a meaty tome, a fruity novel, a frothy tale - to my mind this trilogy is a deep, rich, undercooked black pudding with a crunchy lemon topping !

For information, as a codex can be defined as a manuscript of ancient annals, the Codex is the history of Deepgate, there is no other relevance in the plot.