HEMLOCK JONES & THE ANGEL OF DEATH.

HEMLOCK JONES & THE ANGEL OF DEATH by JUSTIN CARROLL.

"I understand that you were intending on visiting another address, but please let me assure you that you've come to the right place.

The gentleman you were looking for is out of town, and I am certain that I will be able to help you.

I am Hemlock Jones, Demystifier."

Ten doors down from the home of a world famous ‘consulting detective’ lives twelve-year-old Hemlock Jones, and her recently arrived housemate and unwitting companion, Edward Whitlow.

Hemlock and Edward’s investigations will lead them all over Victorian London, uncovering bizarre and deadly foes, figures from Hemlock’s hidden past, and a plot to take over the city ...

Hemlock Jones & The Angel of Death is the first of the Hemlock Jones Chronicles, a series of detective adventures for children and adults, set in Victorian London.

- Back Cover Blurb

"Is this your first time dining at The Fern?"

- First sentence, Before My Involvement

She had pulled up the dented tin plate of the soldier's face and was looking intently at what looked, to me, like the internal workings of a rather complicated clock.

- Memorable Moment, Page 40

SOURCE: Received from the author with thanks.

READ FOR: Not applicable.

MY THOUGHTS: A twelve year old girl demystifier? 

Hmm, you may well be sceptical but as Hemlock herself informs us ..

What these adults don't understand is that children like us can get in almost anywhere ...

I love good strong female leads and Hemlock Jones is no exception. Determined, resourceful if a little  opinionated and haughty. A great rival to Sherlock himself, altogether I thought her both a wonderful character and role model. Edward, her side-kick, the Watson to her Holmes, a somewhat reluctant partner in crime. It's refreshing to see the girls on top. 

Then there's the case. I won't say too much for fear of a spoiler but, with its mysterious and seemingly deadly apparition and clockwork assassins, what's not to like?

A great first outing, Hemlock Jones & The Angel Of Death is definitely up there as one of my favourite reads of 2017, in what I hope to be many adventures. I loved the whimsical writing and how the author brought to life not only his not quite teenage protagonists but also Victorian London

THE CLOCKWORK DARK TRILOGY: BOOKS 2 & 3.

You may remember my raving about the first book in this series, J.C. Bemis Proudly Presents The Mystifying Medicine Show, by Jean Claude Bemis way back in September. Well, we've finally managed to track down the other two books that conclude the trilogy (please click on book title for synopsis but be warned they do contain some spoilers). 

Presents from MR T. My goodness were they difficult to track down. I've noticed that though The White City is now listed on amazon.co.uk (which it wasn't at the time), The Wolf Tree still isn't and neither book is listed on amazon.com. 

THE WOLF TREE.

Flickers of emerald buds were emerging on the mountainside.

- First Sentence, Chapter 1: Shuckstack

Ray knew a number of hoodoo spells that could over-power or at least persuade the man to leave them alone. But they all required Black Sampson root or coffin nails or any number of items he didn't have on him.

-Memorable Moment, page 118

MY THOUGHTS ... So often overshadowed by the first and second, the beginning and end in any trilogy, and yet my favourite of all three books. 

The author's world building just got better (and believe me it was pretty exceptional in the first book, J.C. Bemis Proudly Presents The Mystifying Medicine Show), the American 'tall tales combined with other myths and legends (there was definitely some Norse mythology in there unless I'm very much mistaken) had me itching to read up on them and, oh my goodness, those characters. Those introduced in the first book went from strength to strength with some of my favourites playing a much larger part as the story was told not only through the eyes of Ray but also several others (including one who came as quite a surprise) and as for the new ones? Well, lets just say I loved Quorl, his fight to keep his humanity as he travelled in search of the dying Wolf Tree (surely a nod towards Yggdrasil, Tree of Life) compelling in itself.

THE WHITE CITY.

Buck rode behind the killer Stacker Lee.

- First Sentence, Chapter 1: Chicago

From their high vantage, the clockwork monster looked more like a pacing bull. The ground crackled with frost under its heavy paws. The cold drifted up on the breeze. As the Hoarhound neared the trunk of their tree, it stopped and sniffed the ground. 

- Memorable Moment, page 125

MY THOUGHTS ... Not a series you can dip in and out of at whim, as with most trilogies The Clockwork Dark books must be read in order. 

Marketed as being particularly suitable for those aged 8 to 13, as an adult I can testify this is just as worthy a read for those a lot older. And personally I'd regard the series as being more suitable for the upper age limit and above and because of some of the content would advise caution for younger or more sensitive readers.

