Blog - Page 24 of 31 - Stephen Aryan

Beauty and the Beast – Month 2

Ep. 5 – Masques – This episode really plays with the strong theme of Catherine and Vincent being different people from different worlds who don’t belong together. The Romeo and Juliet vibe comes through a lot, people who can never be together, on different sides of a line that should never be crossed, and it’s also tied into a story featuring the troubles in Northern Ireland at the time. A famous writer from Ireland is in New York and she’s caught in the seemingly endless cycle of violence. So there are lots of echoes of what’s going on between Vincent and Catherine, even when it’s not about them. The title refers to a masquerade ball that Catherine is attending up town, and I’d forgotten Vincent goes out into the city above without having to hide his face. People just assume it’s wonderful make up or a clever mask, and there’s a lovely moment at the end when a jogger sees him and does a double take. Again there are moments for Catherine to shine, to take care of herself and kick some arse as she’s no-one’s victim. I was also curious to see that I think this was the first episode written by GRRM himself. Overall a nice reminder of the current status quo but I’d like to see things start to move on now. There’s still so much to explore but it seems as if the show is in no rush to get there.

Ep 6 – The Beast Within – This was a really interesting episode because as well as Catherine’s story of corruption down on the docks, we found out a bit more about Vincent’s childhood. It seems totally reasonable those kids who grew up with him wouldn’t be scared or freaked out by his face, so it was interesting to see someone from his old days. Their paths went in very different directions and when this old friend, now enemy, hurts Catherine we see Vincent lose control. His old friend is petrified, surrounds himself with armed me and nearly wets himself when he comes face to face with an enraged Vincent and the full weight of his rage. Once again Catherine takes care of herself in a tough situation, but she isn’t invincible or made out to be a superhuman. We also met another lonely character, a man devoted to his work and the good fight. He was tough but also tender and a really nice guy. This episode gave us a glimpse into Vincent’s childhood and how not everyone can be saved by Father and the tunnels. A very simple story but really well told.

Ep.7 – Nor Iron Bars a Cage – This episode asks and answers one of the biggest questions in the series. Why has no one from above in the city ever seen Vincent and tried to do something about it? Why haven’t they tried to capture him and expose him to the media? People love a story about the weird and unusual. I’m guilty of this too and addicted to shows about the search for Bigfoot. In today’s society it might seem impossible for someone like him to go unnoticed, but back in the 1980s, no one had mobile phones, so no one had a camera on them 24×7. Even so, someone does see him, capture his image on film and this episode takes it times and I think handles the subject well. There’s also a bit more exploration of the strange almost telepathic bond between Catherine and Vincent. We get a couple of good scenes with her boss Joe, who is just one of the nicest guys around and a solid mainstay of the series. Good stuff, roll on next episode as I’m really keen to know more about Father.

Ep. 8 – Song of Orpheus – This episode we find out who Father, aka Jacob, used to be before he descended into the world below. I won’t spoil it too much but it really wasn’t what I expected and I’d completely forgotten everything about his background. There were some lovely scenes between Vincent and Father, and also between Father and Catherine where we see several parallels between her relationship with Vincent, and the relationship Father had with a woman before he disappeared. Father has always had an uneasy relationship with Catherine to some degree. He knows that she cares for Vincent a great deal and that they have a special bond, but he’s always kept her at arms length. Finally, in this episode, she tells Father to his face that she loves Vincent, and his reply is very sad and also telling. He thinks he know what must inevitably happen to them and that’s why he’s kept his stance. By the end of the episode Catherine seems to have adopted this slightly more negative and long-term viewpoint. Once again, Vincent comes to the rescue, but this time not with his claws and teeth, but his endless optimism and by focusing on the now. Father and his old flame were given a second chance, but only for a short time. He’d equally live in the now, with Catherine, and enjoy what they have, rather than think about what might happen in the future. It was a simple story, but very well told and I continue to enjoy this series more than I had anticipated.

Comic Book Projects Update

It’s been a while since I posted about my current comic book projects, so I thought a quick update would be appropriate. Maysam Barza is still hard at work on the art on Flux, a 4 issue mini series I am co-writing by Pete Rogers. Below is a page that is currently in progress, and you can see how Maysam builds it up in layers. Absolutely fantastic stuff. Wonderful attention to detail.

