Sam Tyler
Books reviewed by Sam Tyler (608)
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![The Wonder EngineT Kingfisher]()
FantasyA large part of fantasy novels is not really the destination, but the journey. The camaraderie that builds among a troop of characters as they travel to their destination, but what happens once they have arrived? In T Kingfisher’s Clockwork Boys four mismatched social pariahs set out to survive the...
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![Cabaret in FlamesHache Pueyo]()
HorrorWhen is a vampire not a vampire? When it is a Gul. These strange creatures are part of everyday life in this version of Brazil, the secret for the humans who want to survive is to stay at home after curfew, lest they be eaten by Guls or taken for enemies of the state by the Fascists who run the coun...
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![JitterbugGareth L Powell]()
Science FictionMany of us do not really know what is going on in Space, and not everyone really cares. It is all so far away and beyond our control. However, even the layman would think twice if the planets in our Solar System started to disintegrate one after the other and strange new discs appear in Space that b...
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![SentientMichael Nayak]()
Science FictionIf you are like me, you will have an escape plan from the building you work in, just in case there is a zombie attack. My plan is to get to the roof and use one of the ladders up there to simply steer the zombies over the low edge. This might work, but not in the Antarctic, were there are few buildi...
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![Way of the WalkerSalinee Goldenberg]()
FantasyNaming your book The Last Phi Hunter comes with some idea that this will be the last of their kind, but Salinee Goldenberg proves this is not the case with a sequel, Way of the Walker . But is this Walker an actual Phi Hunter? If your job is to find and kill the undead (Phi), befriending them and he...
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![Pretenders to the Throne of GodAdrian Tchaikovsky]()
FantasyA lot can happen during a siege, enough so that you do not have to have a book full of battles, you could have just one about the siege itself. This is the setting of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s latest in the The Tyrant Philosophers series, Pretenders to the Throne of God . We will meet new friends and old...
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![Maria the WantedV Castro]()
HorrorOne of the benefits of being a vampire is not the insatiable lust for human blood, but the eternal life. It can make meeting other vampires a tad strange as that 25-year-old looking person may actually be 100 years old, or a 1000. They try to act all modern, but they always have that whiff of the Re...
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![Books and BewitchmentIsla Jewell]()
FantasyAs a born cynic, I am always on the lookout for the angle in life and in fiction, but sometimes something is what it seems on the surface; wholesome. Not all books need to challenge the reader and leave them exhausted. Novels can be an escape, an entertainment, full of love and magic. Books and Bewi...
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![A Forest, DarklyA G Slatter]()
FantasyDealing with major changes in your life is not easy. You can find help in your community, but when you are a Witch who is hunted down, this is not so simple. Any other Witch that you come across is also being hunted or is too young to know what to do and needs a mentor. All Merhrab wants is to be le...
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![Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to DieGreer Stothers]()
Fantasy has a rich history of heroes who fight against the odds to ensure that good triumphs over evil, but what about the cowards? What about the people who would rather live in peace and quiet faraway from the front and have no truck with prophecies, even if they are the centre of them? In Greer S...
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![A Hole in the SkyPeter F Hamilton]()
Science FictionWe all come of age at some point in our lives. If we are lucky enough this will be as part of a loving household and we come out of it not too messed up, but not everyone is lucky. In the real world it can be tough enough, but take this dysfunction and place it is space, things can get real bad. Haz...
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![Nine GoblinsT Kingfisher]()
FantasyBack in the nineties, Fantasy had a comedic moment. Led by Sir Terry Pratchett, other authors were signed up to produce lighter fantasy with a sense of humour. Whilst none became as popular as Discworld, I still miss those days. T Kingfisher agreed and Nine Goblins is the author’s homage to that era...
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![The Night ShipAlex Woodroe]()
HorrorOne of the wonderful things about genre fiction is that an author does not have to explain what is going on if they do not want to. Science Fiction often goes into great detail trying to explain the science, but sometimes it just happens to be set on a remote alien planet – deal with it. In Alex Woo...
