Book Review: Wings to the Kingdom / Author: Cherie Priest / Publisher: Titan Books / Release Date: Out Now

Cherie Priest is a versatile author who has ventured fearlessly into the realms of urban fantasy and steampunk. This, the second title in her Eden Moore trilogy, shows she’s just as good at the traditional things-that-go-bump-in-the-night ghost story. It’s detailed, robustly plotted, pleasantly old-fashioned and the perfect summer read for anyone who prefers cemeteries to the beach.

A few loose ends from the first book linger, but basically it’s a stand-alone tale. On the vast battlefield park at Chickamauga, Georgia, where thousands were slain during the American Civil War, spectres of the fallen start popping up and making feeble but very creepy attempts to communicate with the living, to the consternation of tourists, rangers and bewildered locals. Before long the sightings attract media interest, culminating in the arrival of a pair of slick celebrity ghost hunters, who bowl into the nearby town of Chattanooga hoping to rope the spooks into their TV show.

Conscious that she’s earning a reputation for herself as something of a freak, Eden Moore, Chattanooga’s resident psychic and spirit wrangler, is desperate not to get involved. But nonetheless she’s drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery, which involves missing Confederate gold, a shadowy gunman and Old Green Eyes, a hairy eight foot tall ghoul that is reputed to haunt the battlefield.

Wings to the Kingdom isn’t for those who crave continual bloodletting and a new twist to every page. Events unfold at a leisurely, almost stately, pace, and the satisfactions that Priest offers are of a more low-key kind. There’s the cosy feeling that comes from watching Eden mulling over dusty old legends and indistinct EVP (electronic voice phenomena – see what you learn from reading Starburst) in the company of her underwhelming sidekicks, preening would-be ladies’ man Jamie and Benny, a geeky fan of all things occult. And then there are several excursions under cover of darkness to the battlefield – set-pieces from which Priest wrings every last icy chill.

A sense of place is crucial to most successful ghost stories, and this is no exception. Over the course of the novel, the Chickamauga battlefield park emerges as a personality in its own right, much like Dartmoor in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Seemingly benign and family-friendly by day, by night it’s treacherous and unwelcoming, a place of impenetrable pea-soup fogs and dangerously subsiding graves.

Priest is meticulous at evoking these night terrors – obscure movements in the darkness, shapes looming out of the fog. Where she lets herself down is with Eden herself, who’s a bit too closed-up and self-sufficient to be a completely engaging central character. Eden’s also the narrator, and this is problematic because, while Priest’s rather literary prose style is well suited to creating an unsettling ambience, it’s not really credible as the voice of a college-age girl. But these caveats aside, Wings to the Kingdom is gilt-edged horror, an exercise in the supernatural that exudes class. Kudos to Titan for bringing out such an accomplished trilogy.

Book Review: Westlake Soul / Author: Rio Youers / Publisher: ChiZine Publications / Release Date: Out Now

Westlake Soul is the new work of fiction by Rio Youers; not a bibliography on the life and times of Gladys Knight and the Pips. It is the emotional and thought-provoking tale of a young man left in a vegetative state after a surfing accident. To the outside world, Westlake shows almost no brain activity. He is unresponsive to outside stimuli, and the doctor’s best medical advice is to let his physical body pass on. The man he once was has long since flown the coup.

But Westlake isn’t out of the fight yet. The accident has given him superpowers. He can project his body anywhere he likes. He can communicate with animals, most notably Hub – his dog – and he can even give a psionic nudge to people when the need arises. Westlake Soul sees himself as a superhero and has an arch nemesis in the form of Dr. Quietus to prove it. Yet despite all this, Westlake is still a prisoner in his own body and unable to connect to the real world in any meaningful way.

Things take a turn for the worse when the family decide to remove Westlake’s PEG system – a feeding tube straight into his belly – and allow him to die. It’s the humane thing to do, or so the family are told. Only, of course, it isn’t. Westlake is still a thinking, functioning human being. He’s a super genius screaming at the world to be heard and typically the world hasn’t noticed. So the race is on to rebuild his shattered ID, reform the ego and piece together the fragmented remains of his psyche before his physical body gives up the ghost and dies.

