Book Haul June Week 1 2017 @Gollancz @TitanBooks @HoZ_Books @johnmurrays #BookPost

Good morning! I have been away on holiday this week at the seaside, so I apologise for the lack of posts. I am grateful for all the support that people showed my review for If We Were Villains, thank you. While I was away, the book post didn’t stop and I had quite the haul to sort through when I crossed the threshold of my front door. I actually tripped over the books! Was not the first near-injury I have had that was related to books…

I have been incredibly lucky again this week. Thank you Titan Books, Gollancz and Head of Zeus for all of these epic titles. I am probably most excited about Lost Boy as it is a adult/dark retelling of Peter Pan, I have already read a portion, and it is very dark indeed. There has already been a lot of buzz around the book, so hopefully some great reviews will be popping up soon. Anyway! On to the books. As usual, I don’t own any of the cover images or synopses, they belong to the publishers.

P.s as I was finishing this post I had a knock at the door and 3 more books from John Murray were delivered! I will add them in at the bottom.

Book Haul June Week 1

Lost Boy by Christina Henry

Published by: Titan Books

I haven’t read the previous Alice In Wonderland re-imaginings from Christina Henry but I am eager to get into this as soon as possible. I am always looking for challenges as a reader and I think this will fit the bill nicely.

Official Synopsis: There is one version of my story that everyone knows. And then there is the truth. Once I loved a boy called Peter Pan.

Peter brought me to his island because there were no rules and no grownups to make us mind. He brought boys from the Other Place to join in the fun, but Peter’s idea of fun is sharper than a pirate’s sword. He wants always to be that shining sun that we all revolve around. He’ll do anything to be that sun. Peter promised we would all be young and happy forever.

Peter will say I’m a villain, that I wronged him, that I never was his friend.

Peter Lies.

Sherlock Holmes – The Labyrinth of Death by James Lovegrove

Published by: Titan Books

As you may know, I am on a bit of a Sherlock fix at the moment, and it doesn’t seem to want to end. I really enjoy James Lovegrove’s writing so this should be a breeze to get on with.

Official Synopsis: It is 1895, and Sherlock Holmes’s new client is a High Court judge, whose free-spirited daughter has disappeared without a trace.

Holmes and Watson discover that the missing woman—Hannah Woolfson—was herself on the trail of a missing person, her close friend Sophia. Sophia was recruited to a group known as the Elysians, a quasi-religious sect obsessed with Ancient Greek myths and rituals, run by the charismatic Sir Philip Buchanan. Hannah has joined the Elysians under an assumed name, convinced that her friend has been murdered. Holmes agrees that she should continue as his agent within the secretive yet seemingly harmless cult, yet Watson is convinced Hannah is in terrible danger. For Sir Philip has dreams of improving humanity through classical ideals, and at any cost…

Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Deadly Dimensions by Lois H. Gresh

Published by: Titan Books

I love Sherlock. I think Cthulhu is amazing. Both together? Sorted 😀 this won’t be the first novel I have read that combined the two entities but I am game for another collaboration.

Official Synopsis: A series of grisly murders rocks London. At each location, only a jumble of bones remains of the deceased, along with a bizarre sphere covered in strange symbols. The son of the latest victim seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes and his former partner, Dr. John Watson.

They discover the common thread tying together the murders. Bizarre geometries, based on ancient schematics, enable otherworldly creatures to enter our dimension, seeking to wreak havoc and destruction.

The persons responsible are gaining so much power that even Holmes’s greatest enemy fears them—to the point that he seeks an unholy alliance.

Orsinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

Published by: Gateway/Orion Books

I have read some of UKLG’s other work and she really intrigues me. I had a peek at the first few pages of this and I really liked what I read. This is a collection of stories so I am sure this will take a while to finish.

Official Synopsis: Among the less-traveled mountains and plains of Central Europe, a little east of Austria perhaps and north of Slovenia, lies the old kingdom of Orsinia. A land of forests and quiet farmlands and towns, with its capital city Krasnoy on the broad Molsen River, Orsinia has always found itself, like all the countries of Europe, subject to forces beyond its borders. Yet, cast as they are in the shadow of tyrannies both Western and Eastern, the lives and dreams of its free people are no less important than the great arguments of Europe’s emperors and dictators.

Here then are those lives: in tales of romance and blood-lust, hope and fear, freedom and tyranny, passion and despair. Tales of love, of life and of death and – amidst the great 19th-century rise of liberalism and nationalism – a tale of revolution against the might of the Hapsburg Empire.

This is Orsinia and these are her stories.

The Shape Of Things To Come by H. G. Wells

Published by: Gateway/Orion Books

H. G. Wells is probably my all time favourite classic author. I am slowly gathering a collection of all of his work. TSOTTC is going to be an interesting perspective on what people were expecting to see in the near future.

Official Synopsis: When a diplomat dies in the 1930s, he leaves behind a book of ‘dream visions’ he has been experiencing, detailing events that will occur on Earth for the next two hundred years.

This fictional ‘account of the future’ (similar to LAST AND FIRST MEN by Olaf Stapledon) proved prescient in many ways, as Wells predicts events such as the Second World War, the rise of chemical warfare and climate change.

The King’s Justice/ The Augur’s Gambit by Stephen Donaldson

Published by: Gateway/Orion Books

This certainly intrigued me enough to request a review copy. Two novella’s centred around fantasy adventure. Can’t wait. I have read the first couple of pages from The King’s Justice and I love the writing style. Should be a great read!

Official Synopsis: In The King’s Justice, a stranger dressed in black arrives in the village of Settle’s Crossways, following the scent of a terrible crime. He even calls himself “Black,” though almost certainly that is not his name. The people of the village discover that they have a surprising urge to cooperate with this stranger, though the desire of inhabitants of quiet villages to cooperate with strangers is not common in their land, or most lands. But this gift will not save him as he discovers the nature of the evil concealed in Settle’s Crossways.

