Michael Crichton was long one of my favourite authors. I chanced upon Congo years ago and kept returning to his work. He wrote the sort of novel that you could easily re-read plenty of times.

When I saw that Crichton’s last novel was a posthumous release, I had mixed feelings. On reading that this was a ‘complete manuscript’ discovered in Crichton’s files after his death, a sense of disquiet increased. Was it really a finished manuscript or, as I suspect was also the case with Sir Arthur C Clarke’s last release, more likely an unfinished draft?

Two trademarks of Crichton’s work were use of exacting narrative and well constructed storylines contained within smooth narrative.

In Pirate Latitudes, the research appears to be there, which would be understandable as Crichton appears to have been the sort of author who had the bulk of his research done before commencing the writing process. However the storyline is far from ‘complete’. In his previous work, it would be hard to find a character introduced or an action taken that did not drive the plot forward. However this is a recurring theme in Pirate Latitudes. We see characters introduced and actions that seem to do little with the plot. The emphasis on accusations of witchcraft on two occasions for example, appear to do little for the plot, other than in the first, giving the Governor an excuse to bed a likely young wench. The fact that we then see one of the accused undertaking a demonic ritual merely emphasised a suspicion that witchcraft was to play a role in the plot. But it didn’t.

The closing chapters and climax have a hurried, incomplete feel to them. The novel does not so much end as peter out. This, more than anything, leaves me with the distinct feeling that this manuscript was far from finished but was still being drafted. While it may have been correct to say it was a ‘complete’ manuscript in that it had a beginning, middle and end, I doubt it was at all a finished manuscript.

While Pirate Latitudes starts off with Crichton’s usual smoothness, it becomes increasingly disjointed and incomplete. If you are looking for a novel as rich as Crichton’s earlier work, you will most likely be disappointed as I was.

Ross the Repellent

There are some things in life that are so horrible that you simply cannot help but be fascinated by them. The skaven ratmen in the Warhammer world are just so awful without a single redeeming feature, that they have the appeal of a car crash – you just have to have a look.

Grey Seer is the first in a new series that features the skaven Grey Seer, Thanquol, and Boneripper, the latest version of his series of giant, mutated rat-ogre bodyguards that he always gives the same name to. The characters were originally created by William King in his popular Felix & Gotrek series, where Felix & Gotrek keep thwarting the Grey Seer's plans for domination of both the skaven and humanity, often without even realising it.

It must be difficult for one author to pick up and run with the creation of another and still retain the same style of voice. Werner has really nailed Thanquol, bringing in the same degree of bombastic arrogance and self-delusion that previously characterised the Grey Seer. I felt the Skaven dialogue tended to be a little inconsistent in style now and again, but not so much that it would throw the reader out of the story. That quality of speech that brings to mind the chittering sound of a rat, is still there.

"Fat-tongue flea! Think-think I did not smell city-scent?"

The skaven represent all the worst of human society – back-stabbing, traitorous, cowardly, bullying, nasty and self-deluding without a single redeeming character trait. That is probably why they are so much fun to read about. They do, however, possess a degree of ingenuity, with the skaven engineers making things powered by warpstone, the distillation of pure Chaos. Thanquol actually eats warpstone to fuel his own powers but seems dangerously close to fatal addiction to it.

Central to this story is the Wormstone, an artifact immediately deadly to any skaven who comes into contact with it but which had been lost. The skaven who controls it would have power over all the Skaven clans. It is also fatal to humans albeit not quite so quickly. But human smugglers have chanced upon the artifact before it was recovered by the skaven, transporting it to the surface.

The curious warlock, Jeremias Scrivner, and his secret followers are all that stand between the skaven and their hideous plans.

This was a quite enjoyable read in a similar style to the likes of the Felix & Gotrek series which are about the story and action, rather than dwelling on the darkness of Chaos and its seemingly inevitable ultimate victory. I look forward to further installments of Thanquol's story.

Admission time first – I do not read a lot of Stephen King. He has simply creeped me out too much in the past. Yet the fact that his writing had the ability to do so without resorting to a sheer gorefest, made me greatly admire his ability as a writer. Reading King's memoir, On Writing, made me admire him even more.

It had been a while between drinks, so to speak, (and no, I am not referring to my ex-drinker status) and when news of a new King novel appeared, I was quite interested in seeing what he was now up to. It took a while for a review copy to reach me but it eventually did and once I had cleared the decks of other stuff, I happily settled down to read Under The Dome.

