Contract by Simon Spurrier By a confluence of events, I discovered that Si Spurrier was writing Gutsville and a new Silver Surfer mini series called In Thy Name, and then saw this book – about a hitman whose hits come back from the dead, hinting at a divine conflict, a heavenly…
Knight Life by Peter David As well as comics in my local library, they have actual text-only books as well. I know, weird. Having read Peter David’s comics since The Incredible Hulk, I had been wanting to read his own novels (rather than his Star Trek stories). This version of…
Storm Front by Jim Butcher In Book One of The Dresden Files series, we meet Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, a wizard in Chicago who does consultant work for the police (particularly with Karrin Murphy in the Special Investgations section, i.e. the unusual stuff nobody else wants). A death involving powerful…
Stardust – Being a Romance Within the Realms of Faerie by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess I remember when I first got this book – I was exchanging some comic books for new material, including Stardust. I hadn’t read it before, but I knew that Gaiman had written it and…
My chronological memory is rather hazy, which is a shame; when I remember actual things, I do have a strong sense of the memory. I can’t recall when I went to a reading/Q&A by Neil Gaiman – I think it was soon after I returned to London, which would be…
The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde The Fourth Bear is the second book in the Nursery Crime series (the first was The Big Over Easy) by Jasper Fforde, following the adventures of DCI Jack Spratt, Detective Sergeant Mary Mary and Detective Constable Ashley (an alien). Despite the success of the…
Vicious Circle by Mike Carey Felix Castor is back in this second novel for more action in the London-based world of exorcism. His ‘trainee’, the succubus Juliet, asks him for his help on the possession of a church near Wormwood Scrubs. His best friend, Rafi, seems to be miraculously free…
No Dominion by Charlie Huston I really enjoyed Already Dead, the introduction to Joe Pitt and the Vampyr Clans of Manhattan, and so was really looking forward to the second book, No Dominion. What I didn’t realise was how good it was going to be. Joe is going through tough…
By Mike Carey I expect that most well-read comic book readers probably came across Mike Carey first via the Lucifer series from Vertigo, a spin-off from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, about the fallen angel after he gave the keys to hell to Morpheus – he must be a brave (or…
As I’ve mentioned, I enjoy the Harry Potter series. I enjoy the world that JK Rowling has created and the characters that fill it. The attention to detail, from the huge history to the names of people and spells, and the placing of a world of magic next to the…