“Fearless is a brilliant achievement, and one of the best science-fiction novels I have read in a very long time. Stroud has produced a tense, atmospheric and masterfully-written title with a thought-provoking and engaging plot supported by a cast of colourful and unique characters that all combine to create a thoroughly enjoyable experience.”
Category: Uncategorized
Inferno! Volume 2 – Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells (ed.) – Review
“Inferno! Volume 2 once again demonstrates the great strides that Black Library have taken to get to where they are currently as a publisher, with the vast increase in quality that can be seen in the stories published in the anthology firm evidence that the publisher has moved on from the dark days in the mid-2010s. A deft mixture of veteran authors and new talent – including such up and coming greats as Thomas Parrott, Jamie Crisalli and J.C. Stearns – bring to life a number of fantastic, action-packed and highly atmospheric stories that take place in the Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar settings….”
Voice of Experience – J C Stearns – Review
“Voice of Experience is a highly rewarding short story that fully merits its purchase outside of an anthology. Stearns has once again shown just how good a writer he is, able to work inside the 40k setting regardless of what race he writes about, or location he chooses..”
Thieves’ Paradise (Black Library Novella Series 2: Book 8) – Nick Horth – Review
“Thieves’ Paradise is a masterful accomplishment by Nick Horth, effortlessly blending together a vibrant and colourful cast of characters with a break-neck heist plot full of deadly traps and glittering treasures, and a brilliantly-imagined setting in the Latchkey Isle which is almost a character in its own right, given the impressive amount of detail and imagination Horth has poured into it…”
The Red Hours (Black Library Novella Series 1: Book 8) – Evan Dicken – Review
“The Red Hours is one of the finest pieces of Age of Sigmar fiction I have ever read, as well as being a great Warhammer read in general, and leads me to rank Dicken up there with the finest of his fellow newcomers to the Black Library pantheon – Parrott, Albert, Ware and Crowley. I had not read anything by Dickens before The Red Hours, but you can be certain that I will be reading (and reviewing) everything of his that I can get my hands on from now on…”
The Jagged Edge (Maria Haskins) & The Siege of Greenspire (Anna Stephens) – Quick Review
“The Jagged Edge and The Siege of Greenspire are both outstanding Warhammer short stories, and exactly the sort of material that Black Library should be – and indeed have been – seeking out and publishing in the last few years to revitalise the fiction side of the various Warhammer settings and make them more engaging for readers and players alike. I hope to see more from both authors in their respective settings, and would be incredibly surprised if I did not see Haskins and Stephens with their names on Black Library novellas, or even full-length novels, in the next few years…”
Distant Frequencies – Frank Duffy – Review
“I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like Distant Frequencies in all the years I’ve been reading and reviewing fiction in the Horror genre. Upon finishing the collection, it becomes clear that Duffy has a unique mastery over the language of horror, one which is on full display here. Surreal plots, disquieting characters and inexplicable imagery are all blended together to create disconcerting and often thoroughly alienating landscapes that bring the reader to a place where the familiar disintegrates into the unreal and the obscene…”
Cold Open Stories – April 2020 Fast Fiction Collection: ‘Reclaim’ – Quick Review
“Once again, Cold Open Stories have published an accomplished collection of Warhammer 40,000 stories by a group of incredibly talented authors – not only collating together these fantastic stories, but hosting them on a deeply impressive website with some fantastic visuals and a smooth and engaging user interface.”
Sherlock Holmes and the Dead Boer at Scotney Castle – Tim Symonds – Review
“Near-flawlessly written, with a keen eye for contemporary detail and surroundings – both the slums of London and the beguiling aristocratic surroundings of Cricks End are imaginatively and memorably evoked – and an innate understanding of Holmes and Watson that allows him to give them far greater depth of character than any other writer I have come across save Conan Doyle himself, Sherlock Holmes and the Dead Boer at Scotney Castle is nothing less than a triumph for Tim Symonds.”
Elvis Saves JFK!: Stories of Alternate History – Michael Cnudde – Review
“Although he’s only published two Alternate History titles – one novel and one short story collection – having read them both I can readily testify to the fact that Cnudde is a major talent in the Alternate History genre, and one whose works deserve to be brought into the limelight and read and enjoyed by a far wider audience than they have found so far…”
Operation Mongolia (S-Squad #8) – William Meikle – Review
“Operation Mongolia is easily the best title in the S-Squad series so far, and provides another piece of evidence that William Meikle is the undisputed master of the Cryptid genre despite his many competitors, both those published by Severed Press itself, and those from various other publishers…”
The Funeral Birds (Murder! Mystery! Mayhem! Book #3) -Paula R.C. Readman – Review
“The Funeral Birds is an absolute delight to read, a smoothly-paced and tightly-plotted murder-mystery thriller, bolstered by the shrewd decision by Readman to make a husband and wife team the focus of the story. Dave and Joan really bring the story to life, giving it an energy and focus that raises it above other titles in such a crowded genre, and a unique charm that I really can’t remember seeing elsewhere…”
Time Loopers: Four Tales from a Time War – Review
“Time Loopers: Four Tales from a Time War is so many things at once: immersive, complex, deftly written and imbued with a tremendous amount of imagination that effortlessly blends the Lovecraftian and time-travel genres together to create something fresh and original…”
Cursed: A Garrison Wake Investigation (Murder! Mystery! Mayhem! Book #4) – Paul M. Feeney – Review
“Cursed displays all the hallmarks of a classic urban fantasy detective series, with an engaging protagonist and original take on the requisite magic system, as well as a promising setting in the form of Detroit’s magical underworld, and I am looking forward to seeing more from Garrison Wake in the future.”
Sherlock Holmes and the Murder at Lodore Falls – Charlotte Smith – Review
“…I think that this would be an ideal work for someone who has read the original Conan Doyle Canon stories and wishes to become familiar with the wider world of Sherlockian fiction, without becoming overwhelmed by more detailed or complex titles. It might, perhaps, even be a good entry point to Sherlock Holmes as a whole for a Young Adult reader, and I shall certainly be introducing it to my sons when they are slightly older.”