Stephen King is known for writing big books and by big, I am not just referring to physical size but also the size of the story itself. King admits in his Author's Note that when he first sat down to write this story some thirty years ago, it was too big and complex a task.

Under the Dome comes in at 870 pages in the large format version I received. Yet in his Author's Note, King acknowledges the editorial assistance in reducing the length from the dinosaur it was at that stage, to its current length. I was left wondering just how big that version actually was!

Initially I felt a little frustrated as King seemed to be trying to tell everyone's story. But as things developed, it became apparent why. The size of the story required that large a cast and I doubt many authors could have actually handled such a task and certainly not as well as King has. Once I got right into the story, I was trapped into continuing to read just as surely as those residents of Chester's Mill were trapped under the mysterious dome. Even when I put the book aside, it seemed to call to me to return, to find out just where things were going.

I would not call Under the Dome a horror story as such. There was certainly no shortage of darkness and gritty stuff there but not horror so much as riveting story that intensified throughout. As fans generally expect from a Stephen King novel, the characterisation is excellent as is the scale of the plot.

One of the principles of story-telling is to place obstacles in the path of the protagonist and having them struggle to overcome. We see this in spades with this novel. Every time that the 'good guys' seemed to be finally on the path of undoing the major 'bad guy', they are thwarted, yet again. I felt mounting frustration, yet by that time I was entirely engrossed in seeing the story through.

As the title suggests, everything revolves around the appearance of a massive dome that entirely encloses a small town in the state of Maine. At times I cannot help but wonder what King's fellow residents of Maine think of how he continually portrays so many grim happenings in their fair state. And yes, I'm being tongue-in-cheek. And not unlike Lord of the Flies, we see what happens with a breakdown of general law and order, along with many of the social norms. Matters are greatly complicated by the emergence of conniving local government official who is as rat cunning and devious as they come. Despite the complexity of the novel, I cannot say that much more without ending up doing a spoiler.

The ending was a tad abrupt for my liking, giving the length and complexity of the journey I had undertaken to get there. As expected, the 'bad guy' does meet an unpleasant end, but also a bit too abruptly. For one thing, I would have liked to have seen the b*stard suffer more.

I am quite sure that fans of King will enjoy this novel but it will also have appeal to those who have been quite literally frightened off his work in the past.

Ross the Repellent

In recent times we have seen the phenomenon of classics being mixed with monsters, arguably starting with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It possibly says something about my warped sense of humour but the thought of combining zombies, sea monsters, whatever, with 'classic' literature appeals to me with a sense of the delicously wicked. I have been so impressed that I decided to create a whole new sub-genre for these titles: 'massics': classics with monsters.

Now some of you will no doubt be quick to pick up on the fact that Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter is not a revision of an existing classic. Yet the material has the other similar themes – Victorian England, a 'proper' society being subjected to upheaval from the appearance of nasty beasties – so I have decided that this novel fits that subgenre. Besides, it is my definition so I will decide what I like to be in there. So there.

It is a long-held truism that the writer needs to hook the reader straight away. Consider the opening line of this novel.

"Much later, as he watched his manservant, Perkins, eating the dog, Quimby gloomily reflected on the unusual events of the evening."

How could you not be intrigued by that? The first chapter then finishes up with the following passage.

“Sir, it's the zombies, sir,” Perkins managed, breathing heavily.
There was a crack of lightning from outside, a rumble of thunder.
“Yes,” said Quimby, still irritated. “What about the zombies?”
“Sir, they're eating the prostitutes."

As I read that first chapter, I was well and truly hooked, so the author had definitely done their job in that respect.

This is an England and indeed, a Europe, where demons are very much in existence, although the population at large are, fortunately for them, blissfully unaware of the fact. The ranks of the demons have set their sights on inserting their own into the ranks of European royalty. English royalty are protected by a shadowy group called the Protektorate, lead by the redoubtable Maggie Brown. The young Princess Alexandrina Victoria inherits the throne on the death of her Uncle William and the ranks of the demons make their first open move against her that very night. Enter Maggie Brown to cause havoc with her blade, saving the newly-inherited monarch.

