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Editor's Choice:
 STEPHEN KING: THE DARK TOWER - THE GUNSLINGER
Hodder PB
In this first novel in his epic fantasy masterpiece, Stephen King introduces
readers to one of his most enigmatic heroes, Roland of Gilead, the Last
Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner, on a spellbinding journey into
good and evil, in a desolate world which frighteningly echoes our own.
In
his first step towards the powerful and mysterious Dark Tower, Roland encounters
an alluring woman named Alice, begins a friendship with Jake, a kid from New
York, and faces an agonising choice between damnation and salvation as he
pursues the Man in Black. Both grippingly realistic and eerily
dreamlike, THE GUNSLINGER leaves readers eagerly awaiting the next
chapter. And the Tower is closer... Originally published in 1982 as a limited edition by Donald M Grant Inc., THE GUNSLINGER made its first mass market appearance in 1988, with the second volume, THE DRAWING OF THE THREE appearing two years later, and THE WASTELANDS a full four years after that. For a time it seemed that The Dark Tower might be a hobby, something King might indulge himself in every now and then. Then, in 1988, when WIZARD AND GLASS was published, die-hard King fans and in particular fans of The Dark Tower series came to realise that this was something altogether more serious, something that King relished, something that was driving him on, a kind of life's work. Luckily, we were right, and when he had his near-fatal accident, King vowed to finish the series, and at that point we knew there would be seven novels in the series. THE GUNSLINGER marries Old West with fantasy - you simply know it's entrenched in fantasy because the man in black is a magician - we're told that, and westerns don't normally feature magicians. There is something other-worldly about THE GUNSLINGER, and references to the tower, though few and far between in the first book, are enough to whet the appetite. It wasn't King's first foray into fantasy, he'd already tackled it with THE EYES OF THE DRAGON, which remains one of my favourite fantasy adventures of all time. But THE GUNSLINGER promises, and delivers. It's enough to leave you wanting more, and your patience is rewarded. My first edition of THE GUNSLINGER is an NEL trade paperback with a cover by Michael Whelan, and I've lost track of it. It wasn't the first Dark Tower book I bought, though...
Editor's Choice:
 STEPHEN KING: THE DARK TOWER - THE DRAWING OF THE THREE
Hodder PB
In the second novel of King's bestselling fantasy masterpiece, Roland of
Gilead, the Last Gunslinger, encounters three doors which open to 1980s America.
Here he joins forces with the defiant Eddie Dean and courageous, volatile Odetta
Holmes. And confronts deadly serial killer Jack Mort. As the
titanic forces gather, a savage struggle between underworld evil and
otherworldly enemies conspire to bring an end to Roland's quest for the Dark
Tower... Masterfully weaving dark fantasy and icy realism, THE
DRAWING OF THE THREE compulsively propels readers toward the next
chapter. And the Tower is closer... In volume two, Roland awakes following his encounter with the Man in Black decades, even centuries later, finding himself on a deserted beach, where he is attacked by the lobstrosities, as he names them, losing two fingers from his right hand and suffering dreadful injuries to his leg. Much of the book involves Roland crossing from his world into ours in a desperate search for medicine to cure his fever. The drawing of the three is misleading, but intriguing. His constant companions in the later volumes are Eddie, Susannah, and Jake, and I always assumed that he would be drawing these three into his world to accompany him on his quest to find the dark tower. But Jake, whom he first met in THE GUNSLINGER, doesn't appear until book three. For the first time we fully understand Roland's intense need to find the dark tower, and to do that, he needs these companions. It's as though King has moved on from the hobby-writing indulgence that was evident in THE GUNSLINGER, and is preparing us for something much bigger...
