The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell

Title: The Twistrose Key

Author: Tone Almhjell

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Release Date: 17^th October 2013

Rating: 4/5

The Twistrose Key is fundamentally based on a friendship, and this is where our story starts. Eleven year old Lindelin Rosenquist is best friends with her pet redback vole, Rufocanus. She is understandably devastated when he dies. Living in a rented house with her parents can get pretty lonely, and Lindelin thrives on adventure, so when a mysterious package arrives addressed simply to ‘Rosenquist’, Lin knows it is meant for her; it uses the childhood code name she gave herself.

She stealthy keeps the parcel hidden from her curious father and opens it in private, finding a key inside that opens the secret hidden door in the cellar. Lin knows there is only one thing to do – investigate. She tumbles headfirst into a whole new world, and she isn’t alone. She soon comes across her dear old friend, Rufus. But how is he alive? Where is Lin?

Rufus explains that she is in Sylvar, a land of eternal winter, who’s inhabitants are all human-sized creatures that were once a beloved pet of a human, which is why Rufus is there. Soon, Lin’s quest is apparent, find the missing Winter Prince, Isvan, and save Sylvar before midnight, or never return home…

The Twistrose Key is a new fairytale for children, penned by the Norwegian author, Tone Almhjell. The book originally started out as an advent calander Tone was making for her sister, ‘twenty-four, one-page chapters, glued into a scrapbook,’ and seven years later is the completed book. And what an excellent book it is; the plot is a fresh idea that has the nostalgic element of Narnia hidden within it. The characters are likeable and it is easy to believe in the world of Sylvar; what child wouldn’t want to go to a world filled with their long lost pets?

As you would expect, not all the pets are out to help Lin on her quest, and a particularly nasty cat will do anything to stop her. This is a perfect read for children, ages 8+, and would be ideal as a Christmas gift. The story has that Christmassy, winter feel to it. As soon as you turn the last page, you just want to relive the adventure all over again!

The Twistrose Key is Almhjell’s first novel, and I’m certain it won’t be the last. She certainly has a gift for writing for children, and I would love to see more from the world of Sylvar. 

Skulduggery Pleasant: Last Stand of Dead Men by Derek Landy [Book 8]

Title: Skulduggery Pleasant: Last Stand of Dead Men

Author: Derek Landy

Publisher: Harper Collins

Age Range: 11+

Release Date: Out now!

Rating: 5/5

Last Stand of Dead Men is the eighth book in the amazing Skulduggery Pleasant series, and the penultimate book overall.

War has finally broken among the Sanctuaries around the world, and things are looking bad for the Irish Sanctuary and everyone has had enough. Allies turn to enemies, leaving Valkyrie and Skulduggery to team up with the rest of the Dead Men and it seems to be their only chance of survival.

But Valkyrie has another problem to deal with much closer to home; the other half of herself, Darquesse, has also had enough and is ready to take control of our heroine to wreck havoc across the world. But will it all become too much for Valkyrie to handle?

Now, my family and myself are huge fans of Landy’s Skulduggery series, and I have followed the series from the start (Last Stand of Dead Men is book eight).  They are sold as children’s fiction, and you will find the series in the children’s section of the bookshop, however, I am 20 and adore this series; my mother and younger brother also love it, so please don’t assume that this series is too young for you to read, you would be sorely missing out! The humor in the books is what makes me come back to Landy again and again, they really are very funny; the humor isn’t crude or rude, it is the kind of comedy that everyone – no matter their age – can enjoy. Having said that, this series is perfect for getting younger children, especially boys, involved in reading.

So, how does this book compare to the rest in the series? Well, there are important plot developments, not all of which are good. We loose one or two characters in one way or another in this installment, and things are definitely heating up for the next book – last in the series. I won’t say anymore about that, but I was pretty upset.

My favourite characters, by far, are the (now former) zombies, Scapegrace and his useless sidekick, Thrasher. Truth be told, I read the books to see what kind of hilarious situation they’ve found themselves in now. And if you thought Scapegrace’s journey from human to zombie to a head-in-a-jar to man in an attractive woman’s body was bad enough, you probably haven’t been following the series. Very funny, as always!

Tanith and Sanguine turn to different tactics to achieve their goal (what actually in their goal? I know Tanith’s but… anyway) and try and gain the trust of Skulduggary, Valkyrie and co., which works surprisingly well, actually.