Rio Youers is as close to a unique voice as you’re likely to find in today’s world of emerging new talent. The term poetic prose springs to mind. In the hands of another author, Westlake Soul might have floundered. It is ambitious, thought-provoking, and by the protagonist’s very nature a difficult story to write. Youers possesses a skill that, despite the adult themes presented, never makes it a chore. There’s a light-hearted approach in the writing style, a kind of cool touch that makes Westlake Soul a powerful and engrossing read. As brilliant as it is sad.

As much as this is a novel about supernatural abilities, at its heart Westlake Soul is about family life and resonates with emotion. And isn’t that why we pick up a book in the first place: to catch hold of someone else’s tale; laugh, cry, scream and shout right there alongside them. This is a story about hope, truth, and the lies we tell each other to get through the day. This is very much a novel that says, ‘Life is like this.’

You couldn’t ask for more.

Book Review: Sandman Slim / Author: Richard Kadrey / Publisher: Harper Voyager / Release Date: June 7th

We Brits have yet to play catch-up with American author Richard Kadrey and his novels featuring James Stark, aka Sandman Slim. But with three titles of what is eventually to be a six part series being released in the UK this summer, all that is about to change, and before long we’re sure to be filing his name alongside those of Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore under Modern Masters of Dark, Mordant Fantasy.

In this first book Stark finds himself back in Los Angeles looking for vengeance and a new pair of jeans. His current pair is understandably crispy as he’s just escaped from Hell, where he’s sojourned for eleven years, having been sent there, still very much alive, by some double-crossing magicians, who have also murdered his girlfriend Alice.

An object of curiosity Downside (as he euphemistically refers to the nether regions), Stark has survived initially by battling hellspawn in a gladiatorial arena, then by serving as a hitman for one of Lucifer’s generals. These trials have turned him into a very tough nut to crack, but, as you would expect, they’ve done nothing for his manners. He’s rude, cynical, sarcastic and prone to breaking things.

Stark holes up over a video store and – with regular forays to soak up Jack at Bamboo House of Dolls, “LA’s greatest and only punk-tiki club” – goes about tracking down his betrayers. But he quickly draws the attention of “the devil’s bully boys and God’s Pinkertons”, and he learns that there is more at stake than his personal vengeance.

There unfolds a workmanlike plot which should translate well to the big screen when the novel gets made into a movie (one’s in development as we speak). But what really distinguishes Sandman Slim – the reason why you’ll recommend this book to your friends – is the quality of the writing, the colourful cast of characters and the brilliance of some of Kadrey’s mythological conceits.

Kadrey is master of a hardboiled style laced with one-liners and gutter poetry. His characters, and the situations they find themselves in, are of a piece with his prose, oozing absurdist humour and jaundiced observations. And it’s all spiced with some great running gags, such as the magical (and foul-mouthed) talking head living in Stark’s closet: when Stark complains that he misses his dead girlfriend, the head’s snappy comeback is, “I miss my balls.”

There are also blade-wielding Gothic Lolitas, shaven-headed neo-fascists and a supercilious angel who flies into a murderous rage whenever she’s exposed to Stark’s withering sarcasm. But just as striking as this seedy cavalcade are the fantastical elements of the story. These invariably have an impressive sense of authenticity, whether it is the key embedded in Stark’s heart which enables him to travel anywhere in the universe (he prefers boosting cars because it makes him feel normal,) or the discovery that Hell has the best cigarettes (they’re called Maledictions, and they taste like “a tire fire in a candy factory next door to a strip club.”)

The result is urban fantasy with the sharpest and blackest of edges, up there with Jamie Delano’s wonderful, biting scripts for Hellblazer. With the publication of this novel, and the next two in the series, Kill the Dead and Aloha from Hell, due out in Britain very soon, this is bound to be a breakout summer for Richard Kadrey. And Sandman Slim? Well, he’ll be a name to conjure with.

Book Review: Shaded Vision / Author: Yasmine Galenorn / Publisher: JOVE / Release Date: Out Now

This is the eleventh in Yasmine Galenorn’s Otherworld series of paranormal romances, and it comes equipped with a list of major characters and an extensive glossary. Boy, does it need them.

