Sandra Scholes profile
Place of birth: Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Now living: Wakefield, West Yorkshire
3 favourite authors
- Stephen King
- Michael Moorcock
- Timothy Zahn
3 favourite books
- Bram Stoker's Dracula
- Weiss & Hickman's Dragonlance series
- Isaac Asimov's I Robot
3 favourite films
- The Matrix
- Dracula
- Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
Sandra Scholes's 178 reviews
The Toad from Outer Space by Faiz Kermani
Snotbubble the alien toad has crash-landed on Fizzy Frog Swamp, much to every frogs amazement as the frogs there don't tend to get visitors, let alone ones from outer space.At first, Snotbubble is an interesting distraction from their peaceful lives. They are quite taken with his spacesuit and the look of his craft, even though it is ...
8.0/10
StarCraft: Ghost Academy by Keith RA Decandido Fernando Heinz Furukawa
Children are being taken from their parents and brought into an organization called the Ghost Academy. They are being tested for their latent abilities and many are willing to risk all they have in order to destroy the organization, bringing it to its knees. These children are the weapons they need as they are intent on progressing with their la...
8.0/10
The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James
Science fiction readers have got a real treat to look forward to over the coming months as award-winning novelist, Lauren James has penned her take on the Star Trek's Starfleet Academy and The Watchmaker of Filigree Street.Hugo is an android watchmaker, used to working without interruption from humans, or aliens. He feels right at hom...
8.5/10
Aria Volume 1 by Kozue Amano
Akari has travelled far from Manhome to become a gondolier (undine) and works with others before working her way up to journeyman status, yet this is a hard task to master and she will need all her bubbly spirit to get through the difficult days ahead. Her time there is not all doom and gloom though, as she has a few friends she can spend her sp...
9.5/10
The Revenant Express by George Mann (A Newbury and Hobbes Investigation)
If readers weren't convinced we were reading some of the most interesting steampunk fiction around, they should be now. Sir Maurice Newbury's assistant, Veronica Hobbes is under threat of dying unless he goes with her sister, Amelia to St. Petersburg to get a clockwork heart from famed jeweller, Faberge - with this he hopes to save her l...
8.2/10
Zero Bomb by MT Hill
It's a new year and time for reading through a novel I could really criticise, or at least that is what I thought on first look. Zero Bomb is Philip K. Dick Award-nominated author M. T. Hill's mysterious and yet strangely prophetic novel for this year. Its themes of sci-fi, downtrodden people in a doom-laden future where machines can tak...
8.0/10
Ruin's Wake by Patrick Edwards
In Zero Bomb, Remi tries to find the daughter he thought was dead; here Patrick Edwards has Cale going on a journey to find his son, Bowden, who is dying. The press release had this down as a science fiction novel, but I think it is much more than that. The way it is written made me think of the hard sci-fi I have read before.Ruin's W...
8.5/10
Ellie and the Cat by Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman has done a lot for children's fiction. I remember reviewing her earlier novel, Robot Girl knowing that Malorie would keep up creating the magic of her storytelling for all, whether it’s sci fi, fantasy, or the modern era. A Dangerous Game and Peacemaker are some of her best. Malorie has also been awarded the Children&#...
8.0/10
Virus by Chris Bradford (Virtual Kombat)
In Chris Bradford's last book, Gamer, Scott nearly lost his life playing the game Virtual Kombat, thanks to Vince Power's evil plan to rule the world by using others. Now that Scott has escaped, he is having to look over his shoulder every step of the way in Virus but he isn't alone for long.Scott knows it is only a matter of ...
8.0/10
Still Water by Chris Priestley
Get your Halloween witch hats or scary ghost sheets on for this novel. Still Water is set in WW2 where Rosie is sent away to the countryside by her mother to avoid the bombing of London before it happens.Rosie thinks her life there will be a new start but her new family hide a dark and terrible secret. This place in the country is so pict...
8.5/10
Anty Hero by Barry Hutchison
Before Ant started at their school, Zac was considered the class weirdo. Ant has a lot of bugs in all shapes and sizes, even having a cockroach living in his hair! Everyone wonders why bugs follow him everywhere in class and one day, some of the kids find out - Ant's glasses fall off, showing he has fly-like eyes underneath. No wonder he kep...
8.0/10
The Knights and the Best Quest by Kaye Umansky
What promises to be King Arthur, laughs, dragons and adventure proves to be that in spades. The Knights of the Drop Leaf Table was last year's hilarious novel where Arthurian legend became full of laughs and hearty japes with characters like King Artie and Queen Gwinny, knights like Sir Percy, Sir Prancelot, and Sir Bone De Gannet and Sir An...
8.0/10
The Toad Who Loves Tea by Faiz Kermani
What happens when you brew together a toad who loves tea, a cruel crow, snobby customers and an ancient toad prediction?In The Frog Who Was Blue, Biriwita had to cope with how other frogs treated him for being a different colour. Here Tungtang is different from other toads, she likes to stroll down by the riverbank and explore the area wh...
8.0/10
Hunted by GX Todd (The Voices)
Rufus rushes in with a baby he rescued from certain death while the baby's mother lay dead at a roadside. Rufus and Albus had organised for many to be rescued from those who might hurt them or worse still, kill them, and more than anything Albus wanted to carry on his sister, Ruby's work after they had received so much persecution ...
8.0/10
Mind Writer by Steve Cole
I had read Steve Cole's Senseless and liked his writing style that much I searched for other titles by the same author, impressed he had written 3 new Young Bond novels among titles in his collection and came across this one. Cole's stories are fast-paced, interesting and have characters I can identify with.In Mind Writer, Luke Me...
8.5/10
Senseless by Steve Cole
While other people thought Kenzie K-Boy Mitchell was wasting his time playing games, he proves them wrong by winning a trip out to a games tournament. Thui means top air flight to the place, limo to the venue, top stay at a hotel and food and drinks on arrival. It’s so great being a top gamer, but it's not so simple.The tourname...
8.5/10
Free Lance and the Lake of Skulls by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell (Free Lance Trilogy)
Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 8+Free Lance gets about a bit, his previous novels; Free Lance and the Field of Blood and Free Lance and the Dragon's Hound might have been his grand adventures, but his best is right here. First published by Hodder and Stoughton, Paul and Chris...
8.0/10
A Star Shall Fall by Marie Brennan (Onyx Court)
Known for her A Natural History of Dragons series, Marie Brennan has created another series; The Onyx Court, starting with Midnight Never Come, In Ashes Lie and third in the series, A Star Shall Fall.As in the first novel, there are two worlds, the fae and the human and no two can exist in the way we think. There will always be conflict a...
8.0/10
Galaxy's Edge #12 by Mike Resnick (Galaxy's Edge)
To think I remember reviewing issue #1 of Galaxy's Edge like it was yesterday. How time can fly and it's not just me who thinks this, editor Mike Resnick is just as delighted as much as he is amazed the magazine has lasted so long. As long as twenty-four months and it’s still got plenty of editorial and stories to show off to eager...
8.3/10
The Frog in the Skyscraper by Faiz Kermani
If life as a frog couldn't get any better, eating Mrs. Boggel’s spicy fried fly pizza and spending time with his friends at the pond croaking all night on a lily pond sounds like loads of fun - but not for Frijibold. He is a frog who wants more out of life than the pond. As far as he is concerned, it's boring and repetitive, so whe...
7.0/10
A Fighting Chance by William C Dietz (Legion of the Damned)
Already we have been through eight of the Legion of the Damned novels, seeing the dangers of life in space, defeating aliens whose main desire is to threaten the peace they have. This ninth and last in the series continues the story of Captain Antonio Santana and Christine Vanderveen as they try to beat the aliens and save billions of men, women...
