April Reviews

April is done and boy have we had some nice weather. It sure was a good month for reading. Apart from when I have been sprawled out by the pool on a holiday I have never got through 6 books in a month before. A new record.


1) Conn Iggulden – Wolf of the Plains



I have heard good things about Conn’s books for quite a while. I was determined to pick them up when one day I read a couple of negative reviews detailing how inaccurate they were. This immediately put me off, especially as I did my degree in Ancient History and get annoyed when things are wrong. However, I think I have mellowed a bit. Recently, I don’t care if the book is accurate or not, it is the story and characters I am interested in and if they are good then what does it matter if a particular dress style was not common in the period the book is set in. Even so I decided to start with Conn’s Genghis Khan series as I know virtually nothing about the period.

I loved it! I thought the story telling was spot on, the character’s great and the overall setting excellent. If there is a minor criticism, it is that Conn had a tendency to shift POV’s sometimes between paragraphs. However, this did not ever get confusing and is more of a personal gripe as I know writers are not supposed to do that.

There are some genuinely moving scenes contained within the book and some shocking ones too. You root for Genghis and his brothers from the first page. I will definitely be checking out more of Conn’s work. My rating: 8.6



2) Robert McCammon – Gone South


The man that is fast becoming my favourite author delivers again in another genre. So far I have read historical fiction, horror, contemporary fiction and now I guess you would call this book action, all written by Robert McCammon and all thoroughly enjoyed.

I have to admit the premise of this book did not grab me, but I trusted in the author and was not disappointed. At times I was laughing out loud, in the bounty hunters Robert has created some of my favourite characters.

I never really knew where the plot was going to end up, but it did not matter as the journey was just so enjoyable. The swamps oozed life and the final scene was fantastic. I like how McCammon ends his books, they are satisfying and for some one like myself who likes dark endings normally, not too cheesy.

The Five is due out next month. I urge anyone who reads this blog to buy it and support this author. He deserves to be more recognised more in the UK. My Rating: 8.8


3) Re-read: George R R Martin - A Clash of Kings



Having enjoyed the re-read of A Game of Thrones much more than I thought I would last month, I was looking forward to getting my teeth into this one. It did not disappoint. Once again, I had knew the basic story but had forgotten most of the detail. I forgot how Brienne comes into the book for example a nice surprise. I won’t talk about the plot as I don’t want to ruin it for those of you watching the TV series without having read the books. They get better in my opinion. My Rating: 9.4

4) Aesop’s Fables:

A random choice I hear you say. You would also be correct. I left my book at work and was wondering how to feel my time in on the inane bus journey (I need something to tune out some of the less savoury characters in our society). I have the kindle link on my phone and Aesop’s fable was one of the books they offered for free.

During my many years studying ancient history, Aesop was one of the texts I never studied so I thought I would give him a whirl. If you were to read this book all in one go you would struggle. Some of the fables are so short that it is difficult to adjust moving on to the next and then the next and then the next. I often found myself reading but not taking them in. The best way to read the text is little and often.

Having said that, there are some amusing fables contained within, some of which have inspired some sub plots for my writing. In that regard the book has been invaluable. I was also surprised to discover how many classic stories originate from these fables: The hare and the tortoise, the north wind and the sun, the boy who cried wolf. I had no idea these came from Aesop. Ultimately however, I found that after a while the fables all seemed to be telling the same kind of story and it became a bit of a chore to finish. My rating: 6


5) Stephen King – Just After Sunset



Look at reviews for Stephen king and you will generally get positive reports from his fans and mostly positive reviews from everyone else with gripes about his inability to produce satisfying endings. When it comes to short stories it is almost universally agreed that the man is (excuse the pun) the king. Criminally despite owning most of them, I have not read any of his short story collections. I decided to start with what is generally perceived to be the weakest.

