William

This is a different book. The style of the plot and the feel of the world reminded me of old pulpy sword and sorcery tales from well back in the 20th century those stories had a sense of wonder at the world and a sort of glee at crazy ideas or the possibilities of magic- but far too many had paper thin characters, few female characters worth speaking of and spotty descriptions.

This book is not like that.

This book has that old fashioned sense of wonder, it has the feeling of glee at the possibilities of magic and it has plenty of crazy ideas - but Martha Wells takes all of the good parts of sword and sorcery and then she adds huge, rich layers of characterisation, gorgeous description and deep characterisation to make this a book that creates a world and a cast that feel real and make your brain hum like a crystal glass.

If I have one negative it is that this feels very much like an introduction to the people and the world. The plot does resolve itself - Ms Wells is not cheating us. It's just that I have that edgy feeling I get when I was halfway through a really nice cup of tea and someone tidied it up before I was finished.

I really want more from this world!

This is old fashioned Epic Fantasy mixed with buddy comedy. To be clear, a lot of it is “paint-by-numbers”, but I've got to say this author paints very well. I recognised an awful lot of tropes, but the way he put them together just somehow worked and (this is important) by the end of the book the author is putting a twist and shine on his world building that is really hooking me.

If this is how a newly published author starts out a series, I have high hopes for the series.

One caution for potential readers: This book was originally written as two novels, because of this there is an awesome hold-your-breath scene in the middle of the book, followed by a major lull in the story pace. The ending however is well worth the wait.

So I'd say, less a “paint-by-numbers”, more an “Awesome Mixtape” with a very interesting demo at the end.

A rather short, fun story about Sherlock Holmes' wayward younger sister, Enola. When the Mother of Enola, Sherlock and Mycroft vanishes, the two adult brothers return to their countryside childhood home to discover that Enola is running wild amongst the roses with and has read a scandalously large amount, including the (horror of horrors) the essays of [a:Mary Wollstonecraft 1853305 Mary Wollstonecraft https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1228515449p2/1853305.jpg]. Suffice to say that the free thinking Enola is not about to be packed off to some boarding school but instead embarks on some adventures of her own.I've found that I'm sensitive to depictions of Sherlock Holmes. Many pastiches are unreadable to me because “That's just not Sherlock”. Mr Holmes is not the central character here, but except for the odd twinge, he seemed pretty acceptable to my Holmes-radar. Enola was very believable as a sister and was a very engaging character in her own right.I'll look forward to reading the next book in the series.

A deeply moving tale centering on the wrongness of prejudice and the truth that we should be judged solely on the content of our character. Sadly this continues to be relevant today.

In the words of one of the characters: “We have a long way to go and a lot to learn and unlearn.”

I'm not exactly sure when I first read this book - it was around 1989 - and it really stuck with me. I remember very clearly the beautiful descriptions of the landscape and the central character's love for it. I remembered the insanity and injustice of people who care deeply for each other yet reject others based on an irrelevant thing such as a person's skin or appearance I found that incomprehensible at the time. It stuck with me.

Now, many years later I'm all grown up and I came across a copy of this book with the same cover as all those years ago. I was a little nervous opening it up - what would it be like? It was the same except I now have more of an understanding of the issues and an appreciation of the beautiful writing style. Interestingly enough, the only character in the book who is not prejudiced is a nine year old child who finds it incomprehensible, just as I did around that age.

Prejudice is learnt - not inherent.

A great adventure involving kidnappings, thieves, bicycles and sandwiches.