Anna by Sammy H K Smith
Horror , Sammy H K Smith , Solaris / May 27, 2021

I’m going to preface this review with a warning. The themes explored in Anna are likely going to act as a trigger for some readers. There are elements to the narrative that cover the trauma of physical and mental abuse.  Beaten. Branded. Defiant. Anna is a possession. She is owned by the man named Will, shielded from the world of struggles by his care. He loves her, protects her, and then breaks her. Anna is obedient, dutiful, and compliant. Anna does not know her place in the world. When Read more […]

The Recollection by Gareth L Powell
Gareth Powell , Sci-Fi , Solaris / April 23, 2021

When his brother disappears into a bizarre gateway on a London Underground escalator, failed artist Ed Rico and his brother’s wife Alice have to put aside their feelings for each other to go and find him. Their quest through the ‘arches’ will send them hurtling through time, to new and terrifying alien worlds. Four hundred years in the future, Katherine Abdulov must travel to a remote planet in order to regain the trust of her influential family. The only person standing in her way is her former Read more […]

The Tales of Catt & Fisher – The Art of the Steal edited by Justina Robson

Scholars, shopkeepers, collectors, aficionados. Obtainers of rare antiquities; relic hunters who can’t resist a lead, even when it takes them into terrible danger. There’s always an opportunity to be found amid the confusion, in the wake of the terrible Kinslayer War. There’s always a deal to be done, a tomb to open, a precious thing to obtain. From encounters with the monstrous Vathesk to exploring new worlds; from wielding great power to do great good, to unearthing dark things best left lost. Read more […]

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee
Fantasy , Solaris , Yoon Ha Lee / October 15, 2020

Dragons. Art. Revolution. Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter or a subversive. They just want to paint. One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers. But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes—and the awful source of the magical pigments they use—they find they can no longer stay out of politics. What Read more […]

Shelter by Dave Hutchinson
Dave Hutchinson , Sci-Fi , Solaris , Thriller / June 12, 2018

The Long Autumn is coming to an end. For almost a century after the coming of The Sisters, the surviving peoples of rainswept England have huddled in small communities and on isolated farms, scavenging the remains of the old society. But now society, of a kind, is starting to rebuild itself. In Kent, a brutal tyranny is starting to look West. In the Cotswolds, something terrible and only vaguely-glimpsed is happening. And in a little corner of Berkshire two families are at war with each other. After Read more […]

Europe in Winter by Dave Hutchinson
Dave Hutchinson , Sci-Fi , Solaris , Thriller / November 3, 2016

Before we start a tiny warning. If you haven’t read books one and two of this ongoing series you need to stop reading this review right now. There are likely to be minor spoilers and I don’t want you hunting me down in the future and complaining that I didn’t mention them… I’m serious this is your last chance…  Have the uninformed masses gone? Good, then we can proceed. Union has come. The Community is now the largest nation in Europe; trains run there from as far afield as London Read more […]

Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell by Paul Kane
Crime , Horror , Paul Kane , Solaris / July 12, 2016

Sherlock Holmes faces his greatest challenge yet when he meets the Cenobites, the infamous servants of hell. Late 1895, and Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion Dr John Watson are called upon to investigate a missing persons case. On the face of it, this seems like a mystery that Holmes might relish – as the person in question vanished from a locked room – and something to occupy him other than testing the limits of his mind and body. But this is just the start of an investigation Read more […]

Jani and the Great Pursuit by Eric Brown
Eric Brown , Fantasy , Sci-Fi , Solaris / March 9, 2016

Please note Jani and the Great Pursuit is a direct sequel to Jani and the Greater Game. If you haven’t read that first then it is highly likely that this review may contain minor spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya! Understood? Splendid…tally ho!! Jani and her stalwart companions Lieutenant Alfie Littlebody and Anand Doshi find themselves chased from India, via Greece, to London by the British authorities, Russian spies and a Hindu priest – who all want what Jani carries, the ventha-di: Read more […]

Haterz by James Goss
Crime , James Goss , Solaris / March 9, 2015

A blackly comic crime novel about a one-man crusade to rid the internet of haters, flamers, trolls and vaguebookers… even if he has to kill to do it. Is there someone online who really grates on you? That friend who’s always bragging about their awesome life and endlessly sharing tired memes, and who just doesn’t get jokes? Look at your Twitter feed: don’t you get cross at the endless rage, the thoughtless bigotry and the pleading for celebrity retweets? Meet Dave, a street fundraiser and fan Read more […]

Cannonbridge by Jonathan Barnes
Fantasy , Historical , Jonathan Barnes , Solaris / February 7, 2015

Flamboyant, charismatic Matthew Cannonbridge was touched by genius, the most influential creative mind of the 19th century, a prolific novelist, accomplished playwright, the poet of his generation. The only problem is, he should never have existed and beleaguered, provincial, recently-divorced 21st Century don Toby Judd is the only person to realise something has gone wrong with history. All the world was Cannonbridge’s and he possessed, seemingly, the ability to be everywhere at once. Cannonbridge Read more […]

Macaque Attack by Gareth Powell
Gareth Powell , Sci-Fi , Solaris / January 3, 2015

Spoiler Alert! Macaque Attack is the third book in the Macaque trilogy so there is a bloomin’ good chance if you haven’t read books one and two, this review may contain the odd spoiler here and there. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya! Ack-Ack’s back – and this time he’s brought an army! He’s saved the world twice. Now, in the thrilling conclusion to the award-winning Macaque Trilogy, the dangerous but charismatic Ack-Ack Macaque finds himself leading a dimension-hopping troupe of angry Read more […]