Book Reviews: February 2015

Queen of All Albion
Linda Hardy
£2.76 (Self-published)
Trinity Revell is a remarkable girl, and very outspoken considering she lives in 1592. She accepts an arranged marriage with good cheer, until she finds out that her 'husband' is not her dashing cousin, Will, but his ageing stepfather. This is the start of a girl's adventure story with runaway brides, sword fights and superstition. Our Notts-based author shows us a different side to the Midlands, one of a travelling band of jaggers and actors where Trinity must battle with possessive mothers, her own hormones and the Devil himself. The story has a slow start and a few archaic words put me off, but I kept reading and I'm glad I did. The pace picks up, galloping to the finish. Will Trinity regain her reputation? Will her cousin shake off the Devil's Blessing? And what are those funny feelings Trinity has for one of the travellers? Enjoy. Emily Cooper

The Infinity Trap
Ian C Douglas
£8.99 (IFWG Publishing)
Aimed at the nebulous market of young adult fiction, Ian Douglas’s science fiction adventure sees its hero, the blue haired Zeke Hailey, con his way into a school for psychics on Mars in the 23^rd century. His father has disappeared in mysterious circumstances, and Zeke is on the trail, willing to fib his way through the entrance exams of the school to get some answers. On the way he falls foul of a nefarious academic searching for a terrible weapon on the Red Planet, butts heads with the de rigueur set of school bullies, and finds he is the only hope of rescuing a kidnapped classmate. It all crashes along at a fair old clip, and while the number of exclamation points approaches a critical mass likely to suck in the rest of the book, youngsters will find
much to enjoy in this zippy adventure. Robin Lewis

Books and Bowstrings
Alan Gibbons/Steve Larder
Free (Shintin’)
Geoffrey Trease is the subject of the eleventh instalment of Nottingham’s literary comic serial Dawn of the Unread. Trease was born in Nottingham in 1909 and went on to write 113 books, but was primarily known for his historical children’s stories that covered the globe and just about every political scenario you can imagine. His most famous book, Bows Against the Barons, is seen as a Marxist reading of the Hood legend, and it is this that takes primary focus in this tubthumping story that sees merry outlaws march in protest at library closures. This is not surprising given that Alan Gibbons was responsible for starting National Libraries’ Day. The artwork is by Rum Lad creator Steve Larder, a former contributor to the ‘Lion, whose fine pen illustrations
and scribbled backgrounds really bring out the
personalities of his pixie-nosed characters. Tess Tickle   

Bertrand Russell: A Pacifist at War
Ed Nicholas Griffin
£9.99 (Spokesman)
Bertrand Russell not only opposed WWI but dared to suggest that Britain’s shoddy diplomacy under Sir Edward Grey was partly responsible for the outbreak. Oops. Despite transforming philosophy through the symbolic logic of his Principia Mathematica trilogy, Russell lost his career at Cambridge and was placed under surveillance. Soon his mates stopped coming over. This collection of letters from 1914 up until his Brixton prison letters of 1918 - he was banged up for his principles - paints an intriguing picture of his suffering with useful contextual notes so that readers with little knowledge of his life can follow his incredible story. Despite his intellect, Russell was a right soppy get, believing emotional intensity was the only thing that could make life bearable. His wife couldn’t ‘provide’, so he embarked on an affair with Lady Ottoline Morell. One snivelling letter starts, “My Darling Darling” after he’d been rumbled for using the same love patter with another lady. Sex and war, nothing changes. James Walker