A Ladder to the Sky

John Boyne at his best. An unusual look at the world of publishing.

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Book description

You’ve heard the old proverb about ambition, that it’s like setting a ladder to the sky. It can lead to a long and painful fall.

If you look hard enough, you will find stories pretty much anywhere. They don’t even have to be your own. Or so would-be-novelist Maurice Swift decides early on in his career.

A chance encounter in a Berlin hotel with celebrated author Erich Ackerman gives Maurice an opportunity. For Erich is lonely, and he has a story to tell; whether or not he should is another matter.

Once Maurice has made his name, he finds himself in need of a fresh idea. He doesn’t care where he finds it, as long as it helps him rise to the top. Stories will make him famous, but they will also make him beg, borrow and steal. They may even make him do worse.

This is a novel about ambition.

My review -

The title of this totally engrossing book comes from the saying that ambition is like trying to set a ladder to the sky – a pointless waste of energy. I found this story of literary ambition never less than gripping and in places it sideswiped me and appeared to change direction. It didn’t, though, and I continued to be appalled by the actions of the man whose story this really is. It’s a study in self-delusion and self-justification. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

About the author

John Boyne was born in Ireland in 1971. The winner of three Irish Book Awards, he is the author of eleven novels for adults, five for younger readers and a collection of short stories. The international bestseller The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was made into a Miramax feature film and has sold more than six million copies worldwide. His novels are published in over fifty languages. He lives in Dublin.

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Just a thought 

The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who doesn't know how to read. 
― Benjamin Franklin

Recursion

What a story. I absolutely loved it.

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Book description

What if someone could rewrite your entire life?

‘My son has been erased.’

Those are the last words the woman tells Barry Sutton before she leaps from the Manhattan rooftop.

Deeply unnerved, Barry begins to investigate her death only to learn that this wasn’t an isolated case. All across the country, people are waking up to lives different from the ones they fell asleep to. Are they suffering from False Memory Syndrome, a mysterious, new disease that afflicts people with vivid memories of a life they never lived? Or is something far more sinister behind the fracturing of reality all around him?

Miles away, neuroscientist Helena Smith is developing a technology that allows us to preserve our most intense memories and relive them. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss or the birth of a child.

Barry’s search for the truth leads him on an impossible, astonishing journey as he discovers that Helena’s work has yielded a terrifying gift . . .

My review -

I adored Dark Matter and wasn’t convinced that the author could meet, let alone better it. Recursion looks at the mysteries of memory and reality. We end up in a kind of manic Groundhog Day of relived past experiences. Danger drives the story as we see an apocalyptic ending in sight each time. This becomes frustrating to the characters and, in its own way, to the reader as I couldn’t envisage any way in which the cycle of effort and failure could be solved. It happened and it was a most mind-stretching and satisfying experience. Another five stars from me.

About the author

Blake Crouch is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. His novels include the New York Times bestseller Dark Matter, and the internationally bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy, which was adapted into a television series for FOX. Crouch also created the TNT show Good Behavior, based on his Letty Dobesh novellas. His latest book is Recursion, a sci-fi thriller about memory, and was June 2019. He lives in Colorado.

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Just a thought

Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled ‘This could change your life’. 
― Helen Exley

The Daughters of Ironbridge

This is the first in a historical family saga and I'll definitely be reading more.

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Book description

Anny Woodvine's family has worked at the ironworks for as long as she can remember. The brightest child in her road, Anny has big dreams. So, when she is asked to run messages for the King family, she grabs the opportunity with both hands.

Margaret King is surrounded by privilege and wealth. But behind closed doors, nothing is what it seems. When Anny arrives, Margaret finds her first ally and friend. Together they plan to change their lives.

But as disaster looms over the ironworks, Margaret and Anny find themselves surrounded by secrets and betrayal. Can they hold true to each other and overcome their fate? Or are they destined to repeat the mistakes of the past?

My review

I was drawn to this book because it’s set in an area I’m fond of, the Ironbridge Gorge. It’s the first book in a family saga and I’ll certainly be in the queue to read the others. There are plenty of characters, both appealing and nasty, in a busy and active story line. The writing flows beautifully and there’s lots of tension and many difficulties for the two friends, Anny and Margaret, separated as they are by class and wealth, as the story unfolds. I enjoyed it very much.

About the author

Rebecca Mascull is the author of three historical novels and also writes saga fiction under the pen-name Mollie Walton. 

