Manda Scott, Any Human Power. This long and weird novel focuses on a single British family who recognise that the world is swiftly being destroyed by those in power and decide to create a grassroots movement to promote true democracy. It’s narrated from the point of view of the grandmother, Lan, who in fact dies at the … Continue reading 20 Books of Summer, #18 and #19: Any Human Power and Helm| Laura Tisdall
Álvaro Enrigue trans. Natasha Wittner, You Dreamed of Empires. This short but incredibly intense speculative historical novel spans a few days in 1519, focusing on the infamous encounter between co…| Laura Tisdall
Quick-fire reviews of some more books that are not included in my 20 Books of Summer challenge! Antonia Hodgson, The Raven Scholar. In the walled capital city of Orrun, seven contenders arrive to compete to be the next emperor. Court scholar Neema is unexpectedly drawn into the trials after one of the hopefuls is murdered. This was … Continue reading More Quick-Fire Reviews of Some Non-Summer Reads| Laura Tisdall
NB. I’m still working on my post about three standout novels I read earlier this month – not to say these ones were bad! Andrew McMillan, Pity. This Barnsley-set novella traces both hom…| Laura Tisdall
Kate van der Borgh, And He Shall Appear. Dark academia is en vogue at the moment, spawning its own sub-sub-genres all over the place. And He Shall Appear is what I shall refer to as classic dark ac…| Laura Tisdall
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due: This is a full-blown old-fashioned horror novel, but in the very best way. Like Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys, Due draws on the real-life atrocities committe…| Laura Tisdall