William

This is a different book. The style of the plot and the feel of the world reminded me of old pulpy sword and sorcery tales from well back in the 20th century those stories had a sense of wonder at the world and a sort of glee at crazy ideas or the possibilities of magic- but far too many had paper thin characters, few female characters worth speaking of and spotty descriptions.

This book is not like that.

This book has that old fashioned sense of wonder, it has the feeling of glee at the possibilities of magic and it has plenty of crazy ideas - but Martha Wells takes all of the good parts of sword and sorcery and then she adds huge, rich layers of characterisation, gorgeous description and deep characterisation to make this a book that creates a world and a cast that feel real and make your brain hum like a crystal glass.

If I have one negative it is that this feels very much like an introduction to the people and the world. The plot does resolve itself - Ms Wells is not cheating us. It's just that I have that edgy feeling I get when I was halfway through a really nice cup of tea and someone tidied it up before I was finished.

I really want more from this world!

A rather short, fun story about Sherlock Holmes' wayward younger sister, Enola. When the Mother of Enola, Sherlock and Mycroft vanishes, the two adult brothers return to their countryside childhood home to discover that Enola is running wild amongst the roses with and has read a scandalously large amount, including the (horror of horrors) the essays of [a:Mary Wollstonecraft 1853305 Mary Wollstonecraft https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1228515449p2/1853305.jpg]. Suffice to say that the free thinking Enola is not about to be packed off to some boarding school but instead embarks on some adventures of her own.I've found that I'm sensitive to depictions of Sherlock Holmes. Many pastiches are unreadable to me because “That's just not Sherlock”. Mr Holmes is not the central character here, but except for the odd twinge, he seemed pretty acceptable to my Holmes-radar. Enola was very believable as a sister and was a very engaging character in her own right.I'll look forward to reading the next book in the series.

I don't think I would have read this if it wasn't part of a book-club reading list. I found the title more than a little off-putting. The image it conjured up was of a grotty chieftain avoiding being stabbed in the back somewhere under the Misty Mountains. Not my cup of tea. I was wrong on this count.

The premise is not made clear in the blurb – but is actually very intriguing (this is all Chapter 1 stuff, no spoilers): Years ago the Elven Emperor was forced into a political marriage to secure peace with the neighbouring Goblin lands. Marriage was how such treaties were made, so a Goblin Princess married the Elven Emperor. She was his sixth wife and so could be safely swept under the carpet after the legally obligated nuptials. She was sent to live her life in an isolated forest to be forgotten. Everyone was rather surprised when an Elf-Goblin halfbreed prince was born, but as he had a gaggle of older half-brothers he could be safely ignored. That is until an airship crash wiped out the Royal Family, leaving our little halfblood prince as the heir to the throne.

I'd happily give 4.5 stars for the scenario. After Chapter 1 my head was spinning with the possibilities, how was this plot going to develop? Was our Prince going to be hunted down by rivals, desperate to stop him reaching the capital? Would he assume the throne and have to face down a popular uprising due to his Goblin blood? Would he in fact be the great peacemaker between these ancient rivals, bringing them together at last?

The answer is that he gets on an airship, flies to the capital in a few paragraphs, and then pretty much does nothing.

Possible Spoilers ahead (but not much).

OK, there's some letter writing, some key building projects he pushes through and some functions he attends. Yes there is some opposition and some courtiers scheme away, but really he just learns the ropes with a couple of stumbles along the way, but nothing really to write home about.

That's right. Nothing. Happens.

It's a well written, deeply thought out, intricate nothing. If you are interested in the bureaucracy of a fantasy world, or some very polite manoeuvring in the royal court, you might like it. If you want world-building and a likeable enough character then you might enjoy this book, but I've got to say I need Plot as well as Character and Setting. This has only two of the three. I think I found him selecting his outfits the most gripping scenes in the book.

I guess that's what made it so disappointing – I like the character, I love the setting, I just wanted something to happen.