Category Archives: Book Review

Failed Summer Vacation

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Heuijung Hur, Paige Aniyah Morris. Scratch Books, (183p) ISBN: 9781068355509. Contemporary Fiction, read 11/04/25, Paperback ★★★★☆

Failed Summer Vacation

Failed Summer Vacation

I was initially unsure of getting this one as I was feeling a bit burnt out with contemporary fiction at the time I was offered it, but I thought a collection of short stories should be OK.

So happy I took the chance as this is such a compelling debut collection from Heuijung Hur.

Each story stood strong within itself but they all added to a greater whole within the collection, all had a deep feeling of isolation with lots of nuance about that isolation throughout. Going from weird to disturbing, each had such a strong hook that kept you going to find which path the pain was coming from and where it would go in the end.

The only frustration I found was a purposeful one in that some of the stories felt fragmented and unfinished, but this is a reflection of the pain and uncertainty we all feel through life, especially in our relationships where sometimes we are so unsure of our place within our own life.

Enjoyed is not the word that I could really use for this collection, though there was a sense of enjoyment in following the stories and deciphering what was happening and feeling the mirroring of these emotions from your own experiences, working its way into your psyche through great turns of phrase and observation of the feelings of people detached from ‘normal’ emotional responses.

If you want an emotionally challenging read, and one that turns the mirror onto your own emotions this is a treat, being well written and full of recognisable behavioural observations.

I received this from Scratch Books in exchange for an honest review.

Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

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Michael Shea. Independently Published, (94p) ISBN: 9781726631822. RPG Guide, read 28/05/25, Paperback ★★★★☆

Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

I’ve had this sat on my shelves for about four years now as I bought it just before I stopped having anything to do with group gaming, so I just didn’t bother reading it.

Until now, as I’m starting to think about getting back into group gaming once more and I really used to enjoy DMing.

This is a set of ‘rules’ to help run your campaigns and sessions easier, to help you be a ‘lazy’ DM.

It was a fascinating read as each of the steps make a lot of sense especially if you’re time poor and want to get the most out of your sessions, and the emphasis on the DM having a core knowledge of the players at the heart of the game makes so much sense.

I’ll probably end up using quite a few of these aids to DMing, but since I love the whole world building malarky they will probably end up as tools in the toolbox for anything that needs to happen on the fly, especially if players decide to make their own merry way through the world and ignore most of the hints and hooks as they usually do…

The best use of this for me would be for impromptu sessions, getting new players on board with a quick low-level adventure and such.

Well written and well executed toolbox to make running your tabletop sessions smoothly and with minimum fuss.

It has also reminded me that slyflourish.com is out there.

Hunting Harkonnens

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The Road to Dune

The Road to Dune

This is the start of the Dune Universe readathon, a short story by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson collected in The Road to Dune book

An interesting story set in pre-Butlerian Jihad times and showing the main Harkonnen lord as still being ruthless and exploitative. Though his son Piers wants to change.

It introduces us to the Cymeks and thinking machines.

Overall had a very 70s feel to the story which seems very appropriate for the start to the universe.

Exciting little adventure with a lot of foreshadowing

Ionheart

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Lukas Kummer. Top Shelf Productions, (168p) ISBN: 9781603095587. Graphic Novel, read 21/05/25, eBook ★★★★☆

Ionheart

Ionheart

I’m pretty much asking for any non-Manga graphic novels from Net Galley at the moment (I received this in exchange for an honest review) as there is so many good ones coming to print right now across so many different genres.

Ionheart initially places us in a world of knights, demons, princesses, castles, and quests, with a returning knight and a some nods to Arthurian legends.

This is suddenly all upturned when the demon is revealed, though there are quite a few hints when magic items are shown.

Transdimensional high jinx then ensues, identities are revealed, motives and back story is expanded upon and the twists and turns get better and better.

The graphic style of the story telling is nice and crisp with a great use of bold colours and theming short sections of the story together with one main colour as an indicator really works and keeps the story going.

The story of Billy is a brilliantly twisting one with a fascinating ending (?) and lots of different threads weaving backwards and forwards through time and universes.

Little Visitor & Other Abductions

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Adam Szym. Oni Press, (168p) ISBN: . Horror, read 16/05/25, eBook ★★★★☆

Little Visitor & Other Abductions

Little Visitor & Other Abductions

The cover of this intrigued me when I saw it on NetGalley, and who doesn’t love a good old alien abduction? (and it’s put out by Oni Press who seem to be on such a great streak over the last couple of years)

Three interconnected stories involving aliens and their interactions with humans, all three are so strong as stand alones but the interactions between them and the end themes make this work wonderfully as a whole.

The black ink dark artwork with no colour is an excellent choice for such stark tales, the shadows are where all of the darkest acts of horror occur and this all plays out a bit like a pulp movie which in a way mirrors the first story, Little Visitor, where a communist film company tries their take on E.T. (the ameerican movie) but as the story unfolds a tragedy occurs and this is the story of that tragedy seen as flash backs, the whole story uses film techniques to great effect, strong and punchy visuals carry this along to it’s conclusion.

The next story, A Cordial Invitation, takes us to a New Year party in the middle of nowhere, with a twist, another that has a very filmic feel, almost Rocky Horror but with the horror amped up quite a bit. A sacrifice, a journey, a cult, what more could you want?

And the final story, Frolicker, is the most disturbing really as the strangers who encourage the violent thoughts into a teens head have been there before but this time they are more insidious, who are they and what is their agenda, Children of the Corn comes to mind here.

A brilliantly realised project, dark and haunting, otherworldly but firmly planted in a filmic tradition of graphic novels though this really seems to loan from film making quite strongly it turns it into a wonderful graphic experience.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Mayowa and the Sea of Words

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Chibundu Onuzo. Bloomsbury Children’s, (288p) ISBN: 9781526661005. Middle Grade, read 14/05/25, Paperback ★★★★☆

Mayowa and the Sea of Words

Mayowa and the Sea of Words

I’ve got to admit when I received this I was a bit trepidatious as the cover reminded me of so many book in the past several years and the blurb reminded me of a couple of books I had read and enjoyed in the past.

I needn’t have worried as the story of Mayowa and her growing ability to channel emotions through jumping on books, or as her Grandad calls it logosalting (yes I know, a bit of a mouthful) turned into an amazing adventure with appropriate baddies.

This is the first of a new series which explores this power and follows Mayowa as her skills develop and a good first book it is.

Mayowa has always been told by her mum and dad not to jump on books and not to copy Grandpa Edwards, but circumstances conspire to have her staying a summer with him and this is where she learns about her family secret (on dad’s side anyway), logosalting and how it has been used in the past for good and evil and that it should only be used if it causes no harm.

Mayowa and her Grandpa (Baron Edgerley) get involved in foiling nefarious racist bigots from getting a piece of legislation through parliament that would mean refugees would be left to drown if they capsized, this is being pushed through by evil logosalters who shouldn’t exist according to Grandpa.

Lots of adventures, training montages, upsets, evil twins, new friends, and family, always family makes this a well-paced read that you don’t want to put down. Read it in three commute sessions and would have read it in one long sitting if given half the chance.

“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”

The end was exciting and satisfyingly left a lot open for book 2, especially mum’s side of the family, I think…

I received this from Bloomsbury Children’s in exchange for an honest review.

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