Overall I really liked Just After Sunset. There isn’t a bad story in this collection which is rare for an anthology, but I have to say the majority of the stories fell into the category of “good” rather than “great”. The great stories being: “N” the story of a patient with OCD; “Mute” the story of a man who picks up a mute hitchhiker and “A very tight space” the story of two warring neighbours. Other good stories are the “Gingerbread girl, “Rest Stop” and “Ayana.” My rating 7.8

6) Matthew Reilly – Seven Ancient Wonders

In 2006 I was at Gatwick airport awaiting the flight to sunny Florida. I was in Waterstones searching for a quick and easy read. After all, I was off to Disney, how much time would I have. I discovered the Contest by Matthew Reilly. As the holiday progressed so I found myself in love with the book. This book was fast paced action that never let up. I had never read anything like it. I lent it to my brother in law expecting him to love it as well – he hated it. He thought it was the worst written book he had ever had the misfortune to read. I then looked at the reviews on Amazon and found many others were split down the middle regarding Matthew Reilly’s work.

I decided to give Ice Station ago and loved it even more, followed by the Temple with the same result. Whilst I appreciate the writing is not brilliant, the stories were great escapism, very unrealistic but read like an Indiana Jones movie.

I subsequently read Matthew Reilly’s other novels. They were good but not as good as Ice Station and the Temple. Therefore I had no hesitation in purchasing Seven Ancient Wonders. After all what could go wrong? A new protagonist in Jack West jnr; a great subject matter in the seven ancient wonders and Reilly’s ability to write action sequences like no other. The answer - everything. This book is bad. Maybe it is because I now have a couple of years of discovering the common errors in writing behind me, but Matthew seems to tick an awful lot of them. Adjectives are used in plenty, the book is littered with illustrations to depict what Reilly seems to have an inability to describe and the characters are none existent.

From the word go the reader is thrust into the action. This would normally not be a bad thing but there is never a pause for breath to flesh out the characters we are supposed to be caring about.

Maybe, it was just the mood I was in when I read it. With the contest I was in the right frame of mind, with this maybe I wasn’t. There are some excellent action scenes contained within the novel. The Hanging gardens of Babylon is well done for example. However James Rollins seems to do the whole thing a lot better.

Am I done with Matthew Reilly? Of course not, I enjoyed his other novels too much even though I recognise they are flawed. Let’s hope the next one is an improvement though. My rating: 4.5

March review

Another month over and a very good one for reading. I managed to read 4 books this month and some of them were rather large. Without further ado I will review the books I enjoyed.

Bernard Cornwell – Sharpe’s Tiger:

As many of you know, I considered the Warlord trilogy as my favourite series of books last year. Cornwell is an author I can’t believe I have taken so long to start reading. On the strength of the Warlord trilogy I went out and bought the first 12 novels in the Sharpe series (it was on offer for £17).

            I had heard that the Warlord Chronicles were Cornwell’s best work so I went into reading Sharpe’s Tiger with a little bit of trepidation, hopeful that I would not be disappointed. Incidentally Sharpe’s Tiger is not the first book Cornwell wrote in the Sharpe series but it is the first chronologically. Cornwell himself wants his readers to start there.

            The book does not reach the superb standard of the Arthur books, but it is still a very good read. Sharpe is a likeable hero and the supporting cast especially Hakeswill are interesting characters. I was worried at first that the battle scenes would be arduous as the soldiers primed their rifles read to fire the next shot, but I shouldn’t have fretted. What I liked most about the book was that it was a quick and easy read. I am looking forward to reading more about Richard Sharpe. My rating: 8.6

Robert Jackson Bennett – Mr Shivers:

I did not know anything about this book until Niall reviewed it on his blog the Speculative Scotsman (http://scotspec.blogspot.com/). The concept and cover intrigued me enough that I ordered the book there and then. Niall loved the book calling it his favourite read last year. I don’t disagree with the high praise he heaps on the book. Connelly is an excellent protagonist, laconic but instantly likeable. The book is underpinned by a code of honour amongst vagrants and also contains cool supernatural elements. For a debut novel, Bennett is assured and installs an excellent sense of atmosphere throughout the novel. The ending is predictable but that does not detract from climax. I would thoroughly recommend checking this book out. My rating: 9.1

Re-read: George R R Martin – A Game of Thrones.

