Tag: Review

  • Rivers of London

    I first came across this book in Aachen, Germany, and it drew my attention almost immediately. Normally I’m not really a fantasy reader, let alone the even more specific terms like urban fantasy. I liked the writing style from what I read in the bookshop, and made a mental note of it. Still, in the… →

  • The Spirit Rebellion

    I recently read The Spirit Thief and while I probably will never be someone to read series back-to-back, I will at least try not to put too much time in between different books, especially since I liked the first book a lot. The Spirit Rebellion picks up right after the previous events (so I was… →

  • Dead Nasty

    A girl found murdered in a dustbin means the start of the next Calladine & Bayliss investigation. The murder strongly resembles an old case. That murderer has been recently released. Surely, that could not have been a coincidence? Another police procedural, and as always a quick read. One thing that started to bother me a… →

  • Dead & Buried

    A mysterious 40 year old diary seems somehow connected to a recent string of murders which start after the re-emergence of a local villain. It is the setting of the fifth book in the Calladine & Bayliss series. They are nice if a bit short police procedurals. In this case Bayliss is on pregnancy leave… →

  • Dead Lost

    Another one in the Calladine & Bayliss series. This time, they have trouble to find the body. These are quite simple and uncomplicated police procedurals that I enjoy to read from time to time. There is also a lot of the personal lives of the main detectives thrown in, which could have been toned down… →

  • Dead List

    Dead List is the third major case for Calladine & Bayliss. Another string of dreadful murders, all linked through tarot cards. I cannot help but wonder when I read this, why does the murderer make it so easy to connect the murders? If one wanted to stay uncaught, would it not be way smarter not… →

  • The Spirit Thief

    The Spirit Thief was another random pick from the TBR. And it was a nice surprise. The magic systems is an interplay between the magicians and the spirits they bond with and obey them. It was quite original. The ploys were not overly intricate, but that can be nice for a change. It was a… →

  • The Fox and the Little Tanuki, Volume 1

    The Fox and the Little Tanuki was the first volume of a Japanese series featuring a fox-spirit Senzou who is being punished by having to bring up a little Tanuki, and teach him how to serve the gods. Something that is also lacking in Senzou himself. Together they have all kinds of cute little adventures.… →

  • Circe

    I was recently overcome with a strong urge to read about Greek mythology. I assume it arose since I was reading Through The Looking Glass, which starts the argument that language is dependent on culture with the absence of mentions of color in Greek epic poems like the Odyssey. If colors are mentioned, it is… →

  • Trimalchio’s Feast

    Much has been written and said about Rome in the first century. Petronius however, gives a first-hand account of the decadent parties that were thrown in order to establish one’s position in the city. While interesting from a historical perspective, I didn’t really like this Little Black Classic. It’s translated, of course, and I think… →

  • The Tell-Tale Heart

    This was my first time reading Edgar Allan Poe, I know it is a shame. I’d been planning to read some of his works for a while though, ever after I read Ray Bradbury’s story Usher II in the collection The Illustrated Man. Luckily, this short collection contained two of the stories that were very… →

  • Olalla

    Olalla was my first venture into the literary works of Robert Louis Stevenson and it was not a very good one. I have a lot of friends who keep telling me to get to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde so I had high expectations of this one, but I don’t know. I don’t think the… →

  • Jason and Medea

    The story of Jason and Medea, in the larger story of the Argonauts, was another one I had seen in class, but never read myself completely. If you’re unfamiliar with the story though, this might not be the best place to start as it sort of start in the middle and these Little Black Classics… →

  • Caligula

    Suetonius and I go way back. In Latin class, we were forced to watch these less than inspiring documentaries on Roman Emperors that were filled with quotes from, among others: Suetonius. As such, I was looking forward to reading this Little Black Classic. Also, because if there ever was a mad man in power, it… →

  • Travels in the Land of Serpents and Pearls

    I hope Marco Polo was a better explorer than he was a writer, because this was not good. I’m now going to tell you what was bad. The writing. I’ve now told you what was bad. The booklet is filled with these completely unnecessary sentences where Polo explains what he is going to say in… →

  • A Hippo Banquet

    This was an interesting read. The Hippo Banquet features travel stories by Mary Kingsley, being an explorer in a time where female explorers were very rare. So for that I found it interesting to read about and she actually writes quite well. However, her views are very Victorian (obviously) and I’ve found that I never… →

  • The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday

    First book of 2020! And what a lot of fun it was. Melek Ahmar, an imprisoned djinn king and among other things The Lord of Tuesday, who has just woken from a millennia long slumber in his prison and is completely forgotten by all but himself, is dead set on retaking the rule of at… →

  • The Murders of Molly Southbourne

    Reading-wise, 2020 has been a blast so far. The upside of being sick in bed is that it gives a pretty good excuses for reading the books one might have accidentally bought in an end of year TOR sale. The Murders of Molly Southbourne was indeed one of those. I didn’t know anything about it… →

  • The Steam Pump Jump

    If you’re a fan of this series, it can by no means be a surprise there’s these short stories every year to keep us fans happy until the next full length novel arrives. They usually are a lot of fun, as is this one, but I do recommend to read them only when already submerged… →

  • Christmas Past

    It has become something of a Christmas tradition, a short story from St Mary’s, usually involving some bad advised time travel, uhm, investigation of historical events in contemporary time, of course. This one was very cute. It features Max and Matthew as they travel to 19th century London to bring a little bit of joy.… →

  • The Terrors of the Night

    I realize that in a collection of 80 (or 127) works, not everything can stand out. Well, this one did, but unfortunately not in a good way. The blurb, as other reviewers have pointed out, was looking quite good, but doesn’t fit the book at all. I guess if you’re into long Elizabethan ramblings about… →

  • Dead Silent

    Dead Silent continues the story of Calladine and Bayliss through another gruesome case. As this series is shaping up to be a full series of rather short-but-enjoyable police procedurals, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the focus was not a little too much on the personal lives of the main characters. Both their personal lives… →

  • Book Learnin’

    Like most comics collections I read, I was not really familiar with Pie Comics yet. The title and the cover however suggested that it had to do with books, so I just had to read it. It was not what I expected. I’m not sure what I did expect, but it was more than I… →

  • Sindbad the Sailor

    Initial response: Silly me! I accidentally reread this book, and only noticed when I was halfway. Actual review: I didn’t plan on reading it a second time, but because the stories are in fact familiar (and resemble the Odyssey), I only at the final story realized I must have read it before. Since it was… →