The “Augur’s Gambit” is a daring plan created by Mayhew Gordian, Hieronomer to the Queen of Indemnie, a plan to save his Queen and his country. Gordian is a reader of entrails. In the bodies of chickens, lambs, piglets, and one stillborn infant he sees the same message: the island nation of Indemnie is doomed. But even in the face of certain destruction a man may fight, and the Hieronomer is utterly loyal to his beautiful Queen–and to her only daughter. The “Augur’s Gambit” is his mad attempt to save a kingdom.

Dark Dawn Over Steep House by M.R.C. Kasasian

Published by: Head of Zeus

I always say I don’t like entering a series of books at #4/#5 but it seems to happen more and more. I do like the later books because they give me a fuller picture of what an author is capable of as they are settled into their work. I like the sound of this and look forward to giving it a go.

Official Synopsis: London, 1884: Sidney Grice – London’s foremost personal detective – is restless. Having filed his latest case under ‘S’ for ‘Still To Be Solved’, he has returned to his book, A Brief History of Doorstep Whitening in Preston, to await further inspiration. His ward, March Middleton, remains determined to uncover the truth.

Geraldine Hockaday, the daughter of a respected Naval captain, was outraged on the murky streets of Limehouse. Yet her attacker is still on the loose.

But then a chance encounter in an overcrowded cafe brings a new victim to light, and it seems clear March and Grice are on the trail of a serial offender.

A trail that will lead them to the dining room of a Prussian Prince, the dingy hangout of an Armenian gangster, and the shadowy ruin of a once-loved family home, Steep House…

The Wandering Earth by Cixin Liu

Published by: Head of Zeus

People keep telling me about Cixin Liu! So I got a copy of his recent short story collection to see if I can appreciate his work. I am sure I can, I enjoy Stephen Baxter and Alistair Reynolds, so this should be perfect for me.

Official Synopsis:  Cixin Liu is one of the most important voices in world Science Fiction. A bestseller in China, his novel, The Three-Body Problem, was the first translated work of SF ever to win the Hugo Award.

Here is the first collection of his short fiction: these stories, including five Chinese Galaxy Award-winners, form a blazingly original ode to planet earth – its pasts and its futures.

Liu’s fictions take the reader to the edge of the universe and the end of time, to meet stranger fates than we could have ever imagined. With a melancholic and keen understanding of human nature, Liu’s stories show humanity’s attempts to reason, navigate and, above all, survive in a desolate cosmos.

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano

Published by: John Murray

I love quirky crime novels! I requested this on Bookbridgr quite a long time ago so I had forgotten all about it. It was a nice treat to see it finally come through the door 😀 It is a short piece so I should be able to finish it soon.

Official Synopsis: Auntie Poldi can think of no finer place to wait for death than Sicily. All she asks is a sea view, fine wine (and plenty of it), and her family close around.

When death instead takes her handsome young friend Valentino – and under mysterious circumstances at that – Poldi will not take it lying down.

Perhaps it’s in her blood (her father was a detective chief inspector); perhaps it’s a diverting excuse to spend more time with men in uniform; or perhaps it’s just the promise she makes to Valentino while holding his poor dead hand.

But Auntie Poldi’s hunting instincts have never felt more alive. Justice must be served – if it’s the last thing she does . . .

We Have No Idea by Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson

Published by: John Murray

Non-fiction that helps me understand the world better is always welcome. I loved What If? by Randall Munroe, hopefully this can meet that standard of mind-bending and factual writing.

Official Synopsis: In our small corner of the universe, we know how some matter behaves most of the time and what even less of it looks like, and we have some good guesses about where it all came from. But we really have no clue what’s going on. In fact, we don’t know what about 95% of the universe is made of.

So what happens when a cartoonist and a physicist walk into this strange, mostly unknown universe? Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson gleefully explore the biggest unknowns, why these things are still mysteries, and what a lot of smart people are doing to figure out the answers (or at least ask the right questions).

While they’re at it, they helpfully demystify many complicated things we do know about, from quarks and neutrinos to gravitational waves and exploding black holes. With equal doses of humour and delight, they invite us to see the universe as a vast expanse of mostly uncharted territory that’s still ours to explore.

This is a book for fans of Brian Cox and What If. This highly entertaining highly illustrated book is perfect for anyone who’s curious about all the great mysteries physicists are going to solve next.

Bad Choices by Ali Almossawi

Published by: John Murray

I am constantly wondering if I had made the right decisions so this book is perfect for me. A slim but striking volume of information (and illustrations) concerning decision making and how to make better choices in life.

Official Synopsis: Readers around the world have embraced Ali Almossawi’s whimsical illustrations and his funny, clarifying explanations of complex subjects. In Bad Choices Almossawi demystifies a new topic of increasing relevance to our lives: algorithms. This is a book for anyone who’s looked at a given task and wondered if there was a better, faster way to get it done. What’s the best way to organize a grocery list? What’s the secret to being more productive at work? How can we better express ourselves in 140-characters?

Presenting us with alternative methods for tackling each scenario, Almossawi guides us to better choices that borrow from same systems that underline a computer word processor, a Google search engine, or a Facebook ad. Once you recognise what makes a method faster and more efficient, you’ll become a more nimble, creative problem-solver, ready to face new challenges.

Thank you as always for stopping by to check out the books I have received this week. Please let me know if you have received any of these books yourself or you are eager to read them as soon as possible. I will resume my full blogging duties as of today, though I will be posting a little less often to give me time to read and think up some more original content. Thanks again for your support and until next time, happy reading!

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