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![Paved With Good IntentionsPeter Mclean]()
FantasyThey say never judge a book by its cover and this is a good lesson to take heed of with Peter McLean’s Paved With Good Intentions , as the UK cover stars Eline dressed in regal splendour. You see, Eline is also someone you should not judge from by her looks. She may be presenting as a member of the...
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![Carried AwayT J Derry]()
General FictionThere are different people in life. There are those that love the idea of travelling to a remote Indonesian island with three friends and surfing huge waves, and those that think this is a barmy idea and would rather go on a nice city break or read a book by the pool. What you do not always get is a...
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![ExilesMason Coile]()
Science FictionOne of the best things about Science Fiction is that it also works as Science Fact. Much of the science and fantasy in the books are based on real research; taken to the nth level, but with a basis in truth. Exiles by Mason Coile layers this with some fundamentals in philosophy. Occam’s Razor sugges...
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![Queen of the DeadSarah Broadway]()
FantasyMy partner and I have differing opinions on ghosts. I like to read about them but am incredibly cynical that they exist. My partner is more of a believer. I just refuse to believe that ghoulies can exist without more evidence, we live in a surveillance society at this point. However, even I would st...
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![Blood RivalJake Arnott]()
General FictionIn fiction you can blur the real world with the fictional to give your story a sense of authenticity. This is something that Jake Arnott has done in the past taking a splash of truth, a soupcon of reality, and then blending in some fictional high-octane action. In the case of Blood Rival , there was...
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![Spawn of the Serpent GodTim Waggoner]()
FantasyConan has fought against Gods his whole life. The little ones that try to interfere with the ways of man, and the Old Ones that nestle in other dimensions waiting for their chance to absorb the Earth. The only God that Conan has had little trouble with is Crom, his own God, and that is because Crom...
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![Master of EvilAdam Christopher]()
Science FictionOne of the aspects of Star Wars that I love is that it is an IP that keeps evolving, as do I. As a child I saw The New Hope as a simple action adventure between good and evil. The Emperor was omnipotent. As the series progressed, we see that the Empire was far too vast for one man to control, no mat...
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![The Blackfire BladeJames Logan]()
FantasyHow do you push a story forward? One method used in movies is known as a MacGuffin, a meaningless plot device that someone must find that will drive all their intentions. It does not happen as often in literature, but in the case of The Blackfire Blade by James Logan it has one of the most Macguggin...
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![SupermaxKen Bruen]()
General FictionThe pulp crime genre is one of my favourite because it pushes the envelope of what is acceptable in crime. It can be a little too gory, a little too silly, a little too much, but that is what makes it so fun to read. There is a delicate balance between writing a thrilling action crime story that is...
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![Cry, VoidbringerElaine Ho]()
FantasyI enjoy a dose of Low Fantasy; a bit of grimdark and violence feels like a good counterpart to High Fantasy with its heroism and magic. A fantasy tale that is told from the muck and the trenches just feels more real, even if it is fantastic, a fantasy for our modern troubled world. But there is Low...
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![The Door on the SeaCaskey Russell]()
FantasyWhat modern fantasy has shown is that you do not need to set your fantasy world in alternative medieval Europe. Our planet is full of varied and rich cultures that can be married with fantasy concepts to make alternative takes on the genre. The Door on the Sea by Caskey Russell is the latest unique...
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![Stars Like UsStephen K. Stanford]()
Science FictionInvent any innovative technology and it won’t be long until someone finds a way to use it to make money via base entertainment. We are talking wine, woman, and song. The same can be said of future worlds; the Emperor may have thought he had an iron grip on all his subjects, but just below the surfac...
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![Jekyll & Hyde: Winter RetreatTim Major]()
FantasyIf you could invite anyone to a winter retreat, who would it be? Family, friends, someone famous. What you should never do is invite a detective, anytime you do, someone always seems to end up dead. In the case of Jekyll & Hyde: Winter Retreat by Tim Major, you get two private detectives for the p...
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![The Loose EndDave Dwonch]()
General FictionNoir comes in many flavours, not just 1940s black and white detective. There have been classic noir novels that have reflected the decades they were written. The 90s noir I enjoyed had a bright Hollywood gleam to it; that was only shone to hide the grime set shallow below the surface. The Loose End...