I’m also co-writing a fast paced thriller mini series, again with Pete. We are working with a wonderful artist called Simone Guglielmini whose work I first saw on Near Death from Image comics, written by Jay Faerber. Below is a rough sketch for a dramatic moment in issue 1 of our comic. Even rough we were both very impressed by Simone’s ability to capture the mood so well. I’m really excited to see what he comes up with next.

There are a couple of other comic book projects in the works, but nothing to show yet. More info when I have it.

Book Deal News

So the big news came out today on the Bookseller website, and here is a copy of the press release in full announcing my book deal with Orbit.

Orbit has signed a trilogy of books from British author Stephen Aryan.

Jenni Hill, commissioning editor at Orbit, signed world English rights in the Battlemage trilogy from Juliet Mushens at The Agency Group.

Battlemage, which was taken from the slush pile, is set in a world experiencing its first global conflict, with the story told from three points of view – the leaders of the fighting nations, the frontline warriors, and the Battlemages, powerful magical outsiders who are both feared and respected.

Mushens said: “I was blown away by how polished a debut this was – it’s original and wholly engrossing.”

Hill said: “Stephen Aryan makes mages look cool. Battlemage has everything that’s great about epic fantasy: big battle scenes; valiant heroes and heroines; and evil forces in need of a damn good thwarting.”

Aryan lives in Yorkshire and works fulltime in marketing for a software company.

Orbit will release the the first in the series in the UK and US in 2015.

I am absolutely over the moon! Orbit publish some of my favourite authors from Jim Butcher to Mike Carey and I’m excited and nervous about what comes next, but really looking forward to it. A lot of hard work has gone into getting here and there is definitely more ahead but I can’t wait to get stuck in.

Adventures in Archery – Part 1

Over the years I’ve tried all sorts of different sports. Some of them I had to do at school, football, hockey, rounders and so on. Others I independently pursued for years because they seemed like a good idea at the time, such as swimming and rugby.

Then there were other activities such as martial arts which I actually enjoyed and it was nice to be part of a club, to make new friends and belong to a special group who were all into the same thing. I did Ren Sei Kan Judo for years as a boy, then Shotokan Karate with a friend from school for years. We did a few competitions, some public demonstrations and we were taught by one of the nicest and the most powerful and naturally strong men I’ve ever met. The kind of guy that could shatter big, heavy, wooden things without much effort. After that it was a couple of years of Kung Fu with a little sensei who could put someone on the floor without even moving and then later I got into Fencing. The kind with the pointy swords, not wooden panels and a hammer. The one thing all of these activities have in common is that they’re competitive and you are always competing against someone else.

I’ve just started an archery beginner’s course and while the sport itself is competitive in the Olympics, and the club has competitions internally and with other clubs, it doesn’t have to be something you do against someone else. It can be about self development and personal achievement. About improving your skills in competition only with yourself. In general I’m sometimes my own worst critic, and with archery if an arrow flies off, I grimace and get annoyed. I am learning why it happens and how to adjust so I focus to improve my posture, or raise my elbow, or pull my arm closer to my cheek. In some ways it’s meditative and relaxing, I can clear my mind and focus only on the target in front of me, and overall I’m really enjoying it.

There is some competition between the beginners, but it is very light hearted and I’m finding it’s nice to belong to another club as it has been quite a while. People of all ages and backgrounds are involved in archery, from little kids who are amazing already, to grey haired grandfathers who are beginners themselves or masters of the sport.

So, when I’ve finished the beginner’s course I’ve already decided that I want to continue with the sport and join the club. You’re not going to see me on TV at Rio with a bow, and I’m not Robin Hood or am I going to be in the national competitions. But that’s ok. That’s not why I’m doing the beginner’s course. I’ve got years of practice to go before I’m halfway decent, and there is still so much to learn, but that’s alright too. I think for me archery is going to be meditative, and a place I can go to relax and just unwind while shooting pointy bits of metal at a straw target.

Beauty and The Beast – Month 1

As previously mentioned I’m doing a rewatch of the original Beauty and The Beast TV series with CE Murphy. Below are my thoughts on the first few episodes.

