Welcome to Trope Check, what is either a one-off or a possible series, in which I examine how unique works of fiction deal with familiar tropes in fun, new, and exciting ways! #0. Play Catch-Up! If you're unfamiliar with the bloody brilliant ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ก๐ ฃ that is Adrian Tchaikovsky's SHARDS OF EARTH, you should first... Continue Reading →
Ursula K. Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven asks not only โCan we imagine the future?โ but โWhat is the price for that future?โ It's a brilliant work, revolving around the relationship between George Orr (who may or may not be a reference to George Orwell) and his psychiatrist, William Haber. Bend me your ear... Continue Reading →
Originally posted over at Booknest.eu. Pictured here is my own copy. So pretty @_@ Published by: Gollancz.Genre: (Dark) FantasyPages: 486Format: HardbackPurchased the Exclusive Edition from Waterstones. The world we readers knew from the First Law Trilogy has changed. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Joe Abercrombieโs standalone novels in the... Continue Reading →
Published by: Tor.comGenre: Sci-Fi, AfrofuturismPages: 96Format: ebookPurchased Copy: from AmazonAwards: Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella (2016) Calvin Park spoke about this one over at one of the recent episodes of his Under a Pile of Books podcast; and since Iโve been trying to finish the last few squares for r/fantasyโs yearly bingo challenge,... Continue Reading →
I keep returning to Murakami's works, captivated by the prism through which he sees the world. His protagonists are a consistent type - alienated men, most often in their thirties. Something is missing in the lives they live, often to do with some personal tragedy in their late teenage years - in Norwegian Wood, it... Continue Reading →
Greetings, fabled followers, craven cultists, grimoire gnomes and blog butterflies! The first twelfth of 2020 is behind us and the eternal question must be asked: What the heck happened last month? Here, at the Reliquary, not too much. Books were read, old posts revisited, humans hunted for spo--don't know where that came from, to tell... Continue Reading →
Series: The Black Iron Legacy # 2Published by: OrbitGenre: Dark Fantasy, Grimdark, High FantasyPages: 567Format: e-bookReview Copy Courtesy of NetGalley If you havenโt read The Gutter Prayer and donโt know if you want to, read my review of it here. The Gutter Prayer was an exceptional debut โ no matter how hard I thought about... Continue Reading →
Moiraine Damodred by ย Dan Dos Santos I don't remember the exact age I first read the Eye of the World, though I must have been pre-teen. I remember my dad having bought the first three - they just came out in Bulgarian for the very first time. I was going to the villa with my... Continue Reading →
I love listening to the autobiographies of my favourite actors and comedians. Kevin Hart, John Cleese, Felicia Day, Amanda Palmer, all have put out such engrossing, fascinating reads. I couldn't get enough of them! When I joined Twitter I described myself as โScottish elf trapped inside a middle aged manโs bodyโ and I still think... Continue Reading →
I'm happy with the progress I've made with Haruki Murakami's books over these last few months. Kafka on the Shore in May, Norwegian Wood in September and just this last week, What I Talk About when I talk About Running. The last is freshest in my mind but I'll contain myself and instead turn to... Continue Reading →
