My backyard on a misty morning. Certainly spooky enough for a shallow grave. Since moving to Tasmania and embracing the scene, I have naturally started to toy with an idea about a modern-day, Outback-noir style, fantasy (duh) crime mystery. So for the sake of ‘research’ I’ve been reading a few police procedurals and crime fiction set in Tasmania. Or so I thought. This post collects several reviews in one, and my observations on the genre. Must say, I’ve been caught by surprise with some aspects. (I mentioned this blend of magical realism and Tasmanian police operations on my recent newsletter ..read more

The Alex Verus series of urban fantasy has been recommended to me repeatedly, so finally got around to it. What to Expect Expect a well-written, original take on urban fantasy themes. TRhe story is told from the point of view of Alex, a mage living in London. While he’d like nothing more than to run his magical shop in peace and quiet (and avoid the unavoidable demons from his past), he naturally gets drawn into power struggles between light and dark mages as their forces struggle to gain control over a mysterious ancient artefact. And why is Alex such a key pawn? Because of his unique talent ..read more

I love the urban-fantasy noir-detective blend of this series, and have followed it from the start – it maintained its high quality throughout. What to Expect Trigger warning: Alex doesn’t get paid for this case. Well, OK, that’s not that atypical of gumshoe detectives – but most cases don’t start with being ‘hired’ by the ghost of the deceased. When Alex is woken up by a spectre of an old lover at his window looking for closure, he decides to investigate her death. Poking his nose where it doesn’t belong leads Alex to tangle with organised crime and shady government organisations (the distinc ..read more

You might have noticed there’s a certain Latin flavour around here that has nothing to do with salsa. As Roman life makes one of the “Three-R” pillars of this blog (Reading, Writing, and Romans), this also seeps in to the language. Now, I’m the first to admit my Latin is atrocious, but that doesn’t mean I don’t find Latin fun (on the occasion I can make sense of it). So here are a few non-stuffy resources to learn Latin — including the use of Lego! legonium.com The above is made by Legonium, as part of his recent series for teaching basic Latin. He puts up mini-lessons here which are quite fun ..read more

I’ve read an d enjoyed the previous books – now it’s time to finish the series What to Expect Shattered starts soon after Hunted (the previous novel in the series), with Granuaile getting a call about her father which takes her to India, and Atticus bringing his recently-revived former archdruid Owen up to speed on the modern world and then sending him to Tir na nOg to be presented to the fae court. To add complications, some loose threads from previous novels keep surfacing up and some unanswered questions get addressed. This mainly concerns Atticus’ home pantheon of the Tuatha de Dannan. F ..read more

I’ve enjoyed the first two parts of this trilogy (Orconomics and Son of a Liche), and was eagerly looking forward to the grand finale. What to Expect Pike started the Orconomics series as a deep satire, on both fantasy and economics. This continues in this vein, though the focus shifts more toward the epic (which the bard of the group keeps saying, so you’ve been warned :). It’s still a brilliant story, exploring both funny fantasy economics and deep societal issues of injustice, prejudice, and systemic discrimination of the ‘other’. This is woven around characters you can empathise with and ..read more

Though it’s been a while since I read the first book of this series, I was in the mood for some light entertainment and this fit perfectly. What to Expect Another D&D-ish adventure for the band of heroes, this one leading them to chase an evil artifact that a whole town into zombies. Naturally, they end violating the cardinal gaming rule of ‘never split the party’ as they chase evil priests, fight bandits, and explore mysterious ruined catacombs. At the background, a group of ‘our-world’ humans are playing another group of adventurers at the same world. What I liked If you ever played tab ..read more

A bit of a twist on the paranormal detective, a genre which I generally like. What to Expect What starts as a noir detective quickly moves into a bizarre world, more Alice in Wonderland on a bad acid trip than your typical paranormal detective. As the blurb says, John Taylor isn’t really a detective, just a man with a strange gift to find things. When a woman hires him to find her daughter, it naturally takes him to his shady past and even shadier alter-world behind London from which he tries to escape. What I liked I did finish the novel, which usually indicates there was at least enough goi ..read more

While digging around my hard-drive, I found this old meme someone sent me ages ago. Naturally, I wanted to share the chuckles with you, my loyal Felix fans! But with my son learning about Roman numerals and me editing In Victrix (and making sure chapter numbers are correct), I thought it a great opportunity to delve into the history and usage of this system. So buckle up! I assume you’re familiar with the basics, but this is going to be a deep rabbit hole. The Writing and Origin of Numbers Roman numerals involve representing numbers with letters, same as many other systems at the time (like t ..read more

This novel was all the rage a while ago, with rave reviews and an interesting premise. Took a while, but I was in the mood for something different. What to Expect A literary work on a sci-fi backdrop, telling a romance. It’s an epistolary novel, told in the exchange of letters between two operatives – known only as Red and Blue – from opposing factions fighting a war across time. Taunts turn to understanding turn to love, with the expected complications from their nebulous masters. If a story is a window to another world, this book is one of those where the window is made of stained glass. Th ..read more