Many of you know that I don’t generally re-read books. I have been contemplating re-reading this series for ages, mainly because I had forgotten so much. With book 5 now definitely on the horizon, I decided to take the plunge. For those of you that love this series as much as I do and can’t be bothered with reading all 4 books again. I highly recommend checking out the Tower of the Hand website. It contains comprehensive summaries of every chapter of the series.

            So did I enjoy the re-read? You bet. Surprisingly so in fact. If anything I enjoyed it more than the first time.  I remembered the key events but the little things like how whinny Jon is at the start of the series or how hard Catelyn is, I had forgotten. Tyrion is cool as I remember and his friendship with Bron is most amusing. The re-read has whet my appetite for book 5 and I plan on reading one book a month is the series to be read by July. Winter is coming. My rating: 9.5

Jonathan Aycliffe – Whispers in the dark.

I cannot for the life of me remember why I ordered this book from ebay. I think I saw it praised on a forum and ordered it that same day. However, I have never seen it mentioned since.  I have over 60 books in my “to be read” pile (make that 100 when you consider books in a series) and this book was near the bottom.

            Having just finished Game of Thrones I fancied a light read. My eyes fell on this book and the urge took me. At first I thought I was going to really struggle with the story. It is almost written in a Jane Austen style. Whilst I am not adverse to this, I generally have to be in the mood for such a book. I soon found myself too immersed in the story to notice however. Before the supernatural element of the plot begins, we are told of a damaged and cruel childhood. The protagonist endures a horrible existence all expertly shown to reflect the era the book is set in (the turn of the 20^th century). The language is rich but used smartly. There are no over blown descriptions here. When the supernatural element comes, it is portrayed very effectively. Whilst books don’t seem to scare me, Whispers in the Dark does a good job of portraying the fear of the protagonist. The setting of Baras Hall (I think that is the correct spelling, I am typing this from memory), is excellent, from the terrifying folly to the empty mansion itself. By the time the book reaches its satisfying conclusion I was desperate to find out what was behind the mystery.

            Jonathan Aycliffe is an author I will revisit. My rating: 8.8

Writing: Book 2

Hopefully next week I will write a blog about how the publishing is going and the progress I am making with the Ritual of the Stones. For now I want to talk about book 2.

If I am truthful I had a spell where I doubted whether or not I had it in me to write the sequel. Part of me recalled how much of a challenge the first book was, (especially the editing) and the rest thought I might be wasting my time. Suppose (as is most likely), nothing ever comes of this series. Book 1 never gets picked up by an agent, and then I am writing a sequel to something that will never be seen beyond a few close friends.

All writers have doubts, I am under no illusion abut that. It was not until I reached the 30,000 word mark on the first book that I began to seriously think I could complete a novel. But these doubts were a bit different. Not only did I worry about the quality of writing but I worried about the time and effort I was about to invest on something linked to a book that might never see the light of day. Should my time be better utilised writing a completely new book altogether?

I decided to take a few weeks to think about things. The break did me good. I found myself waking every day and without realising I was doing it, thinking of the plot of book 2. With each day, more ideas spawned and gradually the story arc began to form. I began to form arcs for each character, make note of key events and record little snippets of dialogue.

The ideas grew and grew until Monday morning came and I began writing. It is now Friday and I have written 1,000 words a day. Hopefully I will knock out another 1,000 today and for many more days to come and so the process begins again.