Set partly in the 1883 World Fair, I thought the historical context combined with the fantastical a work of genius. The characters, flawed enough to give them depth. And that's just the 'goodies' ... the 'baddies', delightfully evil. I found myself not just curious about what would become of Ray and co but actually losing sleep needing to know. The multiple plot lines coming together nicely, all wrapped up in, what else but an exciting battle between good and evil. Yes, I think it fair to say this is a series  I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish.

HIS DARK MATERIALS TRILOGY.

A box set of three books, I've chosen to review each book separately. For the full synopsis of each of the books please click on its title.

HIS DARK MATERIALS TRILOGY by PHILIP PULLMAN. 

SOURCE: Belonging to Mr T, they came off our shelves.

READ FOR ... Books 21 to 23 of 24 read for the Mount TBR 2017 Challenge as well as the What's In A Name 2017 Challenge: Northern Lights for the book With A Compass Direction in the title category, The Subtle Knife for the book With An Item Of Cutlery in the title category which means I have now completed all six categories.

NORTHERN LIGHTS (Otherwise published as The Golden Compass).

Lyra and her dæmon moved through the darkening Hall, taking care to keep to one side, out of sight of the kitchen.

- First Sentence, Part One: Oxford, Chapter 1: The Decanter of Tokay

"Oh, this was the seventeenth century. Symbols and emblems were everywhere. Buildings and pictures were designed to be read like books.

- Memorable moment, page 173

MY THOUGHTS ... Ah! Where to begin?

Lacking any substantial characterisation. To me there was just something flat about about the characters, I guess for a book just short of 400 pages I expected more growth.

As for the world building ...

Oh dear! There were so many aspects of this story that didn't really seem to lead anywhere, at times it was almost as if any sense of direction, of purpose, was sacrificed to dramatic effect. But to me worst of all, too much of Pullman's world resonated with our own, making for what I thought of as lazy writing.

However, the main thing I took away from Northern Lights was a feeling of utter confusion - were the dæmons actually the character's inner voices of what was right and wrong and that was why they changed until the individual reached adulthood?  Was I missing something obvious? Was I was looking for something that wasn't there? I just didn't know.

THE SUBTLE KNIFE.

Will tugged at his mother's hands and said, "Come on, come on ...'

- First Sentence, Chapter 1: The Cat and the Hornbeam Trees 

He saw a ring of silver and turquoise, a Navajo design, he saw it clearly and he recognized it as his mother's, he knew its weight and the smoothness of the stone and the way the silversmith had folded the metal over more closely at the corner where the stone was chipped, and he knew the chipped corner had worn smooth, because he had run his fingers over it many, many times, years and years ago in his boyhood in the sagelands of his native country.

- Memorable Moment, page 221 

MY THOUGHTS ... Hoping to come away with some answers. Alas as with Northern Lights I came away from this, the second instalment, with the same sense of confusion and NOW was also left wondering if the two main protagonists, Lyra and Will, are metaphors for Adam and Eve.     

I suppose I have at least come away from The Subtle Knife having finally vaguely invested in at least one of the characters (I kind of like Will), a distinct improvement from the last book.  

The world building however hasn't improved any. Gone are the 'gyptians', gone are the 'panserbjörne' - a trifle odd when so much time was devoted to them and their cultures in Northern Lights. Hey-ho! I suppose we now at least have gay angels, an interesting addition I thought.

Summed up ...

I think I may have stopped reading here if Mr T hadn't urged me to carry on, convincing me that all became clear in the third book, The Amber Spyglass.   

THE AMBER SPYGLASS.

In a valley with rhododendrons, close to the snow line, where a stream milky with melt-water splashed and where doves and linnets flew among the immense pines, lay a cave, half-hidden by the crag above and the stiff heavy leaves that clustered below.

- First Sentence, Chapter 1: The Enchanted Sleeper    

She was tall, naked, winged, and her lined face was older than any living creature Mrs Coulter had ever seen.

- Memorable Moment, Page 219        

MY THOUGHTS ... Having read the previous two books, Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife, and come away from both totally confused the thousand dollar question (shouldn't that be thousand pound question given that I'm here in the UK?) is ...

Do I now get the books?

In short, yes .... and no. Like the Narnia books with their Christian analogy, whilst I now get that these are their 'anti-religion counterpart', I do however think I may well have enjoyed all three that little bit more if I'd taken them at face value.

