Modern day London: home to a vibrant mix of cultures, faiths, and hipster coffee shops. And, in Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series, also home to gods and goddesses, the fae, ghosts of past London, and the terrifying spirit of Mr Punch from the Punch & Judy puppet show. Really it’s not surprising that the Met Police need their own magic division to cope with a city where any building could embody the spirit of a 2500 year old anglo-roman who got worshipped as a […]
Twas the night before Hogswatch
It’s the night before Hogswatch and the Hogfather is missing. Without him delivering presents the little children will lose their belief and without it the sun will not come up. This calls for the intervention of one man – Death (well… one anthropomorphic personification anyway) – to masquerade as the Hogfather and help restore faith that the light will return. Yes, it’s a Discworld novel, buried midway through the series and featuring everybody’s favourite Grim Reaper. We’re also reunited with his grand-daughter Susan (currently acting […]
The Belgariad: Not all tropes are bad
The Belgariad is a series of five books written by David Eddings starting with Pawn of Prophecy in 1982. I discovered the first in the summer of 1985 as an 12 year old on my last day of vacation and by the time I was home the next day I’d already finished it. This included reading in a car and feeling sick as a result but I couldn’t bring myself to put the book down. Luckily the whole series was out by then so I […]
Discovering the Little Prince
Having never read this as a child I came across this book on Amazon and decided it was time I acquainted myself with The Little Prince. I am now very glad that I met him. This is a book that I think can be read by anyone of any age, and people will take different things away based upon their age and experience of life. It can be read as a simple story of an explorer who meets a young boy in the desert and […]