by Henry Rider Haggard 'I have seen beautiful women in my day, and am no longer thrown into transports at the sight of a pretty face; but language fails me when I try to give some idea of the blaze of loveliness that then broke upon us in the persons of these sister Queens.' This …
Magic by any other Name
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss 'I opened my mouth to howl, to cry, to curse him. But something other tore from my throat, a word I did not know and could not remember.' I received this book as a Christmas present. It's a new edition of the novel, first published in 2007. …
Can Reindeer Fly?
The Science of Christmas by Roger Highfield 'The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second . . . .' 'Santa meanwhile will be subjected to forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity.' In this delightful little book, Dr Roger Highfield, one-time editor of the magazine New Scientist, whips up tradition with …
Wonder Women
[WARNING! Any apparent similarity between this post and my previous one (Dreaming the Impossible) is pure coincidence.] Amazons by John Man A Review 'As always with superheroes, the plot involves saving the world, which suggests that the film is nothing but fun, at best, and utterly lacking in significance. Not at all. Wonder Woman is …
Dreaming the Impossible
We live in a universe of wonders and possibilities. The ancients looked up into the night sky and saw bright lights formed into the shapes of fish, dogs, human figures and other familiar objects. When they reached out to touch the lights, they may have been surprised to discover they could not. They may have …
Space Detectives
The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov 'And at the very moment he felt Daneel's hand clamping down upon his shoulders ..... But surely a robot would not dare use violence on a man. That thought was dominant. Daneel could not prevent him forcibly, and yet Baley felt the robot's hands forcing him down.' Written sixty …
Artemis
Artemis by Andy Weir A Review 'Dude, I don't know where you're getting info about girls but you're WRONG. Girls like boys who are nice and make us laugh. We DON'T like boys who get in fights and we don't like boys who are stupid. Trust me on this. I'm a girl.' The problem with …
Serious Money
The King of Torts by John Grisham I enjoy going back to Grisham from time to time. You can always rely on him to produce a fast-paced thriller. Likewise - so it seems to me - you can rely on him trashing the American legal system and demonising a large percentage of its lawyers as …
Return to Kingsbridge
A Column of Fire by Ken Follett A Review 'The fire continued to burn, and the dead body of Philibert turned into a blackened ruin ...... I did not know how men could do such things, and I did not understand why God would let them.' It's nearly twenty years since Ken Follett surprised many …
Dust and Daemons
La Belle Sauvage (Volume One of The Book of Dust) by Philip Pullman Readers of His Dark Materials will recall that the story resolved satisfactorily at the end of The Amber Spyglass. It may not have been the ending many readers wanted, but there was a certain logic to it, one that left open the …
Magda Green Books 