The Exiled Blade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Venice has always been the gateway between the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. It is feeling strong too as it has held these two powers back, and the regent, Duchess Alexa holds a strong position. As she ages she is lining up Lady Giulietta to take over as regent, or maybe even Duchess. But they are still threatened, this time by the exiled regent and traitor Prince Alonzo. His plotting and anger over what is really a Millioni family dispute, will bring Alexa’s empire the closest it has ever come to destruction. To add to their problems, Venice is gripped by the coldest winter in living memory, wolves have returned across the ice. As they teeter on the edge of the abyss, the future of Venice is in the hands of Lord Tycho, former slave, kreighund and Assassini.

It is atmospheric, brutal and fast paced with great twists and turns. I am a fan of Grimwood’s writing anyway, but I do like the way that he has deeply embedded a fantasy story into a historical setting. Characterisation is not strong, but good enough to carry the story along. It is a fitting conclusion to the series, but does suffer the similar problem that more series have in that it is a tad predictable. Good though; just need him to get back to writing more sci fi!

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Light Music by Kathleen Ann Goonan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

If an author has gone to the effort to sit down and write a book, probably involving some or all of the following: blood, sweat tears and probably some alcohol, and produced a piece of work that they are proud of it doesn’t seem fair to slate a book because you don’t like it. This is why I not a fan of snarky reviews. In the case of this book, Light Music, I really couldn’t get along with it. It might have been me, but reading the few reviews that are out there makes me think I am not alone.

There were a few things wrong with it, the plot was barely visible in the writing the very disparate threads that didn’t seem to tie together at all and it really could have done with editing to within an inch of its life. It wasn’t totally dire, there are a few good ideas hiding amongst the voluminous writing; but neither was it good. That is a few hours of my life that I won’t get back. 1.5 Stars

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A Spy by Nature by Charles Cumming
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Milius is stuck in a dead end job. He had been hoping for better things having graduated from the London School of Economics, but is getting bored in a dead end job. When a family friend offers him the opportunity to work for MI6 he jumps at the chance and starts the arduous selection process. He is not quite up to the standard, so does not make it through, so the same family friend finds him another position with a British oil company who have extensive interests in the Caspian. It is suggested, that whilst he is there, perhaps he can make friends with two people, Fortner Grice and Katharine Simmat, who work at a rival oil firm called Andromeda. The implication is that if he succeeds at this spot of industrial espionage, then he might have a second chance at SIS. This cut throat business is where Milius finds himself a pawn in the smoke and mirrored world of spies as the so called friendly powers play for strategic interests in the region, and even lives are considered worthless.

This is the second of Cumming’s books that I have read. It is a gripping thriller, with a plausible plot and several twists. Milius, the main character, has some major character flaws, to add to the plot, and his vanity means that he likes the allure of spying but fails to excel at it. It was quite enjoyable overall, the writing is fast paced and he successfully manages to make you not have any affinity with the main character. However, it wasn’t quite as good as Trinity Six, which was superb. It does make you think about who is your enemy though.

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Arboreal: A Collection of Words from the Woods by Adrian Cooper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Woodlands have always been essential to humans; for millennia we have used them as a source of food, shelter, medicine and warmth. This all changed with the arrival of cheaper fuels and imported lumber and sadly the historic use of our woodlands steadily declined. However, the forest is still deeply rooted in our psyche. This was proven when back in 2010 the government announced that it intended to privatise the forestry commission, including many ancient woodlands and royal forests. This led to such a public outcry that the classic political U-turn was executed, and thankfully they remain in public ownership.

That woods and forests still matter to us is the fundamental point of this pivotal collection of essays, poems, meditations and art. They have been drawn together from 38 different writers, poets and artists and thinkers as a literary memorial to the late Oliver Rackham. Woods are the roots of a lot of our folk tales, myths and legends, but this book does not dwell in the past; the collection of voices brings a range of fresh views, contemporary perspectives and a serious look at the future. As well as the thought provoking essays, poems and thoughts on coppices, the book includes stunning images by Ellie Davies, photos of my favourite artists work, Andy Goldsworthy, and the collection of postcards sent by David Nash after the storm of 1987 to inform people that a fallen tree has as much to offer the woodland as a living tree.