The Pilot – It’s been long time since I’d watched this, but I still remembered the basics. However, there were actually quite a few things I had forgotten, both major and minor. The episode begins with a title card saying ‘Once upon a time…’ playing into the whole fairytale theme, which initially might make you think it will be akin to a warm and cuddly Disney film, like Enchanted, a film set in modern day. However it really isn’t, what with the murders, the disfiguration, and other very adult themes that are hinted at but never shown. But there is a fairytale feel to it, right down to Catherine vanishing into a spotlight from above that then fades, as if she’s just stepped off a stage.

I’d completely forgotten about Isaac Stubbs, the rough, tough, streetwise New York guy (played by Delroy Lindo no less!) who trains Catherine how to fight. He teaches her to protect herself with NY street fighting, which he describes as nasty, dirty and painful for the attacker. I’d also forgotten that the reason Catherine was attacked in the first place was due to a case of mistaken identity. I also blocked out that Catherine was a fairly spoiled rich girl who, after the attack, leaves her high society life behind and completely changes into someone that wants to help people. I go into more detail but I’ll leave it there for now. Overall I thought it was still an interesting and intriguing pilot, and it barely scrapes the surface of Vincent’s world but hints at so much more.

Terrible Saviour, Ep2 – Despite the obvious dating of the TV show, which is immediately visible through the clothes, cars, technology and even to some degree, the way characters speak, this show continues to impress me for a number of reasons. If there was a big dude in a hood who rode on top of the subway trains, rumours would have started. Someone would have seen him and people talk, and like all good fairy tales, in an age before mobile phones, and therefore a camera in every pocket, before widespread CCTV and instant media messaging, there were urban myths and legends. New York is a big old city that’s been rebuild many times over, so who knows what’s lurking down there under the modern sidewalks and subway tunnels from centuries back. The idea of Vincent’s underworld and a whole other city beneath NY gives it all a lovely rich texture and flavour.

I also like the fact that very early on in the first series they focus on one of the more worrying aspects of Vincent, his bestial nature. He’s a man, but not like any other. He has a wild side and potential ties to a heritage we don’t and may never understand, but you don’t need to quiz a lion to know it’s a powerful and dangerous animal. One look at it will tell you that and to some degree it’s the same with him. This episode carries over threads from the pilot, about Vincent saving Catherine, but in a rage he mauled three men when she was put in serious danger.

I also like the fact that we get to see Isaac Stubbs again, and we learn that Catherine was one of his star pupils. She can take care of herself, but they don’t overplay it, or feel the need to make her show it by throwing people around. It’s there, it’s stated and they move on, no displays of bravado are needed. Other characters treat Catherine differently now, from her boss to the IT girl, showing she’s moved away from the spoiled rich girl playing at helping people. There’s acceptance and now they just regard her as someone who is there to get the job done.

Siege, Ep3. – Although the reveal of this episode was fairly obvious, I still really enjoyed this episode for many reasons. This is the first time they’ve dealt with some of the difficult issues that have been alluded to. Vincent is a fully grown man, but he’s emotionally stunted in some ways, and almost teenage in some of how he deals with certain feelings, because he’s never had to deal with them before. He doesn’t know what to do and doesn’t have the emotional maturity, but he does get there a lot faster than a teenager would, and with far less moping. Equally I really liked how Catherine would walk up to anyone, give them a piece of her mind, and tell the bad guys, I’m going to take you down. She wasn’t intimidated by their thinly veiled threats and even when the crunch moment came she launched herself at one thug and took him down. She was only overpowered by two more, at which point Vincent showed up. So less a damsel in distress that needed saving, more a friend who was outnumbered. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but even the old lady had a moment to shine and tell her story which gave me a chill at its conclusion. I spotted someone else making a cameo, and it was a sad one for me since the actor has since passed away. A young Rick Biggs, who to me was most famous for his role in Babylon 5, had a couple of lines as a reporter. Even before we saw the character I recognised his very distinctive voice. The show continues to surprise and entertain me and for all that it is sometimes tame in comparison to modern shows, it is refreshing in its tone and theatrical scene setting and lighting effects.