8.0/10
A Study In Sable by Mercedes Lackey (Elemental Masters)
One of ten novels in the series that looks at Dr. John Watson, who is an Elemental Master of Water and takes the sort of occult cases his dear friend, Sherlock Holmes refuses to even consider. Though Holmes appears uninterested with the occult and those cases, he does vet Nan and Sarah for him as he wants to work with them on difficult or near i...
8.5/10
Escapology by Ren Warom
This is Ren Warom's debut novel after penning her ebook, The Lonely Dark. Foon Gung happens to be the only place for people to live after the world broke. City hubs and Land Ships were where the rest of the population lived, or should that be existed?Of all the people in Foon Gung, Shock Pao is the main character classified as a Fail ...
8.0/10
Virtues of War by Bennett R Coles (The Astral Saga)
Living in her war-hero father's shadow, Lieutenant Katja Emmes was transferred last minute to the craft Rapier - she is fully trained in combat and has the ability to run airship attacks, but she has never led troops in a real assault before, so it's understandable that she could be nervous about following in her father's footsteps. ...
8.0/10
Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson
A grand prize winner of the 2014 writers of the Future Award, a Clarion West graduate and member of SFWA and Codex, Randy Henderson has had his work published in Penumbra, Escape Pod and Realms of Fantasy as well as being in other anthologies. This is his début novel.Time is of the essence for Finn Grammarage when he comes back to ...
7.5/10
A Study in Brimstone by GS Denning
Sherlock Holmes is an unparalleled genius who uses the gift of deduction and reason to solve the most vexing of crimes.Warlock Holmes, however, is an idiot. A good man, perhaps; a font of arcane power, certainly. But he’s brilliantly dim. Frankly, he couldn’t deduce his way out of a paper bag. The only thing he has really got ...
8.5/10
Andromeda's War by William C Dietz (Legion of the Damned)
In Andromeda's Fall, Lady Catherine "Cat" Carletto's family had been killed, finding she had also been targeted for death by Empress Ophelia. Escaping capture and enlisting in the Legion of the Damned, she changes her name to Andromeda McKee to avoid further attempts at detection. In Andromeda's Choice, Andromeda had spent ...
8.0/10
This Savage Song by VE Schwab (Monsters of Verity)
V. E. Schwab begins a new series, that unlike A Darker Shade of Magic with its focus on magic, instead brings us a book about monsters. When it comes to monsters we generally grow up thinking that they lurk in the shadows waiting for unsuspecting victims, but in This Savage Song that isn't untrue, rather the people of Verity know that they s...
9.0/10
Ghosts of Karnak by George Mann
Things are quiet in New York. Unusually quiet. Gabriel – the Ghost – knows that something’s wrong. There’s a heat wave building for a start, and it feels as if the pressure’s getting unbearable. Something’s going to give.When an expedition returns from Cairo to exhibit their finds at the Metropolitan Mu...
7.8/10
The Osiris Ritual by George Mann (A Newbury and Hobbes Investigation)
In this, one of several novels by Mann, The Affinity Bridge and the Immorality Engine being some of the best, both have different problems to investigate, while Maurice is busy on occult business, Veronica has to discover why women are disappearing from a magic...
8.5/10
Conspiracy of Angels by Michelle Belanger (Novels of the Shadowside)
Rather than Titan changing the books to look like UK paperbacks, they have kept the US size and an equally striking cover of Zach staring moodily into the reader with the exotic looking Saliriel behind toting her weapon, first in the Shadowside Saga, with Harsh Gods and The Resurrection Game being released later.This novel has Zach Westla...
8.0/10
The Complete Aliens Omnibus Vol 1 by Steve Perry
As I remember watching Alien 3 in the cinema way back to the days of pre-internet, I also remembered the first two movies and Alien that set off the franchise with a cast that felt they were hand-picked to do the job of convincing us that there was life on other planets, and that it wasn't as friendly as we first thought. The release of this...
8.6/10
Black Wings of Cthulhu 4 by ST Joshi
Seventeen more tales of the unsettling and darkly Gothic, inspired by the works of writer H.P. Lovecraft. As the title suggests, anyone who is interested in this kind of literature, knows what it is like to feel dread in everyday life. Readers of other anthologies from Titan Books will recognise the names of Cody Goodfellow, Caitlin R. Kiernan, ...
8.9/10
Nod by Adrian Barnes
As the title refers to the land of Nod, the novel takes a look at the after effects of a global event which makes people unable to sleep. We see what happens first hand through Paul's eyes as he is one of the rare Sleepers here, who can see what is going on as readers can understand through him as an author himself how society can go from be...
9.0/10
In The Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan (A Natural History of Dragons)
From the first A Natural History of Dragons series of novels, Isabella wanted to search for and catalogue dragons of every kind and didn't mind going all around the natural world to do so. This is the one thing that sets her apart from her fellow women as she acts, in tomboy fashion, as a man would do and comes under great scrutiny from othe...
8.7/10
The Pagan Night by Tim Akers (The Hallowed War #1)
The land of Tenumbra was once divided by religion and geography. The Pagan Night sees this land at an age when the North and South are now united under the Celestial Church; the North having forsaken its Pagan past.As a result, gods (now gheists) are driven to madness by a lack of worship and stalk the lands. The inhabitants of the land h...
8.0/10
Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan (Onyx Court)
Taking place during the time of Elizabethan England at the court of Queen Elizabeth 1st, there is another ruler, Queen Invidiana of Faerie England and her world is beneath the one we know. It has been heard that both worlds have been in alliance though betrayal and deception have also reared their heads even more so that as Invidiana has sent Lu...
8.0/10
Made To Kill by Adam Christopher (The LA Trilogy)
If ever there was a literary success story of 2015, it was Adam Christopher. Having had an idea for a novelette, the result of an interview he did with Tor.com, little did he know that answering one of the questions would lead him to write said novelette which would in turn end up being a series of three novels, Made to Kill being the first....
8.8/10
The Art of Stephen Hickman: Empyrean by Stephen Hickman
With a body of work that is mainly fantasy with a portion of science fiction, this coffee table book is a real showcase for art appreciators who want to see Hickman’s interpretation of characters and settings from some of the most famous novels around. Through his book covers, Hickman has evoked the feelings of his subjects. The front page...
9.0/10
Queen of the Silver Arrow by Caroline Lawrence
Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 12+As the legends had told, Camilla had been tied to a spear and thrown across a river by her father, Metabus to save her from her fate. Her father was the king and she the princess, and it was also her fate to grow up in the forest, a wild and exci...
8.5/10
The Mutant Files: Redzone by William C Dietz (Mutant Files)
In 2065 it is near thirty years since a terrorist attack has destroyed the population. The world has been separated into two different zones. The Red Zone inhabitants have been exposed to the horrid radiation that has blighted the land, while the Green Zone people are lucky enough to be normal and live the kind of lives envied by their mutant co...
8.0/10
The Mutant Files: Deadeye by William C Dietz (Mutant Files)
Two detectives, Bryce Conti and Cassandra Lee of Los Angeles's Special Investigative Sector have to get to the bottom of their new case, but tracking down a cop killer known as Bonebreaker proves hard, especially when Lee has a personal interest in it after the Bonebreaker killed her father, Sergeant Frank Lee. Frank was a man of honour who ...
8.0/10
For More Than Glory by William C Dietz (Legion of the Damned)
While everyone has got over the previous battle, the Legion of the Damned has to quash another brewing in LaNor light years away. Tony Santana is stationed there along with his men. And as a legion lieutenant, he experiences what it is like to stay in a place where the legion aren't appreciated, even though Santana has to investigate the one...
8.0/10
Styx by Bavo Dhooge
Belgium born Bavo Dhooge is an avid writer who has penned almost 100 novels, which uncannily have the letter S at the start of the title. A crime novelist by genre, he has won the Shadow Prize, the Diamond Bullet and the Hercule Poirot Prize, earning him the name as one ofthe most honoured novelists in Belgium. Translated by Josh Pachter, ...
