Sam Tyler

Books reviewed by Sam Tyler (601)

  • The BewitchingSilvia Moreno-Garcia
    The Bewitching
    by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
    Horror

    I enjoy reading about the occult in contrasting times in history. If someone came up to a modern person and said there was a witch in the woods stealing children, they would raise an eyebrow and swiftly walk in the opposite direction. A couple of hundred years earlier around the same woods the react...

  • Seven Recipes for RevolutionRyan Rose
    Fantasy

    The fantasy genre is a form of comfort reading for me. The genre often follows similar tropes, and you can get into the rhythm of the story quickly. However, increasingly often in modern fantasy, authors are creating new and challenging ideas to shake up the genre. Magical systems are an area you ca...

  • A Rebel's History of MarsNadia Afifi
    A Rebel's History of Mars
    by Nadia Afifi
    Science Fiction

    When we have finally managed to destroy Earth, some of us may already be living on Mars. If you stay inside the domes, I hear it can be quite pleasant. However, what happens when we start to destroy Mars? The issue with all these planets is not the landscape or the lack of oxygen, it is the fact tha...

  • Clockwork BoysT Kingfisher
    Clockwork Boys
    by T Kingfisher
    Fantasy

    The fantasy genre has the reputation of producing books big enough that you could use as a casual seat, trilogies that you could line up, throw some cushions on top and make into a settee. It does not have to be this way and T Kingfisher has certainly bucked the trend with Clockwork Boys, which come...

  • The Gryphon KingSara Omer
    The Gryphon King
    by Sara Omer
    Fantasy

    I have read a lot of epic fantasy, and it comes in many flavours, but it does not always feel like it. Often, it feels like an alternative Medieval Europe with a few elves thrown in. This is less so today as innovative ideas and visions come to the genre, taking a typical fantasy novel and giving it...

  • The Coming of GalactusJames Lovegrove
    The Coming of Galactus
    by James Lovegrove
    Science Fiction

    The Marvel Universe is jammed packed with famous storylines, but one of the biggest has always been the time that The Fantastic Four took on Galactus. It resonates because it has lasted since the 1960s and appears to be having a reimagining in the latest film. The Coming of Galactus by James Lovegro...

  • The Price of FreedomMichael C. Bland
    The Price of Freedom
    by Michael C. Bland
    Science Fiction

    After discovering what The Price of Safety and The Price of Rebellion are in the first two outings in Michael C Bland’s dystopian trilogy, we finally get to see what The Price of Freedom is in this final outing. In a world in which everyone has been rendered blind unless they wear technology, you ca...

  • BasiliskMatt Wixey
    Basilisk
    by Matt Wixey
    Horror

    I have read thousands of books, and they normally follow the same structural rules, but on occasion an author likes to experiment with the format. Perhaps they will forgo the need for speech marks and instead write people speaking as part of a sentence. No thanks. What about telling the story as a s...

  • Killer on the RoadStephen Graham Jones
    Killer on the Road
    by Stephen Graham Jones
    Horror

    Like any genre, the horror genre has shifts in style and tone. I was always a fan of the nasty horror stories of the late 70s and early 80s. Books that saw lots of terrible things happen to good people. In Killer on the Road author Stephen Graham Jones attempts to capture that Grindhouse feel and gi...

  • EsperanceAdam Oyebanji
    Esperance
    by Adam Oyebanji
    Science Fiction

    What would you do if you had technology that no one else in the world had. Would you use it to better your life, make some money? Perhaps you would share it with others to develop society as a whole? Or maybe you would use it for revenge. A series of impossible murders is stumping Detective Ethan Kr...

  • Anji Kills a KingEvan Leikam
    Anji Kills a King
    by Evan Leikam
    Fantasy

    In the fantasy that I usually read Regicide is usually the goal for the end of the book. In fact, I have read entire trilogies in which the protagonist is trying to kill a royal. You get the sense that Evan Leikam is going to tackle things a little differently in Anji Kills a King when the first sce...

  • AwakenedLaura Elliott
    Awakened
    by Laura Elliott
    Science Fiction

    Science has taken humans to amazing places, prolonged our lives, made living better, but it has also created great harm. Have some diseases been developed in a lab then released, on purpose or by accident? Perhaps legitimate research led to tragic mistakes. In the world of Laura Elliott’s Awakened ,...

  • Fleet LandingWendy Gee
    Fleet Landing
    by Wendy Gee
    General Fiction

    There are so many angles and directions that you can tackle the crime genre in. Being a police officer is obvious, but you also get Private Investigators, or even the local busybody or vicar solving a crime. I enjoy all these approaches, but if you are drawn to particularly thoughtful and informed c...