The plot itself is relatively straightforward. Our heroines – the half-human, half-Fae D’Artigo sisters, employees of the Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigation team – have to track down some mad bombers who are blowing up favourite Seattle hangouts of the Supe (supernatural) community, with the aim of stirring up tension between them and the FBHs (full-blooded humans; see where that glossary comes in handy?) This being a romance, there’s also a wedding to attend, and some superhuman beefcake to exchange smouldering glances with.

So far so good, but it all gets a bit complicated. And not because there’s a larger story arc concerning an evil demon lord in search of seven seals which will tear open the portals between dimensions and make a big fiery mess of our world and everyone else’s. That’s only to be expected. No, the problem is the unwieldy supporting cast of leprechauns, dragons, vampires, coyote shape-shifters and whatnot crowded into every chapter. If the Otherworld series ever spawns a graphic novel, some poor illustrator will go cross-eyed drawing this lot into the background of each panel.

And complicated doesn’t necessarily mean convincing. Despite its elaborateness, Galenorn’s universe feels oddly flimsy and given to inconsistency. For instance, throughout the story there’s a lot of right-on talk about hate crimes and general intolerance towards Supes. Yet much of the action boils down to good, old-fashioned slicing and dicing of a bunch of demon biker types called Tregarts, on a the-only-good-Tregart-is-a-dead-Tregart basis. So, uh, not every supernatural creature warrants the touchy-feely treatment then?

That said, it’s easy to see why Galenorn has attracted some devoted fans. She’s a slick hand at fight scenes of the down-and-dirty, knife-to-the-scrotum variety. In between, she fleshes out her core characters with a winning lightness of touch. Downtime with the D’Artigo sisters can be a lot of fun. Early on, there’s a great scene where they organize a hen night, which turns into a debacle when the narrator, Delilah, a werecat with powerful feline urges, becomes irresistibly fascinated by some tassels dangling off a male stripper’s posing pouch.

It’s a shame that Shaded Vision doesn’t showcase this aspect of Galenorn’s talents more often. I kept on hoping the sisters would take time off from stomping ghouls to go on a spa day, but maybe that will happen in book twelve.

Book Review: Silent Voices / Author: Gary McMahon / Publisher: Solaris / Release Date: Out Now

I almost missed Gary McMahon when The Concrete Grove came out. I’m pretty glad I didn’t, however, because his latest novel Silent Voices (a sequel to his first work) is not only a great follow-up, it’s also a deeply creepy, character driven lesson in how to tell a gripping horror story.

Whereas The Concrete Grove gave us hints as to the lurking horror in McMahon’s dark vision of urban decay, Silent Voices takes us further into this terrifying world. The narrative focuses on three close friends, whose lives were forever changed by a journey to The Needle; an abandoned city block filled with nightmares. This is a very British tale of horror, and though one could compare elements of the story to something like Stephen Kings IT, this novel carries none of the flab associated with that book.

Horror works best when the reader invests in the tale, and McMahon really does make you care about the three boys. Elements of the tale seem intensely personal, and I cannot shake the feeling that the author has poured elements of his own life into a twisted mould to create a truly thrilling and terrifying read.

Though Silent Voices works fine as a stand-alone work, if you’re a fan of slow-burn horror told in a strong and compelling way, you may as well pick up the first book as well. McMahon is one to watch, and I can’t wait for the next one.

Book Review: Triggers / Author: Robert J. Sawyer / Publisher: Gollancz / Release Date: Out Now

Robert J Sawyer is best known for his novel Flashforward, which was adapted into a recent TV series. That work dealt with ordinary people from ordinary backgrounds propelled into intrigue and adventure due to accessing to special knowledge. His latest novel, Triggers, deals with a similar idea in a similar sort of way, though at a faster pace, making this sci-fi thriller an ideal summer holiday read.

Set in the not too distant future, an American President is rushed to the operating room of a hospital where a scientist is conducting mind-manipulation experiments. An electro-magnetic pulse is unleashed nearby and suddenly, various people have access to each other’s memories, including those of the president. Sawyer handles the experiences of the multiple characters with a steady hand and constantly accelerates the pace of the action.

