The Owl Killers – Karen MaitlandI loved this intriguing little historical novel. In the medieval village of Ulewic, the villagers labour under the yoke of superstition and fear of the mysterious, vigilante Owl Masters. When a commune of women set up on the village outskirts, the scene is set for a clash of cultures that is doomed to end in tragedy.
I’d always understood that life was physically hard for those living in those times, but this book made me realise just how psychologically tough it must have been. When the world was a mysterious, threatening place all around you, when scant scientific knowledge of how everything worked meant that superstitions and fear of almost everything ruled every minute of your day and your every action - it must have been a terrifying and stressful world.
It also introduced me to something I had no idea existed – the
Beguine Communities . Absolutely fascinating and yet another female contribution to history which seems to have been ignored and swept into invisibility.
The Wolf Chronicles 1: Promise of the Wolves – Dorothy HearstI am SUCH a sucker for fantasy novels involving wolves and dragons – especially if they have a bond with humans. So this one seemed to be a no-brainer. Sadly, it didn’t live up to its early promise and although I was invested in the characters from early on, I rapidly got restless and then bored as the author seemed to spend too much time on the small details.
I did enjoy it in the end, but as book one came to something of a conclusion and didn’t end on a cliffhanger, I don’t have much interest in reading the rest of the trilogy. Shame as the idea of exploring the bond between wolf and human 14,000 years in the past was a good one. It just could have been better in the execution.
Dark Places – Gillian FlynnI really enjoyed this unusual thriller, which kept me guessing to the end. Libby Day is damaged – haunted by the night, twenty-one years ago, when her mother and sisters were massacred, apparently by her brother. But did he do it? I loved the way all the little bits and pieces throughout the novel – little passing bits of information, barely noticed – came together and became important and the solution to the mystery.
The Fallen Moon I: The Dark Griffin - K J TaylorAfter the disappointment of the wolves, this was more like it. A fantasy world in which griffins and humans bond. Betrayed by his Lord, Aaron finds his life spiralling into misery and worse. And in the Arena, the formerly wild griffin, Darkheart endures slavery and degradation. Two outcasts destined to find one another.
Lots of unanswered questions going into book two - I can't wait to read it.
LabRat