No Way Down, Ep 4. – The core of this episode was relatively simple. Vincent is injured and left effectively blind on the surface, unable to get home as he can’t see where he is going. He’s captured by some unpleasant people but he managed to escape and then has to rely on the kindness of strangers of the surface, a place he and everyone else who lives under has fled. The world above is cruel and harsh, Father has always told him this, and that he would be feared and shunned. Many people who now live under the city came there from above ground, including Father, who found it a horrible place to live. And now Vincent has to rely on others to help him while Catherine frantically searches for him with Stubbs. It was a great flip of the usual scenario you sometimes see even today in modern dramas where the girl in danger and the man comes to her rescue. Suddenly he is weak, injured and despite his strength, leaning on people to help him down the street. A kind security guard, Lucy, a street walker with a kind heart, a slow but gentle giant. There is still fear and sometimes horror at Vincent’s appearance, but people still help him. One of the most distressing moments for me was actually seeing Lucy cry after she has betrayed Vincent to save herself. Sure it was hokey in places, and the dialogue was dated, but there again Catherine took out two gangbangers herself when they tried to get cute with her, using the skills Stubbs had taught her. She is no damsel in distress. I sound like a stuck record, but I continue to be touched and impressed by this series and am looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Reading as a hobby

During my day to day life some people view my reading habit as odd and unusual. By that I mean I am always reading a book. Always. I never read more than one at once, but am always reading. In a spare 5 minutes, or on a bus, train platform, in a waiting room etc, my default is not to pick up phone and play a game, but to read a book. When I don’t have my book with me and I’m waiting, I will pop on Twitter, but I’d much prefer to read a book.

Among my group of friends my reading habit is not unusual as most of them are always reading as well, but outside that circle, during my day job or when I meet strangers or friends of friends, I sometimes get funny looks. To them it is unusual. Normally, if I can, I ask them why they don’t read and the responses vary. Other people have spoken at length and with far more clarity than I about why reading, books and libraries are important, for example Neil Gaimain’s recent lecture on why our future depends on libraries, so I won’t go over that. I wanted to focus more on the type of responses I have received over the years.

Some people have told me they only read one or two books a year, and one of them might be on holiday around the swimming pool. A paperback they pick up at the airport and then throw away as it’s been covered in sun tan lotion and the spine has been cracked and the cover bleached by the sun. Some say they simply don’t have time to read, which I would argue isn’t true, but I don’t press the point as reading obviously isn’t something they want to pursue. Others see reading as a chore, and not something you would choose to do for fun. As if they had to endure it at school and looking back on it gives them a chill and bad memories, as pulling apart the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner down the atomic level at school, does for me. I’m not sure I ever want to read that poem again, so thank my high school English Literature teacher for that and for ruining Shakespeare for me as well.

When I see that horrified reaction to reading I feel sorry for those people and I really pity them, because they’re missing out on so many amazing worlds and so many fantastic stories (fiction and non-fiction) than can shape and change a person, even as an adult. Of course that sort of response isn’t restricted to books, but that’s what I’m focusing on here.

The weirdest and also saddest response I ever heard was a few years. I had been in a new job for a few weeks and my boss saw me reading at lunch in the canteen. She asked what I was reading so I showed her the cover. She’d never heard of it. A few weeks later she saw me reading again, stopped by, looked at the cover and said ‘Another book?’ as if one book was more than enough for a lifetime, or all books are the same and once you’ve tried one, you’ve tried them all. She was genuinely surprised that I would choose to read, for fun, in my spare time.

At school I wasn’t very good at sport, not because I was particularly awful or overweight, but simply because I didn’t really enjoy it as a whole, so didn’t apply myself. If I had enjoyed football more as a boy then perhaps I would have developed a passion for the sport and tried harder. I might even have become a supporter and followed my local team over the years, although I still doubt that. Over the years I tried all sorts of sports and got involved with several to various levels including martial arts, swimming, rugby, and later fencing, but for various reasons they never stuck. I would focus on one for a few years but circumstances would change, sometimes beyond my control, and I’d find myself drifting away and then trying something else.

I distinctly remember in middle school (ages 7-10) sitting on a bench during lunch hour and reading a book, while others ran around on the field chasing a football. Sometimes I would join in, but not very often. I preferred to read about Garion and Aunt Polgara, I scoured the entire myths and legends section of the school library, I regularly visited the library in my home town with my mum and I spent a lot of time in second hand bookshops looking for fantasy books. I remember my mum reading me stories at bedtime when I was very young and being overjoyed (I still am) when I received books at Christmas. I also remember getting annoyed at having to be social and not being allowed to lock myself away and just read my new book, which also still happens.

