Books tagged with: strong female lead

I found this book during a post Christmas hunt in my local Waterstones after receiving a number of gift vouchers. I had never read anything by the author (or indeed the publisher) but have seen the third novel in the series (the Immorality Engine) appearing around the web for a while. For me one of...

Bloodsworn follows on from the events in the previous volumes Bloodborn and Bloodforged as Ulrika the Vampire returns to Nuln, finding her former Lahmian sisters preparing for war. Their arch rivals, the deleterious Von Carsteins meanwhile have begun to attack their strongholds and lead the despised...

City of Stairs is a masterpiece of world-building. Mr Bennett is clearly a gifted writer and his greatest talents lie in creating a vibrant, rich, detailed world. It's also a masterclass on how the dogmatic, blind following of religious doctrines can lead to very real problems. In City of Stairs the...

Dodger, a young sewer "tosher" who works beneath the streets of Victorian London is guided along series of events that will transform his life and those around him. It all starts when a young women is beset upon by two ruffians and Dodger rescues the young lady from certain death. I was quite surpri...

Druid's Bane is the first volume in the Arkaelyon Chronicles, written by Phillip Henderson. The Illandian Spring Tournament is about to reach its crescendo. With the king’s only daughter, Danielle de Brie, and her twin brother, Kane, preparing to face each other in the tourney ring for the deciding...

Encrypted is a fantasy novel by Lindsay Buroker, set in the same universe as her previous novel "The Emperor's Edge". Tikaya Komitopis is one of the great "hero's" of the war, instrumental in snatching a resounding victory from the jaws of defeat. She isn't however a fearless war hero or a calculati...

Orc's is an anthology of Bodyguard of Lightning, Legion of Thunder and Warriors of the Tempest, 3 novels in the fantasy series Orcs, written by Stan Nicholls. In the world of Maras-Dantia the elder races lived along with each other, while not in peace at least in some tolerance of one another. From...

It's funny how even if you follow a genre closely you can still miss some pretty successful authors, I guess that there are just so many novels published nowadays that this will become increasingly common. I haven't read anything by Holly Black before but I have been aware of her work without realis...

The Bands of Mourning, part of the second series of Mistborn books, taking place hundreds of years after the original Mistborn trilogy, follows the adventures of Wax, Wayne, Marasi, and Steris once more. The Bands of Mourning are the mythical metalminds owned by the Lord Ruler, said to grant anyone...

The Executioners Heart is the fourth novel in the Newbury and Hobbes series and follows on from the events of The Immorality Engine - although you don't need to have read that or any of the previous books to enjoy The Executioners Heart. The Queen's agents Sir Maurice Newbury and Miss Veronica Hobbe...

The Scar returns us to the wonderful world of Bas Lag, first encountered in the award winning novel Perdido Street Station . This time however we are far removed from the dirty, winding streets of New Crobuzon and thrust into the wider world, adrift on strange tides and weird seas. The floating metr...

I first read Tithe when I was young, probably the same age as the main character, Kaye—16. I was entranced. It was so dark, so beautifully written, and so enticing. I wanted more of the silver knight, more of the deliciously dark faery world. It isn’t by any means glorious—there’s teen drinking, gru...

Have you ever sat down and read some Fairy Tales to your children? Not the  sanitised  versions that we read today, but the  originals.  If you have, you  gave  the kids nightmares a s  these are stories  not about happiness and magic but o f creatures  and  consequences . If you do something naught...

If you go down to the woods today, you are in for a big surprise. Something far worse will be waiting for you than a few bears holding sandwiches. These are the ancient woods that our ancestors grew up near, pockets of civilisation surrounded by darkness and danger. When myths and folklore were bein...

There are two ways to treat fairy folk in a fantasy novel. You can hide them, only the protagonist knowing that there is a secret world in the forest. Or you can embrace them. Make the likes of goblins and fairies' part of everyday life. In A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey, an accord has...

What makes a good Conan novel? It seems like a simple calculation, a brawny barbarian, a massive sword, wine, woman, and violence. Mix the lot into a pot and you have a Conan adventure to be proud of, except it is not that easy. Conan lives in a vibrant and complex world that can be stodgy to read i...