Where the demons really screw up several years later is in abducting Victoria's beloved Albert. Now Vicky is royally p*ssed and joins with the Protektorate in hunting the perpetrators down. There are a few inconveniences on along the way such as a Parliament infected with a dose of zombie Members of Parliament attacking all the other Members. Many of us would probably think 'and about time too'.

Part of me found it hard to accept the idea of Queen Victoria, action hero (Bruce Willis in drag?). However I kept reading. There is just so much delicious humour throughout, such as Lord Quimby's unfortunate manservant, Perkins, who, having been turned into a zombie and lost a leg, has one from the corpse of a woman pinned in its place that tends to fall off at inconvenient moments.

This novel is not horror per se although it uses horror themes of demons and zombies. The novel is not just a black comedy either as there is a real underlying story. In fairness, I found the plot somewhat light, but thoroughly enjoyed reading all the same.

Welcome to the ranks of the massics!

Ross the Repellent

Orks (or orcs) are a curious construct. From origins in Tolkien (at least to the best of my knowledge), they have evolved through writings as a staple of fantasy. It is only with The Black Library that I have seen Orks taking to space.

In Tolkien, we saw orks initially as corruption of elves by Morgoth although they are better known to readers as servants of Sauron. The orks of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 universes are different again - bigger, heavier and more brutish, if that is possible.

For some reason, I have read less about orks in Warhammer 40,000 novels so it was nice to be able to delve into some of their doings.

The Space Marine Battles series is about just that - battles of the Space Marines. In Rynn's World, we see the Crimson Fists facing off against the orks, in defense of the Legion's home world. Unlike other confrontations with the greenskins, this time the foe is demonstrating a malevolent intelligence. Whereas we usually see the mighty Astartes warriors really take it up to all foes, in this case they find themselves right on the back foot, facing possible annihilation.

The action is thick and fast but not so much as to overwhelm the reader to the point that they lose track of who is where, doing what. There is also a real sense of desperation coming through, of really fighting against the odds.

Unlike many other novels about the Astartes, this time we seem the directly relating to ordinary people. The extent of the ork ravages is such that it becomes not just an issue of the Space Marines defeating the orks but of saving as much of their base and their people as they can.

This is Steve Parker's third novel for The Black Library and it shows an excellent grasp of pace and narrative as the reader is drawn along with the story.

I like maps so I can see where the characters are in relation to each other and their world. The maps in this novel are not the usual black on white but are in glorious colour, fixed in the middle of the book, complementing things well.

I was however left with one question - the orks multiplying by spores, being fungal in origin? Is that canon? I was not able to confirm this in my further reading.

Fans of the Space Marines and Warhammer 40,000 in general will enjoy this novel.

Unlike the generation preceding mine, I am not used to sitting and just listening to a performance for a long time without visual engagement. By the time I arrived on the scene, television was making its presence felt. The day of the radio serial was fast coming to an end, supplanted by flickering visual images in addition to audio. So I have not been one for audio novels. But with several now waiting for review, it was high time I at least gave it a try. I am glad that I did.

The voice of Toby Longworth seemed strangely familiar. The reason why became clear when I read the jacket notes. He, or at least his voice, has appeared on many things including material that should be familiar to spec fiction fans.

Longworth's voice was really well suited to the performance, deep enough to comfortably engage your attention but still clearly audible to even my somewhat defective hearing. He clearly enunciated throughout and used variances in voice to clearly distinguish different characters.

The author, Steve Lyons, also has a notable portfolio behind him. The storyline itself was crisp, to the point and definitely suited to this medium. We are able to hear and easily visualise what is happening throughout the story.

Woven through the performance were music and effects that suited the story. These were minimised but telling – less is so often, more. Early in the piece, we hear booted feet tramping along, vegetation cracking beneath them, giving the listener a clear image of the jungle terrain of the story's setting. Like a good symphony, as the action heated up, so did the music and effects but without overwhelming Longworth's voice.

Lyons and Longworth were a good pairing for this work. The production values also seemed high on the part of the production team.

While audio books will never entirely replace paper novels, for me at any rate, an audio performance like this is well worth curling up in a chair for an hour to listen to. Keep a cup of cocoa to hand and imagine that you are sitting in front of an old-fashioned, polished wood radio cabinet.

Ross the Repellent

Having reviewed my first audio novel from The Black Library, I decided to continue listening and see if I continued to enjoy the experience, warm beverage to hand, leaning back in the comfy chair.

