The Eloquent Page returns…

I recently wrote a blog about how good the Pax Britannia novels produced by Abaddon Books are. The post can be found here. I mentioned at the time I had also picked up another couple of novels by the same publishers but from a different series called The Afterblight Chronicles.

By way of an explanation I relish the opportunity to read post apocalyptic fiction. I can’t really explain why these stories are my favourite form of genre fiction but I read as many as I can get my hands on. From Stephen King’s The Stand to Robert McCammon’s Swan Song. Add a dash of Simon Clark’s King Blood and Blood Crazy and you’ll get the idea.

Anyway I’ve finished both now and I thought I would take a minute or two and pass on my thoughts.

The books are called Arrowhead and Broken Arrow. Both are written by Paul Kane. Set in the aftermath of an apocalypse that has decimated the world’s population these books take elements from Robin Hood mythology and interweave this with the tale of the survivors.

Arrowhead

Excellent stuff going on here. I live in Nottingham and I found myself enjoying every minute. The author is great a describing surroundings and as I knew exactly where he was talking about for some of the key scenes it made the experience of reading the books all the better.

A shout out the the artist that illustrates the covers. The first book has a splendid picture of Nottingham’s Market Square. The trashed tram is a bonus!

I look forward to more and urge people to seek these novels out.

Till next time
Mr Cheesecake

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The Eloquent Page (an infrequent book related blog)

For a bit of a change of pace I thought I would write a blog about books rather than film.

I’m a genre addict. I love sci-fi, fantasy, horror and the occasional thriller thrown in for good measure. There are so many excellent authors out there that deserve more recognition than I think they get.

In September I had to opportunity to go to FantasyCon 2009. It’s right on my doorstep (so to speak) and I have to admit I quickly found myself in the dealer hall wandering from table to table trying to decide what to spend my hard earned cash on.

In the end I went for some novels from Abaddon Books. This publisher has a number of series that caught my eye. Specifically I was interested in Pax Britannia and The Afterblight Chronicles.

Pax Britannia
Pax Britannia is just great. Set in an alternate timeline where the Victorian era never ended. I believe the phrase du jour is ‘steampunk’ ? There are characters with splendidly evocative names like Uriah Wormwood and Devlin Valentine. The main character is dandy adventurer, Ulysses Quicksilver. Forever accompanied by his faithful man servant, Nimrod, Mr Quicksilver is thrown from adventure to adventure as the series unfolds.

The most recent book is Evolution Expects. Like the majority of the series it’s written by Jonathan Green. Top stuff all round. Nods to The Fly, green issues and even a certain ‘caped crusader’.
I strongly recommend picking these book up. There is a new one on the horizon in December and I’ll be added it to my Xmas list. I do hope Mrs Cheesecake takes note.

Till next time
Toddle pip

PS – I should stress just because I didn’t mention anything else about The Afterblight Chronicles doesn’t mean I didn’t like. I did it’s just I’ve still got one to read so will reserve my comments to some later blog.

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