8.5/10
The Lazarus Gate by Mark A Latham
While Constable Harris and his sergeant investigate an explosion in London, Captain John Hardwick, has recently been released by the Burmese and taken to Rangoon. After his torture, this is his only look at hope. Having been force-fed opium and tortured by the guards, he thinks this is the most hardship a man might take until he discovers what l...
8.5/10
The Affinity Bridge by George Mann (A Newbury and Hobbes Investigation)
Steampunk is at the heart of this first novel from the man who penned the Ghost series of novels and audio scripts for BBC's Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes.Sir Maurice Newbury is in the midst of a problem with one of his current cases, and is trying to make sense of what he would normally see as nothing more than simple hocus-pocus. A...
8.0/10
Hallow Point by Ari Marmell (Mike Oberon)
Ari Marmell is the author of several novels and one-shot stories for Spectrum (Random House), Wizards of the Coast, Pyr and role-playing game books for Dungeons & Dragons & World of Darkness titles and a tie-in novel for the hit video game Darkriders. His character, Mick Oberon has already had his first adventure in Hot Lead, Cold Iron a...
7.5/10
Harry Potter: The Character Vault by Jody Revenson (Harry Potter Companion)
It isn't until you get it through the mail that you realise this tome with a leather-bound look could we be something Dumbledore could pull from his own library bookshelf. Harry Potter: The Character Vault is the third book in the Harry Potter film art book series from Titan Books and tells readers more about what are considered the fan favo...
9.0/10
Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play: Vol: 7 Castaway by Yuu Watase
Written way back in 1992, much of Yuu Watase's art closely resembles that of the characters from Dragonball Z, though it is this style that shaped Western interest in all things manga and anime. Here Miaka is still on her quest to win her friend Yui back and she can only do this if she performs a summoning to ask Suzaku for her wish to be he...
8.0/10
Star Wars - Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide by Daniel Wallace
Star Wars: Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide by Daniel WallaceWhat readers have to imagine is that this book is a copy of the original Imperial Handbook from before the destruction of the first Death Star at the Battle of Yavin. The book, at least according to now Commander Luke Skywalker, is very rare to find in such good condit...
8.3/10
The Silence by Tim Lebbon
Known for his apocalyptic horror novels, Coldbrook, the Cabin in the Woods and 30 Days of Night, Tim Lebbon has had his novels made into successful movies and won three British Fantasy Awards, a Bram Stoker Award, a Shocker, a Tombstone and was a finalist for the International Horror Guild and World Fantasy Award.In his latest horror nove...
9.0/10
The Dead Assassin by Vaughn Entwistle (The Paranormal Casebooks of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Victorian England is the setting for two of the most famous literary icons of the day, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde. After his success writing the Sherlock Holmes novels, Doyle continually gets summoned by Scotland Yard on cases that baffle even them - and on one such occasion he is summoned again, this time to a murder most 'orrib...
8.5/10
The Night Mayor by Kim Newman
Author of the popular Anno Dracula series, Kim Newman’s novels have become iconic to horror and short story readers. A Bram Stoker Award, International Horror Guild Award, British Fantasy and British Science Fiction Award winner he has also been nominated for the Hugo and World Fantasy Award. He writes for Empire, The Guardian, The Times a...
8.5/10
Beneath London by James P Blaylock (A Tale of Langdon St. Ives)
Back in the mid-Eighties steampunk as a concept hadn't been heard of as science-fiction writing was solely based in the future, or used time travel as a vehicle for tales of strange and far-off places. That was until James P. Blaylock came along. As one of the main writers of steampunk that grew from cyberpunk, Blaylock brings us his latest ...
8.0/10
Alien Resurrection: The Official Movie Novelization by AC Crispin
Based on the movie starring Sigourney Weaver and Wynona Ryder and written by Joss Whedon, this is the final series of the Alien novelizations where Ellen Ripley wakes on the deep space vessel USM Auriga and remembers that she died on the prison colony Fiorina 161 and what amazes her is that she is still alive. To her horror, Ripley finds news th...
8.0/10
Bullet Catcher by Chris Bradford
Chris Bradford, author of the Ninja, Young Samurai and Bodyguard series is back with the first in a new trilogy, Bullet Catcher. Released over a 3 year span, the first novel is Bullet Catcher, where 14-year-old Troy and his parents are in a shopping mall when terrorists strike, killing his parents and shooting him. The possibility of him dying w...
8.0/10
Weirder Shadows Over Innsmouth by Stephen Jones
Shadows Over Innsmouth was a well-received anthology of works by popular modern horror authors who write their own tales based around H.P. Lovecraft's world of strange creatures who serve Cthulhu. Edited by Stephen Jones, the first anthology was so popular it spawned another, Weird Shadows Over Innsmouth, and this one has some of the most in...
9.0/10
At The World's End by Catherine Fisher
From the author who brought readers The Ghost Box comes a tale about a frozen world destroyed by a poisonous star, a sealed shelter and the choice each of the inhabitants face. The shelter called the Store is home to a small bunch of people who have not left for nine years since the star did its terrible work. Caz and Will live in fear of Marky,...
8.0/10
Arrow: Heroes and Villains by Nick Aires
Arrow: Heroes and Villains is currently being aired on the CW network where it is into its third season so far. As a companion book based on the DC comic books and produced by Warner Brothers, it’s hard not to be enthusiastic about it. At the start of the series, Oliver Queen has already spent his time marooned on a desert island and retur...
8.0/10
The Dark Arts of Blood by Freda Warrington (Blood Wine Sequence #1)
Fourth in the Blood series following A Taste of Blood Wine, A Dance in Blood Velvet and The Dark Blood of Poppies, this story surrounds a small cast of characters who we see develop through the volume both mentally and physically.In A Taste of Blood Wine, it was 1918 and two vampires, Karl and his master Kristian, struggled for dominance ...
8.0/10
Dave Vs. the Monsters: Emergence by John Birmingham
From the author who brought us the Without Warning series comes a new trilogy beginning with Dave Vs. the Monsters: Emergence. Dave Vs. the Monsters: Resistance and Dave Vs. the Monsters: Ascendance completes the trilogy.In the same vein as the comedy horror movie Shaun of the Dead, Emergence tells of an oil rig that drills far too deep a...
8.0/10
Witch & Wizard Battle for Shadowland Vol 1 by James Patterson (Witch and Wizard: Graphic Novels)
Designed to be set between the first and second Witch & Wizard novels by James Patterson, Witch & Wizard: Battle for Shadowland Vol 1 highlights the New Order's intent on changing everyone's world where they have decided to declare that all magic is evil. This isn't the best news for Whit and his sister, Wisty whose parents w...
7.0/10
Stars Shall be Bright by Catherine MacPhail
"They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old..."It's World War I and when William's mother dies, James, Belle and he have to go live with Mrs Carter, who puts them up for the duration of the war. Early on it's obvious that none of them like Mrs Carter and she soon decides to send them to a Home. For years th...
8.7/10
A Game of Thrones: Graphic Novel Volume 3 by George RR Martin
Writer: Daniel AbrahamIllustrator: Tommy PattersonStarting from issues #13, to #18, this follows on from the first two volumes of collected Game of Thrones comics. The wraparound cover is made up of sketch art of the main characters in their setting flanked by a crow. With the thought that only the best writer and artist team would ...
8.5/10
Robot Girl by Malorie Blackman
Young boys can be curious about what their dads do, but so can girls. Claire's dad works in his lab, and she has a secret desire to find out what he is getting up to. All she knows is that he has a new project he's been excited about for ages and spends most of his time in his lab. The problem arises when she discovers he has made a pers...
8.8/10
The Wickford Doom by Chris Priestley
Harry and his mother shelter from the sound of bombs falling during the war, knowing that his father will never return. HIs mother remembers the better times when they were together, but it was a troublesome time for most families, the war separated them in a way that hurt them the worst. Harry's father told him before he left that he had to...