Books: February reading

Welcome to my February reviews. Only 3 books read this month:

Robin Hobb – The Assassin’s quest: Ultimately disappointed, is the best way to sum up how I felt after reading the concluding book in the Farseer trilogy. I loved the first book, enjoyed the second one but not quite as much. This one left me undecided for the majority of it. First of all, it is a very different type of book from the two that preceded it. Gone are the comfortable surroundings of Buckeep. Instead, as the title implies, Fitz is on a quest. This means lots of ambling around through the country. I don’t like talking about plots too much in my reviews as I hate reading spoilers (even the most minor things) but the first 200 pages drag, the book finally picks up when a host of the characters we know and love return and then there is the final third, that turns out to be very tedious. Hobb really labours the point of the Skill affecting Fitz’s mind and this makes for very frustrating reading. I got to the final 60 pages and I wondered how on earth the story was going to conclude and tie up all the lose ends. Don’t worry, it does, but it felt extremely rushed.  After finishing the book, I went on to Amazon and looked at the reviews. The book received very divisive reviews. Whilst I can see why many hated it, I definitely wouldn’t go that far. The writing is as polished as ever as are the characters but it is the weakest of the trilogy. I rated it: 8.1

Lee Child – Echo Burning: I love Jack Reacher, I think he is a great creation. He is the type of man, we all want to be. So why have I only read 5 of Lee Child’s books and why was the last one I read over 2 years ago? There are two reasons: 1) they are very formulaic. Jack stumbles over a problem and decides to solve it. The story is always interesting and you are guaranteed a few really cool moments from Mr Reacher, but basically I wanted to avoid getting bored with the series. 2) I solved the mystery in the last book (I think it was the Visitor), really early on. I hate it when I do that. Part of me is pleased I solved it but another part of me feels cheated. It was after reading,“the Visitor” that I made conscious decision to not overly think about where a book was going too much in order to avoid disappointment.

            After 50 pages of Echo Burning, I was worried I had guessed the ending again. I prayed that I was wrong and…boy was I. Lee Child does a terrific job of changing the story every time you think you suss out what is happening. I did eventually guess the ending but there were many twists and turns on the way. Reacher delivers some killer lines and has one very cool scene in a bar. In this story, the normally correct Reacher ends up doubting himself, making for a refreshing read.  This is Lee Child back to his best. My rating: 8.5

The Beach House – James Patterson and Peter De Jonge. It seems every time I review one James Patterson’s books I always have a story to tell. Being the geek that I am, around 4 years ago, I started to record the books I had read. This was mainly to help me remember where I was in a series and out of interest as to how many books I read in a year. The system was not infallible though. Two years ago I got half way through James Patterson’s the Lifeguard before I realised I had already read it. This annoyed me as I think there are far too many excellent books out there to read then to waste time reading one that is not groundbreaking. In fact I have only ever read two books more than once. One was Lord of the Rings, not because I loved it (I do, but find it an unpleasant read) and the other was Harry Potter and the half blood prince (I wanted to refresh my memory before the final book came out). I am contemplating re-reading the Ice and Fire series before book 5 comes out but am still undecided. The point is I don’t re-read books as a rule.

Which brings me on to, “the Beach House.” Before I picked it up, I was unsure whether I had read it or not. When I started it, I was sure I hadn’t. Around two thirds of the way through I realised I had. Which kind of sums up James Patterson’s books. I enjoyed the Beach House, but it is instantly forgettable. Is it well written? The easy answer is “no,” but then I think that is unfair. I think like all of his books, the Beach Hose is well written. It is easy reading and a page turner. Does it have much substance? No, definitely not. Do you find yourself caught up in the story? Yes. So I guess that is the sign of a good book and author. James Patterson entertains me. When I am in the mood for a quick read, he is the perfect tonic.

The book itself whizzes by. Jack Mullen is a man obsessed with uncovering the truth behind his brother’s death. A death the community have deemed an unfortunate suicide having seemingly been bribed by the local billionaires. Jack’s character is the same generic character you will find in all Patterson’s books. If he loved jazz you would say he was the same as Alex Cross. Jack is aided in his mission by his friends who drift in and out the story, one minute they are hell bent on avenging his brother’s death and the next they are forgotten. There is also the obligatory love interest – a relationship that blooms out of no where. Basically all of the usual criticisms of Patterson’s books are there but dam it is still entertaining. I rated it: 7.4  

The Hook

O.k. so I am sure there were some of you that read my post last week and scoffed at the fact that I said the synopsis would only take a couple of days to complete. A little heads up would have been nice!!