Whilst previously it was the world building (or lack there of) that I found particularly vexing. With The Amber Spyglass it was the characters, and in particular Lyra, that I found irksome. Never a character I took to to begin with, now 'grown up' I was hoping to see her go from strength to strength instead of which she (when actually conscious) became increasingly submissive to Will. Then there was Mrs Coulter ... bad, good, bad and so on, totally inconsistent, I lost track of the number of U-turns her character took. Oh and then there were the characters whose only purpose seemed to be to explain things before disappearing.

Taken together as a box-set, I'm glad I read all three 'books' one after the other and not just because not so memorable that events would not have been forgotten between readings BUT (and I'm still trying to get my own head around just what I mean by this) I'm not convinced that rather than treat as three individual books they should be treat as one.

(THE CLOCKWORK DARK #1): J.C. BEMIS PROUDLY PRESENTS THE MYSTIFYING MEDICINE SHOW.

J.C. BEMIS PROUDLY PRESENTS THE MYSTIFYING MEDICINE SHOW* by JOHN CLAUDE BEMIS.

BACK COVER BLURB: Orphan Ray has been separated from his sister. The only clue to finding her is a lodestone left to him by his father before he vanished. The lodestone tugs Ray towards a medicine show train bursting with astounding characters.

But something dark is following the train. Something that wants to steal people's spirits. How long before Ray realises it? And can he and his new friends do anything to stop it?

FIRST SENTENCE {CHAPTER 1: THE ORPHAN TRAIN}: The age of trains had come.

MEMORABLE RANDOM MOMENT{PAGE 77}: Ray raised an eyebrow. 'Did you just speak to your snake?'

'So?' Marisol lifted the fat viper, caressing him like a pet Pomeranian.

SOURCE: Ex-library stock.

READ FOR: The 17th of 24 books read for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2017.

MY THOUGHTS: Fun, action packed, a terrific ensemble of superheroes; both male and female and African-American (not much represented in this genre in my experience), wonderful world building, the type of book that makes you want to read up on the legend that inspire the story. 

American folklore meets steampunk, a sideshow peopled by the unexpected (the majority of them children of former 'Ramblers'), an ancient evil, the re-building of a monstrous machine fed by ... Aah! That would be telling, you'll have to read the book for yourself. 

Seriously though, if the thought of Hoodoo (Folk Magic), a siren, a pirate queen and the like, of what would happen if the legend of John Henry wasn't, well, just a story - to say nothing of all of the other elements (the rise of the railways, alienation, friendship, acceptance etc) that go to make this one of my favourite reads of 2017 - piques your interest then chances are you are in for a real treat.

* The first book in a trilogy (I'm delighted to have finally managed to get hold of the other two books). Largely published as The Nine Hundred Pound Hammer. As I cannot find a link on Amazon.co.uk to the book no matter its title, today I'm including a link to it on the GoddReads page. TT

(ODDITORIUM #2): ALISTAIR GRIM'S ODD AQUATICUM.

ALISTAIR GRIM'S ODD AQUATICUM by GREGORY FUNARO (with illustrations by ADAM STOWER).

BACK COVER BLURB: 'If the odd was the ordinary at Alistair Grim's, then I suppose it came as no surprise that I should find magic in the most unexpected of places ...' 

Grubb, the young apprentice at Alistair Grim's Odditorium - a flying house of mechanical wonders - finds himself on the run, as all of London is convinced that Alistair Grim is a villain. Grim, however, has come up with a plan to defeat the real villain: the evil Prince Nightshade, who wants the Odditorium's power source for himself. Desperate to clear their master's name and save the world, Grubb and the rest of the Odditorium's crew set off on a perilous underwater adventure to the mythical realm of Avalon.

The object of their quest? The legendary sword Excalibur, the only blade powerful enough to pierce Prince Nightshade's suit of magical armour. Along the way, Grubb and his friends must confront a murderous banshee, sea monsters, and a witch with a grudge against Alistair Grim, in a rollicking adventure that will keep every reader riveted from beginning to end.

FIRST SENTENCE {From an article in The Times, London, 25 October, 18-}: ALISTAIR GRIM WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE!

MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 104}: Nigel levelled the egg blaster at the target, and after a long, tense silence, squeezed the trigger. Thwiip! the muzzle rasped, and a bright-pink egg whizzed across the roof and hit the outer ring with a splat! Bits of pink eggshell sprayed everywhere, and a load of pink goo covered half the shield.

SOURCE: Received for review from publishers, Alma Books. (Excerpt here, synopsis and order book here).

MY THOUGHTS: With adequate recaps to previous events, perfectly readable as a standalone novel. However I strongly suggest that in order to get the best out of this, the second instalment in the Odditorium series, you read book one, Alistair Grim's Odditorium, first.