Editor's Choice:
 STEPHEN KING: THE DARK TOWER - THE WASTE LANDS
Hodder PB
In the third novel in King's epic fantasy masterpiece, Roland, the Last
Gunslinger, is moving ever closer to the Dark Tower, which haunts his dreams and
nightmares. Pursued by the Ageless Stranger, he and his friends follow the
perilous path to Lud, an urban wasteland. And crossing a desert of damnation in
this macabre new world, revelations begin to unfold about who - and what - is
driving him forward. A blend of riveting action and powerful drama, The
Waste Lands leaves readers breathlessly awaiting the next chapter. In book three, Roland finally draws the last of his companions to him and his quest, when he rescues Jake from a New York he knows he cannot survive in. Also in THE WASTELANDS, we meet probably the most exquisite of Roland's companions, the billy-bumbler, Oy, who has such a huge part to play in the quest. The encounters with the slow mutants and the second rescue of Jake (which seriously involves Oy) are among the most terrifying and exciting passages of Stephen King I have ever read.
Editor's Choice:
 STEPHEN KING: THE DARK TOWER - WIZARD AND GLASS
Hodder PB
In the fourth powerful novel in Stephen King's bestselling fantasy quest, The
Dark Tower beckons Roland, the Last Gunslinger, and the four companions he has
gathered along the road. And, having narrowly escaped one world, they set
out on a terrifying journey across the scarred urban wasteland to brave a new
world where hidden dangers lie at every junction: a malevolent computer-run
monorail hurtling towards self-destruction, Roland's relentlessly cunning old
enemy, and the temptation of the wizard's diabolical glass ball, a powerful
force in Roland's first love affair. A tale of long-ago love and adventure
involving a beautiful and quixotic woman named Susan Delgado. And the
Tower is closer... I remember the first publication of WIZARD AND GLASS, a trade paperback... My mother was in the habit of buying the new Stephen King for each year as a birthday gift, yet I was curiously unimpressed by it - this was not the Stephen King I knew, of IT, and THE STAND, SALEM'S LOT etc. Eventually, as I could think of nothing else she could buy me, I relented and took it. This was the first Dark Tower novel I ever read, and my notes on the first three novels above stem from my instant need to have them after reading WIZARD AND GLASS. I was captivated by the terrifying monorail journey involving Blaine the Mono and the telling of the riddles, but I was even more captivated by the long tale that Roland tells his companions about his early years, in which he becomes a gunslinger and falles in love with Susan Delgado. I have always been a fan of fantasy, I was just never quite prepared to be reading it by my favourite author. I rapidly came to realise that the Dark Tower series was as huge a fantasy project as LORD OF THE RINGS, and it immediately became my own quest, to faithfully follow King as one of his constant readers and find the dark tower through the power of his intense fantasy world. I was hooked.
Editor's Choice:
 STEPHEN KING: THE DARK TOWER - WOLVES OF THE CALLA
Hodder PB
In the fifth novel in King's bestselling epic fantasy series, the farming
community in the fertile lands of the East has been warned the wolves are coming
back. Four gunslingers, led by Roland of Gilead, are also coming their way. And
the farmers of the Calla want to enlist some hard calibers. Torn between
protecting the innocent community and his urgent quest, Roland faces his most
deadly perils as he journey through the Mid-World towards the Dark Tower. On reading WOLVES OF THE CALLA for the fourth time just recently, I was struck by how much King informs in this pivotal Dark Tower novel, because it now becomes clear what is happening. The Crimson King is hell-bent on destroying the various universes inhabited by human beings, and to do this he has press-ganged into service various polymaths to decipher codes, to break the threads that hold the beams keeping all of existence in place. Now King draws into this amazing series characters from other novels, such as Father Callahan from SALEM'S LOT, and Ted Brautigan from the first story in HEARTS IN ATLANTIS (always the best story in that collection, for me). Now we see it all coming together - Roland's need to find the dark tower in order to verify for himself that the remaining beams are intact; and the various monstrous people and things hell-bent on preventing him from reaching his goal. This episode of the series resembles The Magnificent Seven - with Roland's ka-tet, Father Callahan and some of the humans prepared to stand against the wolves in order to prevent their children from being kidnapped and pressed into the service of the Crimson King. Truly awesome.
