This book is a prime example of an author delving deeply into the history books to create a world full of accurate details and realistic settings but forgetting that his main job is telling an engaging story… It all seemed to flit from one place to another without any real characterisation, while the end was (how else to put it) a bit of a damp squib… It’s a shame, nice ideas, poor execution…
or as it says on the can
Tim’s brand new series to sail the seven seas with. Whilst we have come to know Tim as not only a practical author who has completed challenges to see how accurate the documentation or oral tales of the times are but also on the level of technologies of our ancestors were, we have also come to respect him for his hugely energetic and fast action paced Viking Trilogy adventure.
What I came to expect and hoped for with this new series made it one of my highlights for the second part of this year. Alas I was left feeling a little cheated with the first novel, well that’s not exactly accurate the beginning piece left me feeling cheated whilst the rest of the novel took a while to build up my trust in his talent. Why was this? Well personally I felt that we really didn’t get a chance to know the principle protagonist in much the same way that we did with his other series and as such made it difficult to come to grips with the challenges of his life let alone the agonies to which he was afflicted.
However as Tim Severin – Corsair 
Tim Severin – Buccaneer
David Farland’s “Runelords” fantasy sequence began in 1998 with The Sum of All Men, a career-relaunch novel whose sales far outstripped earlier SF published under his real name Dave Wolverton. Runelords are supermen whose strength, stamina, vision, etc. are multiplied by magical “endowments” transferred from unfortunate donors who are crippled by their loss: the arch-villain is virtually invincible thanks to tens of thousands of endowments. This second book avoids middle-volume doldrums by introducing a vast onslaught of still tougher and memorably unpleasant non-humans which even the villains must oppose. Meanwhile various characters skirmish in different parts of the map, and the hero struggles with unreliable powers conferred on him when he was chosen as Earth King to save the land and humanity–or maybe only a tiny part of each.
Farland maintains a steady flow of new situations, reversals, gambits and surprises…it’s a real shock when one chap who has incurred a dreadful penalty for virtuous reasons is not spared (as expected in the normal chivalry of fantasyland) but pays the full, eye-watering price. One small criticism: the writing contains occasional sloppiness and repetition that a copyeditor should have removed. It’s still a rousing, painfully gripping story. –David Langford
One of the best modern authors again we have to introduce Val McDermid as the author of 22 bestselling novels, translated into 30 languages, selling over 10 million copies, and won many awards internationally. She was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame in 2009 and has for many of those novels thrilled many of her fans.
BUT anyone can drop one. First the blurb from the book and then my say. —
1984. The National miners’ strike is dividing the country, and in a struggling coal-mining town, the miners and their families are living at the edge of their resources. They have no money, and there is no food or heating. On the 14th of December, five miners break ranks to travel to Nottingham and work. For those who stay behind, this is an unforgivable betrayal, and the men are branded as scabs. 23 years later, a young woman is asking the police to trace her missing father: miner Mick Prentice vanished, never to be seen again, although money has been sent to his family; he was widely considered to be one of the scabs. Soon, D I Karen Pirie and DS Phil Parharta find themselves investigating a forgotten disappearance.
This is the provocative premise of Val McDermid’s latest novel, A Darker Domain
In fact, Karen Pirie, when taking on this new assignment, is already involved in a case of kidnapping that took place 22 years earlier (in which a woman was killed during a bungled handover of money). Journalist Bel Richmond makes a startling discovery concerning the MacLennan kidnapping while on holiday in Tuscany, and as the three protagonists dig deeper into ever-more labyrinthine mysteries, they are to make some remarkable discoveries — discoveries which throw light not just on the crimes involved, but on the whole of British society……
Yes OK Thats true as far as it goes, remember the BUT. in truth the plot is fairly simple and the reader can soon work out a likely ending. Whilst the plot is well laid out and the characters well drawn the ending falls far below the standards we have come to expect. In Val McDermid – A Darker Domain
Still it is well worth buying the paperback as its an interesting and provocative tail. Its only the ending that gets my goat!
Summer is on the way and it will make a good gentle read whilst sunbathing in a hammock or drinking a G and T by the pool.
Philip
P.S. Val McDermid – A Darker Domain
Hard girls by Martina Cole.
Martina Cole has long been a great favorite of my wife’s. With her rich characters taken from all walks of life-including of course mobsters gangsters and the police force her books are full of violent intrigue and passion.
Martina Cole as an author is something of a force of nature. The sales are tough East End novels. She works herself extremely hard, and it would seem hardly ever takes a holiday. The standard of writing is always consistent, direct and to the point. She writes about both genders who are ready to bend the rules in the most uncompromising way. And it’s clear that this style strikes a chord with many readers. Readers in general, lead law-abiding lives. They cannot deny that there is a fascination for those who step outside the strictures of society. Martina has a good ear for dialogue and everyday speech, and it is this that helps to give her books such an impact. Since her first novel dangerous Lady in 1992 there has been continual list of equally forceful books in which the latest is Hard Girls 
In Hard Girls
Kate Burrows, who readers will remember from several other novels once had Annie’s job but is now retired and acting as a consultant. Kate is a woman, with plenty of experience in capturing murderers (famously tracking down the Grantley Ripper) and a pedophile ring in the south-east. Kate joins Annie in the race to catch a sadistic killer, moving into a territory that is challenging, even for these two experienced policewomen.
Martina Cole’s fans will know exactly what to expect in Hard Girls 
My wife tells me this is a book to read. Available now at a very reasonable price, put it on your presents list.
Philip
P. S. You can get it here
. What do you people think o.O