She is currently hard at work on her next trilogy of historical fiction, The Ironbridge Saga. These will be published under the name of Mollie Walton and the first book in the series is set in the dangerous world of the iron industry: THE DAUGHTERS OF IRONBRIDGE.
Her first novel THE VISITORS (2014) tells the story of Adeliza Golding, a deaf-blind child living on her father's hop farm in Victorian Kent. Her second novel SONG OF THE SEA MAID (2015) is set in the C18th and concerns an orphan girl who becomes a scientist and makes a remarkable discovery. Her third novel, THE WILD AIR (2017) is about a shy Edwardian girl who learns to fly and becomes a celebrated aviatrix but the shadow of war is looming. All are published by Hodder & Stoughton.

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Just a thought 

No furniture is so charming as books.
― Sydney Smith 

Transformation Protocol

David Kelly's third Joe Ballen book is a triumph. Even better than the first two which I really enjoyed.

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Book description

With his life crumbling around him, Joe Ballen is close to going out in a blaze, fueled by cheap alcohol and self-hatred. But when something “out there” starts destroying spaceships and stations, the only JumpShip available to investigate is the Shokasta—locked away by Joe in an attempt to get justice for his family.

But when an old friend offers him the chance to return to space in the hunt for a missing ship, it proves more complicated than either of them imagined. With all sides of the political spectrum looking to grab a piece of the newly explored star systems, Joe soon realizes that some people will go to any lengths to get what they want, and are willing to sacrifice anyone in the process.

And when Joe’s past catches up with him in a way he couldn’t have seen coming, he must battle enemies new and old as well as his own inner demons.

The Joe Ballen series is a near future, sci-fi noir thriller series, featuring a smart-mouthed space engineer, engaging characters, cynical humor, and plausible science.

My review 

This is the third Joe Ballen novel and, for me, the most exciting yet. Joe is in a personal decline, divorced as he is from Dollie, whom nobody else can replace. He and his long-time friend are on a mission (in a craft Joe effectively stole) to search for the remains of a craft, and an atoll, that disappeared. I found this book had an edge-of-the-seat immediacy for me, probably because I know the characters better now. There’s a fair bit of humour in it but the world created by David Kelly is horribly believable – tension between two groups and another faction trying to stir up war. A treat for sci-fi lovers.

About the author

David M. Kelly writes fast-paced, near future sci-fi thrillers with engaging characters, cynical humour, and plausible science. He is the author of the Joe Ballen series and the short story collection Dead Reckoning And Other Stories. He has been published in Canadian SF magazine Neo-opsis.

Originally from the wild and woolly region of Yorkshire, England, David emigrated to Canada in 2005 and settled in Northern Ontario with his patient and supportive wife, Hilary. Foot surgery in 2014 temporarily curtailed many of his favourite activities - hiking, camping, piloting his own personal starfighter (otherwise known as a Corvette ZR-1). But on the plus side, it meant a transition from the world of IT into life as a full-time writer--an opportunity he grasped enthusiastically.

David is passionate about science, especially astronomy and physics, and is a rabid science news follower. Never short of an opinion, David writes about science and technology on his blog davidmkelly.net. He has supported various charity projects such as the Smithsonian's Reboot The Suit and the Lowell Observatory Pluto Telescope Restoration. He also contributes to citizen science projects such as SETI@home

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Just a thought

Reading is that fruitful miracle of a communication in the midst of solitude.
― Proust-M

Treble Clef

A new Harrogate murder mystery from  Malcolm Hollingdrake is a guaranteed good story.

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Book description

Harrogate attracts hundreds of players to the annual Games Convention and for one player it is the perfect opportunity to kill by the mechanics of his own sinister game. Each victim will die in the same way. Each will be classed as the loser and their time will have run out. The escape room and the game table will draw more, each believing they are invincible. However, in every game there is always a traitor waiting in the wings. The latest in the bestselling Harrogate Crime Series.

My review 

Bodies in B&B room, with slit throats. There’s a tie-in with a gaming convention in Harrogate. This is the sort of story where I think I know what’s happening, where it’s going and who’s behind it and I’m glad to say I was wrong. It was more complex than I thought, even involving, peripherally, a member of the aristocracy with strange tastes and no scruples. We delve deeper into Cyril’s own personal life, too, which will please long time readers of this series. A jolly good Harrogate yarn.

About the author

You could say that the writing was clearly on the wall for someone born in a library that they might aspire to be an author, but to get to that point Malcolm Hollingdrake has travelled a circuitous route.

Malcolm worked in education for many years, even teaching for a period in Cairo before he started writing, a challenge he had longed to tackle for more years than he cares to remember. 

