At long last, the fourth book in Somtow's remarkable trilogy about the real life slave boy who became Empress of Rome under Emperor Nero (quite literally).
Thorough, unbiased, mostly spoiler free reviews of the books I happen to read. Strangely popular in Czechia on Tuesdays...
Friday, 18 July 2025
Number 41- Memoriae- SP Somtow
Saturday, 5 July 2025
Number 40- BRZRKR vol 2- Keanu Reeves et al
More of Keanu Reeves imagining himself as an eternal assassin with more blood lust than the entire Mongol hordes.
The artwork is pretty damned good and suits the megaviolence of the story.
Everything I said about volume one still applies here. From reading China Mieville's novelisation of this series, I have a good idea where it's headed and I'm looking forward to continuing.
Number 39- A Song for Quiet- Cassandra Khaw
This is the follow up to Hammers On Bone which I read last year and greatly enjoyed.
This one is even better.
Deacon James is a blues musician travelling across America in search of gigs. He also has something inside him that could be very dangerous indeed. He produces music that can change the world around him and not for the better, music that produces visions of empty and melting faces, gaping mouths and grasping tendrils rising from the pits of some hell dimension.
He's being followed by an apparent madman called Jim Persons- who we the reader will recognise as the narrator of Hammers and Bone.
Will Jim be able to help Deacon and maybe even save the world as we know it?
The way Khaw writes about his music is almost physical. I could almost hear the discordant melodies Deacon was playing. His visions were equally evocative and nightmarish.
I raced through this book in one day, partly because it's short, but mainly because Khaw's prose grabs you by the throat and rags you at breakneck pace through to the end of the story. This is almost a flawless novella. I am in the process of gathering all her back catalogue into my collection, and enjoying every minute of it. I might give Nothing but Blackened Teeth a reread to see if I enjoy it more now I'm more used to Khaw's writing style.
Number 38- Miss Benson's Beetle- Rachel Joyce
Talk about a change of pace. From the dark gritty historical horror of Otessa Moshfegh, to the whimsical ramblings of Rachel Joyce