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![Lives of Bitter RainAdrian Tchaikovsky]()
FantasyWe only have so many books in us, and an author may just not have the time to experiment with different formats or genres, unless they are very prolific. They do not come much more prolific than Adrian Tchaikovsky, a writer who dabbles in various types of genre fiction, always bringing high quality....
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![The DescentChristian Francis]()
HorrorI read so much genre fiction and have seen so many horror movies that I don’t scare easy. My brain automatically remembers all the behind-the-scenes make-up specials and director commentaries; I know it is not real. However, back in 2005 the last film that scared me was about a group of female caver...
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![The Midnight TimetableBora Chung]()
HorrorI have been lucky to work in some normal places in my life, but even I have been placed in spooky situations. Working late, I would walk home through the woods known as The Wilderness. Could there be a ghoul or a monster waiting for me behind a tree? I am too cynical to think so, but I could imagine...
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![Coffin MoonKeith Rosson]()
HorrorVampire lore is well documented, the rules and regulations differ from book to book, but in most cases if you are a vampire, you cannot do much during the day. In modern life not being able to escape during the daylight hours after leaving a few emptied bodies would be a problem. Cameras would catch...
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![The Haunting of William ThornBen Alderson]()
I would not call myself a skeptic, but a super skeptic, I just cannot begin to believe that ghosts exist, but that does not stop me from enjoying a good ghost story, or even a good old-fashioned ghost story. The Haunting of William Thorn by Ben Alderson has very modern characters and relationships,...
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![The CaptiveKit Burgoyne]()
HorrorI enjoy genre books of all kinds. I love a good kidnapping story as a well-oiled plan starts to unravel. I also like a horror story about the Old Gods, of human sacrifices and bloody gore. What you don’t normally get is a story that is both. The kidnapping crew in Kit Burgoyne’s The Captive have tak...
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![KrakenShannon Eric Denton]()
HorrorIf pop culture has only taught me one thing it is that siding with the creatures from other realms is not a great idea. They tend to renege on contracts once they have what they want, usually via sucking your brain out through your nose. Also, the partnerships are not normally people you would want...
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![FiendAlma Katsu]()
HorrorBeing successful and superrich would be great to allow you to do what you want, but it also comes with limitations. My mother never wanted to be too rich as she thought one of us would get kidnapped. She needn’t have worried had she made a deal with a demon, if anyone had tried to take one of us, th...
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![Terms of ServiceCiel Pierlot]()
Science FictionI love a good magic system in a fantasy novel, one that sets the rules in an interesting way and is still able to amaze. It is one of the reasons that I am not a huge fan of Fae magic with all its side clauses and tricks. You never know what you are really going to get or what you can trust, therefo...
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![Caesar's SpyJean-Pierre Pecau]()
General FictionThere are certain historic events that I return to in fiction as no matter how many times I have read about them, authors have found new ways of exploring the past. I must have read about Caesar’s rise and fall twenty times or more, but there is room for more retellings. Caesar’s Spy written by Jean...
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![System PreferenceUgo Bienvenu]()
Science FictionAs a Librarian I deal regularly with some of the topics raised in Ugo Bienvenu’s System Preference . I do not have firsthand experience of a robot bringing up my children, but I do know about data; what needs to be stored and what needs to be deleted. Do we just keep it all in the hopes that we can...
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![Wings of Steel and FurySarah Daley]()
Science FictionIf you read about the gods, most of them are a little messed up. If they are not descending to pretend to be a swan so they can sleep with woman, they are basically ignoring all the human suffering going on. Are gods omnipotent or just much more powerful than humans? Everything feels like magic, unt...
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![Death in the AviaryVictoria Dowd]()
General FictionThere is something deeply pleasant about reading a classic whodunnit from the Golden Age of crime writing. Back in the day it felt that there was a proper set of rules to a crime and solving it. Set so long ago that people call these cases cozy but is there anything cozy about murder? I may have rea...