A series full of fantastical creations and quirky characters. Those expecting more of their favourites, whether it be Alistair himself, our narrator, Grubb, Mrs Pinch, Gwendolyn The Yellow Fairy, Kiyoko (surely the world's most fierce of Samurai warriors), Cleona the Banshee or, like myself, McClintock the pocket watch (to name but a few), will not be disappointed for, along with a few new characters, they are all here.

A magical underwater adventure combining some well known mythology as, along with Alistair and co, we get to travel to the fabled land that is Avalon in order to hopefully acquire the sword known as Excalibur.

Aimed at a 'mid grade' audience (generally accepted as those aged 8 to 12). What I particularly like about these books is that whilst not without peril there is nothing overtly violent about the content, the characters relying largely on their wits and courage to work their way out of some sticky situations.

As good as the first novel? On the whole, yes. I was delighted to learn more of McClintock of whom I'm inordinately fond, to learn of his origins. However, fond as I am of historical novels a small part of me did miss the Victorian setting in which we first met Grubb.

Still, based on the ending, obviously not the last we'll see of Alistair and his intrepid crew. I can't wait for book 3 ... and, who knows, books 4 and 5 and so on for I can see this being a popular series that may well run and run.

ALISTAIR GRIM'S ODDITORIUM.

'Steampunk: a genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology.' 

- The Oxford Dictionary.

Hmm, not what I'd in any way, shape or form describe as science fiction but given the above definition steampunk it most certainly is and as such I think I should celebrate my reading my first ever steampunk novel.

Anyway, without further ado I bring you ...

ALISTAIR GRIM'S ODDITORIUM by GREGORY FUNARO (With illustrations by CHRIS MOULD).

BACK COVER BLURB: An enchanting book set in a world where the odd is ordinary, evil has many faces and love is the most powerful magic of them all.

Twelve-year-old Grubb lives a hand-to-mouth existence in Victorian England, working as a chimney sweep under a cruel master. After an incident at an inn, he hides in the trunk of one of its guests, the enigmatic Alistair Grim, and is whisked away to his Odditorium, a wonderful flying house full of incredible mechanical features powered by an enigmatic substance called animus.

Now apprenticed to Grim, Grubb begins to settle into his new life and find a new family in the eccentric crew of the Odditorium, when suddenly his new world comes under attack by the evil Prince Nightshade and he is propelled into a perilous quest. As he gets caught up in the struggle, Grubb will learn valuable lessons and discover remarkable secrets about himself and his new host.

Apologies. Contains some spoilers, simply scroll over to hi-light the text.

FIRST SENTENCE {Chapter One: Grubb with a double B}: The odd was the ordinary in Alistair Grim's.

MEMORABLE Moment {Page 184}: The bats nodded their mechanical heads and chomped their mechanical jaws.

"Right-o then, off you go!" And with a loud clap of his hands the big man sent the bats scattering away in every direction. "Safe and sound, children!" he called after them. "Safe and sound!"

SOURCE: Another great book in the Junior Collection from Alma Books.

MY THOUGHTS: What can I say? Wonderful plot, magical characters - who would have thought I'd fall in love with a watch, an old-fashioned wind-up pocket watch at that?. 

Better, in my humble opinion, than Harry Potter to which I'm constantly hearing it compared .... I loved every word, every sentence, every paragraph, every chapter of Alistair Grim's Odditorium. 

Oh and then there's the terrific pen and ink illustrations that proceed every chapter. 

Aimed at the 8 to 12 market. Its no mean feat to capture the attention of an audience with so many other things available to them and yet with Alistair Grim's Odditorium I think the author has pulled it off.

Compelling reading and yet you might be surprised to learn its a bit of a slow burner. Deliciously setting the scene, its as if main character, Grubb, is talking to us, the readers, giving us an insight into his character. However after this quite short introduction its quite fast paced and yet never so much that it detracts from the wonderful prose.

Perhaps ever so slightly lacking in the world building but that's fine by me. Notwithstanding the author builds up a sublime cast of characters with everything from some 'samurai' (albeit samurai with a difference but after all this is the Odditorium where the odd is the ordinary) to a cranky fairy who (much like myself) is made less so by her consuming chocolate, to some devil dogs and of course Mack, the aforementioned, rowdy pocket watch, chief of the Chronometrical Clan McClintock.

A book I could wax lyrical about for a while yet .... but won't except to say it's definitely one of my favourite reads of 2015 and I'm already longing for the second instalment.