With the saturation of technology into our daily lives I suspect for some young people growing up today it’s a very different story. What fills me with some hope for the future is that I have several friends with small children and all of them are very passionate about their children’s education and reading is big part of that. Reading has always been a part of my life and always will be and I hope it will be the same for others.

Real Ale: Isle of Arran Dark – Arran Brewery

A traditional “Scottish Heavy” style beer with a full malt flavour and a deep bitter finish.

I received one or two ales for Christmas, ok more than two, and one box had a wide selection of ales from across the UK. This is my first ale from the Isle of Arran Brewery, and this dark beer had a good chance of being a winner from the moment I poured. It comes out almost black, but at 4.3% it isn’t too heavy. It’s actually a dark browny red when held up to the light, and it has a bit of caramel in the taste and is very earthy. There are no floral or fruity flavours to it, at least to me, although it is described as having a bit of that in the nose. This malty ale does have a little bit of a bittersweet finish, and it is balanced just right for me. It is definitely a smooth drink and it won Europe’s Best Dark brown and World’s Best Dark Brown at the World Beer Awards in 2012.

Fairly uncommon on other brewery websites, but a very good idea, the Arran website suggests the type of food it should accompany, anything with a stronger flavour as this is quite mild but still tasty.

I’ve never visited the Isle of Arran, in fact I’ve never been to nearby Glasgow, but both seem like grand places to visit. The brewery was originally set up in 2000 and has changed hands a couple of times but in the last few years has been prospering and expanding with new beers, increased production and some other cunning plans. Take a look at their website for all the latest news and of course, their online shop, for their beer.

Real Ale: Black Gold – Copper Dragon Brewery

A recipe created from restored brewing records from the 1800’s. The use of traditional coloured and roasted malts give a unique rich and luscious flavour.

As detailed above, this is a lost recipe that has been recreated for the modern ale drinker. To date this is one of my three favourite porters or dark ales. It’s very light and smooth, it’s tasty but not too rich which can sometimes happen, which leaves me feeling like I need to cleanse my palette a bit before drinking some more. It’s a rich dark brown, almost black in colour, and there are hints of liquorice, toffee and coffee. It isn’t bitter and it isn’t fruity, which I’m not a fan of in pale ales and you sometimes get with some American hops. A real earthy drink that doesn’t leave a bitter after taste and it’s only 3.7% so a couple in a row is not going to leave you too fuzzy.

The Copper Dragon Brewery in Skipton has been around for a while and they produce an interesting range of beers and have recently diversified into producing a pilsner beer called Radka. I’ve not made it up to the brewery yet but it’s definitely a place that I want to visit, go on a tour, and maybe purchase a couple of ales from the shop.

Get Involved in 2014

I’m not one for making new year resolutions, but what I am doing starting from January is rewatching and rereading a few things together with some friends. This is your invitation to take part and then join in with the discussion. I should quickly mention, that I know how life (and by that I’m including work, family, the unexpected) can stall a great idea like this, which is why I’m doing all of them at a reasonable pace. So if you want to join in on one of them, then please do, but there’s no pressure and we’re going at a steady pace so no one gets left behind.

The Dresden Files reread – First up, I’m an enormous fan of the writer Jim Butcher and I think he is a very talented guy. The Dresden Files are one of my favourite series of books, ever really, but there are quite a few of them out now, and although I know what’s going on in the story now, I am sure I have forgotten some of the smaller details. I’ve forgotten character moments, seeing the clues that led to greater things and dooms to come, and there are seeds planted along the way. So overall I’m very excited about starting from the beginning and reliving all of the amazing moments and witnessing the growth of Harry. My reading buddy on this is Stacey Whittle, she of the Small Press Big Mouth (small press comics podcast), the Whittle Waffle podcast (solo podcast where she talks comics, TV, film, geek stuff and of course knitting!). Both podcasts are on iTunes and she is @Stace_W on Twitter. We are reading one Dresden Files book a month. As I said, it gives us time, just in case.

Beauty and The Beast rewatch – Through talking to some friends at conventions and also on Twitter, I quickly realised that one of my childhood cornerstones, and slightly guilty pleasures, is the Beauty and The Beast TV series that ran from 1987-1990 starring Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton. It was awesome. There’s been a TV remake in name, and what little I saw, I thought was megacrap. The Beast, is a pretty boy with gel in his hair and a scar. Enough said.