Toby Longworth's performance was just as suited to this performance as the other I have reviewed in this series. His delivery is to be envied by those of us who have turned their hand to public speaking and acting in the past.

The nature of this story is about the Space Wolves, primal warriors with an underlying savagery that is never far from the surface. That clearly comes through in this performance. Longworth's verbal characterisation was spot on for what I had imagined in reading previous Space Wolf novels. We can almost hear the wolf snarling from within the characters.

The Space Wolves are in their element when battling through ice and snow, just like their home planet of Fenris. The ice world of Skorbad is therefore right down their street. This really comes across during the performance.

While initially battling a zombie plague, the Space Wolves find themselves having to track and battle one of their own who has succumbed to the wulfen curse that comes with modified geneseed of Leman Russ. The fury of battle against the zombies is replaced by the quiet of the chase across windswept snowfields, a low wind echoing behind Longworth's voice.

Nick Kyme is an impressive pedigree with The Black Library. Initially working on the Games Workshop's White Dwarf magazine, he switched to editorial roles with the Black Library, giving him real credibility within canon. He has numerous publishing credits and brought those to bear in this action-packed piece.

The sound effects behind the performance are more noticeable than in the other audio novel I have reviewed from the Black Library. We hear gasps of the dieing, sounds of blows meeting flesh yet never overwhelming the reading performance, signs of excellent production values within the studio.

This is an excellent audio performance and well worth a listen.

Ross the Repellent

I have to agree with Shane Jiraiya Cummings - flash fiction is an insidious art form. It gets under your skin as an author. To tear yourself away and return longer works means ripping through your skin to force that separation. Flash fiction is also greatly challenging, learning to tell a story in 1,000 words or considerably less.

This small e-book is a form of extension of Cummings's earlier publication, Shards. One of the drivers for its release was the opportunity to showcase more of Andrew J. McKiernan's artwork. From that perspective, the chapbook is a real visual treat and worth downloading to enjoy that experience.

The purpose of horror is to scare, to leave us unsettled, chilled by what we have just read. While at times this objective was muddied by the construction of some stories, Cummings does achieve some of that sense of horrific engagement with the reader.

Wrack is a reprint from the Shards anthology. I was initially thrown out of the story somewhat by some of the repetitive phrasing but this passed as I read on. I became increasingly niggled by the appalling nature protagonist as he realised a way to redemption and cure of the wrack.

Virgin in the Mist is a neat little vignette at around 200 words, presenting an embittered view on what may happen in the wake of a 'miracle'.

Nuclear Summer is my favourite. I suspect that Shane and I have a similar sense of humour with such a practical approach to nuclear holocaust. That little vignette drew an audible laugh from me while at the same time, appreciating the stark reality being portrayed.

On the Nature of Evil threw me. The preceding pieces were written in first person and I began reading expecting the same but this is in fact third person. The end result was I became confused (some would argue that doesn't take much). Once I worked out that dilemma, things made more sense. However I feel that this piece did suffer from a lack of clarity at times with not quite enough differentiation between the protagonists.

A Reason to Murder - the richer wording of this short piece gave it a real sense of a prose poem, which appealed to my poetic nature (after my conversion from lifelong poetry-hater to poetry lover about 18 months ago).

Infernal Gratitude is written in the sense of a sadistic killer talking to the parents of his victims, from Hell. I became confused by the victim being described as both a suicide and as one of the killer's victims. That said, the deranged sense of the murderer's feeling of kinship towards his victim's family gave me a real chill.

While I was left with a sense of dissatisfaction with the construction of some of the work, there is still enough in this sampler to entice and is worth downloading, especially for a look at McKiernan's artwork.

NOTE: this review originally stated that Shards: Damned and Burning was self-published. That was actually incorrect. The chapbook was published by Brimstone Press under the editorial leadership of Angela Challis. This was my error and I apologise to the author, publisher and anyone who may have been mislead by those statements.

The Time of Legends series explores the background of key events from the past in the world of Warhammer. The Sundering series looks at that of the High Elves, who split into two factions with the emergence of the dark elves, the druchii.

As a rule, elves tend to be characters that enter and leave stories, often mysterious and aloof. We rarely get to see an elf as protagonist, telling their story. It is therefore interesting to explore things from the elvish point of view and to learn of the emergence of the druchii.