Cooper had the unenviable task of pulling together all the contributions to this tome, and in all honesty he has done a fantastic job. Not every essay works for me, but that is not unexpected as each writers point of view is different. What we do have though is a collection of some of the best natural history writers currently writing including Jim Crumley, Sara Maitland, Philip Marsden, Kathleen Jamie, Tim Dee, Richard Mabey and Paul Evans, but the inclusion of others like William Boyd, Simon Armitage and Richard Skelton make this so much richer. It is a fitting tribute to Oliver Rackham and a fine collection of thoughts on just how vital woodlands and the natural world are to our well-being and balance, and how they resonate with us still today.

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The Secret Lives of Colour by Kassia St Clair
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We take colour for granted these days; where ever you look you have garish clothing and brightly painted items competing for attention. But it was never like that, go back several hundred years ago, and lost people wore grey or brown cloth that had been dyed with the ochres and earth colours. Those that had some colour in their lives were the rich; they could afford the purples and reds that adorned their clothes and the rare blues and yellows that graced their artworks.

In this fascinating book, St Clair has uncovered the history behind 75 different colour shades and hues and tell their individual story. We find out where in the world these colours originated from, who made them popular, just how expensive a vivid blue like ultramarine was and the chemistry behind turning ground rock into artist’s paint and dyes for cloth. Modern colours are fairly robust, but it is a reminder just how lethal some colours were. The historical account of colour is enlightening too, as we find out which have come into fashion, why some prefer blondes, which colour was behind a notorious seduction and which have remained popular and those that currently don’t fit the bill.

Not only is it a nicely written and fascinating book, but it is a beautifully produced book too; each colour group is split into sections and the margins on each page are coloured to match the shade being written about. As you read though each page changes subtly in colour and tone. Just rippling through the pages you transcend from white to yellow to the reds, blues greens and end up at the black, it is a nice effect. The dots on the front are embossed making touching the cover a tactile experience. It was worth reading and would make a good companion volume to Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour by Philip Ball and Colour: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay if you already have those.

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The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I by Stephen Alford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Elizabeth I reigned for a total of 45 years in England, and the stability she gave as head of state gave us the Golden Age of wealth and greater self-assurance as a nation. The final Tudor monarch saw a cultural advances too, this being the time of Shakespeare and military confidence on the high seas. However, the Europeans saw her very differently; as daughter of Anne Boylen, Henry VIII’s second wife, she was considered a bastard and Protestant heretic by catholic Europe. Following her denouncement by the Pope various European rulers prepared plans to dispose her, replacing her with Mary. The event that most people are aware of is the almost invasion by The Spanish Armada, but throughout her reign she was protected by a team of loyal subjects.

These men were a motley bunch of ambassadors, codebreakers, and confidence-men and spies who used all sort of covert and overt methods to counter the catholic threat. Infiltrators were sent to the continent to ingratiate themselves with the church, uncovering conspiracies both real and imagined, identified and followed gentlemen who were plotting the overthrow of their Queen. The network tracked priests entering the country under cover, intercepted and deciphered almost all correspondence between suspects in England and their contacts in France, Spain and Italy and neutered the threat that hung over the crown.

Drawing on documents from archive and collections, Alford shines a light into this dark and shadowy time of history. The narrative details tense searches across the countryside looking for specific people who were perceived to be a threat to the crown. Traitors who were convicted, sometimes only on hearsay and confessions uttered under torture on the rack, were condemned in horrific ways to die. It is an interesting account of those involved in keeping their monarch safe from all the assassination attempts and plots, but at times was fairly complicated as he details all the people involved in these plots. Worth reading though for those that like their Tudor history.

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