8.8/10
Contact by Malorie Blackman
Author of Robot Girl and Hostage, Malorie Blackman has also been the UK Children's Laureate from 2013 to 2015 and inspires us with her latest novel in the 4U2 Read range from Barrington Stoke.Nine short chapters ar...
9.0/10
Harrison Squared by Daryl Gregory
There seems to be a theme here, what with Weirder Shadows over Innsmouth edited by Stephen Jones being in the realm of Lovercraftian horror tomes, Harrison Squared by Daryl Gregory has Harrison, a teenager with a fear of the ocean since he was young after a sailing accident marked the loss of his beloved father. Harrison is classed as a "se...
8.4/10
The Phone Goes Dead by Anthony Horowitz
In Hyde Park, Linda James makes a phone call that will change her life forever. She’s in a lightning storm and under a tree as she has forgot to bring her umbrella. As we all know the two things she has done are pretty bad and as a result, she gets a lightning bolt through her that kills her and also affects the mobile phone she is holding...
8.5/10
Old Venus by George RR Martin
Old Venus - edited by George RR Martin and Gardner DozoisA collection of 16 short stories, this compendium aims to celebrate the golden age of Venus in sci fi writing, where this cloud-shrouded planet - dedicated to goddesses of love - was a swampy, Jurassic, rain-lashed world of dinosaurs, blue skinned Venusians, vast tr...
8.0/10
Batman: The Dark Knight Volume 3 - Mad by Gregg Hurwitz
Batman takes a trip to Wonderland as Bruce Wayne believes he has met the woman of his dreams. She could even be the one to encourage him to reveal his secret that he is actually Batman, the caped crusader of legend. But there is the matter of several kidnap attempts on the citizens of Gotham from another masked man, the opposite of Batman, the M...
9.0/10
Windhaven by George RR Martin
Maris wants more than anything to be a flyer after seeing them as a child. Her harsh days spent foraging for clams with her mother were eased if only a little by watching them on the beach. Maris even befriended one, but she found early on that she would never be a flyer as only the firstborn child is allowed to inherit the metal wings as their ...
8.9/10
Batman/Superman Vol 1 Cross World by Greg Pak and Jae Lee
Bruce Wayne doesn't expect Metropolis reporter Clark Kent questioning him about the murders of three Wayne Enterprise employees. Wayne is already in a dark mood sat on a park bench, brooding about his life. In Cross World, readers see life from two heroes points of view. Clark had a full life as a young boy living on a farm with a loving fam...
8.0/10
Scared by Anthony Horowitz
Gary Wilson is annoyed at being dragged to Suffolk on holiday by his mum, but then Gary hates almost anything he hasn't approved himself.Early on in the story we find him lost in the middle of a field, hot, tired and hungry, but as the story goes on, there are reasons as to why he is lost and how he came to be in that predicament. Gar...
8.5/10
The Ghost of Shadow Vale by Jonathan Stroud
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9.0/10
Lego Ninjago #11: Comet Crisis by Greg Farshtey and Jolyon Yates
In Lego Ninjago #10, a factory in Ninjago Village was infiltrated by a new threat, holding the mayor and his daughter hostage. There is only one band of men who can do anything about it - the masters of Spinjitzu: Nya, Jay, Cole and Kai can drive the evil force away, but it may take more time than they intended as a new ninja has come on the sce...
8.7/10
Soul Song by LA Weatherly (Soul Mates Trilogy)
In Soul Mates Iris met Nate in her dreams and thought she would never know him in real life. One day she comes by an old house and sees Nate in there, knowing he his is real after all.In Soul Desire they are together and try to live their own life, but in Nate's time line they have a problem spirit to deal with who could split them up...
8.5/10
Jet Black Heart by Teresa Flavin
Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 12+She doesn't enjoy "letterboxing" but as her family are on the Moors, she decides to play along with her sister, Gracie, who it seems is mad about the idea of finding messages inside abandoned and buried bottles.Their parents see it as a form ...
8.8/10
Nana: Volume 19 by Ai Yazawa
Nana "Hachi" Komatsu lives in the hope that her moving to Tokyo will leave old, bad memories behind so that she can start afresh. Nana Osaki comes at the same time as her and wants to live the a rock and roll life, and though they are both from very different backgrounds, they get together to become the best of friends. The usual night...
8.0/10
Yu-Gi-Oh! R Volume: 1 by Kazuki Takahashi and Akira Ito
Yugi Mutou has to prove himself as a champion duellist when the follower of one of his enemies comes back to take him on once again. This is the sequel to Y-Gi-Oh! Duellist and the prequel Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium World. Published by Viz Media who are responsible for many successful manga like Shaman King, Naruto, Psyren, One Piece and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX....
8.5/10
Battle Royale Volume 6 by Masayuki Taguchi and Koushun Takami
Known for such titles as Confidential Confessions, Samurai Deeper: Kyo, and Battle Vixens, Tokyopop has been one of the best manga publishers around and Battle Royale Volume 6 is just one of the shonen (boys category of series) that puts characters in a no win situation where they have to battle for their lives on a daily basis.Set in a f...
9.0/10
Maximum Ride Volume 7 by James Patterson
Illustrated by Nanae LeeThanks to Fang's using the blog to send out the message to the world about the evil organisation, the world could be saved. It finally paid off, but there are the repercussions to face from getting the evil organisation shut down for experimenting on humans in order to turn them into something ...
8.5/10
Frostbite: A Vampire Academy Graphic Novel by Richelle Mead (The Vampire Academy Series)
Rose Hathaway is seventeen, training to both protect and destroy vampires. Rose herself is a Dhampir, half-human, half-Moroi. She is a strong girl, but the difference is that she can go out in the sun, has heightened senses and lightning reflexes which makes her a great bodyguard.Rose has a few friends: Lissa, a Moroi princess she likes t...
8.5/10
Sweet Sixteen by Francesca Jeffries
Sweet Sixteen and never been... killedLeslie Burrows was born the same day as her grandmother, and each year they have two celebration parties with her grandmother's being the first on this occasion. Everything is going smoothly until Trisha's aunt and uncle start arguing and Mrs Krashner decided to tell Leslie an...
8.0/10
The Sheik's Reluctant Bride by Teresa Southwick and Ayumu Asou
Jessica goes through life believing she has no parents to speak of, and having been an orphan from birth she feels so different from others who have the comfort and security of a good home and family, but she has a surprise in store for her - she has a mother after all.When she goes to the town of Bha'Kar, her supposed mothers birthpl...
8.5/10
The Mall by Richie Tankersley Cusick
Shop till you drop... dead.Trish has everything a girl wants; friends, a good mother and a job at the local mall's muffin shop, but that was until someone calls at her shop, then when she tries to ignore him, the phone calls start, then she really feels scared as she starts to realise he is watching every move she makes. She has no id...
8.5/10
Lord Calthorpe's Promise Volume 1 by Sylvia Andrew and Rin Ogata
There is devastation in the family when Katherine learns of the news of her brother's death after a stint at the Battle of Waterloo. Unfortunately, her uncle's family have inherited the estate she would have had giving her nothing at all, no money, no nothing - she can only turn to Lord Calthorpe not realizing that it was her uncle who a...
8.5/10
Ninja: Assassin by Chris Bradford (Ninja Trilogy)
Author of Young Samurai and Bodyguard, Chris Bradford is a trained martial arts expert with a black belt in Kyo Shin Tai Jutsu, the art of the ninja, so he is writing from experience when he penned Ninja: First Mission, Ninja: Death Touch and now the third novel in the trilogy, Ninja: Assassin.In this thrilling finale to the previous two,...
