Reviver

   Back in March I arrived into work in the bookshop one day to discover that a rep had dropped in a great batch of Advance Reading Copies for the staff. I grabbed this one, which as you can

Pan Macmillan, £12.99

see has a really eye-catching cover. 'Reviver' will be released on June 20th by Pan Macmillan, and it's the debut novel from Seth Patrick, who is originally from Northern Ireland. 

   Jonah Miller is a reviver. He has the ability to wake the recently-dead and communicate with them. The discovery of this skill is relatively new, and already it's become an essential part of modern life. People take out revival insurance so that they can have one last chance to pass a message on to their loved ones after they die. The most exciting aspect of the phenomenon, however, is the potential for the identification of a murderer by his/her victim. Forensic revival has become a routine part of police investigation, and it's what Jonah does for a living. 
   Jonah is a particularly skilled reviver, and lately he's had some strange experiences during what should have been routine revivals. He's hearing strange whispers, and feeling terror in his revival subjects. When the pioneering journalist who first brought revival to public attention is murdered, Jonah finds himself getting dragged into the search for answers. 
   'Reviver' is a gripping thriller, but what really makes it fun is the addition of elements of horror and crime fiction into the mix. I found myself puzzling over which aspect would come to the fore in the eventual solution to the mystery. Patrick has prioritised plot over style or characterisation in this first outing, but it's exciting enough to absolutely pull this off. It's a great night-off kind of read, not too taxing on the grey cells, but lots of fun.

Bloomsbury Kids, £7.99

   The other book I read this week was 'The Last Elf' by Silvana De Mari, translated from the original Italian by Shaun Whiteside. I'd bought this one second-hand a while ago. The cover design is just gorgeous - thank the gods for people who don't hoard books but sell them on after reading for penniless folks to discover! 
   Yorshkrunsquarkljolnerstrink (or Yorsh for short) is a young elf who finds himself all alone in the world. He's starving, wet through, and very cold. This world is a harsh one for an elf. Humans generally hate elves, blaming them for the horrible state of things, and Yorsh is too young to know how to use his power to get along. He struggles to get along with people he meets because he can't remember whether the polite form of address is 'Excellency' or 'Fool'. 
   Yorsh is a very endearing character - so innocent and yet wise, vulnerable and yet powerful beyond knowing. His human companions provide the comic relief in their desperation at his quirky ways, and their journey takes them to lots of dangerous, beautiful, and strange places.    
   This is a beautiful classic fairytale, improved with a little tragedy and a lot of humour - perfect for fans of 'The Princess Bride' or 'Shrek'. And yes, I do realise how high that praise is - 'The Last Elf' is absolutely worth it. 

Emilie and the Hollow World, Martha Wells

Vintage, £7.99

   It's been a really eventful few weeks. One bookselling job ended abruptly last week; another stretches out in front of me (after a couple of weeks off, yay!). I've had more time than usual to read, but circumstances have conspired to make me want to enjoy the comfort of some re-reading. I re-loved Jasper Fforde's 'One of Our Thursdays is Missing', and of course my ultimate comfort-reading - some Harry Potter. I got hold of a couple of Fred Vargas titles, and picked 'The Three Evangelists' to read first. I've unfortunately since discovered that this title is the first in another series of novels the French author has written around the main characters of the titular 'evangelists' - Matthieu, Marc, and Lucien - as opposed to one featuring her most famous character - Parisian detective Commissaire Adamsberg. I enjoyed it despite its Adamsberglessness, and luckily didn't find it as disturbing as I often find her novels (they usually disturb me because the slightest hint of menace or freakishness in her clear prose cuts straight to the most terrified part of my cautious soul).

   My main read during this past week has been another advance copy I received from the

Strange Chemistry, £7.99

generous folk at Strange Chemistry - 'Emilie and the Hollow World' by Martha Wells, released on Tuesday April 2nd. Look how pretty the cover is!

   Emilie is a smart, brave teenage girl with ambitions beyond the small provincial town in which she has been brought up by relations after her mother ran away The story opens as Emilie attempts to stow away on a ship on its way to the city, where she hopes to attend school. Her plan quickly goes awry, and Emilie ends up on a mysterious round vessel called The Sovereign, where she gets caught up in the adventure of a lifetime. You can read Chapter One on the author's website here. 

   Emilie could have been a very clichéd 'plucky teenage girl' character, but Wells deftly avoids that pitfall and has created a really likeable girl - inexperienced, but brave, intelligent, and resourceful. Her relationships with a female mentor and new friends of various species in the course of her adventures are believable and affecting. I'd certainly recommend this one. It's a fantastical adventure in the spirit of Verne and (my favourite) Stephen Hunt, author of 'The Court of the Air' and 'The Kingdom Beyond the Waves' (while perhaps not rising to the heights of that modern-day master). If you enjoy this one, you should definitely try Hunt next. 

HarperCollins, £12.99

    Another book I'd been eagerly anticipating and finally read recently is 'The Daylight War', the third book in Peter V. Brett's acclaimed Demon Cycle series. For some reason, I had the impression (I think from early publicity around the preceding books) that this book was to be the conclusion of a trilogy. As I read, I was confused as to the lack of resolution and the pace, which didn't seem to suit a dramatic finale of epic proportions. Of course, when I reached the end of the book, I realised that this was in fact not a conclusion at all. It made for a strange reading experience, and I've resolved to do more research in future before diving into any book. Given that there shouldn't have been any change in pace or any appearance of full resolution, 'The Daylight War' was an entirely satisfying read. While I feel that neither this book nor 'The Desert Spear' (book 2) reached the potential hinted at in 'The Painted Man', the amazing first instalment of the Demon Cycle, it once again delves deeply into the backstory of one of the most intriguing characters of the series, as well as bringing the story to new and exciting places with information on the corelings 'hive' at the Core. If you haven't already read one or all of these books... I just don't know what kind of rock you must have been hiding under for the last few years, but it's time to come out now!

   The next few reads I have lined up are 'The Lives of Tao' by Wesley Chu (released May 2nd by Angry Robot), 'Reviver' by Seth Patrick (released June 20th by Pan MacMillan), and 'The Dragons of Ordinary Farm' by Tad Williams and Deborah Beale (one from my 'Books About Dragons' list!).