I spent two days and have now whittled it down to 700 words. I am partially happy that it covers the main plot of the story now, but I am not convinced an editor will love it. I’ve read some authors who have said the synopsis is the hardest part in writing. I can see why they say that, but at the end of the day, you are writing about the story you know inside out. For me, it is just a case of tinkering with it until it feels right (get your minds out of the gutter people). Having said that, what do I know? I haven’t sent anything off yet.

The other headache is the submission letter. This traditionally is made up of 3 parts:

1)      The hook

2)      Description of the book

3)      Author bio.

Today I have been focussing on the hook. After all, this is the part that needs to grab the editor’s attention. There are numerous websites that offer advice on the hook. Some of them are excellent but all agree there is no willing formula. I think the best way to learn what makes a good hook is to see what is out there. Below I have listed some “hooks” used by the best selling fantasy authors in recent years. I have also made a note of how many words they have used in the description of their book:

Robin Hobb – Assassin’s Apprentice - Fitz is a royal bastard, cast out into the world with only his magical link with animals for solace and companionship. 112 words

Joe Abercrombie – The Blade itself - Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and increasingly bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer extraordinaire, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing smugglers. 208 words

Scott Lynch – The Lies of Lock Lamorra - They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he's part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. And they are wrong on every count. Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. 234 words

Patrick Rothfuss – The Name of the Wind - 'I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. 168 words

Mark C Newton – Nights of Villjamur - An ice age strikes a chain of islands, and thousands come to seek sanctuary at the gates of Villjamur: a city of ancient spires and bridges, a place where banshees wail the deceased, cultists use forgotten technology for their own gain and where, further out, the dead have been seen walking across the tundra. 185 words

Brent Weeks – The Way of Shadows - The perfect killer has no friends. Only targets. 117 words

Below is the description I have had for the Ritual of the stones since the book began:

Rob Donovan – Ritual of the Stones – Every 12 years the Ritual of the Stones takes place. 12 people are selected and one is sacrificed to the Gloom, a shadowy creature that haunts Frindoth.

When Rhact learns that his daughter has been selected to take part in the Ritual, he takes his family and flees. In doing everything he can to protect his family, Rhact has no idea of the repercussions of his actions.

Elsewhere, in the city of Lilyon, King Jacquard struggles to maintain peace and order over the Kingdom. A growing number of factions seek to take advantage of the Ritual and claim the Kingdom for themselves.

The destiny of the Kingdom relies on the Order, a group of powerful beings, but even amongst their ranks deception and betrayal emerges. For Marybeth believes she has discovered a way to defeat the Gloom, a secret the Order may not want to get out. 

Through the lives of these three individuals, the ballad of Frindoth begins.

Rather bland isn’t it? I am happy with the content of most of the description but the hook is definitely the weakest part and needs addressing. I have also added the last 2 lines. Marybeth is quite a big character in the book and yet I don’t even mention her in the blurb!

Below is my next attempt. It conveys the same message but is a little more punchier.

2) The Ritual of the Stones is once again upon Frindoth. Twelve years have past since the Gloom claimed its last sacrificial victim and now it is the time has come for the ritual to decide who will be next.
I am also toying with the idea of this one:

3) Twelve years have past since the Gloom claimed its last sacrificial victim and now once again it is time for the Ritual of the Stones. From all over Frindoth, twelve unfortunate souls will be selected and one will be offered to the Gloom.

Or even this:

4) For as long as the history texts can recall the Ritual of the Stones has taken place in Frindoth. It is always the same, every twelve years; twelve people are selected to be sacrificed to the Gloom.
I’d love to know which one you prefer. What one would make you want to read on?

ROTS - Finally completed

February the 9^th. In the words of Lord Vader, “It will be a day long remembered.” Finally after almost 2 years of planning, writing and editing, Ritual of the stones is now complete.