9.0/10
The Amalfie Bride by Ann Major and Marito Ai
The Amalfie Bride by Ann Major and Marito Ai. After working in a cute little shop, Regina finds the kindness of others sets her off on the right path toward the man of her dreams - or does it? She meets Nico Romano, a rich heir to an absolute fortune, and, she understands he's a gigolo with every woman he has met before. She thinks he just c...
9.0/10
Out of the Shadows by Antony Johnston and Christopher Mitten (Umbral)
Image Comics have released some of the best graphic novel series, most recently Crawl Space, Dead Body Road, Black Science, and most famous of all, Witchblade.In Umbral, the first in a series of novels, Rascal is a young thief who intends to use an eclipse to hide her true intentions - she wants to steal the Oculus, a rare gemstone that h...
8.0/10
Fandemonium by Rick Schindler
Skylord was reincarnated by Hollywood comic artist Ray Sirico as it was considered one of the best around during the '70s and '80s. It’s 1993 and Ray has nothing to show for his success, being nothing more than a hopeless drunk has-been, he has lost his long-suffering wife and to make matters worse, his publishers have decided the ...
6.0/10
Shadow Girl by Sally Nicholls
After taking a Master’s Degree in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa Sally Nicholls wrote Ways to Live Forever and after that she penned Season of the Secrets and All Fall Down. She became shortlisted for the Independent Booksellers Week Award and since then nothing has kept her back.In Shadow Girl, Clare finds it hard to make fri...
9.0/10
Soul Desire by LA Weatherly (Soul Mates Trilogy)
L.A. Weatherly's first book was Child X and short listed for the Sheffield, Leicester and Red House Book Awards and also chosen for a 'Quick Pick for Relevant Readers' by the American Library Association. Her Angel series won critical success and also won the Leeds Book Award in 2011.Soul Mates was the first in a three part no...
8.5/10
Soul Mates by LA Weatherly (Soul Mates Trilogy)
How can you miss someone you've never met? This is the premise of Soul Mates, a paranormal romance from the author of the best-selling Angel series, L. A. Weatherly.Iris and Nate have seen each other in their dreams for most of their lives when, as if by chance, they meet in a house long since left to decay in Los Angeles. When they t...
8.5/10
The Search for Kryptonite by Michael Green
Batman and Superman team up again after the man of steel has been attacked by a super villain using kryptonite to try and kill him - and it's not right, not when he's on the set of a new movie.Superman is concerned by the fact kryptonite has been located all over the world and is terrified that other villains may use it to take hi...
8.0/10
The Clinic by Cate Culpepper (Tristaine)
Amazon women in a jail might be an unusual subject for a fantasy novel yet this one packs a decent bit of bite. Bad language, violence, deceit and fighting for your life are the ingredients in this story.The Amazons who are being kept prisoner are from a fierce tribe and they want their freedom so badly they would risk their lives for it....
6.0/10
The Pickpocket's Ghost by Catherine Fisher
Sarah is making sure everything goes well with her mother's party celebrating her sculpture exhibition and Matt, her step-brother isn't making it any easier for her with his senseless jibes and couldn't care less attitude.As she attends to the guest's needs, she also spots a painting of what looks like a normal scene of an...
8.0/10
2 Die 4 by Nigel Hinton
The inspiration behind 2 Die 4 lie within the author’s dark imaginings of receiving a phone call from a person who does not speak. This story was the result of that idea and proves that modern themes can have such an impact on readers.In 2 Die 4, Ryan looks at what is on offer at a car boot sale, when something takes his eye, a mobi...
7.0/10
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame Smith and Tony Lee
Jane Austen's classic Regency tale of love and honour is brought back and given a peculiar and interesting twist as Miss Elizabeth Bennett and her trusted friends (along with Mr. Darcy) find out from village gossip that the whole of England has become plagued by the living dead uprooting from the ground causing havoc and other zombies to app...
8.0/10
Cemetery Girl: Book 1 - The Pretenders by Charlaine Harris
Cemetery Girl is Jo Fletcher Books' (an imprint of Quercus) first graphic novel, penned by two authors famed for vampire novels (Charlaine Harris has her long running Sookie Stackhouse novels whereas Christopher Golden wrote the Buffy the Vampire Slayer graphic novel). Don Kramer is the artist (having previously worked on JSA, Batman and Det...
9.0/10
Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told by Various
Since 1939, in Gotham City, one man has ruled the night, striking fear into the hearts of the venal, the superstitious, the cowardly - the Batman! This all-new collection of action-packed tales, spanning the Dark Knight's sixty-plus years and some of the finest creative teams ever to write his adventures, is a must for all Bat-fans! Featurin...
8.0/10
EXOTIQUE 5 by Computer Graphics Society
Ballistic Publishing’s previous art book Exotique 4 had a nice mix of fantasy art, sci-fi and concept art thrown in, Exotique 5 however has all that and more as in this edition this character art book features art from the most awe-inspiring fantasy and RPG game art around in a more updated layout on the pages. Its digital art is only the ...
9.0/10
EXOTIQUE 4 by Computer Graphics Society
Computer art and design has come thick and fast over the past eight years and it is no better illustrated than in this art book, which is full of stunning images of the best fantasy art around. Just from looking at the cover’s vibrancy and subject matter it shows what to expect inside, and with 203 pages of fantasy illustrations, every one...
9.0/10
Death Note: Kindred Spirit by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (Death Note)
Light Yagami has taken the role of the second L after four years and continues his work as Kira in order to make the world his own, but in all this L's two protégés, Near and Mello after discovering the Death Note's existence, decide to set their sights on it and end Kira's reign over the world once and for all, but wil...
9.0/10
Ember Fury by Cathy Brett
Cathy Brett has excelled herself with this novel concerning energetic, pyromaniac school girl Ember Fury, a pyromaniac who sets a house on fire only to get dragged into a car by Finn, her boyfriend the only problem is she drives and ends up speeding into a ditch after narrowly running a rabbit off the highway. Finn falls out with her when the po...
8.0/10
Death Note: Finis by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (Death Note)
Managing to deceive their bodyguards, Mello captures Kiyomi Takada, ordering her to strip naked as a tracer could be anywhere on her body and he wants no one to be alerted to where she is. Light is furious at her not answering her phone, but thinks it has been turned off, or someone has got to her, but this time he is not sure. Near tells Light ...
8.8/10
Albrim’s Curse by Trevis Powell
All young Albrim wanted to be was a master bowman like his father. Then a savage attack on his home cost him his family, his arm, and his humanity - all at once! Crippled and contaminated by the Curse, his beloved Gran leaves him in the care of Mute, a giant warrior dedicated to protecting humanity from the depredations of the Quarg. Albrim does...
8.0/10
Crown: Volume 1 by Shinji Wada and You Higuri
Jake and Ren decide to go on their own as mercenaries, declining to renew their contract, while Jake is still in Ren's debt after a fixed poker game he will have to work doubly hard to get the cash back. Ren Rescues Mahiro from the clutches of an evil gang hell-bent on killing her, and even though she has no idea why, she has dreams of a kin...
8.0/10
Peacemaker Kurogane: Volume 1 by Nanae Chrono
The Shinsengumi compound see their new page boy in the flesh for the first time and once introduced to young Ichimura Tetsunosuke, some think he is just a kid from off the streets put into a decent man's clothing. Ichimura has a hard time getting used to the place as others view him as just a kid among them and being the vice-commander's...
9.0/10
Young Werewolf by Cornelia Funke
Matt comes home from the cinema when he is scratched by a werewolf, and bit by bit his life begins to change from being normal to being almost unbearable. Lisa and Mrs Ruskin try to help him out in finding a cure for his curse, and with only two days to go, there is the possibility that he might be a werewolf forever.Matt goes from loveab...
8.8/10
The Field on the Edge of the Woods: Book 2 by Frick Weber
This is the satirical second part adventure that concentrates on the Angel of Death that became the skull and bones Grim Reaper. Others are in the dark while trying to stop the end of mankind, but that’s not the fun part yet.It is an unusual and surreal dark comedy, as you couldn’t just label it a comedy in a fantasy setting &...
