Apr. 17th, 2010

The Blurb On The Back:

An isolated, struggling fishing village, inward-looking and increasingly dependent on the outside world for its survival.

And then at dawn, one early-summer morning, the fifteen-year-old Sarah Carr witnesses a group of mermaids, and immediately that small, suspicious world is divided between those of its inhabitants desperate to regard this sighting as their salvation, as something to be advertised and exploited; and those who understand only too well the ridicule, pity and contempt this might equally swiftly bring down upon them.

All now depends on somehow verifying what Sarah Carr says she saw, and over the course of those few overheated days, the whole world appears in turmoil – a place of scarcely-believable wonders and possibilities; a place of squandered opportunities, and of tawdry and regrettable compromises.

And for those few tumultuous, alarming days a natural balance is irretrievably lost, and the whole village, with the girl immovable and unflinching at its centre, struggles to regain that balance and to ensure that that which might secure and safeguard its future – the sighting of the mythical creatures themselves – does not now, ultimately lead to its destruction from within.


The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

A slow-paced, sad and thought-provoking novella that leaves you with unanswered questions that linger for a while. This was published in a limited print run but it’s worth trying to track down a copy.
The Blurb On The Back:

”He could not fight the feeling that there was something seeping slowly from the well and hanging in the air above it.”


When Ryan and his friends are caught stranded and penniless late one evening, they steal some coins from a well for their bus fare home. Soon after, strange things begin to happen. Peculiar marks tingle on Ryan’s knuckles, light bulbs mysteriously explode and a terrified Chelle starts speaking words that aren’t her own.

Then the well witch appears, with her fountains for eyes and gargled demands. From now on, the friends must serve her – and the wishes that lie rotting at the bottom of her well.


The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

This is a wonderful, weird, gripping and macabre story with interesting characters, wonderful set pieces and a dark underbelly. Definitely worth a look.
The Blurb On The Back:

In the wake of their blissful sojourn in the city of Lamentable Moll, the intrepid sorcerers Bauchelain and Korbal Broach – along with their newly hired manservant, Emancipor Reese – have set out on the wide open seas aboard the sturdy Suncurl.

Alas there’s more baggage in the hold than meets the beady eyes of Suncurl’s hapless crew, and once on the cursed sea-lane known as Laughter’s End – the Red Road in which flows the blood of an Elder God – unseemly terrors are prodded awake, to the understated dismay of all.

It is said that it is not the destination that counts, but the journey itself. Such a noble, worthy sentiment. Aye, it is the journey that counts, especially when what counts is horror, murder, mischance and mayhem. For Bauchelain, Korbal Broach and Emancipor Reese, it is of course just one more night on the high seas, on a journey without end – and that counts for a lot.


The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Apart from a particularly offensive rape scene, it’s an okay novella with a slim story but plenty of action.

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