Over the past few weeks, I’ve reviewed three cracking new novels for Shiny New Books…
…
Take Nothing With You by Patrick Gale
Gale’s latest is just lovely. This novel is a wonderful blend of coming of age story, small-town childhood, friendship and finding oneself, bound up with a love of music, cello music in particular. Gale writes with sensitivity and humour to make Take Nothing With You a delightful and engaging read which I heartily recommend. (10/10)
Read my full review HERE.
Patrick Gale, Take Nothing With You (Tinder Press, 2018), ISBN 9781472205339, 362pp., hardback.
BUY at Amazon UK (affiliate link).
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
Becky Chambers’ third novel is set in the same galactic milieu as her first two. It can be read as a standalone and marks her out as a shining star in the latest generation of space opera writers. In Record of a Spaceborn Few, she takes another sideways move to spend time with five humans living in space; they each have a different experience to tell. At the heart of this novel is hope, a core of optimism that entrances the reader, driven by the power of Chambers’ excellent storytelling and world building skills. I hope she will write more novels set in this universe. (9/10)
Read my full review HERE.
Becky Chambers, Diary of a Spaceborn Few (Hodder & Stoughton, 2018), 978-1473647640, hardback, 368pp.
BUY at Amazon UK (affiliate link).
The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
The first thing you need to do with this sparkling debut novel is to suspend your disbelief. Just accept that time travel was invented by a quartet of four women in 1967 and run with it. That done, you can sit back and enjoy this complex story which looks at the psychological aspects of time travel and incorporates a clever murder mystery into its pages. It was such a delight to have a narrative that focused on female scientists taking the lead too. Mascarenhas has created a great cast of women characters, and to have devised a fiendishly clever locked room mystery to drive the plot made this novel a real page-turner that got my full attention. An unusual debut that I heartily recommend. (9/10)
Read my full review HERE.
Kate Mascarenhas, The Psychology of Time Travel (Head of Zeus, 2018). 978-1788540100, 368pp., hardback.
BUY at Amazon UK (affiliate link).
Very much looking forward to the Patrick Gale. Delighted to see that you’ve rated it so highly, Annabel.
And it was my first Gale – why I have not read him before, I don’t know. Loved it.
Oh, you have such a backlist to mine. Enjoy!
I’ve seen other positive reviews of Kate Mascarenhas’ book, and your full review entices even more! Will keep an eye out for it.
The slant she takes on looking at the psychological effects of time travel is unique. I really enjoyed it.
My husband really enjoyed the Becky Chambers books and was pleased to see her make it onto Shiny!
Thanks. All three books are wonderful and being ultimately optimistic have a sense of fun that is missing in most SF.
Picking the Gale up from the library this morning. He is someone I always read as soon as his new book is available.
I’m a Gale convert! 🙂
I keep meaning to try something by Patrick Gale — I have Notes from an Exhibition on the shelf and A Place Called Winter on my Kindle. I’m going to give Chambers a go, starting with the first book of course. I’m also interested in the Mascarenhas. A real feast, these three!
I had a winning streak with these three. Hope you enjoy these authors should you read them.
I love reading about and watching series or movies based on time travel. Sadly, many of the books I’ve read on time travel haven’t been great, though they are usually quite fun even if they’re not amazing literature. Connie Willis’ Oxford time travel series is my absolute favorite. I will definitely be reading The Psychology of Time Travel! Thank you for the recommendation.
The Mascarenhas was so different to other time travel books I’ve read. I haven’t read the Connie Willis one – but have now looked them up and they’re going onto my wishlist. Thank you for your recommendation too!