What we read this month: August 2016
What were our favourite reads this month? Read rave reviews from Team Just Write.
The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla
This is a very important, very timely collection on what it means to be Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic in Britain today. I am about a quarter of the way through, and I have been moved, dismayed and uplifted throughout. We need more books like this to be published, and I’m hopeful that this will spark wider readership and publication of a more diverse pool of writers.
The Copper Cat Trilogy by Jen Williams
If you like accidental heroes with an uncanny ability to find themselves on the wrong side of the most powerful and destructive forces around, then The Copper Cat trilogy by Jen Williams is for you. I have really enjoyed reading about be vengeful gods, witty sell-swords, disgraced but honourable knights, good and bad pirates, new and ambitious mages, and all kinds of magical people, places and creatures. A thoroughly enjoyable read but be warned, it has its dark moments!
Helen
Poison City by Paul Crilley
Fans of Constantine, Hell Boy and Deadpool will find a lot to love in this action-packed and witty supernatural crime novel. The only downside is that it’s the first in a series so you’ll need extraordinary self-control to hold on until your next fix.
I’m reading The Ballad of Sir Benfro series. Describing the series as a whole without giving away any spoilers is quite tricky but as with every book there are heroes and villains. The heroes are a young boy and a young dragon, both unusually skilled at magic in a world where men use magic they don’t understand and dragons have been hunted into timid, flight-less creatures thought to be a myth by most of the Twin Kingdoms. The villains are the High Inquisitor and his army of Warrior Priests whose holy mission is to destroy dragon-kind, and the heir to the throne who will do anything to get what she wants. The things I like most about these books are the nature of magic Oswald explores; the dragon nature, history and mythology presented; and the many levels of manipulation and deception which are revealed in a neatly woven plot. The main two criticisms I have are the annoying lack of strong female characters (the only one we see in any depth is in the ‘villain’ camp) and the lack of some sort of map or family tree that would help put everyone in their right place. Criticisms aside, it is a great tale full of myth, magic, manipulation and strength which I am highly enjoying.
Helen
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