  • UltimartCarl Wilhoyte
    Ultimart
    by Carl Wilhoyte
    Science Fiction

    There was a time in my life that I would sit down and read some Dystopian Fiction and not consider at all that it would happen in my lifetime, but all I need to do is some doomscrolling on my social medias to think that elements of Carl Wilhoyte’s Ultimart may not be long in our future. This is a bo...

  • The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher AssociationCaitlin Rozakis

    I am not one to get involved with politics at school. I am one of those parents who chooses to be ambivalent to it all, probably to the annoyance of others. The problem is I can see the temptation to get involved in the drama, a small way to add a little spark to your life. I have enough spark in my...

  • Death on the CalderaEmily Paxman
    Death on the Caldera
    by Emily Paxman
    Fantasy

    I read a lot of genre fiction that has been mixed with a crime drama as it is an excellent way of giving a story a solid throughline. A murder mystery can concentrate the narrative when exploring a high concept Science Fiction world. It is also a great way of giving grit to an Urban Fantasy story, g...

  • The Butcher's DaughterCorinne Leigh Clark
    The Butcher's Daughter
    by Corinne Leigh Clark
    Horror

    I enjoy a retelling of a classic tale from an unfamiliar perspective. I have read about Sherlock Holmes from the point of view of almost everyone he ever met. I have read about Beowulf written by his niece. King Authur, Robin Hood, many others, but never a character as dark as Sweeny Todd. The Demon...

  • The Country Under HeavenFrederic S Durbin
    The Country Under Heaven
    by Frederic S Durbin
    Fantasy

    Who does not love a genre mash up? The industry certainly does as they ride that Romantasy train all the way to the bank. Although I do not mind a whimsical fantasy, I would not consider it my favourite genre. A mash up of genres needs a little more bite to interest me. How about Westerns with the O...

  • The Night AlphabetJoelle Taylor
    The Night Alphabet
    by Joelle Taylor
    Science Fiction

    There are books in a person’s life that helps to define their taste in genres. I was lucky enough in my teenage years to work my way through some of the classics of science fiction instilling a lifelong love of the genre. One novel that stands out among the best was Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Ma...

  • When the Wolf Comes HomeNat Cassidy
    When the Wolf Comes Home
    by Nat Cassidy
    Horror

    I have had my fill of Vampires. They are the Primadonna of the undead world hogging all the limelight with their films and TV shows. They are also all over books. One of my family member’s entire book collection is just vampires. What about the other supernatural beings? A vampire's erstwhile enemy...

  • The VengeanceEmma Newman
    The Vengeance
    by Emma Newman
    Fantasy

    I have not read the synopsis of a book I am about to read for over twenty years, ever since I read a spoiler on the back of the novel that revealed the massive twist that occurred two thirds of the way through. I will have to add Series Titles to the list of things not to read as The Vengeance by Em...

  • WayseekerJustina Ireland
    Wayseeker
    by Justina Ireland
    Science Fiction

    Over the years Star Wars has become a complicated beast, even the first film was a Space Opera that had a lot going on. Throw in various timelines and you have an epic on your hands, but some of the simpler stories are the ones that work the best. The Acolyte was series that expanded on The High Rep...

  • The Intergalactic Empire of WakandaSuyi Davies Okungbowa
    The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda
    by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
    Science Fiction

    The sheer number of comic books out there are a blessing and a curse. There are so many stories to catch up on and different versions of the same characters. It is wonderful for the explorer, but for the casual fan it can be daunting. We all know something about Black Panther , the character, Wakand...

  • Killing ItMike Bockoven
    Killing It
    by Mike Bockoven
    Horror

    People have used the insanity plea in defence of some heinous crimes. Was it months of planning that made you act or next door’s Labrador? When buying a property, it may be a clever idea to heed the warning of the stranger who tells you not to listen the voice when it appears. The last owner went on...

  • A Palace Near the WindAi Jiang
    Fantasy

    How do you like your science fiction and fantasy? I will admit to being someone who loves a simple and accessible tale, but the genres can offer so much more than this. There are few genres better equipped to take a reader to truly alien places, to worlds that feel like they were designed in a fever...

  • Cheddar Luck Next TimeBeth Cato
    Cheddar Luck Next Time
    by Beth Cato
    General Fiction

    I find most comfy crime novels an oxymoron as they usually deal with a hideous murder. The cosiness comes in the telling and the setting. I blame Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple books with that inquisitive pensioner solving crimes that were hideous, gruesome, committed for money, revenge, or passion....

  • ScalesChristopher Hinz
    Scales
    by Christopher Hinz
    Science Fiction

    War, what is it good for? Not a lot, but depressingly it is a real driver of innovation. What better way to inspire the greatest minds in the country than to task them with more efficient ways to kill the enemy? Arms races happen all over the place from conventional gun and bullets to newer types of...