Sawyer has a real talent for taking a scientific theory and running wild with it. Quantum mechanics, The Bose–Einstein condensate and the Singularity are all discussed and explored, without actually dropping the pace. Those who like classic sci-fi stories that deal with the power of the mind will find nothing new here, but the mix of post-9/11 American paranoia and real world science is a refreshing change of pace when compared to many of the fantastic space aged tales out at the moment.

There are parts of the novel that will absolutely date it, and some of the events follow movie logic rather than anything you’d encounter in life. This can be a little jarring as the tale makes such an effort to place itself in the real world. Fans of 24 and Michael Crichton should add this to their light reading list, as should fans of a good science-inspired romp.

Book Review: The Double Edged Sword / Author: Sarah Silverwood / Publisher: Gollancz / Release Date: Out Now

Like many people who grow up to become more than a bit geeky, I spent my childhood wishing I could visit other worlds. It’s a dream that is common amongst many who are into fantasy tales, and it’s no surprise that some of the most endearing and successful stories in the market today are about young people somehow finding a route to different lands. Sarah Silverwood’s new novel follows in this fine tradition, though with a healthy dose of mystery and strangeness added to the mix.

The Double Edged Sword follows the tale of Finmere Tingewick Smith, a young orphan boy who, thanks to his seemingly dotty guardians, spends his time between two schools, one a high-class school for boys, the other a grubby comprehensive. On the day of his sixteenth birthday, things take a distinct turn for the worst and our orphan has to take a trip into the mysterious land of Nowhere, aided by his two best friends (one from each school).

Nowhere is best described as the many reflections of London dreaming, and this book is very much about growing up in England’s capital; so much so that you can practically smell the smog pouring off the page. Silverwood writes a tightly written adventure here, seeding the narrative with hints and clues as to the future of the series as well as taking the time to develop even the most minor of characters. Much is made of the crossover appeal of novels aimed at young readers being read by adults, but let’s be honest; a good book is a good book, regardless of your age. If you’ve ever dreamed of going to other lands (and have a fondness for the capital city) then you should pick up The Double Edged Sword.

Book Review: Space Marine Battles – Wrath of Iron / Author: Chris Wraight / Publisher: The Black Library / Release Date: July 5th

One of the nice things about the Black Library’s Space Marine Battles series is that you know what you’re getting when you pick up each book –  big, power armoured meta-humans beating up monsters in a space fantasy version of the dark ages. Chris Wraight’s Wrath of Iron is more of the same, though with added grittiness and pessimism. The various books in this series tend to concentrate on a specific faction of genetically enhanced space knights, and this time round it’s the turn of the Iron Hands. Their particular shtick is that every one of them are obsessed with becoming stronger and more enduring, and to this end, they replace their organs with mechanical substitutes. That’s right, the Iron Hands are gene enhanced, power armoured cyborgs.

Wrath of Iron has the sort of plot you’d expect from the series; a planet has fallen into the hands of rebels, and a dark and terrible power is growing within the capital. The Iron Hands are the ones tasked with dealing with it, and do so in a characteristically blunt sort of way. Wraight also explores the themes of duty and honour, and the relationship between post-human beings and their mortal allies, but this is a side-show compared to the central plot line, which is essentially a massive fight between the forces of hell and Mankind’s elite heroes.

This is a bit of a shame, because the interactions between the various minor characters are much more interesting than the focus of the novel, the Iron Hands chapter. Wraight completely understands the nature of the novel’s heroes; these are perfect killing machines who have shed the last shreds of their humanity for seemingly fleeting gain. Rather than mining this for melodrama and navel-gazing however, the author plunges headlong into the action instead, which is exactly what you want from a Space Marine Battles novel. It isn’t the most in-depth or complex book in the series, but it is filled with a lot of action, so fans of grim and gothic space fantasy looking for action packed mind-candy will enjoy this.

Book Review: Joss Whedon The Complete Companion – The TV Series, The Movies, The Comic Books And More / Author: Various / Format: Paperback / Publisher: Titan Books / Release Date: Out Now

As The Avengers continues its juggernaut-like steamrollering of box office records, it’s only natural to assume and expect that as well as the authorised books, magazines, toys, comics and other paraphernalia, there would be several exploitive cash-ins trying to attract our attention.

Let us make it clear from the outset that Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion is NOT among them. In fact, let us make it clear that Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion, despite being in no way authorised by Whedon himself, is as close to required geek reading as it gets.

