Category Archive: Reviews
« Previous EntriesSilversands: a review and a launch
Posted by Chris on April 19, 2010 at 18:27
Posted in: Book News, Reviews
First up, another review of Silversands has surfaced:
"... a satisfying and enjoyable read... ll be keeping my eyes out for more work by Mr Powell."
Also, don't forget the official launch this Saturday at the Shakespeare Tavern in Bristol at 2pm. There will be free wine, a reading and copies to buy.
Mind you, personally I'll be foregoing the wine and drinking Speckled Hen!
EDIT: Well, well, well... didn't the launch go well? Within the compact, yet bijou room of the Shakespeare Tavern, a pleasant enough afternoon was spent (though the appearance of hen-nighters earlier did give visions of them gate-crashing the event...) Gareth read from the book, which Cheryl Morgan kindly video'd and uploaded, and thankfully a few copies were sold - no doubt helped by the free wine. :)
As an off-shoot of this, something new could well be making it's way...
Anyway, here are some photographs from the day:
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Tagged with: launch | powell | Silversands
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Silversands: first review
Posted by Chris on April 13, 2010 at 9:31
Posted in: Book News, Reviews
A succinct yet splendid review in The Guardian where Eric Brown hails it:
"... a fine hi-tech romp..."
In other news, now that the publication date has lapsed the price returns to the RRP - and also the Feral/Silversands bundle has also increased slightly. Free postage still stands, though...
Don't forget: if you're in Bristol on 24th April then pop along to the official Launch at The Shakespeare Tavern on Prince Street.
... and still progressing through the postal orders...
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Tagged with: powell | Silversands
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Feral Companions: first review
Posted by Chris on April 9, 2010 at 18:31
Posted in: Book News, Reviews
Courtesy of the esteemed Peter Tennent in the current issue of Black Static.
On Simon Maginn's Rattus:
"... a painstaking account of somebody’s life and mental health going down the crapper... [with] an ending that is subtle and suggestive [...] and all the more powerful for that."
On Gary Fry's The Invisible Architect of Psychopathy:
"... reads like a fusion of Crime and Punishment and Walter Mitty... a polished performance from a writer who is growing in stature with each new outing."
Remember: one day left to order the Feral/Silversands bundle before the slight price increase....
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Tagged with: feral companions | fry | maginn
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Advance Review PDFs
Posted by Chris on November 30, 2009 at 20:52
Posted in: General, Reviews
If any reviewers reading this would be interested in reading either Silversands, Feral Companions or both, then drop me a line detailing who indeed you are and who you write for.
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The Wertzone on The Reef
Posted by Chris on May 26, 2009 at 20:35
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Just discovered s rather spiffing review of The Reef. Sadly, I have very few copies left and no plans to reprint at the moment, but the book is currently available in the following Waterstones' stores.
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Tagged with: The Reef | Waterstones
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It's dark out there…
Posted by Chris on November 16, 2008 at 7:46
Posted in: Book News, Reviews
Well, it is 6:30 and I've been up for an hour - working nights for a certain large retailer does wreck havoc with your sleeping pattern on your shifts off, but I digress...
This rather spiffing review of We Fade to Grey - which I hasten to add was from a purchased copy - has given me the impetus to offer the following:
Anyone who orders a copy of the hardback from now until last post for Christmas will also receive a free "subscription" to the first three chapbooks within the relaunched Triquorum series next year.
The three in question are, and all published in February:
The Red House by David J Thacker: a 13,500 word dark fantasy on a past childhood between three friends and a secret they share... this is this author's first ever story acceptance (he's since placed a story in the recent SFX magazine competition book), and if I do say so myself he's a talent to watch - very Graham Joyce-like, the fusing of a mainstream story with a fantastical edge.
Allegro by Clifford Royal Johns: an sf tale of 13,700 words where the entire population have a great turn of speed.
"Cross the River" by Jeff Crook: a 16,000 word supernatural tale concerning a group of American Civil War re-enactors.
