Womblings - What I did in February and March!
Soooo when last I did a wombling I was just enjoying a really productive January. This quickly went South! Three work projects trying to be done at once and a slight sense of panic at the idea of putting my flat up for sale did me in reading wise. That very quickly upset my reading schedule and then things got a bit panicky. Ultimately, I had to prioritise and make a big decision to plunge into a final spruce of the flats; pack even more books into storage (cries) and now I seem to be on the road to imminent new place for books I mean a home.
So, reading was a tad fragmented and this meant Spurious Chaos got a tad side-tracked with some ARCs I needed to get up and out. Without further ado here is a list of what I read
The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson
Review to follow - A fantastic horror story of one girl’s quest to find out who she is and who is trying to kill her
Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett
An interesting Discworld where the story I felt was far less important than the host of incidental characters that later books would focus far more on.
Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin
Reviewed - A fantastic YA story that mixes Frankenstein with a future Ireland and a young woman who does not give into tradition. Strongly recommended
Unclean Spirits by Chuck Wendig
Reviewed - Gritty noir tale of gods and one man’s quest to reunite his family.
Blood of Assassins by R J Barker
Reviewed - Superb sequel where Girton Clubfoot returns to the scene of the first book and discovers you can go Home again but you’re never the same person. Excellent!
Smoke Eaters by Sean Grigsby
Reviewed – Fun tale of a fire fighter who gets to take on dragons in the future. Takes some interesting choices which is always recommended
A Hero Born by Jin Yong
Reviewed – Fantastic start to a series in China that equals the Lord of the Rings in popularity. Martial Art sects, Genghis Khan and wandering Tao Monks all combine to something that rattles along but gives you a great story. Well worth seeking out.
Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft
Reviewed – Senlin moves from climbing the floors of the Tower to mastering a steampunk pirate ship. Setting up the next element in this series but a fun ride.
Dracula: Rise of the Beast edited by David Thomas Moore
Reviewed – Five unique takes on the story before Dracula; really clever and diverse takes that can chill and warm the blood.
The Darkness by Ragnar Jonasson
Reviewed – short Icelandic noir tale of one detective’s final case.
Lumberjanes Vol 7 – Shannon Watters
A lot of fun as the troupe take on giant Rocs and magical cats
Why We Sleep by Matthew P Walker
Did feel this was telling me a lot of stuff I already knew but some interesting thoughts on how lack of sleep affects health
The Starlit Wood edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe
Reviewed – Gorgeous set of 18 revised fairy tales making them ready for a modern audience. Some absolute classics to discover in here
The Black Tides of Heaven by J Y Yang
Review to follow – First novella in an SF series where a set of twins may be about to bring on change to an empire ruled tyrannically by their mother.
The Night Lies Dreaming by M D Lachlan
DNF Review – Nazis and werewolves but not really giving me much to chew on and a boring main character. Not for me
Spurious Chaos Update
Despite my much slower progress the reviewers are slowly getting through the mountain of books before Nineworlds. What strikes me is that each of us has our own particular type of writing style that appeals and not sure we’ve had complete consensus on any one book but at the same time the discussions as to how a book has or has not work have been really illuminating. Plan is for April to get back on this!!