There were times when I was reading, that I felt an echo of Tolkein, particularly with the 'heroic' language, although there was a distinct lack of short people with hairy feet.

I am one of those people who appreciates maps accompanying a story. This helped me track exactly where the characters were and where crucial elements lay. At times I found myself wanting to see a little more detail (just where is Eagle Pass?) but there is only so much that can be done in a single map on a small page.

Shadow King is told from the point of view of Alith Anar, prince of the Nagaryth clan or house. We do not see the actual turning of elves to darkness other than from Alith's point of view. Consequently we do not see the detail of that turn but merely how things appeared to that observer. This gives the story a sense of the personal, only seeing what the protagonist sees. I have not had the pleasure of reading the first in this series and the details of the emergence of the druchii may have been explored more in that installment.

There is a part of the story where Alith runs with a pack of wolves. I found distinct echoes of Kipling's Jungle Book in that, especially in the scene discussing Alith's 'fang', although it is admittedly many years since I last read the story of Mowgli. I have read other tales with people relating to wolves and I found this aspect to be a little more believable than many, with its greater acknowledgement of canine non-verbal communication.

When we see other races in the Warhammer world or Warhammer 40,000 universe falling to darkness, it is generally to the powers of Chaos with either influence of warp or warpstone. In the case of the druchii, this appears to be a little different.

Overall I found the novel to have good characterisation and pace that drew me into the story and kept me reading.

Ross the Repellent

When writing stories set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, some authors go for the deeply gothic. When reading those works, it is easy to become overwhelmed by that gothic darkness to the point of struggling to follow the actual story.

Anthony Reynolds has managed to stay true to his canon in synch with his earlier two Word Bearer novels. He has captured the darkness of these characters and their universe while keeping it readable and engaging. The result is another gripping novel that propels the reader through its pages.

In the first novel of the Word Bearer series, we saw Marduk betray his master to assume the position of Dark Apostle, leading his own Host. The second in the series had Marduk consolidate his position while obtaining the alien device, the Nexus Arrangement which promised immense power. Dark Creed continues Marduk’s story, seeing him now vying with other Dark Apostles for position and influence within the ranks of the Word Bearers Legion.

The Nexus Arrangement provides the power to control access to the strategically important Borus Gate. With reinforcements denied to the system, the Word Bearers merely need to overrun the forces of the White Consuls Space Marines, loyal to the Terran Emperor, in order to launch the final devastation of their dark crusade. However just as the victory seems in the grasp of Marduk and his fellow Dark Apostles, having already planted the seeds of Chaos, a third force enters the system, breaching the force of the alien device. It is the device’s owners, come to reclaim what is theirs.

The story is thick with internal politics and intrigue. In the Horus Heresy series, we learned that it was the Word Bearers who were instrumental in turning Warmaster Horus to the powers of Chaos, millennia before. It is interesting to see the same power struggles and internal strife that resulted from the corruption of Horus, is being repeated within the ranks of the War Bearers themselves.

We have previously seen Marduk and his host encountering the Eldar and Tyrannids. Now it is the strange, deadly and fearsome Necron making an appearance.

Throughout the story, we see Marduk’s continued skilful manipulation of people and events. Against the odds he continues to survive and increase his position and power.

Dark Creed is an excellent read, sure to delight fans of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, particularly those with an interest in the Chaos Marines.

Ross the Repellent

In action-based stories, I believe there are two particular traps to avoid – that of having too much happening and confusing the reader, and that of unrealistic battle that is over before you know it without any real consequence for the combatants. Chris Roberson has neatly threaded the path between those two extremes.

The core of the story is that of three new recruits to the Imperial Fists Space Marines. These three are essentially enemies from opposing tribal groups on their home planet before the arrival of the Imperial Fists on a recruiting mission. Their grudges and desire for revenge continue through their long training.

It has to be said that this is not the most original of storylines, having already been used in other Warhammer 40,000 novels.

The bulk of the story follows the recruits through their training. We get to learn more about this particular Chapter of the Space Marines and its specific canon. In particular we learn of their curious use of pain as a meditation and focussing exercise. In this respect, they seemed more like the powers of Chaos rather than the servants of the Emperor.

Roberson's fight scenes flow well and with sufficient realism to allow the reader to easily suspend disbelief and become immersed in the story.

