#Review By Lou of Pimlico People By Rupert Stanbury. All of the Author’s Royalties Will Support Charities for the Homeless @RupertStanbury @RandomTTours #BlogTour #PimlicoPeople

Pimlico People
By Rupert Stanbury

Pimlico People is great for those looking for something a bit different. I jumped at the chance to review because I’ve volunteered in various charities and continue to do so. When I saw the author was wanting to donate his royalties to support homeless, I jumped at the chance to tell you all about it. So, join it all below as I close the blog tour.
Pimlico People is the 3rd in the series, but it works perfectly well as a standalone.
Find out more about it below, including a link where to purchase it.

ALL THE AUTHOR’S ROYALTIES WILL BE GIVEN TO SUPPORT CHARITIES FOR THE HOMELESS

Pimlico People is the third book in the Gods Galore series about the Olympian Gods in the 21^st Century.

The Goddesses Artemis and Hebe are staying in Central London to obtain a better understanding of the lives of ‘normal’ people.

To their surprise, they soon encounter a plot to blow up a foreign embassy. Add to that a sophisticated operation involving the theft of valuable paintings from a major art gallery, and the two goddesses begin to question what a ‘normal’ life is all about.

Meanwhile, in the Underworld Cerberus encounters another dog who, amazingly, only has one head! How will they get on?

A mixture of Comedy, Fantasy and Criminality, Pimlico People should appeal to readers of Terry Pratchett and Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson).

Review

Godesses Hebe and Artemis find themselves in London. This is a humorous, fantastical book that shows how people might be perceived by these Goddesses as they try to discover “normal” human life and what it entails. What they stumble across is some high criminal activity in the art world and plots to blow up an embassy. Luckily there are also some mere mortals that are useful and can help everyone out in trying to save the day.

There is also a different sort of underworld with Cerberus, a dog who wants to make friends with a mortal, earthly dog. A revenge on the owner story unfolds at this point.

Pimlico People, whilst entering something quite absurd, does, because of this, have some rather humorous qualities to it alongside some action-packed capers.
It all becomes an entertaining read.
It’s also interesting to think about how someone other worldly might see human life.

It’s definitely good for those wanting something rather original in their reading repertoire.

Purchase Link: Amazon

About the Author

Rupert Stanbury is a Cambridge graduate. He was born in Manchester but has lived most of his adult life in Central London. He has always been an avid reader and recently decided to take up writing himself. His books have one overriding objective which is TO MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH. His first book, Gods Galore, was published in November 2021 and his second one, The Four Horsemen, in April 2023.

#BookReview By Lou of Sundae Driver – A Story of Dan and Stan, with Zelda and the Welder By Jack Barrow @JackBarrowUK #SundaeDriver #Novella #ReadingCommunity

Sundae Driver – A Story of Dan and Stan, with Zelda and the Welder
By Jack Barrow

Quirky/urban fantasy, Sundae Driver, set in Blackpool asks the question “Would You Sell Your Soul To An Ice Cream Van? Sundae Driver is a novella within the Hidden Masters Universe.
Thanks to Jack Barrow for the novella to review. The first book I reviewed by him was In Sat Nav We Trust? He has a great way of writing and mixing the everyday with the quirky.

Blurb

Would you sell your soul for an ice cream van?

As Danny struggles to keep his ice cream van on the road he meets Stan, a mysterious stranger, at a crossroads, at midnight. Spitting in his palm Stan shakes on a deal with Danny to fix up Nellie, Danny’s rusty, vintage, ice cream van, and so, Danny’s life improves dramatically. But a few years on, Danny cannot understand why he can no longer face the daily routine of endless cheerful customers and excellent profits. Seeking supernatural advice Danny learns he has paid a price he did not agree to, but there is a solution. Can he fulfil the task to free himself from Stan and break his contract?

If you like supernatural antics with thoroughly silly twists, and unlikely characters, then you’ll enjoy Jack Barrow’s magickal adventures in modern Britain.

Get Sundae Driver today as an introduction to Jack’s Hidden Masters series.

Review

Sundae Driver is perhaps not what you’d expect an ice cream seller’s job to be. You don’t usually end up selling your soul nor having to get supernatural advice…
Set in Blackpool, readers meet Danny in Stanley Park. It’s the turn of the century and it’s not a great start, but he really wants to keep going with selling ice creams from Nellie, his beloved van, which needs an MOT. There’s a lot of hope for it to be able to stay on the roads. He then meets a stranger whom he gets talking to. Things change from there with some intriguing events and the mysterious Madam Zelda and instructions to a magic circle with a contract with his name on it. The odd events continue with a strange zombie and time travel.

Sundae Driver has an air of the quirky and a certain atmosphere hanging about it that draws you in. It’s a strange journey that readers are taken on throughout that is well-knitted together with a fast flow with humour. There are twists and turns that ensure you want to read to the end to find out what happens if you sell your soul and if Nellie, the ice cream van and Danny survives everything.

At just 91 pages, Sundae Driver is definitely worth a read if you’re looking for an entertaining novella different from the norm.