In Last Stand of Dead Men, we learn more about the other Sanctuaries around the world, rather than just the Irish Sanctuary; in previous books the world Valkyrie and Skulduggery live in has felt small, confided to Roarhaven, which I loved but now things are getting out of their control.

Needless to say, I cannot wait for book 9, the last in the series, which is due out August 2014. But until then, enjoy this penultimate adventure!

The Other Woman by Graham Thomas (The Roxy Compendium #2)

Title: The Other Woman (The Roxy Compendium #2)

Author: Graham Thomas

Publisher: The Never Press

Release Date: Available Now!
Rating: 5/5

The second book in the excellent Roxy Playhouse series by Graham Thomas, The Other Woman takes us back years into the past, before the events of the first book, Hats Off to Brandenburg. It features a few characters from the previous novel, and we revisit Abigail Hardwoode, and discover the truth of her having to leave her love, Benjamin Ananas.

In Hats Off To Brandenburg, we saw Benjamin Ananas rediscover his lost love, Abigail Hardwoode, whom vanished years ago and left him with a broken heart from which he has never fully recovered.  

The Other Woman is her story and fills us in on the missing years from her viewpoint. It was 1789 when Abigail’s life is irreparably shaken; in her small, safe home in the heart of London, she has everything a seventeen-year-old could wish for; she has the London social scene and all of her friends close by, and her developing relationship with Benjamin looks like she has a promising future ahead. But Abigail couldn’t be more wrong. One dark night, a strange man visits her parents, a man named Hilary Weaver, a British secret agent. Hilary’s life collides with Abigail’s and they must fight to prove that her parents, supposedly involved in the French Revolution, are innocent. They embark on an adventure that sees Abigail cutting all ties with her old life, including Benjamin…

There is plenty of action within the pages of The Other Woman; the French Revolution is presented in an interesting and readable way.

Readers will find that they can sympathize with Abigail; a young innocent girl who has no idea of Revolution’s or fighting, and so the readers can learn along with her, and she can voice their questions, What is happening in France? How have her parents become involved?

Another element Graham adds to the mix is the character of Elise, a feisty, hotheaded young girl. She is the ‘old beyond her time’ girl that initially defensive of Abigail. Soon they are best friends, sisters. Elise has a strong heart and deeply hidden emotions, but she has a troubled past due to events that take place at the beginning of the book involving her parents; she is left with her life as shaken as Abigail’s and they bond over this.

As with Hats Off to Brandenburg, this second book also features the secretive movement, The Black Arm. There are a lot of men with very different aims in The Black Arm, with so-and-so double crossing another character there are many surprises when you realise they’ve been working against our main characters the whole time.

Another thing to mention is the artwork, which is sometimes as important to the actual plot of a book and can greatly affect book sales. Graham’s work always has excellent cover art but for this series it is really nice to see the artists impressions of the characters.

As for Graham’s writing, it is top-notch as always, particularly in the fighting scenes, which would usually easily bore me but instead kept me glued page after page. The Other Woman is a great addition to an ever-growing series. Now I just have to wait for book number three… No pressure, Graham!

As always, a quick thank you to The Never Press who sent me this book to review, and to Graham for signing my copy and being an amazing guy! 

Hats Off to Brandenburg by Graham Thomas (The Roxy Playhouse #1)

Title: Hats Off to Brandenburg (The Roxy Playhouse #1)

Author: Graham Thomas

Publisher: The Never Press

Release date: Out now!

Rating: 5/5

Hats Off to Brandenburg is the first book in Graham Thomas’ excellent new series, The Roxy Compendium, in which we are introduced to a variety of wonderful new characters, all from different backgrounds and with very different personalities.

The year is 1815, and we are at the Roxy Playhouse Theatre in London, home to the Roxy Playhouse Irregulars (or RPI’s as I like to call the gang). Life in the playhouse would be perfect if not for one small issue; they are more than a little in debt, and it seems they are on their way to loosing their beloved playhouse if they don’t come up with something quick.

The only solution seems to be to pull off the impossible; put on the best performance of their lives, but with one major difference – they must perform within London’s high society without anyone discovering them, so they can steal expensive jewels and silver, replacing them with identical objects made by prop’s designer, Tobias.