8.7/10
The Field on the Edge of the Woods by Frick Weber (The Field on the Edge of the Woods)
One night Gary goes to sleep and wakes up in another place entirely surrounded by dark, foreboding forest. He is a man who has taunted others, made fun of those less fortunate than him and enjoyed doing it to the full. He's slept around with lots of women, even though he is a married man, and done things most folk only dream of.So, in...
8.7/10
Dragonworld by Pamela Wiseman and Sarah Laichas
From many cultures around the world you will find dragons in all shapes and sizes; Western, Chinese, Japanese, and Norse. Everyone is different and all have their own unique look and that is what makes Dragonworld such a great book for those who can't get enough dragons.Forty-nine different artists have offered up a few pieces of thei...
9.0/10
iHorror: Demon Hunter by Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore
This decide your own destiny book is written by the same authors who write the iHero series of novels. In iHorror's Demon Hunter the reader is the demon hunter "destined to fight horror wherever you find it". The setting tells you that "there is a dark, unseen world around us, of supernatural horrors beyond our imagination.&qu...
8.9/10
Justice League of America: Team History by Mark Bagley
Charged with protecting the worlds' people, the Justice League of America are legends themselves, Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman have become the best super-heroes in the business. Though these aren't the heroes we have come to know, there is a new Batman, another young man who is Superman, and Wonder Woman's sister-in-arms are a new ...
9.0/10
Crime Team: Skull Island by Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore
There are many new adventure books where you fight fantasy monsters and other foes, but Crime Team is different - this is "an adventure where you crack the case". There are decisions that have to be made if you want to solve the crime and each section of the book is numbered, and at the end of each paragraph you will be asked to make a...
8.8/10
Ninja: Death Touch by Chris Bradford (Ninja Trilogy)
Ninja: Death Touch is by Chris Bradford, the author of the Bodyguard series of novels, and the award-winning Young Samurai series.Ninja: Death Touch sees Taka, a young ninja in training, who along with Cho and the other ninja are ready to fight Lord Oda's cruel army. They discover that they have found their hiding place, and prepare f...
9.0/10
iHero: Tomb Runner by Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore
As a decide your own destiny book, Tomb Runner by the two Steves has the main hero, which doesn't have a name and according to the story, is the reader, you. Your character is a treasure hunter who is hired to find the hidden tomb of Genghis Khan. You are one of the leading treasure hunters in the world and have a talent for archaeology that...
8.5/10
X-Men: The Hidden Years; Worlds Within Worlds by John Byrne and Tom Palmer (The Hidden Years)
In a world where mutants try to co-exist with normal humans, there are always those who can rise to become better men and women and Charles Xavier takes them into his school for the gifted mutant and helps them realise their true potential. He thinks that together they can become an excellent fighting team, but there are others who do not share ...
8.0/10
The James Bond Omnibus: Volume 1 by Ian Fleming
We normally associate comic books with Superman, Batman and the Hulk, but to see a selection of eleven of Ian Fleming's most famous novels adapted for comic strips can be something to get excited about. With an introduction by Sir Roger Moore, who is also one of the most famous actors to play the Bond role on screen Moore talks about the man...
8.5/10
The Twelve Kingdoms Volume 1: Sea of Shadow by Fuyumi Ono
Yoko Nakajima wakes from a terrifying dream where she is surrounded by many ravenous beasts. She is amazed that what she experienced was not real and wonders about its meaning for a while. She is just an ordinary child in every way. She attends an all-girl school, getting average grades, but her mother worries about her long, and very red hair, ...
8.9/10
Gakuen Alice: Volume 1 by Tachibana Higuchi
Young Mikun Sakura is amazed about her best friend Hotaru being enrolled at a Geniuses only school as all around the area where she lives people are going crazy about the news. Although she is not any form of genius, she is an "Alice," or special kind of person, but when Hotaru leaves for the school that same day she got the invitation...
8.7/10
Pixie: Volume 1 by Mariolle and Aurore
Confined within his palace, prince Ael has a secret longing to go outside the stifling walls of his home to see what it's like in the real world out there, but as one who would be ruler of the land someday he believes he might not be allowed to walk away so easily as even being a ruler has little scope for freedom.Bored with his life ...
9.0/10
The Embalmer: Volume 1 by Mitsukazu Mihara
This first volume of The Embalmer, written by the gothic loli queen author of best selling DOLL, introduces us to Shinjyurou Mamiya, who works as an embalmer. It is a profession where he is mostly alone and feels cast out by most people around him. The reason is due to most Japanese people cremating their dead rather than burying them as they te...
9.1/10
Fantasy Art Workshop by John Howe
John Howe has fast become a household name in art circles, much like Drew Struzan and Boris Vallejo whose work has become synonymous with certain movies over the years. Howe's art has graced the covers of George RR Martin's A Clash of Kings, Robin Hobb's Elderlings series, Robin Holdstock's Mythago Wood and Guy Gavriel Kay's ...
9.0/10
Joyland by Stephen King (Hard Case Crime Series)
My lady and I decided to take a break from our Sanderson odyssey and so for our next cooperative adventure in reading she suggested Joyland, a surprisingly gentle story; especially as compared to much of King’s other work.Joyland is the tale of 21 year old Devin Jones. After his girlfriend Wendy breaks his heart with a casual &ldquo...
9.0/10
Vassalord: Volume 1 by Nanae Chrono
Charley is a vampire hunter with a difference; he is one himself and struggles constantly with what he is, his usefulness to the Vatican and his wondering how God views his deeds. He works with rangy and rugged vampire Johnny Rayflow who does not understand his need for amassing crosses and being on God's side when he is anything but one of ...
9.0/10
Luuna: Volume 1 by Didier Crisse and Nicolas Keramidas (Luuna)
Her tribe want great things from Luuna, and if she can prove to them she is adult enough to be a true part of their tribe then she must enter into her coming of age ritual and as she has succeeded in all the previous trials she is sure to bring honour to their tribe.What she must do after the night has celebrations of her reaching her adu...
8.7/10
How to Create Anthropomorphic Fantasy Creatures by Jared Hodges and Lindsay Cibos
By Jared Hodges and Lindsay CibosIn anime and manga there are many kinds of men and women drawn as half animal characters called furries. These are fun to create and draw, and people have been drawing them since the Egyptians and each character has its own separate personality to go with it. With the help of this book, readers will be abl...
9.0/10
Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk, Volume 1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Marvel Masterworks have brought readers deluxe hardcover collections of Marvel's classics from the Golden Age, Atlas Era, and the mighty Marvel Age, and now you can join in the Masterworks excitement with Marvel's new Marvel Masterworks trade paperbacks. In this volume, witness the birth of the green goliath himself in The Incredible Hul...
8.0/10
FairyArt: Painting Magical Fairies and Their Worlds by David Adams
With fantasy movies on fairy tales being so in vogue at the moment, it would be mad to overlook a book like this which shows the reader how to draw and paint fairies and their environments. There are many how-to books on the market as well, from ones on fantasy art techniques in general to manga dreamscapes and enchanting fairies.For any ...
9.0/10
The Dark Angel by Meredith Ann Pierce
When her mistress, Edouin is abducted by a mysterious vampire, Aeriel is blamed for this injustice, and made to feel as though it is her fault. This leads her to go after the vampire as she hopes he will lead her to her mistress. In doing so, she falls straight into the enemy’s trap and becomes Edouin's servant, though she has no idea ...
8.9/10
Hagurosan by Darren Shan
Japan is a country that has the reputation for having the most fairy tales written about it. The fact that most of them are anonymous does not make much difference. The tale of Yuki-Onna, or the white lady, is one of the most famous there is, and along with Furisode and The Peach Boyseem have been the inspiration for this, as well as the spirits...