Born in Bradford and spending three years at Ripon College, Malcolm has never lost his love for his home county, a passion that is reflected in the settings for all the DCI Bennett novels However, as well as the Bennett series he is writing a new series set in Merseyside.

Malcolm has enjoyed many hobbies including collecting works by Northern artists; the art auctions offer a degree of excitement when both buying and certainly when selling. It is a hobby he has bestowed upon DCI Cyril Bennett, the main character in his successful Bennett series.

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Just a thought

Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
― P. J. O'Rourke

Queen of the Warrior Bees

A story for young adults but equally good reading for any age.

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Book description

One misfit girl and 50,000 bees. Together they must change the world. As the Mages of the Citadel fight amongst themselves and prepare for war against the Forest, Mielitta, a despised servant, has her own battle to face. Bastien and Jannlou, the boys who terrorised her as a child, have grown into their status as Mages and she cannot escape them forever. 
   In desperation, she flees to the forbidden Forest and its dangerous attractions. Her scent angers thousands of bees and, although she survives their attack, she has changed. A strange bee symbol glows on her thigh and her senses are altered. She learns that her connection with bees enables her to summon their aid and gives her the power to shift shape. 
   This new-found bond works both ways and the bees need Mielitta's help as the rift widens between Forest and Citadel. Can one girl and a colony of bees reunite Man and Nature, or is the split irreversible? 
Block Nature out and she'll force a way in. 


My review

This tale has much in it to enjoy, based as it is on classical fairy story themes. Mielitta, a girl of unknown parentage, grows into her powers. The Citadel in which she lives is sealed from the outside world and its forest. She finds her way outside, meets the bees, and her true life begins. This world is carefully crafted with a believable history. Mielitta herself is a wonderful combination of well-intentioned and anger-fuelled. She has much to be angry about and proves more than adequate to the battle that confronts her. I really enjoyed this first part of a series. It’s obvious that there’ll be more yet this story ended not on a cliff edge but a high point.

About the author


Jean Gill is a Welsh writer and photographer living in the south of France with two scruffy dogs, a beehive named 'Endeavour', a Nikon D750 and a man. For many years, she taught English and was the first woman to be a secondary headteacher in Wales. She is mother or stepmother to five children so life was hectic.
Publications are varied, including prize-winning poetry and novels, military history, translated books on dog training, and a cookery book on goat cheese. With Scottish parents, an English birthplace and French residence, she can usually support the winning team on most sporting occasions.

Just a thought

Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river ― Lisa See,

The Brotherhood

First Jo Fenton novel I've read and I would certainly go back for another.

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Book description

The Brotherhood – safe haven or prison?

After her parents’ sudden death, a grieving Melissa falls back on her faith and into the welcoming arms of a religious sect. Captivated by their leader, Dominic, she leaves her old life behind and moves to the countryside to join them.

But life in The Brotherhood is not as safe as it first appeared. When engineer Mark joins The Brotherhood, Melissa finds herself conflicted between her growing feelings for him and her crush on Dominic. With their leader's initial encouragement, Melissa and Mark grow close.

But as her haven becomes a prison, Melissa's newfound happiness is destroyed by Dominic’s jealousy. How can she escape and save the ones she loves?

My review -

This book tackles the difficult subjects of charisma, power, manipulation and faith. Melissa finds herself in difficult circumstances and accepts an invitation to stay with The Brotherhood. Their leader, Dominic, introduces her and she’s in at the deep end. I found myself thinking the story was far-fetched till I remembered how many people are manipulated by someone they look up to. Eventually, they are harmed, but unable or unwilling to leave or fight back. I found Melissa’s struggle, together with those of the friends she made, also seemingly trapped in the Brotherhood, very engaging. Would she exert herself or would she, and all of them, remain in the power of a dominating madman? Read it and find out. It’s very good.

About the author


Jo Fenton grew up in Hertfordshire. She devoured books from an early age, particularly enjoying adventure books, school stories and fantasy. She wanted to be a scientist from aged six after being given a wonderful book titled "Science Can Be Fun". At eleven, she discovered Agatha Christie and Georgette Heyer, and now has an eclectic and much loved book collection cluttering her home office.
Jo combines an exciting career in Clinical Research with an equally exciting but very different career as a writer of psychological thrillers.
When not working, she runs (very slowly), and chats to lots of people. She lives in Manchester with her husband, two sons, a Corgi and a tankful of tropical fish. She is an active and enthusiastic member of two writing groups and a reading group.

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Just a thought -

Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book.
― Bill Watterson,