I made the last editorial changes yesterday on the 4^th draft and formatted the manuscript ready to be sent out. Today and tomorrow I will compile the query letter and as from next week I will be approaching agents. I promise to post every single rejection notice I receive, no matter how humiliating the process gets. We all read about authors breaking into the market and experiencing hundreds of rejections, I don't know about you, I've always found that hard to imagine. Not that the rejections don't happen but how an author finds the strength to keep getting rejected. Therefore, I thought it will be useful for anyone following this blog as potential writers to see exactly how the process works. I intend to be quite open about my feelings and so hopefully people will be able to identify with the emotions when it happens to them.

I’ve done a lot of research on what makes a good query letter and so I hope this side of things won’t be too arduous.

It is surreal. After almost two years, it is only now that the whole thing seems real. I am actually attempting to become a bona fide author, putting myself out there to be shot down. Wish me luck!

On another note, I have just finished the first draft of a short story. It is based on the experience I endured last month but I have added a supernatural twist. I like it, I might submit it to critters after editing.

I have also had another short story accepted at, “The Fringe Magazine.” This is an online magazine who offer a token payment if they feature the story as their “story of the month.” It is another string to the bow and something I can mention in the query letter.

I will get you updated on how the rejections go.

Mood = Boyant

Books: January reading

January has come and gone. It has been a rather odd month. On the editing front things have been going well, on a personal front however, I had a rather traumatic experience in discovering the body of a suicide victim on the way to work. It really shook me up. The poor man had jumped from a hotel window and without being to gory or disrespectful, it wasn’t a pleasant thing to stumble across. I have a number of feelings on the matter but I think I will post them at a later stage, just in case by some miracle one of the visitors to this blog happens to know the victim.

Anyway, I enjoyed summarizing the books I read last year and so I thought I would continue to do it throughout this year as well. Each month I will list the books I have read and give some very brief thoughts on the book and my rating out of 10. I hope you enjoy it.

First up was Warriors, a compilation of short stories by various authors and edited by George R R Martin and Gardner Dozois. A lot of people have raved about how strong this collection of stories is so who am I to disagree? I started the book over the Christmas period and so maybe I did not do justice to some of the stories by not giving them my full attention. However, I did enjoy the book overall. There were some excellent stories in there, most notably from: Joe R Lansdale, Steven Saylor, James Rollins and probably the best of the bunch David Ball. Most of the other stories were very good, with only one or two being slow. Overall I gave the book 8.5.

The next book was a guilty pleasure. MEG: Primal waters by Steve Alten is the 3^rd in his series of books about the Megalodon shark (the massive prehistoric uncle of the great white). I stumbled upon this series when browsing through someone’s random list on Amazon. I thought it would be fun to read on holiday whilst lying in the sea. You get the idea, reading about a man eating shark whilst actually in the sea. What I didn’t expect was to enjoy the book so much, my wife is currently reading it and loving it to. Primal waters, is the best in the series so far. If you like James Rollins you will like these books. I rated it 8.9.

The 3^rd book I read was a return to one of my stable authors. You know the ones you return to on a regular basis. The author I’m talking about is Tess Gerritsen and the book was Keeping the Dead. It is part of her Maura Isles and Jane Rizzoli series, which has been pretty consistent so far. This book was one of my favourite in the series, where several sub-plots all came together nicely. It reminded me of Harlan Coben’s standalone novels. I rated it 9.2

The final book I read in January was Dolores Clairbourn by Stephen King. King is one of my favourite authors and I am slowly going through his back catalogue. At first I really struggled with the style of the book. It is told from Dolores’s perspective as she gives an interview to the police. The unique part of the novel is that this is all that happens. Other characters are in the room with Dolores but we never hear them speak (although we knew they do as Dolores answers them from time to time). King never describes anything in the room either, there is no description of Dolores’s actions such as, “Dolores sat back and took a sip of the water.” The whole book is one diatribe. After a while I got used to the style and ended up thoroughly immersed in the story Dolores had to tell. King is so under appreciated by many despite his hordes of fans. I rated it 8.9.

I don’t think I will manage to read 4 books every month but I should average 3 at least. I would love to hear your thoughts on any of the titles above.