I was intrigued by the cover claim on North – that it’s a post-apocalyptic game changer. That’s a pretty big call in this genre. Not a lot changes, really. There’s an apocalypse, and then people have to survive afterwards. Normally there are the ‘good’ people who try to survive while keeping their humanity intact. Then […]
speculative fiction
Review: Book of Colours, by Robyn Cadwallader
To me, Book of Colours is a novel about art and artists. The process of creating art, what goes on in the head of an artisan, and how do they reconcile artistic independence with the need to eat and pay rent? Set in 1321 London in a small illustrators’ workshop in Paternoster Row, three people […]
Review: The Absolved, by Matthew Binder
In 2036 automation has made most jobs redundant. Henri is a cancer physician and one of the few left who have a job. Most people are paid not to work. They are ‘The Absolved’. Sounds pretty good in theory, right? This is the ‘universal basic income’ argument – it’s fine to automate more and more […]
Review: City of Broken Magic, by Mirah Bolender
City of Broken Magic, by Mirah Bolender, is a refreshingly original fantasy novel which follows Laura as she pursues her dreams of becoming a ‘Sweeper’. The art of using magic to defeat monsters is a dangerous and dying profession, but one that’s about to become extremely important again. Amicae is a city of delusions. ‘There […]
Review: The Ice Maiden, by Sara Sheridan
There’s something about historical fiction set on islands that I just can’t seem to get enough of. The Guernsey Potato and Literary Society and The Light Between Oceans are two wonderfully isolated stories. Author Sara Sheridan has brought us another – this time on an island of ice. The Ice Maiden, by Sara Sheridan, is […]
Review: Our Life in the Forest, by Marie Darrieussecq
Our Life in the Forest, by Marie Darrieussecq, is an experimental future dystopian novel for those who loved The End We Start From. A future where the lucky ones have a ‘half’, an identical body lying in storage from which they can harvest spare body parts as needed. Less fortunate humans have a ‘jar’, just […]