Where I have some concerns is with the overall storyline itself. We start with a Captain of the Imperial Fists, upset that his request to go on a warrior pilgrimage to atone for perceived failures, being denied. He is instead placed in command of a recruiting mission. The captain's perspective does not really enter the story again until the very end, in what seems a rather soft approach to him resolving his own conflict. Similarly, our recruits also bear their grudges and desire for revenge right up to the novel's ending before losing them in one sweep of emotion that did not seem to warrant that degree of reaction.

We did not see enough of how the protagonists go through that change. In any situation of individuals being thrown together in adversity, a degree of bonding and change occurs. I was never really sold on this having occurred, leaving the end of the novel a little flat for me. However the setup is still there for possible further exploration in a later installment.

Fans of the Warhammer 40,000 who like their fights drawn well will enjoy the novel. Roberson's writing is strong enough to make me want to see what else he can do in this canon.

Ross the Repellent

Having read a lot of Warhammer 40,000 material lately, it was refreshing to return to the Warhammer fantasy world.

The induction of a recruit to an army, especially an army at war, has all the essential elements present to construct a full story arc that will capture a reader's attention. There is the opportunity to show the protagonist learning, seeing their perspectives change through experience and adversity. That is possibly why this 'new recruit' ambit is so often used. The challenge for the author then becomes one of giving their story its own edge.

Part of the story is told through the words of General Von Grahl, a retired general brought back in a desperate bid to keep the country from falling to the greenskin hordes. His task was to pull together the scattered remnants of the defeated army and mount a last defence.

I think the trap here was to tell too much of the story from Von Grahl's 'testimony', noting that we never learn exactly what that testimony was actually for. By using that approach, an opportunity to really draw the reader into the story was lost. We are told parts of the story rather than having it shown to us.

I believe Scanlon missed out on some other opportunities as well. Our protagonist has enmity towards a quite unsavoury pair of characters, yet that is never really resolved after the duo are apparently lost in battle. Similarly, during the climactic battle, our protagonist is largely on the sidelines, watching. His role in the story's resolution is therefore minimal. While in reality, not every soldier does fight on the immediate front line of a battle, it seemed a waste to have brought Dieter this far only to have him largely inactive at the climax.

Those plot points aside, Scanlon's overall writing flows well. It does not have the same gothic heaviness that we sometimes see in Black Library novels which makes it an easier read. Some of the characterisation of Dieter's companions was quite good. I really liked that of the roguish Holst, who seems to eat, snore, fart, fight and complain in equal measure. I found it easier to relate to that character than that of our actual protagonist, Dieter.

When Dieter was in battle himself, those scenes also flowed well, keeping the reader immersed in a battle without overwhelming them.

I think that the novel deserved to be longer, giving us more of the actual story and character arcs that tended to become lost. Nonetheless it is an easy read to get into and Warhammer fans will get something out of it.

Ross the Repellent

This is one of those books that I think people are going to either really like or really dislike with little in-between.

Jesse Bullington has clearly done a lot of his homework in getting the period right, at least to my relatively uninformed historical sense. Certainly there is a very distinctive voice to the entire piece and the distortions of Christianity ring true to medieval times when the problems of distance and lack of education allowed views to develop that, to our modern senses, are decidedly strange.

The brothers Grossbart are, quite frankly, horrible with a decidedly strange view of morality. This is not a horror piece so much as it is a dark fantasy, rooted in certain historical fact, although the story is the author’s creation. An interesting interview with the author at the back of the book, notes that he set out to dispel any romanticism associated with grave robbers. To be honest, I was not aware of any romanticism associated with such thievery existing in the first place. However those who may have held such associations with grave robbing would be sure to have them dispelled by this novel.

Bullington engages the senses quite well and I was at times feeling quite revolted by the stench and appearance of things like victims of the plague, with their swelling, festering pustules.

There is also some periodic grim humour in the story, particularly when the brothers settle their differences in their usual manner of belting the proverbial out of each other.

Where I had problems with the novel was more with the way that it was written than with the story itself. While the Grossbarts had an intention of reaching Eygpt (Gyptland) and looting tombs there on the understanding that this was where the best pickings were to be found, along with a belief that their grandfather had gone there and made his fortune, never to return, the storyline itself seemed to meander. I never felt any real sense of character or story arcs nor developed any real emotional attachment to the story. After finally reaching their destination, the story came to an extremely abrupt halt. While the Grossbart brothers get their just desserts, I was left feeling unsatisfied with a sense of ‘so what?’