10.0/10
Speed Grapher Vol: 1 by Tomozo and Yusuke Kozaki
Tatsumi Saiga is a former war photographer who carved a niche for himself while in the Middle-East watching the endless conflict. After an injury left him incapable of photographing properly, he was sent back home to Japan and never regained his former notoriety; instead he tries to make money searching for the one photograph that can make him h...
8.6/10
Ex Machina Volume 5: Smoke, Smoke by Brian K Vaughan
Graphic novels usually contain existing stories of heroes and villains trying to get the better of each other, but every so often, there are some who have no super heroes in them, just regular heroes and villains along with those who wish to bring them down.Set in the future, Ex Machina: Smoke, Smoke concerns drugs, whether being bought o...
5.0/10
All Star Superman: Volume 2 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
Superman is one of the most famous comic book heroes of all time, Bizarro, his other arch-nemesis is part of the focus of this graphic novel.With an introduction by Mark Ward about the finer points of Superman's history, the other novels in the series, and how he as a superhero has stood the test of time.In 'Being Bizarro,&...
5.0/10
Manga Martial Arts by David Okum
If you have ever watched Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan kicking their way out of tricky situations, you might have wondered how they managed to do it. Similarly, those who like manga art and getting to grips with its finer points won't be expecting this book. Manga Martial Arts explores the differences between the martial arts techniques from arou...
8.5/10
Gamer by Chris Bradford (Virtual Kombat)
Virtual Kombat is the game most kids want to play, but not many get the chance to play it. Scott ends up being chosen and finds out how hard it is to defeat his in game enemies. This game might sound amazing, but the kids that want to play it have had an awful time as they are at the bottom socially - Scott is one of those kinds and after he los...
7.0/10
iHero: Castle of Doom by Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore
With the tag line, 'decide your own destiny,' this book will remind slightly older readers of the early Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone fighting fantasy novels, though this one doesn't involve the use of dice for skill, stamina and luck. It is a much simpler form of the original, but is just as fun. In this one, you are a warrior w...
7.0/10
Wandering Son: Volume 2 by Shimura Takako
Taking the story further from the first novel in this series, Shuichi and Yoshino embark on a school trip that sees Shuichi being bullied while he has to try and come to terms with being an inner transgendered person. He isn't on his own in this feeling though as he has Yoshino to comfort him and the help of another friend they have met alon...
9.0/10
Wandering Son: Volume 1 by Shimura Takako
Growing up isn't easy, and this is pretty much what this novel is about. Shuichi Nitori and Yoshino Takatsuki are both the best of friends and are generally happy teenagers who have reached the fifth grade at high school. Even their classmates like them, and that is strange enough, but something is hidden deep inside they do not like to disc...
9.5/10
A Drunken Dream and Other Stories by Moto Haigo
For those who are familiar with Moto Hagio's manga novels, but aren't so with the short manga, here are ten stories that will give everyone who reads them different emotions. Bianca, Girl on Porch with Puppy, Autumn Journey, Marie, Ten Years Later, A Drunken Dream, Hanshin: Half-God, Angel Mimic, Iguana Girl, The Child who Comes Home and...
8.5/10
Mastering Manga with Mark Crilley by Mark Crilley
As one of the most subscribed to gurus on YouTube, Mark Crilley takes readers on a different how-to journey than most. Once he sets the short chapter in basics out of the way, he tells us there is more to manga than drawing characters with large eyes and exaggerated hair.There is a lot more, in fact and Mark is there to guide us through t...
9.0/10
Shojo Fashion Manga Art School, Year 2: Draw Modern Looks by Irene Flores and Krisanne McSpadden
When Irene created the first Shojo Fashion Manga Art School book she knew that there weren’t that many books on manga basic drawing out there on sale in the shops, let alone basic art guides. There were no books on how the reader could render realistic clothing, and she thought it would be a good idea to do another with a little help from ...
9.0/10
Shojo Fashion Manga Art School by Irene Flores
When Irene created the first Shojo Fashion Manga Art School book she knew that there weren't that many books on manga basic drawing out there on sale in the shops, let alone basic art guides. There were no books on how the reader could render realistic clothing, and she thought it would be a good idea to do another with a little help from he...
9.0/10
Shojo Manga Colouring by Supittha Annie Bunyapen
We all remember colouring books as children, but this is in a different league, as Supittha's work is extremely detailed and accurate. Known as Ecthelian on DeviantART, she is a young manga and cover artist who is well-known in manga circles on line. Her art uses thick, strong lines and detailed characters that have been well thought out bef...
8.0/10
Fun to Draw Mini Mangas by T Beaudenon
How to draw manga books normally revolve around teaching people how to draw standard manga style characters, yet there is the issue of the underused chibi characters, or mini mangas as they are known in this book.T. Beaudenon takes readers through a selection of characters readers might want to have a go at drawing. The chibi character is...
8.5/10
The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio
As far as manga goes, this was written way back in the seventies, and had an impact among the early shojo manga community due to its dark subject matter. Originally titled Thoma No Shinzou in its native Japanese, the story revolves around Thomas Werner and the impact his death will have on a fellow school student called Juli. Known for his prank...
8.5/10
Demon Diary Volume 1 by Lee Chi Hyong
He only signed up for the free food and housing, but Raenef a new demon lord is finding it hard coming to terms with the duties he has to perform. Eclipse is trying to teach him what he needs to know as he already knows what a demon lord needs to do in order to rule over his minions, but he feels he will have a hard time teaching Raenef the basi...
8.7/10
Immortal City by Scott Spear
What if angels not only walked among us - but were our celebrities? What if they saved people for money? That's the reality in Angel City, where hot young Jackson Godspeed is the angel everyone's dying to date. Everyone except for Madison Montgomery, that is. She's too busy studying and waitressing to pay attention to the gossip blog...
8.9/10
One Missed Call 1 & 2 by Yasushi Akimoto and Mayumi Shihou
Japan is famous for Ringu (The Ring) based on an old Japanese folk tale and Ju-On (The Grudge), so it's only right that their manga would be just as notorious. In The Ring, the horror was linked to a videotape being watched by innocent victims, and in One Missed Call, a mobile phone switchboard is possessed by a vengeful ghost.A group...
7.0/10
Little Winged One by Will Kosh
Alida Beretta is a small town Colorado teenager, perfectly normal, aside from the fact that she has a pair of fully functional bird's wings on her back. Her parents know something about it, as does her sister Lela, who has a dark abnormality of her own, but Alida chooses not to ask questions. She opts instead to enjoy her secret gift of flig...
8.0/10
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness Volume 1 by Kou Sasakura
Based on the popular video game, one brother defies his father and twin brother to walk a different path than the one laid out for him.Many years ago, students of alchemy had experimented to turn metal into gold, but it was not long before they also dabbled in the demonic arts, creating two humanoid males in Satan's own image. The res...
8.0/10
Case Closed: Volume 9 by Gosho Aoyama
Case Closed is more of an older teen’s manga where high school kid Jimmy Kudo doesn’t have an ordinary spare time activity like the other kids at his school, no, he’s a detective, and in each case he is involved with, he has to be careful who he messes with.There are several different cases for Jimmy to solve, and all ar...
8.8/10
Rebirth: Volume: 3 by Woo
This, unlike most of Tokyopop’s other titles, reads left to right, as does the majority of Western manga, but judging by the cover art I thought this series would be a good one. Rebirth is an action/fantasy manga that, like a great deal of manga around is made for the Japanese readership based on Buddhist myth.Deshwitat, the vampire...
8.0/10
The Star of Sorrow by Sunao Yoshida (Trinity Blood: Reborn on the Mars)
Two vampires, Malice and Millis are out for blood and corner young Sasha who is understandably frightened of them. When a stranger promises to rescue her she wants to put all her trust in him, but can’t help but think he might not succeed. Malice and Millis don’t like who the stranger is as he is none other than a krusnic sent by the...