... back to a digression: Cape Fear - Martin Scorcese's remake of the Mitchum/Peck original - it has been ages since I last watched it but picked up the dvd for a bargain price on Friday and it is just superb: to my shame I've not watched the original, but De Niro would take some beating as Max Cady.
The ironic thing I noticed with Scorcese's version is the fact that it almost looks like it was directed by Hitchcock, compounded by Bernstein's adaptation of Herrmann's original score, yet the original was directed by J Lee Thompson - not Hitchcock.
(Being a bit of a film geek there is another tenuous Hitchcock link - not the Saul Bass credit sequence or Bernard Herrman: the first to guess it by 1st December will also receive any other Pendragon book, if they order the hardback of We Fade to Grey).
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Tagged with: Triquorum | We Fade to Grey
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Distant Dreamer
Posted by Chris on November 10, 2008 at 21:25
Posted in: Book News, General, Reviews
Apologies for the lack of communication - two months since an update; one or two things cropped up, not to mention a lack of enthusiasm crept in, which I've kicked into touch for the foreseeable future (insofar I can see the future...)
Anyway, I never made NewCon - but I will be making next month's BFS Christmas Open Night: if I only get to London once a year, then I always make the effort for this. :)
In other news, a review has surfaced for Paul Kane's "rather silly" Dalton Quayle Rides Out. Still waiting for more reviews of We Fade to Grey - hopefully, there should be one in next month's Black Static.
Also, Triquorum III is now in the typesetting phase - should be going to print very soon, and then from next year, it will become a chapbook publisher of three chapbooks every three months. If I can keep up that schedule, then I'll eat me hat - but I'll try (and if I fail, then mine's a fedora with a spot of English mustard...)
As for the brief mention of future, 2010 will see the World Horror Convention come to this side of the Pond and in particular the South Coast: Brighton. I've never been, but I will be, and to celebrate the forthcoming Simon Maginn/Gary Fry double-novella collection it will debut there. Some of you may remember Simon from the "glory days" of UK horror during the early-90s and whereas Gary should be no stranger... no price yet, but I'm thinking limited hardcover and paperback edition.
As for this post's title, I've become quite a fan of Duffy - her debut album ("Rockferry") has a very Burt Bacharach/Dusty Springfield vibe going through it, with the title referring to the last track on the album which is just stunning. Just to re-affirm my 1970s prog-rock roots, I also picked up David Gilomour's Live in Gdansk live CD/DCD combo. What puzzles me with this, along with DG's previous album, the cover denotes that he is the voice and guitar of Pink Floyd... surely, we know that, or are the individual members of Floyd that reclusive?
Anyway, that's it for now... TTFN.
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We Fade to Grey – first review!
Posted by Chris on September 1, 2008 at 20:24
Posted in: Book News, Reviews
Hot off the press, so to speak... courtesy of Horrorworld and by Mario Guslandi - you need to scroll down slightly, and, well, I cannot say much more just why not pre-order it and discover the book for yourself?
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Amazonian Reviews for The Reef
Posted by Chris on August 3, 2008 at 12:20
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Though naturally these two could be from anyone, who am I too disagree?
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The Reef – a new review
Posted by Chris on July 19, 2008 at 11:11
Posted in: Book News, Reviews
Perused the ol' net a day or so ago, and came across this review of Mark Charan Newton's debut courtesy of Sci-Fi-Online - and it's a cracking write-up:
"[D]ebut novels are usually a bit of a hit or miss affair... What is surprising about The Reef is the almost effortless and accomplished way that Newton injects a level of literate prose, characterisation and plot development usually seen in a more seasoned author... his prose a delight to read but the book is a creation which balances well its fantasy credentials with a deeper examination of relationships - both between man and his environment and man and his fellow creatures. (10/10)"
So, what are you waiting for - order a copy today. You know it makes sense. :)
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Tagged with: The Reef
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