The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon trans. by Lucia Graves 'Cast against the light from the street, the silhouette resembled a tree trunk lashed by the wind. The visitor ....took one step forward, limping visibly. He had the cold eyes of a bird of prey, patient and calculating.' The Prisoner of Heaven is …
Category: Book Review
Zafon's Barcelona (2)
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon trans. by Lucia Graves If you like happy-ever-after endings, if your taste is for stories that resolve neatly, all questions answered and evil routed by good, The Angel’s Game is not for you. If you want heroic tragedy or vale of tears, pick up a copy of Romeo …
Zafon's Barcelona
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon translated by Lucia Graves I wrote reviews of Zafon's Barcelona trilogy a few years ago now. However, since the Shadow of the Wind and the other two are among the best novels of the last 50 years and some of my all-time favourites, I thought I'd …
Revolutions are never gentle.
'Something interesting happened to me at work today . . .' Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi is one of my very few real life heroes. An Iranian woman, born during the relatively liberal early reign of the last shah, when true democracy seemed only round the corner, she grew up to become a …
For King and Country
by Karen Gray 'History' - it's not what you think! This novel came to my attention through a recommendation by Anne on WordPress. I don't usually read high fantasy these days but the book's description - swords and castles, mythological beasts and twenty-seventh century Scotland - was irresistible, so I bought it and promised to …
History of the Future
The Foundation Novels by Isaac Asimov 'There were nearly twenty-five million inhabited planets in the Galaxy then, and not one but owed allegiance to the Empire ... It was the last half-century in which that could be said.' Isaac Asimov is one of my all-time favourite writers. Not only can he spin a great yarn …
'How many goodly creatures…..'
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 'They entered. The air seemed hot and somehow breathless with the scent of ambergris and sandalwood. On the domed ceiling of the hall, the colour organ had momentarily painted a tropical sunset. The Sixteen Sexophonists were playing an old favourite: "There ain't no Bottle in all the world …
Brief Candle in the Dark
A Life in Science by Richard Dawkins Brief Candle in the Dark is the second volume of Dawkins's autobiography; the first part, An Appetite for Wonder I reviewed here. Rather than being a chronological account of his life, this volume is set out by subject and is all the more interesting and enjoyable because of …
The Midnight Palace
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (translated by Lucia Graves) Re-post of original review Secret Societies and Ghostly Terror by Bookheathen) ‘Never mind the number of candles on your birthday cake,’ writes Zafon in his introduction to The Midnight Palace, ‘for those in the know, it’s what lies beneath them that matters’. Zafon’s first four published novels …
Something Nasty in the Woodshed
I was reminded just the other day on going through my 'Reader' of this piece, which I wrote some time ago. As this is one of my very favourite books, I thought I would re-post my review today! Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 'You would expect, by all the laws of probability, to find …
Magda Green Books 