REview. penric and the shaman

Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold 5 Stars The second of five novellas involving Penric, the youngest son of a minor noble family, and the demon he calls, Desdemona. This is a mini-series, set within the larger series of the World of the Five Gods. Penric is continuing his studies of sorcery while […]

Review. Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold

I realise I am a long way behind the pace on reading this novella, and in fact, this author. The first of five novellas involving Penric, the youngest son of a minor noble family, and the demon he calls, Desdemona. This is a mini-series, set within the larger series of the World of the Five […]

Review of Platform eight by Barbara lund

Platform Eight series by Barbara Lund .5 stars Platform Eight is a series of stand-alone short stories set on a space station acting as a mining platform. The main character in each of them is a security officer on the station. The space around the station is plagued by pirates. Although each story is complete […]

Review – Written in Dead Wax by Andrew Cartmel

The main character of this inventive and original mystery/thriller is a jazz fan. Also, a cat fan. Not only is he a jazz fan but he mainly insists on vinyl records. He makes a living from searching out rare vinyl records in charity shops, jumble sales and record fairs. The ones he doesn’t wish to […]

Review – Jazz, a beginner’s guide

Jazz: a beginner’s guide by Stuart Nicholson – 4 stars Something a little different this time. The book is a good introduction to jazz and the various sub species. It explains how it developed from the blues and moved into various styles and how it spread worldwide and how that has affected it. The music […]

Chicky

Firstly apologies for no post last week due to illness I am not sure if this little piece is finished or not. Chicky was his best friend, betrayed for a needle full of silence. Mr Jameson was insistent. The drugs were illegal and he needed them to maintain his beauty. Jameson was the only one […]

JULY blog hop – The fairest

Queen Rulianna looked in the mirror. ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who is the fairest of them all?’ The mirror spoke. ‘My queen my queen it once was you But now there’s one more fair, tis true.’ What the queen gasped, ‘Okay mirror, cut out this rhyming couplet crap. It’s not necessary and we both […]

Flash fiction the first

I only wanted to be ﬁrst. I didn’t intend to cause such trouble. They had promised as I remember to let me be the first man on mars. Then they seemed to change their minds. I am sure it was Shipton who persuaded them. He must have done it when both stravinski and me were […]

Flash fiction – the house

The house watched him. It hates me; it loves me, he thought, and on the heels of that, something much worse. It remembers me. I can deal with it. It will not beat me. It was in control of him once, that awful presence, but he was a grown man now. He had built his […]

Review of Space Lies Syndicate by Barbara Lund

A completely gripping tale. I could not put it down. The protagonist, known at the beginning as Stranger it-child, is about to undergo the rite that will take her into adulthood, and she will receive a new name. it is obvious from the beginning that she is not of the same species as the clan […]