This continually surprising book is not what it seems. It isn’t an unauthorised hack-job biography seeking to scandalise Hollywood’s hottest director of the 2012 blockbuster season – in fact there isn’t a biography included in anywhere in the book, save for the occasional pertinent mention here and there to something from Whedon’s past which helped forge his present. The book literally is what is says on the cover, a companion to the TV series, movies, comics, his internet show and more.

It’s a staggering collection of essays, which range in tone from fun and fan oriented (Anthropology of a Lapsed Fan) to deeply analytical thought provoking academic pieces examining various aspects of the Whedonverse from Willow’s sexuality and empowerment in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, heroism and masculinity in Angel, to the ethics of Firefly and the cultural fragmentation of Dollhouse. There are insightful interviews with Whedon collaborators Jane Espenson and actors who have appeared in his shows which neatly round off the reader’s experience.

Full attention is given to his works on Marvel’s X-Men, as well as his foray into continuing the canon Buffy and Angel continuities in comics published by Dark Horse.

The book is concluded with a timely Six Reasons Why Joss Whedon is the Perfect Director for The Avengers.

All in all, a perfect book that will stir debate, well deserving of space on your book shelf covering the glittering career of a true icon of every aspect of our favourite genre.

Book Review: Jag in Space / Author: Jack Campbell / Publisher: Titan Books / Release Date: Out Now

My first experience of Jack Campbell’s Jag in Space series didn’t get off to the best of starts. I gave the first book A Just Determination a rather unfavourable review which I didn’t take pride in as I was intrigued by the concept of sci-fi legal drama and was really impressed with the initial creation of atmosphere and character dynamic aboard the U.S.S Michaelson; so I’m willing to give the second book in the series Burden of Proof the benefit of the doubt and look at it with fresh eyes. So here goes…

Burden of Proof once again follows the investigations of Legal Officer Paul Sinclair aboard the U.S.S Michaelson, and it is all change; Sinclair has been promoted from Ensign to Lieutenant Junior Grade and comes to grips with the new chain of command aboard the ship he knows too well. However, it’s not all plain sailing (no pun intended!) for Sinclair, an explosion onboard the U.S.S Michaelson leaves an officer dead and when the circumstances of the death are established, suspicions are aroused as the victim in question should never have been left to work alone. That leaves another conspiracy open and in the hands of Sinclair to solve…

What Burden of Proof benefits from this time round is that the author, Jack Campbell, has established his stock characters and his universe aboard the U.S.S Michaelson, so is able to expand on this through wonderful description. The ship is described with “pipes, cables and duct” and as a “controlled riot of vital wiring”, which gives the reader a wonderful sense of the environment which Sinclair is stepping back into, an industrial labyrinth which escalates the size of a large space ship. Meanwhile, Jack Campbell utilises his background as a Naval officer to create a familiar feel amongst a setting which is out of the realms of reality. When Sinclair discusses “skunks” (unknown ship contacts) with his colleagues it is lamented on that this lingo was carried over from the Navy as we know it into the Space Navy; Campbell uses these features to establish a reality amongst his fiction, as if this is what will happen in the centuries to come.

The strongest feature of this book, which I have already alluded to, is that Campbell is at ease with his characters the second time round, we see the progression that Sinclair has made within his Naval career but at the same we still see him make mistakes that involve a dressing down from a superior; Campbell has built on this ease with his characters for comical moments and moments where you know Sinclair means business.

However, this book does have some flaws. Like the Navy of the future, there is no doubt going to be environmental campaigning in the future, but I felt that the use of Greenspace was a tad silly; it makes one immediately think of The Jetsons and how all the names features in the series were a comical futuristic spin. Meanwhile, where Campbell is hitting the nail on the head with most of the characters, Captain Gonzalez is a character that was incredibly blank and I couldn’t offer an opinion on.

Burden of Proof does restore my trust in the Jag in Space series where its predecessor lost my faith. Campbell (having established his world) is able to experiment with the story more and provides great entertainment with an intricate legal background. Of course, this story isn’t perfect but I thoroughly enjoyed it and, like Sinclair, I wonder how long ‘normal life’ in the Space Navy will last.