9.0/10
The Avatar's Return by Irene Kilpatrick (The Last Airbender)
A hundred years has passed and the Avatar has not been sighted. The Fire Nation has made a fierce onslaught against the other villages around them they want to conquer, and as the people thought they would never prevent the evil spreading further, the Avatar returns as Aang, a young boy known as the Airbender - and only he can save them.T...
8.0/10
Color Bleach+: The Bleach Official Bootleg by Tite Kubo
The reasons for this book come from manga artist and writer Tite Kubo being asked to provide a one page, one panel rough sketch of a part of Bleach he wasn’t able to work on at that time. The V. Jump editorial department liked it so much that Tite did more than just a rough sketch; he had enough material to make a book out of it.Col...
10.0/10
Catwoman: Replacements by Will Pfeifer (A One Year Later Story)
Selina Kyle has become pregnant, and her life as Catwoman is over for the moment. Yet there is someone out there in Gotham City who is watching her every move; taking photographs of her doing her duty to protect the city of Gotham from the scum on the streets. Now that Selina has given up her Catwoman status as a superhero, there are others who ...
8.4/10
Divergent by Veronica Roth (Divergent Trilogy)
Little did I know when I first picked up a copy of Veronica Roth's Divergent that it was quickly becoming a sensation of its own. Not quite of the scope of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, but some sizable movement. More surprising was that Divergent is Roth's first book, which she wrote instead of doing ...
8.3/10
Shadow Wing: The Dragons of Outland by Richard A Knaak (World of Warcraft)
In the sequel to the successful Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy, Jorad Mace and Tyr work together to overcome the Scourge, whose quest it is to get their hands on the sunwell as they know the objects energies can help them. Outland is where travellers Jorad and Tyr are heading for, where they meet nether dragons.But Ragnok Bloodreaver, one ...
7.5/10
Imagined Slights by James Lovegrove
Known for his novels Days, The Foreigners and The Hope, James Lovegrove treats readers to his collection of fantasy and sf stories that are far ranging than thought. He has unusual ideas for histories, but has a clever way of working them into his stories to make them believable. Readers will be amazed at how highly original each of these storie...
9.0/10
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (graphic novel) by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson is a normal high school kid who goes to classes, plays games and hangs out with his friends, but he also has learning difficulties, answers he wants to his strange life and to be honest, not everyone likes him, even his teachers. One of his problems is his difficulty with reading, and finds after a while he is actually dyslexic - t...
7.0/10
Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance)
Leader of the group, Tanis Half-Elven has returned to Raistlin, Caramon and the others later than usual with the story he was captured by a dragon Highlord, and had only managed to get away that morning, but the truth is far different from that, and they only learn later on that Tanis had been in bed with Kitiara, a dragon Highlord herself,and a...
6.0/10
A Time For Ryda by Phil Stern
Eve Scott arrives at a Ryda university on a mission of her own, not unlike the pilots who risk their lives every day. She stands up for what she believes in though, and her cover is that of a college student, all curves and sensuality that no one would suspect is the Resistance – or would they? Posing as Heather Dupree about to attend Vent...
8.0/10
The Jaws of Death by Malachy Doyle
This novel reads like a new slant on an old Chinese fairy-tale with Kwang-Su, a young man full of promise who has studied his master's moves from being very young, and now he must go out into the world as a man, as he has learned all he can in order to look after his parents, and someday marry a lovely young woman, then settle down into old ...
8.0/10
The Mountain's Blood by Lari Don
By day, Inanna is an ordinary girl but is called upon to don her battle armour and pick up her huge axe in order to wage war on an enemy, though this doesn't sound like the sort of thing the goddess of love is supposed to do, as she is a very strong woman to go up against an unknown entity. Inanna is loved by all her family among the gods an...
8.0/10
The Mammoth Book of Extreme Fantasy by Mike Ashley
There have been several ' Mammoth Book of ' titles and this collection of 24 stories is no exception to the rule as all of them will get the reader thinking about what the next one will be like as the tag for these tales being 'Extreme' is never more true.Mike Ashley's previous anthology, Extreme Science Fiction, has b...
7.0/10
Best New Romantic Fantasy 2: Volume 2 by Paula Guran
An annual anthology of stories of love and wonder. Enchanting and enchanted lovers, magical romance, dark desires, otherworldly sensations, ethereal encounters, paranormal thrills, sensual spells, supernatural suspense, sizzling speculations... Highly imaginative short fiction and novellas from fantasy romance writers.As is mentioned in t...
7.0/10
Superman: Camelot Falls Vol. 2 The Weight of the World by Various
Written by Kurt Busiek; Art and cover by Carlos Pacheco and Jesus MerinoThe epic storyline concludes in this volume collecting SUPERMAN #662-664, 667-668 and SUPERMAN ANNUAL #13! The Man of Steel defends Metropolis from harm, but now faces a dilemma: are his heroics only making things worse?Starting with an update from the previous...
7.0/10
Supergirl: Candor by Various
Written by ; Art by Ian Churchill, Ed Benes, Kevin Maguire and others; Cover by Churchill.The saga of Kara Zor-El deepens in this volume collecting SUPERGIRL #6-9, SUPERMAN/BATMAN #27, SUPERMAN #223, and JLA #122-123! Following the Earth-shattering events of INFINITE CRISIS, Kara finds herself trapped in the Kryptonian city of Kandor....
7.0/10
Black Bones by EE Richardson
Black Bones, a book written by former cybernetics graduate EE Richardson, is an urban fantasy published by Barrington Stoke, who specialise in books for reluctant, struggling and dyslexic readers.Tony works in a magic shop - a real one. He must stop a cult summoning a demon before the blood moon rises. If only he knew when that was......
7.7/10
iBoy by Kevin Brooks
Fantasy Book Review Young-Adult Book of the Month, November 2010iBoy, by Branford Boase Award winning author Kevin Brooks, first published by Puffin on July 1, 2010.For Tom Harvey, it was just another dull, routine Friday after school. That is, until a mobile phone hurtled through the air and hit him squar...
9.1/10
The Soul Trade by EE Richardson
Searching for a decent present can be a stressful thing, especially when the shopping centre is also a short while from closing and other shops outside have started to have their shutters brought down. Nick Spencer is just such a person who has that daunting feeling he just won't find that perfect gift for his step mum that night, and even a...
7.0/10
Broken Wings by LJ Baker
As its tag line states, this really is a romance from out of this world. It is set in a fantasy world like the human one all the characters live in, the fairy realm. All the different types of fairies coexist but no one knows about a certain fairy whose love for another of the fairy realm could cause problems for her in society.Rye Woods ...
8.0/10
Dark Wraith of Shannara by Terry Brooks
Science has become an outmoded concept, in its place magic is born as a power source in the world of Shannara where Elves, Gnomes, Trolls and Dwarves, even men have tried using it to bring order to that world. In Terry Brooks' tale The Sword of Shannara, Brona a druid was lured by a dark and evil power known as Ildatch wanting to overthrow t...
7.0/10
Tales from the Ten-Tailed Cat by Marc Gascoigne and Christian Dunn
Axminster the sage has wondered the empire - all four corners to be exact, yet he has not seen anything the likes of which he found at the Ten-Tailed Cat in Talabheim. A drinking den of debauchery, ale sipping and interestingly enough tale telling, for anyone who should stroll through the doors of this inn they have to abide the law of the Cat -...
7.5/10
Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance)
Where there is light, there is surely darkness, and in this story that has never been more true. Dragons grew mighty and terrorised the world of Krynn, dragons of evil, their cruelty known to all though a great knight of Solamnia, Huma called down the gods to forge the Dragon Lance that would be the weapon to destroy the darkest of living creatu...
7.7/10