I finish a book about talking animals (Bete by Adam Roberts) and replace it with a novel about talking bees. Well, I say talking bees but the drones, foragers and sages that form the world of Laline Paull’s debut novel, the...
Read MoreAdam Roberts’ 15th novel, Bete, begins with a cow talking to a farmer just as the farmer is about to pull the trigger on a bolt gun. What seems like the beginning of a joke, or a fantasy novel involving talking animals, becomes...
Read MoreI vaguely recall reading and enjoying Daryl Gregory’s first novel, Pandemonium, back when it was published in 2008. The critics were also impressed by Gregory’s debut as it featured on at least four award shortlists including...
Read MoreWeaponised tornadoes, posthuman monks, sentient mould and the subtle conditioning of the human brain are only some of the concepts you’ll find in Echopraxia, the second novel in Peter Watt’s “Firefall” series. (The first...
Read MoreAbout a quarter of the way through Defenders, Oliver Bowen – a CIA operative – is transported in a submarine to a secret base on Easter Island. There he’s introduced to the Defenders, genetically engineered super soldiers,...
Read MoreWhat’s It About Fifteen years from now, a new virus sweeps the globe. 95% of those afflicted experience nothing worse than fever and headaches. Four percent suffer acute meningitis, creating the largest medical crisis in...
Read MoreWhat’s It About It’s the third and final book in the Southern Reach series. Do I need to say more? Representative Paragraph The majesty of the natural world – the known and the unknown… Once, from this vantage, [Saul...
Read MoreWhat’s It About This is second novel in the Southern Reach trilogy and follows directly on from the events of Annihilation. All you need to know is that a new head has been appointed to lead the Southern Reach (the pseudo...
Read More… Claire North for the excellent, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (link to my review). While not my favourite book on the shortlist, it’s still a novel I greatly enjoyed and so I’m pleased to see North...
Read MoreWhat’s It About It’s an alien invasion novel that features the Cultural Revolution, a computer game that incorporates the entirety of Western and Eastern scientific thought and a series of jaw dropping set pieces. Representative...
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