I would like to thank Alison on behalf of the publishers for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Elliott and Thompson

Published – Out Now

Price – £9.99 paperback £4.79 Kindle eBook

Fungi can appear anywhere, from desert dunes to frozen tundra. They can invade our bodies and thoughts; live between our toes or our floorboards; they are unwelcome intruders or vastly expensive treats; symbols of both death and eternal life. But despite their familiar presence, there's still much to learn about the eruption, growth and decay of their interconnected world.

Aliya Whiteley has always been in love with fungi - from a childhood taking blurry photographs of strange fungal eruptions on Exmoor to a career as a writer inspired by their surreal and alien beauty. This love for fungi is a love for life, from single-cell spores to the largest living organism on the planet; a story stretching from Aliya's lawn into orbit and back again via every continent.

From fields, feasts and fairy rings to death caps, puffballs and ambrosia beetles, this is an intoxicating journey into the life of extraordinary organism, one that we have barely begun to understand.

Being a fan of SF, Fantasy, and horror, it is often strange how much fungi appear. There is something a bit like spiders of the alien to them. Not quite a plant and also not quite animal. They don’t feel normal and can carry a mysterious air as if they watch us. Yet they’re also delicious and a staple in my pasta dishes. You can’t imagine life without them. Aliya Whiteley in their fascinating non-fiction work The Secret Life of Fungi: Discoveries From A Hidden World allows us to understand this strange life form and its many varieties just a little bit better and a bit of awe and wonder will also creep in; you will look at them with new respectful eyes.

Whiteley takes us on a trip going from Antarctica to space stations where fungi have been found. They have even survived deep space exposure and are being talked about being used to make building blocks for future bases on Mars. They can bring life on the form of penicillin and death in a variety of poisons. Orchids use them to survive and there are ants that a single spore can take over completely in a more parasitical relationship. Within each chapter Whiteley gives us an interesting little discovery focused on one strain or another and what becomes apparent is how much of our world actually needs fungi to survive. They are not actually alien but intrinsic to life on the planet. In one chapter we even hear when there have been huge mass extinction events on the planet; or even when humans nearly got wiped out after the Black Death then Fungi began to thrive. Reading this as the Fourth Doctor might say we realise Fungi are indomitable. But also integral to survival – imagine no yeast and no bread they are essential too!

Sometimes non-fiction can be very clinical textbook in approach, but I found here Whiteley’s own fascination and enthusiasm with the subject comes across. From childhood memories first discovering them to when a University friend of theirs decided to explore magic mushrooms this feels a personal subject and also explains why Whiteley is still fascinated with them. Also, I think importantly in these chapters Whiteley always finds an observation about being alive or human helping that connection be shared more. By reading this you don’t just get fascinating fungi facts but observations on bigger issues such as death, environmental collapse and what it is to live.

The Secret Life of Fungi surprised me with how it gave me that feeling of wonder I was not expecting. It is not dry commentary but a warm, thoughtful and respectful look at one of our neighbours on this planet and I think next time you cross one of its many cousins out in the field (or your plate) then you’ll give it a moment of awe and thanks. The book is equally a delicious read. Well worth a look!