#BookReview YUANYUAN’S BUBBLES by CIXIN LIU – Graphic Novel #4

ABOUT THE BOOK

The fourth in a new series of graphic novels from Hugo Award-winning author Liu Cixin and Talos Press

Ever since she was a child, Yuanyuan always dreamed of blowing big bubbles. But her father worries about her fascination—he wants Yuanyuan to be as responsible and devoted to a calling as her mother was. As an adult, Yuanyuan creates a multimillion-dollar business out of the technology she developed for her doctoral thesis. But she still dreams of blowing the biggest bubble she can. When his daughter uses her high-tech methods to blow a bubble big enough to envelop a city, Yuanyuan’s father thinks back to the dreams he and Yuanyuan’s mother chased when they were young. In the end, Yuanyuan’s bubbles bring her father’s dreams to life.

The fourth of sixteen new graphic novels from Liu Cixin and Talos Press, Sea of Dreams is an epic tale of the future that all science fiction fans will enjoy.

PUBLISHED BY HEAD OF ZEUS

PURCHASE LINK

Blackwell’s

MY REVIEW

This is a beautifully illustrated book, that tells the story of Yuanyuan and her obsession with bubbles! She dreams of blowing the biggest bubble, but her father is always there in the background to puncture her dreams. A classic tale of a realist vs a dreamer. Their city is dying, times are tough but there’s something about Yuanyuan that keeps her dreaming and, like her mother, she won’t let up on her dreams of finding a way to use her bubbles to save the world. Her mother died following her dreams so you can understand her father and his attitude towards her vision and her pipe dreams. The illustrations are stunning! They are a beautiful earthy tone throughout that really connects with the story and really amplify the message of hope v despair. It’s a beautifully simple story that I adored and I look forward to reading more from this series as the pictures really do help add depth to the story. ★★★★★ My thanks to the team of Head of Zeus for the advanced reader copy in return for a fair and honest review.

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#BookReview TO SLEEP IN A SEA OF STARS by CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI #TSIASOS

ABOUT THE BOOK

“To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a brand new epic novel from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Paolini.

Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds.

Now she’s awakened a nightmare.

During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she’s delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move.

As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn’t at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human.

While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity’s greatest and final hope . . .”

PUBLISHED BY  TOR

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon £12.98

blackwell’s – signed edition £20

Book Depository  £12.99

MY REVIEW

Epic!! Outstanding!! Awesome!!

What is it about space operas that are just so fascinating and captivating??! I was a little daunted when I got my mitts on this beast of a book – 870 pages or so – and prepared myself for those normal ‘filler’ bits in a book of this size BUT found none!! It all just flowed so perfectly as you follow Kira and the crew of the Wallfish as they face up to alien wars and personal battles and I’m already itching to read it again just to soak up more of the atmosphere and pick up on extra little nuggets of info that I may have passed by on the first read through!

Kira is the female star of the show here. And what a fascinating character she is! She’s all loved up with Alan and preparing for a new chapter in their lives together, but that’s all about to change when she discovers an alien relic on an uncolonized planet – her initial joy of finding this rarity soon turns to terror and sets them all on a different course.

What follows is a rollercoaster ride as they encounter battles with aliens and fellow space travellers and it’s a journey of chaos, emotions and humour as they search out the meaning of the changes that have happened to Kira and try to make sense of it all! And often none of it makes sense, and that’s what makes it even more enthralling!! Any idea you think you have of how things may play out are always way off base and that’s why I often couldn’t put it down – despite the weight of the book giving my arms a rather decent workout!!

I also have to point out the stunning illustrations/artwork that is littered throughout – of planets, ships … all the space vibes and info you need it is here and it really just added to the whole experience. Their quest evolves over many months and years so you really begin to understand their pain and suffering

This is all the good bits of science fiction and drama without all the pages of technical info that can often leave readers feeling cold! There’s such an eclectic mix of characters throughout that you get to build up a rapport with thanks to the way they are written. You can see why it took the author so long to write – almost 10 years – as it is so involved and extravagant but it’s always a triumph when it pays off in spectacular fashion like this story! It also has a wonderful change of gear throughout – sometimes you’ll find yourself holding your breath at the action unfolding in front of you, other times the pace is much gentler allowing you to spend more time with each character to hear their thoughts and see them finding their feet once more.

