The Rat's Attic

If ever proof was needed that young children do not need to be talked down to in the stories they enjoy, this is it. Slowly making our way through A Wizard of Earthsea as our bedtime story for my lil'one. The writing is beautiful and evocative, and the tone just sings in the light of bedside lamp.

"Ghostroots", by Pemi Aguda Lagos City Blues

12 short stories of horror, personal and supernatural, set in Lagos. Full review on the Substack:
open.substack.com/pub/theratsa...

"Augury of Blood", by Michael R. Schultheiss Amon Amarth or Led Zeppelin?

Heavy metal and Conflict of Mythic proportions!
Full review on the Substack!

open.substack.com/pub/theratsa...

Current TBR until the end of July.
📕"Why Dead Gods Weep" a banging title
📕"Tears of the Fallen" edgy vibes, cool sword-as-tree motif.
📕"Diogenes" people are weird.
📕 "Augury of Blood" metal?
📕 "Ghost Roots" book club reboot.
📕 "Baptism of Fire" WITCHER!
📕"House of Leaves" menacing glares.

"Bee Speaker", by Adrian Tchaikovsky Not the bees!

FRESH and RECOMMENDED - "Bee Speaker", by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Crazed AI, Martian aid workers in over their own heads, GMO dogs and skinks? A fun read in a post-technological apocalypse.

open.substack.com/pub/theratsa...

I like the idea of gradually finding out what the creature is as you roll the dice - gives it a "slow reveal of the monster" vibe from horror movies.

Upcoming review... ARC received through #NetGalley #AdrianTchaikovsky

Looking forward to getting to this once I have gotten through my backlog of all your other books! Loved Tigana, Arbonne and Al-Rassan, by the way - big fan.

Waiting on this for my first attempt at Ironsworn with Delve 😁

"Cursed Bunny", by Bora Chung Don't trust the faeces...

FRESH and RECOMMENDED - "Cursed Bunny", by Bora Chung. Weird, wondrous whimsy and...whorror? Sad attempts at alliteration aside, a great collection of twisted short stories.
Check the full review at:
open.substack.com/pub/theratsa...

"A Song for Arbonne", by Guy Gavriel Kay A Cathar-tic experience

DUSTY and RECOMMENDED - "A Song for Arbonne", by Guy Gavriel Kay. Cheese and lots of wine, sexy troubadours and more of GGK's beautiful writing! Check out the full review at:
open.substack.com/pub/theratsa...

I like romance as part of a story, not as the point of the story. It could also be that romance as a theme is relatively mundane. War, cut throat Politics, magic, adventure, and all the rest are things which are - fortunately - more alien to me, and therefore more intriguing.

Reading a Song for Arbonne with a hasty cheese platter, some white wine and troubadour musique from the Languedoc.
As always, Guy Gavriel Kay's writing just sings and demands immersion.

"The Lions of Al-Rassan", by Guy Gavriel Kay Even the sun goes down.

DUSTY and RECOMMENDED - "The Lions of Al-Rassan", by Guy Gavriel Kay. An eloquent expression of loss for those moments of beauty, short-lived as they may be.
Full review at:
open.substack.com/pub/theratsa...

"Witches Abroad", by Terry Pratchett The Witches, Three, on a Travel Spree

DUSTY and SUGGESTED - "Witches Abroad". Book 12 of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. I love Pratchett, but some of his earlier books lacked the punch you find in his later stuff. Still a fun read.
Full review at:
open.substack.com/pub/theratsa...

"Kindred", by Octavia Butler Grandpappy ain't Happy

DUSTY and RECOMMENDED - "Kindred", by Octavia Butler. Here's the thing - so far, Butler hasn't had a single miss for me. This book is not about the mechanics of its fantastical elements. It's all raw, powerful, and disturbing. Queen Butler. Full review at.
theratsattic.substack.com/p/kindred-by...

Subscribe to The Rat's Attic Amateur reviewer of books both dusty and new - mostly in Sci-Fi and Fantasy, with some History and Speculative Fiction for good measure. Click to read The Rat's Attic, a Substack publication. Launched...

DUSTY and RECOMMENDED - "Tigana", by Guy Gavriel Kay. Read this with a glass of wine in one hand, book in the other, Italian Opera or Renaissance Music on repeat. Feel like you are witness to a master painting scenes of Betrayal, Pride and Passion. Full review at theratsattic.substack.com/subscribe

Subscribe to The Rat's Attic Amateur reviewer of books both dusty and new - mostly in Sci-Fi and Fantasy, with some History and Speculative Fiction for good measure. Click to read The Rat's Attic, a Substack publication. Launched...

DUSTY and RECOMMENDED - "Imaro", by Charles Saunders - A Soul and Sorcery action collection of 5 short stories around Imaro - the warrior in exile. Sub-Saharan feel and aesthetic, actions and violence galore. What's not to love in this classic book. Full review at theratsattic.substack.com/subscribe

Hello to the void! Previously I posted my book reviews on Instagram and Facebook. Despite a gradually growing audience there, I have decided to slowly delete my Meta accounts - both private and for reviews. Henceforth, BSky will be the place to find my reheated and fresh reviews. Onwards, ever on!