The Scroll by K.B. Hoyle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

THE SCROLL is the penultimate book in THE GATEWAY series by K.B. Hoyle.

What can I say? This is the best book yet.

Ms Hoyle has built a fascinating world full of rich characters and an exciting adventure tale full of mystery, hope, despair, complicated relationships and terror.

Seventeen year old Darcy returns to Alitheia with her five companions Sam, Amelia, Perry, Lewis and Dean, each Sunday afternoon during their shared annual family holiday. This year is no exception.

In Alitheia we meet old friends and new and Darcy and her crew face dangers both foretold and un-looked-for

I won't offer any spoilers, but I will say this is a hair-raising, rollicking tale. It has none of the slight pacing problems of some of its prequels, nor are there too many literary devices delivering unexpected outcomes.

My favourite of the series so far and I cannot wait for the finale. .

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Some things matter ...

Too Much Dark Matter, Too Little Gray by Mike Robinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As daunting as it is to be the first reviewer on Goodreads, I shall try to do this justice!


Thank you Curiosity Quills Publishing for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book, in return for an honest review. In all honesty, I really enjoyed this collection.

Mike Robinson has drawn together a crisp little collection of short stories, all with a slightly unsettling theme. Thanks to this book, I don't think I will be able to walk through night-darkened city streets, or smugly take my solipsism for granted, for a while. This compendium contains 19 delicious offerings, each serving up a slice of a universe where things are just a little bit ... wrong. I love a good collection of short stories, and generally find a few favourites and at least one dud per collection - but not this time. Some were admittedly stronger than others, but, all in all, Mr Robinson has put together a sound collection of really top-notch stories, without any drag. I would recommend this collection to fans of the Twilight Zone, or anyone who suspects, deep down, that the world is not really exactly what they tell you it is - whoever "they" are.

Bring me more Mike Robinson, please.

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Women in spaaaaaace ....

Dream of Time by Nancy J. Price
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am always interested in a time travel novel - perhaps I still hold out hope that a lonely alien in a blue telephone box will appear in my garden and sweep me away to a life of grand adventure, then bring me back home in time for tea. Or not. I digress.

I enjoyed this story, despite the fairly substantial plot holes and occasionally turgid pace. Robin, a thirty-something single mother with two young daughters awakens one day to find herself living in Victorian-era San Francisco as a 20 year old immigrant girl (Jennie) with a comfortable fortune. The victim of 'a nasty fall', she is confined to a hospital until she makes a fairly astounding recovery, and returns 'home'. During her recovery she alternates between her sick bed by day, and her 'real life' by night. In essence, she dream her alternate realities.

The story revolves around Jennie/Robin's journey to right some wrongs, most of which are wrought by Jennie's ex-Fiancé and regular con-man Walter. In this quest she is aided by a young policeman Travis, with whom Jennie develops a mutual case of insta-love. Travis' ex-Fiancée Maggie (who has conveniently taken up with Walter) provides some essential plot devices (spurring jealous, wearing bonnets, allowing her hair to be brushed by lonely charges to win their love) as well.

The characters are a bit thin (viz Jennie's sister who rocks up, hands over some jewels and departs) and the circumstances a little implausible (a 20 year old woman in Victorian society who lives unchaparoned, has no household servants and shacks up with a policeman with whom she has at least daily unprotected sex but manages not to become pregnant, yet still gets invited over to tea by the neighbourhood ladies' whist club??), but somehow, the story draws you in.

A good solid three stars, but no more. Sharpened up a little and a few plot and character developments, and it might merit more. The premise is sound and the writing (where it doesn't lapse into historical or pedestrian narrative) is interesting enough to keep you interested. There isn't too much cloying prose, and the plot has sufficient mystery to keep you interested.

As an aside, I would DEFINITELY recommend some psychiatric support for a robin - there are a range of issues she needs to sort out for her own sanity - and she should take a bit more notice of her children from time to time.

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Don't drink the water ...

The Scourge by A.G. Henley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I started this book mid-evening and struggled a bit with the first chapter or so - almost giving up and drifting off to sleep. Next minute it is 0130 am and I need to get to sleep or I'm never going to get up for work in the morning! This is just one of those stories that creeps up on you, knocks you on the head and ties you up so you never want to leave

The Scourge is a very character-driven tale. Certainly, there's plenty of action but the real depth comes from some well-crafted characterisation. I was also happy with the wordsmithing (is that a word?). I was impressed by The way AG Henley was able to describe a technicolour world through the blinded eyes of a sightless central protagonist (Fenn). The attention to detail was lovely - including the use of auditory and olfactory clues, as well as visual to describe the world around Fenn. You get a full detail of every little thing Fenn encounters, not only through her sharp senses but also through the eyes of those around her.