Out of this world!!

★★★★★

Huge thankyou to the team at Tor for my advanced reader copy in return for a fair and honest review. It is always highly appreciated.

#BookReview Recursion by Blake Crouch

ABOUT THE BOOK

From the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter and the Wayward Pines trilogy comes a relentless thriller about time, identity, and memory—his most ambitious, mind-boggling, irresistible work to date.

“An action-packed, brilliantly unique ride that had me up late and shirking responsibilities until I had devoured the last page . . . a fantastic read.”—Andy Weir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian

Memory makes reality. That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.

Neuroscientist Helena Smith already understands the power of memory. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious moments of our pasts. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent. 

As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face-to-face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.

But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them? 

published by MacMillan

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon UK £10.23

Goldsboro Books – signed first edition £25

hive.co.uk  £10.49

whsmith  £10.49

MY REVIEW

Mind. Blown!! 

I really don’t know how to review this book without giving too much away! Just be prepared when you pick this up to have your mind messed with – in a very good way! It can feel a little overwhelming at times and you might even think you’re suffering from ‘False Memory Syndrome’ too as you struggle to comprehend what is going on – but stick with it!! 

In 2018, Barry is sent as a police officer to talk down a suicidal woman from the top of a building – he fails. While talking to ‘Ann’ he feels her pain as she is suffering ‘False Memory Syndrome’ which has begun to affect many – leaving them with memories of lives they never lived and being unable to cope with the sadness and loss that those lives entailed…. even though they didn’t actually happen. As he investigates further when talking to the family of Ann he begins to sense there’s more going on but isn’t really quite sure what!

At the same time we follow the story of Helen who is a scientist working on a way of helping those with memory loss/alzheimers, which is close to her heart as her own mother is suffering from alzheimers and it’s heartbreaking for her and her dad to watch a woman they love fade in front of their eyes. As with any research, money is always needed and when she’s offered unlimited finances by a mysterious benefactor she has no option but to get on board – but does he have the same good intentions as she does?

There’s a lot of time jumping in this book – memories play a key part (obviously!) and the need to stay on top of what is real life memory and what isn’t is huge. There is so much to take in at times but it’s all so well paced that you just can’t help stay involved and eager to see where it all leads. There’s always that feeling as to why would certain people be interested in this advancement and for what purpose would this scientific breakthrough be used – the reality is scarier than anything I could have imagined!

I loved the way it showed the human element and cost of the power of memories and what hold they have – even when they didn’t really happen but your mind has made you think they did. And then showing the cost of using this technology for good, or is it bad?, really gets you thinking.

There needs to be a movie of this.. and soon!!!! Loved it!!

★★★★★

#BookReview From The Wreck by Jane Rawson #FromTheWreck

About the book

When George Hills was pulled from the wreck of the steamship Admella, he carried with him memories of a disaster that claimed the lives of almost every other soul on board. Almost every other soul.

Because as he clung onto the wreck, George wasn’t alone: someone else – or something else – kept George warm and bound him to life. Why didn’t he die, as so many others did, half-submerged in the freezing Southern Ocean? And what happened to his fellow survivor, the woman who seemed to vanish into thin air?

George will live out the rest of his life obsessed with finding the answers to these questions. He will marry, father children, but never quite let go of the feeling that something else came out of the ocean that day, something that has been watching him ever since. The question of what this creature might want from him – his life? His first-born? To simply return home? – will pursue him, and call him back to the ocean again.

Blending genres, perspectives and worlds, Jane Rawson’s From the Wreck – winner of the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel- is a chilling and tender story about how fiercely we cling to life, and how no-one can survive on their own.

Published by Picador

PURCHASE LINKS

hive.co.uk

waterstones

WHSmith

MY REVIEW

Bonkers but enthralling!! My kind of book!! It’s one of those books that you are never really sure where the story is going to take you, but you’ll have fun figuring it all out and making sense of it all while you’re in the heads of these wonderful characters, and just enjoying the pure escapism and emotion of it all – enjoy the ride!