The original and still the best from the 1980s, is slightly smushy, but also very moving TV show, with opening music and credits that still give me chills to this day. I just loved it back then and still do. Catherine was a tough woman who as an assistant district attorney, sometimes got into a fair amount of trouble. And there to help her, was the intelligent, sensitive but also very angry and powerful Vincent, played by Perlman. This would be the first of many roles in which I think Perlman to be far more attractive with heavy make-up than without. He’s not a bad looking guy at all, but he’s also got that in common with Andreas Katsulas, who as G’Kar in B5 was mesmerising and women were instantly drawn to him, but less so when himself. It’s an interesting idea I might revisit in another post.

Anyway, another lesser known fact is that a certain George Martin worked on the show as a writer and executive producer. Yes, the George RR Martin of Game of Thrones fame as he is now known.

So, CE Murphy, Liz de Jager, and I will be rewatching the whole show, from episode 1, at the reasonable pace of one episode a week starting in January. It’s available to buy on DVD and is also available to stream from various online sources. We’re going to have a Twitter hashtag, and we’ll all chat about our second, third or tenth impressions of the show, somewhere online at a place to be decided. So, follow them both on Twitter, and I’ll post on here again when we start watching so you can join in if you want.

Babylon 5 rewatch – This is something I’m not doing at a set pace, but I have started rewatching the whole show from the start. Given the chance I can and will talk your ear off about this TV show for hours at a stretch. Put very succinctly, it is my favourite SF TV show ever. It’s not perfect, and the CGI and make-up is not up to today’s standard, but there’s a reason Star Trek The Original Series and old Doctor Who are still revered today by many fans. It’s because if you can look at it with slightly historic eyes and ignore the old tech, the shows were groundbreaking at the time and are still great shows with fantastic stories.

B5 is like that. To me it’s a masterpiece in writing and character development, and is a TV show with individual seasonal arcs and an overall story arc, long before such things were common. It led the way for this sort of thing on TV, which a lot of people don’t realise. It’s a 5 year story done right. None of this making it up as we go along and hoping we can sort it out in the end (Lost). It’s one big story, with seeds planted from day one. So, I’ll be posting here periodically with my thoughts and impressions, so feel free to join in on the rewatch.

My Top 5 Books from 2013

Recently I recorded another episode of the geek culture and comics podcast I co-host, Comic Book Outsiders. We looked back at 2013 and talked about our favourite films, TV shows and other geek moments. I didn’t get around to talking about comics or books. So this is a list of my favourite 5 books I’ve read this year. Some weren’t published this year and they are not in order of preference.

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch – This was probably my most anticipated book of 2013. It’s been a long time coming and when it was published I dedicated a good chunk of time to reading it before I went to the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton. This is because Scott Lynch was attending the convention and even with the best intentions, someone usually manages to spoil a couple of things, so I made sure I was up to date. I also re-read the first two books as it had been a while since I’d read them and my previous impression was, the first book was excellent, the second not as good. This time around I thought the second book was actually really good. It had to be different from the first book for lots of reasons and there again The Republic of Thieves was different again, but very enjoyable for many reasons which I won’t spoil. Meeting Scott at a coffee get together thing he did at a local coffee shop, along with thirty other people, as well as hearing him speak on a panel, was also a highlight of the event. The book showed he had not lost his touch and even better is the news recently announced, that the 4th book in the series will be out next year. Two new books in two years. Fantastic. This novel gives us more detail about the main characters, the adventure is full of delicious duplicity, dodgy deals and as ever nothing goes according to plan. Apart from that I won’t say anymore but it’s a cracking good read and I highly recommend it.

The Big Reap by Chris F. Holm – I’m very picky and fussy about my urban fantasy and supernatural noir, and unfortunately I just don’t enjoy most of it. It’s totally a personal thing. So I always approach a new author with a lot of trepidation. The Collector series by Holm, is probably best described as supernatural noir, as it’s set in our world, and there are demons and angels creeping around, but most people have no idea what’s going on. This is the third and final book in the Collector series (for now at least) and it was probably my favourite, although that’s splitting hairs as the series is excellent overall. The prose is incredibly tight, and sharp enough to cut you like a razor, it’s trimmed down to the bone with no fat or unnecessary exposition, and yet I never felt as if it was just three hundred plus pages of conversation which is what can sometimes happen. Dark, moody and rich, the series is tense, exciting, creepy and it always leaves me guessing. Plenty of twists that I didn’t see coming. There was an ending to this series, and if Holm and Angry Robot never do any more Collector books then I would be satisfied, but the door is open for more and I hope he’s able to revisit the series in the future. Other points of reference that I would pair it with, to give you an idea of what to expect, would be the Felix Castor novels by Mike Carey, as this is definitely a close kissing cousin, and the novels of Justin Gustainis, which both veer on the darker side.