Purchase Link:
Amazon

*Please note I am not affiliated with the author or Amazon or any bookshop.

#Review of The Outerlands By Eddie Farrington If you like #BenMiller try #TheOuterlands #MiddleGrade #Kidslit #ChildrensBook

The Outerlands
By Eddie Farrington

The Outerlands would suit middle-grade readers who enjoy books by Ben Miller. Thanks to Eddie Farrington, I have had the opportunity to write a review of this adventurous/fantastical book.

Blurb

Moo doesn’t believe she’s a hero. She doesn’t believe in much anymore, not since mum mysteriously disappeared.

She just wants to be left alone to play Sword Quest on her computer, but when her little brother gets himself kidnapped by the Tooth Fairy and her army of Midnight Fairies, Moo finds herself thrust into a dangerous adventure of her own.

Could her mum and little brother’s disappearances be linked? What in the world is the Tooth Fairy doing with all those teeth anyway? And why is the only person willing to help Moo navigate her way through the magical lands of the Outerlands insisting he is the eighth brother of a very famous seven?

A perilous adventure with earthquakes, a power crazed King, pirates, dragons and even mountains that throw rocks at people awaits, and at the heart of it all is Moo’s desperate search to believe again.

Because with belief Moo has the power to save a world, without it, she will help to destroy it.

Review

Adventurous and mysterious, The Outerlands tells a compelling story with mythical creatures and magical lands, this aside, there is an earthly, grounded element as well and the two are intelligently weaved together.

Moo is a character you can really get into to follow on her adventure. She is the hero of the piece, not that she would see it like that, it isn’t how she views herself. Life is insurmountably hard. Her mum has gone mysteriously missing and her brother gets kidnapped by a tooth-fairy, very quickly it’s easy to really feel for her. The adventure itself is all encompassing and becomes quite the page-turner as you want to know what happens next and where the world she finds herself in leads her.

Moo has quite a lot of pressure on her shoulders. She has to learn to believe as she comes across different creatures or everything will be destroyed. At its core, it’s a powerful message to give children and the parents/teachers who read the book to children, to be a child and allow imagination to grow in whatever direction or essentially childhood diminishes quickly.

The world-building of the fantasy/adventure/mystery book makes this rather fun and will take children’s imaginations to far off lands to meet a host of different characters, even the mountains are a character in themselves.

I recommend this adventurous read!

#Review By Lou of Apprenticed Into Night By LindaAnn LoSchiavo #LindaAnnLoSchiavo #Poetry #SFPA #TheBritishFantasySociety #DramatistsGuild

Apprenticed To The Night
By LindaAnn LoSchiavo

Apprenticed To The Night is 66 poignant poems by LindaAnn LoSchiavo. She is a native New Yorker poet, who is a four time nominee for The Pushcart Prize. She has also been nominated for Best of the Net, the Rhysling Award, and Dwarf Stars. She is a member of SFPA, The British Fantasy Society, and The Dramatists Guild.

Below, you’ll find the blurb and my review of Apprenticed To The Night.

Blurb

“Apprenticed to the Night” is a collection of 66 poems focused on mortality, betrayal, memory, trauma, and the bewilderment of loss as constantly shifting enigmas. It explores themes of life, death, childhood, trauma, family, and love. The book is divided into three sections: Youth, Maturity, and Beyond.

Review

Whisking yourself away into poetry for a change can be an interesting and sometimes enlightening experience. Poetry is also easy to dip in and out of as they’re short and yet often have something that resonates or can be empathised with or share joy with, so worth giving a go, especially if you find it isn’t normally for you. Poetry is something I occasionally take on from their poets or publishers to give a go. Poetry goes back into all or most of our childhoods, sometimes with humour, darkness, lightness. The difference being when we grow up, we find its more adult themes and yet the rhythmic nature of them is similar, making it something familiar.

So, what of “Apprenticed To The Night”?

The themes are of life and love through difficult and traumatic times and lighter times. There’s the childlike innocence and the deep desire to protect it, keep it forever, but there’s death in the family and this in-turn creates a desire to preserve the deceased one’s legacy, no matter what. The sense of family-ties and bonds is reflected in the writing.
Within the writing, you see the imagery created in the words and feel the searing pain in the rhythm. Through the darkness comes poignancy with tinges of hope for better things to come, even when the searing complexities of life puncture and penetrate it.
The writing is beautifully presented in various styles of poetry that still marry-up with each other to form quite a succinct book as night brings comfort and dangers.

#Publication Day of The Realm Of Gods By Glen Dahlgren, part of Chroniclesof Chaos #ChroniclesofChaos #TheRealmOfGods @glendahlgren @KellyALacey @lovebookstours #LBTCrew

Happy Publication Day to Glen Dahlgren on the concluding part of the award-winning Chronicles of Chaos, The Realm of Gods. Check out the eerie, atmospheric cover, the intriguing build-up in the blurb and more about the author, including a link to Glen’s blog below…

Blurb

In a realm where dreams and reality intertwine, the final battle brews.