The main character is George and he is reliving his extraordinary encounter with a woman who kept him alive on a shipwreck – and who promptly disappeared afterwards and he can’t shake her from his mind. It affects his day to day life as he tries to track her down as he is convinced there is more to her than meets the eye! It charts his marriage and time as a father and we also get the story from one of his son’s point of view – Henry – who has a rather strange birthmark , and a very strange relationship with it!!

It’s a curious mix of historical fiction and science fiction, but works so well as the Author has great fun and freedom with taking a real life event and adding a totally unique spin on things and playing with the emotions of a man who had survived a traumatic event but was left with so many unanswered questions and just couldn’t settle or appreciate his life until he got the answers he was looking for. The struggles he had with coming to terms with what happened to him was clear to see and the fact that he couldn’t really explain his experience what he went through really added to his trauma and showed just how much he needed to make sense of it all.

A memorable read! 

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#Unboxing Prudence and the Crow – February 2019

As a pre-Christmas treat to myself, I signed up to the fabulous Prudence and the Crow Book Subscription service after seeing some of their fabulous posts on Instagram!  Their mission is to share their love of vintage books amongst the bookish community, so put together a box each month to suit your tastes – you can choose from Classic Fiction, Sci-Fi, Classic Thriller, Children’s or Random – and then each month for £15 inc P&P, you will receive a fabulous vintage paperback along with a lovely handmade book bag, sweets and other treats – guaranteed to put a smile on your face!

Now I forgot to share the unboxing last month (blogger fail!) so thought I’d start with my 2nd parcel from them.  I’ve opted for the Sci-Fi package as I’m determined to increase my knowledge of classic Sci-Fi – and they often have the best/craziest covers!!

So here’s a look at what arrived through my letterbox – yep it all comes in a handy letterbox sized parcel! – this month!

All wrapped up in this fabulous Room With a View envelope!!

Goodies galore!!

Who can resist sweets and tea?! Not me!

A fabulous pencil with the engraving ‘Only Connect’ E.M.Forster, library card stamped with No.2 for my 2nd parcel and fab stickers!

Gorgeous handmade fabric book bag containing this months book – THE BEST OF SCI-FI 5 by JUDITH MERRIL

The Handler by Damon Knight
The Other Wife by Jack Finney
No Fire Burns by Avram Davidson
No, No, Not Rogov! by Cordwainer Smith
The Shoreline at Sunset by Ray Bradbury
The Dreamsman by Gordon R. Dickson
Multum in Parvo by Jack Sharkey
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
“What Do You Mean…Human?” by John W. Campbell, Jr.
Sierra Sam by Ralph Dighton
A Death in the House by Clifford D. Simak
Mariana by Fritz Leiber
An Inquiry Concerning the Curvature of the Earth’s Surface and Divers Investigations of a Metaphysical Nature by Roger Price
Day at the Beach by Carol Emshwiller
Hot Argument by Randall Garret
What the Left Hand was Doing by Darrel T. Langart
The Sound Sweep by J.G. Ballard
Plenitude by Will Worthington
The Man Who Lost the Sea by Theodore Sturgeon
Make a Prison by Lawrence Block
What Now, Little Man? by Mark Clifton
Me by Hilbert Schenck, Jr.

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Another fabulous  package that has made me smile and I look forward to dipping into the Sci Fi short stories very soon!  Which genre would you go for if you subscribed?!

#unboxing My Chronicle Book Box November edition #scifi #fantasy #bookblogger #spoileralert

Book Unboxing alert!!!  A positive side to a dreary, rainy day is the arrival of my latest My Chronicle Book Box ! You can subscribe to 4 boxes a year and choose from Crime & Mystery, or  Sci-Fi and Fantasy!  I go for the latter and every time I receive a box I’m always so impressed with the books chosen, and the gifts also included!!  

So here’s a quick peek as to what made me smile in the November edition – look away now if you’re waiting for your box and don’t want any spoilers!!!

Gorgeous scented Cosy Winter Reads candle –

from Bookworm Candles & Crafts

Stunning poster featuring Rose from Nick Earne’s Bloody Rose book

Artwork created by Felix Ortiz and not available for purchase anywhere else!

