6 November 2012
Call no: 800
Genre: historical fiction, horror
Setting: 1880s, Britain - Victorian, London
8 Stars
4 Comments
The last of my RIP reads, and my All Hallows Swap book. What if Van Helsing had lost? What if Dracula had won that battle, married Queen Victoria, and taken power? What would Victorian England make of vampires coming out … Continue reading
I read this for the Coursera online course, I’ll post the short essay I wrote for the course in a few days. Dracula is one of those books that everyone has heard of. Everyone is familiar with the character of … Continue reading
24 March 2012
Call no: 800
Genre: historical fiction, romance, sff
Setting: alternate world, Britain - Victorian, Egypt
9 Stars
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An Alexia Tarabotti novel, The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Fifth Seeing as this it the fifth, and final, book in this series, knowing anything about the plot probably counts as spoilers for the previous books. So consider yourself warned. It … Continue reading
The Strain Trilogy #3 I really enjoyed the first book in this series, The Strain worked really well as a competent vampire story. It was creepy and horrible and very readable. The second book, The Fall, I didn’t enjoy quite … Continue reading
29 August 2011
Call no: 800
Genre: Juv/YA, sff
Setting: Britain - modern, suburbia, Yorkshire
7 Stars
2 Comments
17 Orchard Lane, in Bishopthorpe is a quiet, residential spot. Home to the respectable types; doctors and architects. You know that sort of *respectable* English street. But one of the families resident here is keeping a secret. A secret the … Continue reading
19 August 2011
Call no: 800
Genre: sff
Setting: alternate world, Britain - Victorian
9 Stars
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An Alexia Tarabotti novel, The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Fourth The first book in this series introduced us to our heroine, Alexia Tarabotti, and in some ways the very first line of this book is a spoiler for that one … Continue reading
22 May 2011
Call no: 800
Genre: sff, short stories
Setting: Dublin
8 Stars
4 Comments
The unnamed central character of this short story finds himself suddenly craving blood. He can’t understand it, he is a normal person, a normal man, why on earth is this happening to him. He tries to rationalise it, maybe he has an iron deficiency? Or maybe it is a totally misdirected sex-drive? And yet, he continues to find himself being drawn towards blood. Bloody raw steaks, the next-door neighbour’s chickens… Continue reading
31 October 2010
Genre: sff
Setting: alternate world, Britain - Victorian, Florence
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by Gail Carriger
If you haven’t yet read Soulless and Changeless then I am afraid that this review will contain spoilers for those two books. Always the way with reviewing books in a series.
I’ve just realised that I’ve never really mentioned the covers in my review of these books, but just take a second to take a proper look at them. Aren’t they wonderful! I’m not sure if that is exactly how I picture Alexia, she always seems, how would she put it, more substantial than the model on the cover, but the are so very appropriate. And just look at that othnithopter over Paris. Oops, spoilers, because yes, Alexia heads to France and then on to Italy. How exciting. Continue reading
30 October 2010
Genre: detective & mystery, sff
Setting: alternate world, Britain - Victorian, Scotland
1 Comment
by Gail Carriger
If you haven’t yet read Soulless then I am afraid that this review will contain spoilers. It is the second book in a series after all. However, the spoilers are, in a way, not spoilers, because you pretty much knew what was going to happen simply becasue of the conventions of a romance. But nevertheless, consider your self warned.
Soulless ended with Alexia becoming Lady Maccoon after marrying Conall Maccon, as well as muhjah to Queen Victoria. Muhjah being the traditional preternatural advisor to the monarch, alongside a hiveless vampire and a packless werewolf. Changeless begins with her husband disappearing off to Scotland after his old pack. A strange lack of supernatural ability in London. And Alexia following Conall to Scotland on the trail of whatever caused the temporary supernatural-less-ness. And she travels on a dirigible. How very steampunk!
26 October 2010
Genre: horror, sff
Setting: New York
5 Comments
by Guillarmo de Toro & Chuck Hogan
After the events of cite>The Strain New York is in chaos, and the rest of the world is following in a downward spiral. Ephraim Goodweather is trying to keep his son out of the clutches of his vampiric ex-wife, these vampires feel a real need to turn their “Dear Ones”, human love turned into hunger. And Abraham Setrakian is busy trying to track down The Master, as he learns that the events happening are even worse than he could have suspected. Along with Fet, the rat exterminator turned vampire-hunter, they are attempting the impossible, to stop the vampire contagion spreading across the world.