The gods of Order have vanished. Despite priests like Dantess and Myra struggling to maintain peace, the Harbingers of Chaos fan the flames of rebellion, bringing the world to the brink of war.

Galen, drawn into the heart of the Dreaming—an ethereal realm where past, present, and future collide—confronts not only his nemesis, the cunning Carnaubas, but a horrifying truth: the exiled gods of Order still hunger for dominion.

Luckily, Galen is not alone. Eve, a young girl gifted with the uncanny ability to see the threads the connect everything, joins him on a desperate quest to find the elusive god of Chaos, their only hope for preventing Order’s return.

The Realm of Gods is more than just a story; it’s a descent into the battle between Order and Chaos, a testament to the enduring power of human connection, and a battle cry for rebellion against tyranny.

Author bio

Glen Dahlgren is the award-winning author of the acclaimed book series, the Chronicles of Chaos, dubbed “what fantasy fiction should be” by New York Times bestselling author and fantasy legend Piers Anthony.

Books in this now complete series won multiple Readers’ Favorite Gold Medals, American Fiction Awards, Independent Author Network Book of the Year awards, and the Dante Rossetti Award.

Glen has also written, designed, directed, and produced critically-acclaimed, narrative-driven computer games for the last three decades. What’s more, he had the honor of creating original fantasy and science-fiction storylines that took established, world-class literary properties into interactive experiences. He collaborated with celebrated authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (The Death Gate Cycle), Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time – now a TV series from Amazon), Frederik Pohl (Heechee saga), Terry Brooks (Shannara), and Piers Anthony (Xanth) to bring their creations to the small screens. In addition, he crafted licensor-approved fiction for the Star Trek franchise as well as Stan Sakai’s epic graphic novel series, Usagi Yojimb

Author blog: http://www.mysterium.blog/

#Review of The Collapsing Wave By Doug Johnstone @doug_johnstone @OrendaBooks @RandomTTours #BlogTour #Fantasy #CrimeFiction

The Collapsing Wave
By Doug Johnstone

The Collapsing Wave is the sequel to critically acclaimed book – The Space Between Them, which was also featured on BBC2’s bookish programme, In-Between The Covers. The author, Doug Johnston also writes the crime series, The Skelfs, also to great acclaim. It laces sci-fi with crime and is a great one to try, even if, like me, this is not your usual genre to read. It has something for everyone.
Find out more in the blurb below and my review as today I am on the
Random T. Tours/Orenda Books Blog Tour, in-exchange of an honest review.

Blurb

Ava, Lennox and Heather make contact with alien Sandy and head for a profound confrontation … The awe-inspiring, exquisitely moving sequel to The Space Between Us, as seen on BBC Two’s Between the Covers.

_________________

Six months since the earth-shattering events of The Space Between Us, the revelatory hope of the aliens’ visit has turned to dust and the creatures have disappeared into the water off Scotland’s west coast.

Teenager Lennox and grieving mother Heather are being held in New Broom, a makeshift US military base, the subject of experiments, alongside the Enceladons who have been captured by the authorities.

Ava, who has given birth, is awaiting the jury verdict at her trial for the murder of her husband. And MI7 agent Oscar Fellowes, who has been sidelined by the US military, is beginning to think he might be on the wrong side of history.

When alien Sandy makes contact, Lennox and Heather make a plan to escape with Ava. All three of them are heading for a profound confrontation between the worst of humanity and a possible brighter future, as the stakes get higher for the alien Enceladons and the entire human race…

Sequel to the bestselling The Space Between Us, The Collapsing Wave is an exquisite, epic first-contact novel, laced with peril and populated by unforgettable characters, and the awe-inspiring book we all need right now…

Review

Sci-fi isn’t often my cup of tea, but as I sat, sipping my tea, reading the book and pondering the review, The Enceladons Trilogy is turning out pretty well. It turned out to be a good thing to return to Lennox, Ava, Heather and alien, Sandy. The fact that it’s just 6 months later than the first time we meet them is great for finding out what’s going and just enough time has passed by for things to have shifted a bit.

Ava adds a bit of mystery as she is awaiting trial for the murder of her husband.
MI7 is a mysterious government agency and Oscar Fellowes is one very interesting character to read. You think he’s one thing, a government diktat and then you wonder that he may have a conscience after all, or is it just because he’s been side-lined by the ‘powers-at-be?’ It’s interesting watching someone in such a position, swither whether they are on the right-side of history or not and wonder what direction will be chosen.

The Collapsing Wave is gripping and fast-paced as it weaves and infuses the real world with the alien one. It uses a lot of societal issues, which grounds the novel and allows it to breath with relevancy. For example, there’s plenty that reflects society and how some people are welcoming to others, whilst there are those who are not. How some people attempt irreparable harm because power has gone to their head and those who do weird experiments and other are quite the opposite.
It becomes quite a deep, thought-provoking book. One where the sci-fi isn’t the main aspect at all, although is far from lost, it just has a lot more to it than alien worlds.
The Collapsing Wave brings some hope and there are strong friendship bonds throughout, giving a bit of the feel-good factor.