 A chapter sample for A BOY AND HIS DOG AT THE END OF THE WORLD by C.A. FLETCHER

new book due for release in the New Year!

And on to the books! You get 3 in each box!! All come with signed bookplates too!! Alongside extra interviews with some of the authors as well!

EARLY RISER by JASPER FFORDE

Very excited to receive this as I had seen it around publication date and thought it looked like ‘my kind of book’ but never got around to buying it!

The new standalone novel from Number 1 bestselling author Jasper Fforde. 

Every Winter, the human population hibernates. 

During those bitterly cold four months, the nation is a snow-draped landscape of desolate loneliness, and devoid of human activity.

Well, not quite.

Your name is Charlie Worthing and it’s your first season with the Winter Consuls, the committed but mildly unhinged group of misfits who are responsible for ensuring the hibernatory safe passage of the sleeping masses.

You are investigating an outbreak of viral dreams which you dismiss as nonsense; nothing more than a quirky artefact borne of the sleeping mind.

When the dreams start to kill people, it’s unsettling.

When you get the dreams too, it’s weird.

When they start to come true, you begin to doubt your sanity.

But teasing truth from Winter is never easy: You have to avoid the Villains and their penchant for murder, kidnapping and stamp collecting, ensure you aren’t eaten by Nightwalkers whose thirst for human flesh can only be satisfied by comfort food, and sidestep the increasingly less-than-mythical WinterVolk.

But so long as you remember to wrap up warmly, you’ll be fine.

ROSEWATER by TADE THOMPSON

Tade Thompson’s Rosewater is the start of an award-winning, cutting edge trilogy set in Nigeria, by one of science fiction’s most engaging new voices.

Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious alien biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry and the helpless—people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumored healing powers.

Kaaro is a government agent with a criminal past. He has seen inside the biodome, and doesn’t care to again—but when something begins killing off others like himself, Kaaro must defy his masters to search for an answer, facing his dark history and coming to a realization about a horrifying future.

BLOODY ROSE by NICHOLAS EAMES

Live fast, die young.

Tam Hashford is tired of working at her local pub, slinging drinks for world-famous mercenaries and listening to the bards sing of adventure and glory in the world beyond her sleepy hometown.

When the biggest mercenary band of all rolls into town, led by the infamous Bloody Rose, Tam jumps at the chance to sign on as their bard. It’s adventure she wants – and adventure she gets as the crew embark on a quest that will end in one of two ways: glory or death.

It’s time to take a walk on the wyld side.

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I’m a very happy bookworm today with all my new books and goodies!!  Now to decide which book to read first……….

HAPPY READING!!

#BookReview Ice by Anna Kavan #RIPXIII

 

Getting out of my comfort zone at the moment and picking up those books that I’ve been too scared to pick up as I’m a big wuss!!  And it’s all thanks to ReadersImbibingPeril who are hosting RIPXIII, the challenge they host to get us to pick up scary books and have fun reading them!

I’ve had this book on my shelves for quite a while so have been reading it over the past few evenings! 

About the book

In this haunting and surreal novel, the narrator and a man known as the warden search for an elusive girl in a frozen, seemingly post-nuclear, apocalyptic landscape. The country has been invaded and is being governed by a secret organization. There is destruction everywhere; great walls of ice overrun the world. Together with the narrator, the reader is swept into a hallucinatory quest for this strange and fragile creature with albino hair. Acclaimed upon its 1967 publication as the best science fiction book of the year, this extraordinary and innovative novel has subsequently been recognized as a major work of literature in its own right. 

MY REVIEW

In this book you are never quite sure what is real! It is extremely surreal and nightmarish! You’re always feeling unsure of what you are about to encounter and that is what keeps you turning the pages.

The ‘chase’ works so well against the bleak background of the Ice bound world that the characters find themselves living in. The narrator is a man who becomes obsessed with this pale girl who he often glimpses but never seems to get close to. Is she real? Is he just mad? I think with this story it’s all open to interpretation and I enjoyed that uncertainty throughout. You could read into it what you wanted! There was no real plotlines to keep track of and you just went where the story took you!  

An interesting and unsettling read!!