Oh, there are also zombies. Not always a selling point for me- I have a very low horror threshold, as a rule. However, the zombie hordes pretty much worked for me in this one!

What is also impressive is the professionalism of the galley. For a self-published novel, a debut at that, this book is not only beautifully written but also very well edited. I didn't find a single error to distract me from my reading experience.

I have a few issues with the pacing of the book, and I am dubious about the ending - I won't spoil it, but am unsure how to reconcile a few things there (the water, the water!!). I felt there were a couple of thin spots in the plot where it could have maybe benefitted from some patchwork, but, all in all, it is a solid novel and I will look for the sequel.

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Time tangle

Dream of Time by Nancy J. Price
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am always interested in a time travel novel - perhaps I still hold out hope that a lonely alien in a blue telephone box will appear in my garden and sweep me away to a life of grand adventure, then bring me back home in time for tea. Or not. I digress.

I enjoyed this story, despite the fairly substantial plot holes and occasionally turgid pace. Robin, a thirty-something single mother with two young daughters awakens one day to find herself living in Victorian-era San Francisco as a 20 year old immigrant girl (Jennie) with a comfortable fortune. The victim of 'a nasty fall', she is confined to a hospital until she makes a fairly astounding recovery, and returns 'home'. During her recovery she alternates between her sick bed by day, and her 'real life' by night. In essence, she dream her alternate realities.

The story revolves around Jennie/Robin's journey to right some wrongs, most of which are wrought by Jennie's ex-Fiancé and regular con-man Walter. In this quest she is aided by a young policeman Travis, with whom Jennie develops a mutual case of insta-love. Travis' ex-Fiancée Maggie (who has conveniently taken up with Walter) provides some essential plot devices (spurring jealous, wearing bonnets, allowing her hair to be brushed by lonely charges to win their love) as well.

The characters are a bit thin (viz Jennie's sister who rocks up, hands over some jewels and departs) and the circumstances a little implausible (a 20 year old woman in Victorian society who lives unchaparoned, has no household servants and shacks up with a policeman with whom she has at least daily unprotected sex but manages not to become pregnant, yet still gets invited over to tea by the neighbourhood ladies' whist club??), but somehow, the story draws you in.

A good solid three stars, but no more. Sharpened up a little and a few plot and character developments, and it might merit more. The premise is sound and the writing (where it doesn't lapse into historical or pedestrian narrative) is interesting enough to keep you interested. There isn't too much cloying prose, and the plot has sufficient mystery to keep you interested.

As an aside, I would DEFINITELY recommend some psychiatric support for a robin - there are a range of issues she needs to sort out for her own sanity - and she should take a bit more notice of her children from time to time.

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Mortal?

Mortality by Kellie Sheridan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

OK, so it's official ... I am no longer a Zombie-fiction virgin.

MORTALITY was my first, and it may not be my last. I don't usually go for tales of the disintegrating undead - vampires possibly, at a pinch ... but I've not before felt the compulsion to wander into stagger-and-lurch-ville.

I think I followed a 'read now' link from a NetGalley e-mail extolling the virtues of newly available eARCS ... yes, I am that easily led!

Enough about me, and more about the novel!

Pleasantly surprised.

This is a solid little read. We have an alternating First Person POV and the separate stories come together in a fairly satisfying way. Both our heroines are interesting, flawed (but working on it), and they each have a voice so don't suffer the fate of similar protagonists in other novels who can't seem to decide what voice to speak with when they're on centre stage. There's enough men around to make life interesting, the love triangle (while inexplicable) isn't too egregious or long-lived, the parents aren't insufferable (although they're all very absent) and the pace is okay -a little patchy, but that's okay ...

I liked it. I didn't love it, but I liked it.

I was a little bit worried the story would focus on the Herculean feats of a small über-mädchen combatting the shuffling hordes. I mean, how much depth can you get in a novel about kill-or-be-killed when your enemy is icky and slow and stupid and trying to eat you? There isn't much honour in slaughtering such a foe, is there. However, there is a little twist where one of the characters turns that premise on its ear. I really enjoyed Ms Sheridan's fresh perspective on this. Very inventive.

All in all, I'd be interested to read more in this series. Well done.

I doubt I'll convert to becoming a born again zombie book reader, but this one was with the risk of trying something new. Thank you NetGalley and Kellie Sheridan for letting me read so successfully outside my comfort zone.

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Family matters.

Matters Familiar by E.G. Fabricant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love me a good collection of short stories, and that is what E.G. Fabricant has given us in MATTERS FAMILIAR.