To pull this off convincingly, they all have a part. The main character that the play depends upon is the haunted Benjamin Ananas, who must transform himself into the wonderful Count Brandenburg and become loved by the society Benjamin shuns.

The main plot of the story is introduced about a quarter of the way through, in the form of a mysterious movement called ‘The Black Arm’ causing trouble and threatening the RPI’s plan. They are a large army of unsavoury characters that can only spell trouble for our heroes. Will they be able to defeat them? And if so, at what cost?

Usually, a book with so many characters and as much action that the pages of Hats Off to Brandenburg contains is hard for me to keep track of. However, once again, I am pleased to say that Graham’s writing has surpassed my bugbears and I was hooked from the beginning until the very end.

My favourite was easily Benjamin Ananas, a man who, after loosing his parents and the love of his life, Abigail Hardwoode, must transform himself into the very man he could have once become. He has a lot of heart and his troubled past was subtly dealt with, so he wasn’t moping around as much as you might imagine.

Another stand out character is Archie, the comedian of the group who is also something if a womanizer. His story was left on a cliff-hanger and hopefully Graham will devote more time to him in another installment., I think he will easily become the readers most favored character.

The Roxy Irregulars work well as a whole; the group’s dynamic is easy to understand from the beginning. Although almost all of Graham’s work involves romance in one subtle way or another, I feel there as more of a romantic element in this series with a few of the character pairing up in some way or another over the course of the novel. My favourite has to be Srdjan and Alexia, who have a brilliant love between them. I would love to see Graham do a book, or short story, about how they met and events that happened before the start of this novel.

I could go on and say something about each character, but there are many and I don’t want to spoil the novel for anyone. Discovering each character for yourself is part of the reading experience with this book, and what an excellent book it is!

Word on the book blogging grapevine has it that Graham plans to expand this series with many more books, so get hooked now and stay ahead of the crowd. Hats Off to Brandenburg is certainly another gem from a brilliant author. A big thanks once again to the amazing publishers that are The Never Press, and to Graham who signed my copy. Thanks, guys!

The eBook version is currently available on Amazon for less than £1! Grab it now! 

Exit Kingdom by Alden Bell

In this post-apocalyptic fiction by Alden Bell, we are taken to America where the undead outnumber the living, and the world as we know it has been long since lost. We follow our protagonist, Moses Todd, and his ‘reprobate’ brother, Abraham, as they travel aimlessly; what else is there to do?

For Abraham, it is all he’s ever known, but not for Moses. Moses is older, and has memories of how the world once was. He isn’t content to just endlessly roam as Abe might be; he unconsciously searches for a purpose, a reason to keep going when at every turn he finds signs telling him to give up. He finds this purpose in a chance encounter with the Vestal Amata, a mysterious woman who has no effect on the undead. Their indifference towards her intrigues Moses; what is it about her that repels the zombies? Does she hold the key to salvation?

However, such a gift has not gone unnoticed, and other are already seeking this woman for their own gain. And so a task presents itself to Moses; keep the women out of the clutches of unsavory characters, and take her to safety for further examination of her ‘gift’. And our journey begins…

I have never read anything by Alden Bell before, so this was my first taste, and how addictive it was! From the first chapter I realised I had come across another author that I would have to add to my favourite list. And everything about his writing would usually put me off; there are few books I dislike more than one without clear grammar and punctuation, and Exit Kingdom has no speech marks. However, this is actually not a distraction from the story at all. In fact, I quite liked it.

 

If you like The Walking Dead, you'll love Exit Kingdom.

The character’s of Moses and Abraham are rough and ready types you would expect to get on well in such a post-apocalyptic world such as this, and they do so with humor and some (okay, quite a bit of) violence. Moses is always watching over Abe, and as the older brother, always has done. The setting is as you would imagine, and if you like The Walking Dead, then this is the kind of fiction you will enjoy. It is a relatively quick and easy read, which only makes you want more from Bell. I have already recommended it to a few friends, and will continue to do so; Exit Kingdom is an excellent book, and satisfied my hunger for a change in my recent reading material. 
 

Although I have read Exit Kingdom as a standalone book, there is actually one set before it; The Reapers Are the Angles. It features characters that play a big part in Exit Kingdom and I sincerely hope to read it soon. Any book set in Bell’s undead world is a book that I am eager to read.