This book is 14 years old, I am, as ever, late to the party. I am also a latecomer to Terry Pratchett (still haven’t read any of the big series, but I’ve read a few others and they’re great), but I’m learning. The combination of Pratchett and Gaiman is brilliant, and it’s a shame they haven’t done more together. So, anyway, satan’s son is born in Oxfordshire. There’s a mix up at the hospital, and the little anti-christ goes home with the wrong family. He’s […]
Heading down the Norwegian crime story Hole
Everyone says that if you like crime fiction, murder mysteries, and the like, then definitely check out Norwegian crime fiction. And Jo Nesbo is one of the best in the business (or so I’m told). His main character is Oslo detective Harry Hole. Apparently American and English publishers decided to start translating the books that came later in the series first (set in Oslo), for whatever reason. However, this was the first book – and Harry has travelled from Oslo to Sydney to investigate the […]
Finally a Philippa Gregory book I actually enjoyed
Young Jewish girl Hannah Verde flees the Inquisition in Spain with her father after her mother is burned for heresy. They travel through Europe to England, calling themselves “Green” and making a new life for themselves as loyal Christians. Hannah´s father has a printing press and soon his skilled work comes to the attention of scholars like John Dee. While John Dee is visiting their print shop with his patron, Lord Robert Dudley, Hannah has one of her visions, seeing an angel over their shoulder. […]
Being a Russian Countess seems to help when rebuilding one´s life during the 20th Century
3.5 stars Zoya Ossupov, a young noblewoman, second cousin to the Tsar himself, lives a sheltered life of luxury in St. Petersburg. When the revolution breaks out, Zoya´s grandmother, who has seen which way the wind was blowing, bundles up the many garments they´ve sown jewellery into and Zoya and they flee the country through Finland. Having lost her father, mother and elder brother in only a few days and worrying about the safety of her cousins the Romanovs, who were placed in house arrest […]