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#Unboxing My Chronicle Book Box #August #SciFi #Fantasy #spoileralert

Hello all!  It’s time for another Book Box Unboxing!! And one of my favourites is My Chronicle Book Box  – a selection of books alongside bookish related goodies sent quartely during the year! And you get to choose from Science Fiction & Fantasy OR Crime and Mystery!

About the company

We are a UK based, international supplier of Luxury subscription book boxes.

Reading is our passion and we love working closely with authors, publishers and top quality artisan suppliers. We are confident you will love our boxes, curated with books by the best authors and perfectly combined with luxury bookish gifts!

I’ve subscribed to the Science Fiction & Fantasy box – so here’s my unboxing snaps and a little bit of info about each item!!

Witchsign by Den Patrick

A Limited Edition Proof copy

From celebrated YA author Den Patrick comes WITCHSIGN, the first novel in a fresh and exciting new fantasy trilogy

It has been seventy-five years since the dragons’ rule of fire and arcane magic over Vinkerveld was ended, and the Empire was born. Since, the tyrannical Synod has worked hard to banish all manifestations of the arcane across the lands.

However, children are still born bearing the taint of the arcane, known to all as witchsign. So each year the Emperor sends out his Vigilants across the continent to detect the arcane in these children. Those found tainted are taken, and never seen again. Steiner has always suspected his sister Kjellrunn of bearing witchsign. But when their father’s attempt to protect her from the Invigilation backfires, it is Steiner who is mistakenly taken. However it is not death which awaits Steiner, but an Academy where the children with witchsign learn to master their powers – some at the cost of their lives. Steiner is determined to escape the Academy and protect his sister from this fate.

But powerful enemies await him at every turn, and Steiner finds himself taken on a journey straight into the heart of the Empire’s deepest secrets, which will force him to reconsider everything he has known about witchsign

Rivers of London by Water Weed and Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel

First in the series comic book that ties in with the bestselling Rivers of London novels.

The War in the Dark by Nick Setchfield

Debut novel of the SFX magazine editor.

A genre-defying page turner that fuses thriller and speculative fiction with dark fantasy in a hidden world in the heart of Cold War Europe. 

Europe. 1963. And the true Cold War is fought on the borders of this world, at the edges of the light.

When the assassination of a traitor trading with the enemy goes terribly wrong, British Intelligence agent Christopher Winter must flee London. In a tense alliance with a lethal, mysterious woman named Karina Lazarova, he’s caught in a quest for hidden knowledge from centuries before, an occult secret written in a language of fire. A secret that will give supremacy to the nation that possesses it.

Racing against the Russians, the chase takes them from the demon-haunted Hungarian border to treasure-laden tunnels beneath Berlin, from an impossible house in Vienna to a bomb-blasted ruin in Bavaria where something unholy waits, born of the power of white fire and black glass . . .

It’s a world of treachery, blood and magic. A world at war in the dark.

Engraved wooden coaster

Game of Thrones merchandise makes me a happy girl so was very pleased to see this included!

Storyteller Pencils

Fab set of pencils designed and manufactured by https://www.ustudio.design/ .  With literary slogans on the side of each pencil including ‘ In A Galaxy Far, Far, Away’, ‘It Was A Dark and Stormy Night’, and  ‘Once Upon a Time’ to name just a few!

The Soldier by Neal Asher

With a signed bookplate and exclusive interview!

In a far corner of space, on the very borders between humanity’s Polity worlds and the kingdom of the vicious crab-like prador, is an immediate threat to all sentient life: an accretion disc, a solar system designed by the long-dead Jain race and swarming with living technology powerful enough to destroy entire civilizations.

Neither the Polity or the prador want the other in full control of the disc, so they’ve placed an impartial third party in charge of the weapons platform guarding the technology from escaping into the galaxy: Orlandine, a part-human, part-AI haiman. She’s assisted by Dragon, a mysterious, spaceship-sized alien entity who has long been suspicious of Jain technology and who suspects the disc is a trap lying-in-wait.

Meanwhile, the android Angel is planning an attack on the Polity, and is searching for a terrible weapon to carry out his plans?a Jain super-soldier. But what exactly the super-soldier is, and what it could be used for if it fell into the wrong hands, will bring Angel and Orlandine’s missions to a head in a way that could forever change the balance of power in the Polity universe.