A collection of 12 contemporary stories, each exploring an aspect of family relationships. This anthology gives us glimpses of the different ways we parent - Fabricant dishes up, in one tale a helicopter parent whose very attention threatens to stifle her child's development, in another he gives us a mother too paralysed by loss and fear to provide any meaningful emotional structure to her son. We explore the relationships between siblings and cousins, between friends and team-mates.

This is an anthology dedicated to the ties that bind, holding a mirror up to the way we live our lives and the people with whom we populate them - some by choice, others through the obligations of blood.

I enjoyed this collection very much. Thank you.

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Fabulous.

The Enchanted by K.B. Hoyle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The fourth instalment of the fabulous gateway series. Roll on number 5!

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Another cracker!

The White Thread by K.B. Hoyle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Part three of the Gateway series, THE WHITE THREAD continues the story of Darcy and her 5 companions in their alternate world Alitheia. Well structured, the novel provides a solid next instalment to the series. There is a large amount of character development in this tranche, particularly for Darcy and Tellius. Primarily a quest novel, the book encompasses a number of themes, and delivers developments in the characters' understanding of love (both platonic and romantic) as well as respect. The moral of this one could be encapsulated in the old axiom "be careful what you wish for".

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The Oracle by K.B. Hoyle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The second novel in the Gateway Chronicles, THE ORACLE continues to lay the foundations for the story-arc. In the first book (THE SIX), we met Darcy, Sam, Amelia, Perry, Lewis and Dean - six humans prophesied to save Alitheia, a land with parallels to a Earth, from the evil Tselloch and his minions.

In THE ORACLE, Darcy continues to struggle with her role in Alitheia's emancipation. Following a year spent in their normal lives, the six companions embark again into their other world and resume their adventures in magic and swordsmanship. Relationship are cemented and prophesies followed. Darcy, in railing against her fate, compels a journey for half her companions, the end result of which only serves to deepen the mysteries of her fate.

I had a little trouble with the pacing of this novel. Second books are hard, particularly where the arc encompasses six sections. In THE ORACLE all the tenets of a second book are covered - the scene is being fleshed out, the world building continues, the characters develop, there is a journey, questions are answered, yet more are uncovered, characters come, others go. There is sorrow, pain, joy and laughter. However, I felt there were certain sections of the novel where time, because of a literary device, simply moved too rapidly. Without wanting to give away spoilers, at one point in the novel a significant amount of time passes, and the only indicators for one of the characters that this time has passed are a few physical cues - long fingernails, a bit of peach fuzz on a teenaged cheek ... But not ENOUGH to cement the new reality. Granted the action moves very rapidly in the period following the temporal glitch, and there are references later to further time passing to allow for additional adjustments, but all in all I was dissatisfied with how this part of the book played out. There were so many other parts where time felt adequately spent, yet this period was empty, both in substance and in later impact to some major characters - a lot happened, it should have resonated more.

That said, a good solid second novel. I think it could have been longer.

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Love her and hate her - introducing Darcy.

The Six by K.B. Hoyle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

THE SIX tells us the story of Darcy, a self-absorbed, hormonal brat of a thirteen year old (whose solipsism is her greatest defining feature) and her five companions - Sam, Amelia, Perry, Lewis and Dean. In a tale with parallels to the Narnia Adventures, the six find themselves crossing a magic portal to a parallel land in which magic abounds. Populated by fairy folk and mythological beings, Alitheia is a land of extraordinary beauty, clarity and magic. However, as with all good stories, Alitheia also harbours a Shadow - the Tselloch, an archetypal evil being which had entered Alitheia through the vanity and foolish greed of a human and was bent on destroying the world. In true fantasy novel style, the Six have been prophesied to save the world, but only after mastering their own magical talents.

So, the tale is not new and the characters not unsighted - how is this different from an attempt to recreate the Famous Five in Narnia?

Darcy.

She is extremely unpleasant, mightily moody and just plain thirteen. This girl represents all of the worst traits of your adolescent - a sense of entitled victim hood. Seriously, I wanted to lock her in her bedroom and tell her not to come out until she had grown a conscience and a rational mind!

Loved her. Can relate (I'm trying to grow one of those in my house right now, so I feel I know her well).

I think this is one of the first novels where I have disliked the central protagonist immensely, and still wanted to come back for more.

As the first in a penta-panoply of novels, THE SIX did everything it was supposed to. We discovered our band of merry travellers. We identified our leader (albeit reluctantly - from both perspectives (the reader and the character)) and we exposed the evil threatening the world. We even set up an opportunity to face the evil, a flaw and tempered the close of the chapter with the promise of more engagement to come.

Top notch. No real plot holes, no flat characters, enough drama to keep the pages turning, and heaps of room for development - particularly in the characters as they grow up, presumably to return and save the day once more.

Top effort. Now, do I start the next one, or try to get some sleep before work in the morning?

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