Bullington also engaged in what has become one of my pet hates – mixing points of view. While Frank Herbert managed to get away with this quite well in Dune, in this instance, switching between as many as three points of view in as many paragraphs just left me confused. The story wasn’t helped either by similarity of names of characters. And while far from being a prude, I did get tired of continual use of a certain ‘c’ word.

A quick word on the cover art of - this is a nice recreation of a much older style of illustration, containing a very cleverly done multiple image which really suits the overall feel of the novel, but far be it from me to introduce a spoiler here.

If you want good use of historical background and sensual engagement, this is worth a read. But if you are after more classic lines of storytelling, you will probably be like me and left somewhat disappointed. However as this was Bullington’s first novel, we may see a further development in that story-telling aspect over time.

Ross the Repellent

I received a rejection from an editor at one time that unfavourably remarked on the presence of my dangling participles. I replied to him that in future I would ensure that I was properly zipped up before heading outside.

No, I did not know what a dangling participle actually was. And I bet a lot of people reading this aren't entirely sure either. Nor, for that matter, did I know much about grammar and punctuation in general. You see, I come from that strange generation at the end of the Baby Boomers (1963) whom Australian educationalists decided it wasn't worth bothering trying to teach grammar to. We did plenty of other time-wasting stuff but Sweet Fanny Adams beyond the most basics such as ending a sentence with a full-stop (period to our North American friends).

The grammar and punctuation that I have picked up since my earliest schooling, has been through self-study. I also learned that it was just as important to unlearn the things that I had been taught that were actually wrong, such as never starting a sentence with 'and' or 'but'. Mind you, I had a lot of difficulty of convincing more senior people in the workplace that it was indeed quite correct to use 'and' to start a sentence in the right circumstances.

Teaching yourself grammar and punctuation from most references is a rather daunting task. Before you know it, you are faced with what seems incomprehensible gobbledygook. I usually found myself referring heavily to a dictionary in order to interpret what I had just read. Even then, I was not always sure that I understood.

This little gem by Lynne Truss was an absolute breath of fresh air. It is easy to see why this book has sold millions of copies.

Far from being a dry recitation of the rules of punctuation, Truss actually teaches, using fascinating snippets of history, simple explanations and considerable doses of common sense.

Interestingly, Truss describes her book as not being about grammar as she is not a grammarian. Perhaps that is why she is able to insert so much humour. “To me a subordinate clause will for ever be...one of Santa's little helpers.” I sniggered aloud when I read that one.

As writers, the tools of our trade are essentially those of language. Yet all too often we do not know enough of our grammatical tools including punctuation, and I include myself in that description.

This is a book that every writer should read at least once, preferably more often.

Ross the Repellent

The first novel in this series gave us a clue that something bigger than what meets the eye may be present. That impression deepens in this second instalment.

Chaos Space is much more Mira Fedor’s story than its predecessor, Dark Space. The other viewpoint characters still receive their turn in the spotlight but we spend far more time with Mira this time around.

The invisible thread binding these characters is tightening, drawing them closer together. The disparate stories are gradually coming together to what remains, as yet, an unknown end. Additional characters are introduced to the story, drawing that threat that much tighter again.

We now see more of what makes Mira tick even though events keep pushing her in different directions. For example, the giant living entity that Mira pilots, quite calmly announce in the midst of a crisis that its contract with has just expired. Mira is forced to make yet another unpalatable decision on the fly, further deepening the plot.

Just as with the preceding instalment, I felt some further detail may have been warranted at times. However it can be a fine line between not enough and too much. Of the two options, less is frequently more. Certainly I would not want to have to wade through a narrative-heavy load of information.

While this is very much Mira’s story, we see other characters also evolving on their individual journeys.

The depth of intrigue surrounding events is starting to become a little clearer although we are far from realising any conclusion as yet. The key here was the announcement by one character that it can be no coincidence that these people are all being drawn together in this time and in these places.

Space opera, by its very definition, needs a big story to properly realise the size of the stage on which it is set. The Sentients of Orion series is turning out to be big enough to satisfy that test.

I am really looking forward to seeing just where de Pierres takes this in the next instalment. And what’s this? Oh goodie – the postie has only just now delivered the next one for me to start reading. Yes!

Ross C. Hamilton