  • The Serpent Called MercyRoanne Lau
    The Serpent Called Mercy
    by Roanne Lau
    Fantasy

    There are shifts in the Fantasy genre that perhaps only the ardent fan will notice. The epics of Tolkien and the 80s are still being written, but now there are more intimate stories that follow one or two characters as they graft in their small way among the wider Fantasy world. These are often cosy...

  • The Last QuarryMax Allan Collins
    The Last Quarry
    by Max Allan Collins
    General Fiction

    Never say never when it comes to being a hired hitman. You may not want to kill for money anymore, but if you are anything like Quarry in The Last Quarry by Max Allan Collins you may just end up getting in a situation that relies on your old skills and if you get paid for it all the better. This may...

  • DissolutionNicholas Binge
    Dissolution
    by Nicholas Binge
    Science Fiction

    Have you ever walked into a room and forgotten why you went in there in the first place? Could just be a good old fashioned brain burp, but perhaps it is something more sinister. In Nicholas Binge’s Dissolution there is a character who knows too much, so much that their mind is being wiped to preven...

  • Space BroomsA G Rodriguez
    Space Brooms
    by A G Rodriguez
    Science Fiction

    There is more than one tradition in science fiction. You can have your epic space battles, but here in Blighty we have the tradition of an every person getting wrapped up in something far above their pay grade. Arthur Dent had his towel, and Johnny Gomez has his mop and bucket. It can’t just be spac...

  • The Get OffChrista Faust
    The Get Off
    by Christa Faust
    General Fiction

    A good life is a life well lived full of new adventures, meeting new people, and experiencing new things. On this criteria Angel Dare has had one of the best lives, she is always meeting new people and finding herself in new places, but not for the reasons she would want. From adult film star to vic...

  • The Mask of FearAlexander Freed
    The Mask of Fear
    by Alexander Freed
    Science Fiction

    The reason that I enjoy the Star Wars Universe so much is that it vast and can be explored in new and interesting ways. The Skywalker stories will always be there, but there are shady towns and abandoned Sith temples spotted all over the Universe. You can follow an eccentric archaeologist hunting fo...

  • The Gaia ChimeJohnny Worthen
    The Gaia Chime
    by Johnny Worthen
    Horror

    What can cause the end of the World? A massive explosion, a meteor the size of the moon tearing it in two? What would cause the end of the World and what would cause the end of humankind are two very different things. Our watery globe will still be spinning long after we are food for the worms, huma...

  • Midnight StreetsPhil Lecomber
    Midnight Streets
    by Phil Lecomber
    General Fiction

    Agatha Christie would have us believe that inter-War murder was cosy, taking place in a picturesque village or on a mode of transport whilst taking in the sites of the Grand Tour. Whilst Marple was eating muffins and Poirot was drinking Prosecco, most of us would have been thrown into the daily grin...

  • Spells, Strings and Forgotten ThingsBreanne Randall
    Fantasy

    In some books there is more one thing that a reader can focus on. It could be the characters that draw the reader in, or the narrative, or the world building. As a long-term fantasy fan, one element that I often end up focussing on is magical systems. How magic works in a fantasy world can change ev...

  • Future's EdgeGareth L Powell
    Future's Edge
    by Gareth L Powell
    Science Fiction

    The Earth has exploded killing all the inhabitants, the only survivors are those humans that happened to be off planet at the time. Does not sound like the start of a fun Science Fiction novel, does it? Douglas Adams would beg to differ and so would Gareth L. Powell. Future’s Edge is the author’s la...

  • Alien: Seventh CirclePhilippa Ballantine
    Alien: Seventh Circle
    by Philippa Ballantine
    Science Fiction

    It is not that the aliens in Alien are constantly evolving, it is that they are constantly adapting to the scenario they are in. We usually see them egging up humans, but if they landed in a world populated by cows it would only be a few days that a bovine Alien was ripping up the locals. Aliens are...

  • The Perfect StrangerBrian Pinkerton
    The Perfect Stranger
    by Brian Pinkerton
    Science Fiction

    I have come across the argument that people do not read science fiction as they cannot connect it to their own lives. Most sci fi fans know that even a book set in deep space or thousands of years in the future is often just using images of tomorrow to discuss the issues of today. However, if a read...

  • The ContestJeff Macfee
    The Contest
    by Jeff Macfee
    General Fiction

    Puzzle me this. Whilst other kids were outside climbing trees or knocking a football around, you would often find me indoors or under a tree reading a book or doing puzzles. That has led to two lifelong consequences; a love of puzzles and a problem with weight. Puzzler was always my favourite, and I...