Exit Kingdom by Alden Bell – This is the second book by Bell in his post apocalyptic world where zombies destroyed the earth many years ago. I should preface this by saying I’m not really a fan of horror, or zombie books in general. They’re just not my cup of tea. I don’t like zombie films at all and am not a fan of horror films either. So, when I first read The Reapers Are The Angels, I went into it cold, knowing nothing about it, except that it was the story of a girl named Temple. The book is amazing. It was my favourite book of the year when it came out and when I heard Bell was doing another I was very nervous. Then I found out it was a prequel, so I unclenched and bought a copy to savour during my summer holiday. The story follows the earlier life of Moses Todd, a character from Reapers and once again Bell has captured something wonderful in the pages. Moses is such a big character, a big man, and the story has a real southern gothic feel to it. The language used has a real poetry to it and the characters have a particular way of speaking that fits within that world, but would sound unusual in the modern world. This is an excellent prequel but you should definitely read Reapers first and then this second. I sort of hope Bell does more stories set within this world but I guess we’ll wait and see.

The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss – I re-read The Name of the Wind before starting this, as it had been a couple of years and I’d forgotten some of the smaller details. A friend has recently started reading The Name of the Wind for the first time and she described it as a delicious meal, something you want to savour. The prose is almost poetic, it flows incredibly well, has fantastic rhythm and pace, and the story is very intriguing, full of mystery, suspense, magic and unexpected twists and turns. It’s not a spoiler to say the story follows the main character telling a scribe about his life and adventures, and he’s narrating the tale and during the first book I had suspicions that he wasn’t a reliable narrator. People exaggerate, they lie, they conceal details they don’t want to share, and I think we’re getting a version of the truth. The main character is a figure of myth, he’s a folk tale most people don’t even believe was ever real, but we see him in the present, and then in the past as he retells his adventures. It’s an interesting storytelling device, one I’ve not read before in a long running fantasy series. The second book builds very well on the first, Kvothe the main character goes into some very unexpected areas and we experience some of the stories that created the legend others talk about. Rothfuss is spinning a lot of plates in the story, but he’s also playing with the idea of story, expectation, myths and legends and how they are built, and I think how a story is told, hence lies mixed in with the truth. It’s an adventure story about a boy with red hair who grows up to be remarkable renaissance man and how he impacts the world around him. A wonderful read and I’m looking forward to the third and final book when it arrives.

Cold Days Jim Butcher Cold Days by Jim Butcher – This book came out in late 2012 but I read it this year after holding on to the book for 3 months. That was all I could manage. I tried really hard not to blot out all other activities, work, food, sleep, and blast through a book in one sitting from the moment I received it as a present. Even though I would have enjoyed doing it. Because I knew the next book would not be publishing for at least a couple of years. So, Harry Dresden, we meet again. I won’t spoil the series and what’s happened up to now, but I will say that this is a series that never stands still. The Dresden Files is a long running series of standalone chronological stories that build on one another, all focused around the same central character. For me, it’s urban fantasy done the right way. The characters feel so incredibly real, despite the weird and magic, and after 13 books and several short stories, I feel as if I have a fairly good grip on who they are. However, I’ve no clue about the wizard behind the curtain, because he continually surprises me and the story is full of twists and turns. Time has moved on, Harry has changed, the world has changed and he can either start running and try to keep up or fall behind and curl up into a ball. If you know anything about Harry, you know he’s a fighter who never quits. Even when the odds are hideously stacked against him as they have been many times in the past. I’m dancing around the subject very carefully, but suffice to say, something goes wrong and Harry must once more fight to protect his city and the people that he loves. Overall I loved this story and it was another excellent addition to the series. Without a doubt this is one of my favourite series, maybe ever, so I can’t wait to see what Butcher does next and where the story goes.