In The Soldier, British science fiction writer Neal Asher kicks off another Polity-based trilogy in signature fashion, concocting a mind-melting plot filled with far-future technology, lethal weaponry, and bizarre alien creations.

A Discovery of Witches Print

Exclusive print designed for My Chronicle Book Box by Beth at Eyes of a Fangirl over at Etsy!

 

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I’ve loved unboxing the August edition of My Chronicle Book Box so hope you’ve enjoyed peeking inside the box too! Have you read any of these books? I’m intrigued to find out what was in the Crime & Mystery edition too so if you got that I’d love to hear about it!

 

HAPPY READING!!

Top 5 Tuesday – Science Fiction!

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Shanah at BionicBookWorm, to explore a wide range of topics in the bookish world! 

And this week the topic is your Top 5 Science Fiction Reads!  I’ve definitely increased the number of sci-fi books picked up recently as I used to be quite scared of them thinking they’d be too ‘out there’ or over my head! But there’s such a wide variety of science fiction explored now in books that it has lured me over to the dark side!!

Here’s my favourites off the top of my head!

The Long Way to  a small angry planet by Becky Chambers

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Station Eleven by Emily St.John Mandel

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Power by Naomi Alderman

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My Chronicle Book Box – unboxing!

My first experience with the My Chronicle Book Box has arrived!! It was delivered all safe and sound yesterday and I thought I’d share my unboxing for those of you interested in Book Subscription Services!

My Chronicle Book Box is a unique reading box curated in the UK every three months containing the latest literary releases from your chosen genre and a selection of beautifully crafted associated items, exclusive to My Chronicle whenever possible.   It gives you the option of choosing a package to suit your reading tastes – so there’s a Crime & Mystery option, or Science Fiction & Fantasy and the SFF option is what I went for!

So here’s a little look at what I got in my box – look away if you don’t want any spoilers!!

All books wrapped up!

   A fab Peter Pan brooch!

     Cool bookmark and fab Harry Potter pin!!

  Love this Hobbit Print!

And onto the books!!

                     

   Freedom by Margaret Atwood

  Can we ever be wholly free? In this book of breathtaking imaginary leaps that conjure dystopias and magical islands, Margaret Atwood holds a mirror up to our own world. The reflection we are faced with, of men and women in prisons literal and metaphorical, is frightening, but it is also a call to arms to speak and to act to preserve our freedom while we still can. And in that, there is hope.

Selected from The Handmaid’s Tale and Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood.

VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.

  The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

with a signed bookplate!

How do you stop a murder that’s already happened?

At a gala party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed–again. She’s been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. Doomed to repeat the same day over and over, Aiden’s only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder and conquer the shadows of an enemy he struggles to even comprehend–but nothing and no one are quite what they seem.

Deeply atmospheric and ingeniously plotted, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a highly original debut that will appeal to fans of Kate Atkinson and Agatha Christie.

   The Parentations by Kate Mayfield

                       with signed bookplate!

Eighteenth-century London and the lives of the sisters Fitzgerald, Constance and Verity, become entwined with the nearby Fowler household. For Clovis Fowler,whose unearthly Nordic beauty belies a ruthless thirst for power, and husband Finn, a Limehouse thief, have agreed to provide safe harbour to a mysterious baby.
The puzzling phenomenon binding them close arose unexpectedly from deep within the savage but beautiful landscape of Iceland, where a hidden pool of water grants those who drink from it endless life. But those who sip from the waterfall discover all too quickly that immortality is no gift.
To preserve the life of this strange baby from those who wish him harm means that all concerned must remain undiscovered for more than two hundred years. And, as the centuries creep thither, one in their enclave proves more menacing than those who pursue them. Worse, the life-giving pool that sustains them all, runs dry…

 interviews with both authors!

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Call me impressed!!  Even though I have already read The Seven Deaths I’m delighted to have a copy now of the beautiful hardback – with signature! – and I love the range of goodies alongside a fab range of books! The Parentations is a book I’d never heard of but it sounds pretty amazing so hoping to settle down with that soon! Can’t wait for the next box to arrive now!!!