Editor's Choice:
 STEPHEN KING: THE DARK TOWER - SONG OF SUSANNAH
Hodder PB
The pivotal sixth instalment in King's bestselling epic fantasy saga provides
the key to the quest that defines Roland's life. In the next part of
their journey to the tower, Roland and his band of followers face adversity from
every side: Susannah Dean has been taken over by a demon-mother and uses the
power of Black Thirteen to get from the Mid-World New York City. But who is the
father of her child? And what role will the Crimson King play? Roland
sends Jake to break Susannah's date with destiny, while he himself uses 'the
persistence of magic' to get to Maine in the Summer of 1977. It is a terrible
world: for one thing it is real and bullets are flying. For another, it is
inhabited by the author of a novel called 'SALEM'S LOT. SONG OF SUSANNAH
is driven by revelation and by suspense. It continues THE DARK TOWER series
seamlessly from WOLVES OF THE CALLA and the dramatic climax will leave readers
desperate to read the quest's conclusion. I wouldn't describe this work as pivotal because I believe the previous volume, WOLVES OF THE CALLA to be pivotal. This novel does have the distinction of containing the beastly offspring of the union between the demon and Susannah (In THE WASTELANDS) which will ultimately become Roland's nemesis. For sheer terror and brilliant descriptive writing, this episode takes some beating.
Editor's Choice:
 STEPHEN KING: THE DARK TOWER - THE DARK TOWER
Hodder PB
The final volume sees gunslinger Roland on a roller-coaster mix of
exhilarating triumph and aching loss in his unrelenting quest to reach the dark
tower. Roland's band of pilgrims remains united, though scattered.
Susannah-Mia has been carried off to New York to give birth, Terrified of what
may happen, Jake, Father Callahan and Oy follow. Roland and Eddie are in
Maine, looking for the site which will lead them to Susannah. As he finally
closes in on the tower, Roland's every step is shadowed by a terrible and
sinister creation. And finally, he realises, he may have to walk the last dark
strait alone... You've come this far, Come a little farther, Come all the
way, The sound you hear may be the slamming of the door behind you. Welcome to
The Dark Tower. The final episode, and in my opinion, the very finest of all of King's books. In it, we have the various sequential deaths of the various members of the ka-tet as Roland makes his final stand against Randall Flagg (from THE STAND) and Mordred, the child-beast-offspring of the Crimson King. With those deaths, King pulls out all the stops and his writing takes on an ethereal quality that easily matches the literature of a golden age, that of the romantic poets, even Shakespeare himself. This is King at his very best. I have read the entire series four times - I should like to have read it more than that, and will start again soon with this latest incarnation of the seven books. But the final novel contains the very best passages of King's writing that I have ever read. As I read about the deaths of Eddie and Jake and Oy, I hear the music of Mahler, the Symphony of a Thousand, and I am moved to tears. This is matchless fiction, the work of a genius, a man who can move his readers in a way that no other writer can. The ending is utterly peerless, totally satisfying, amazingly brilliant. Small wonder that there is such a demand for anything and everything to do with the Dark Tower. If you're new to the series, and end up wanting more, as I do, this April sees the publication of THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE, a fill-in episode of Roland's early quest. Then there is the magnificent ongoing graphic novelisation from Marvel Comics, the latest of which, THE BATTLE OF TULL, is reviewed on the Graphic novels and comics page in this issue. There are concordances, commentaries, and much more besides to read about the Dark Tower - many websites with illustrations, book covers, character profiles, more commentaries. This is a series that seriously vies for the position of finest fantasy ever. It gets my vote, and this latest set from Hodder is brilliant.
 THE SECRET DIARY OF ADRIAN MOLE AGED 13¾
30th Anniversary Edition Penguin PB
The 30th anniversary edition of the bestselling novel of the 1980s: The
Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 and 3/4 by comic genius Sue Townsend. Featuring a new introduction by comedian and actor David Walliams as well as over sixty pages of extra material about Adrian Mole, his friends and family. Friday January 2nd: "I felt rotten today. It's my mother's fault for singing 'My Way' at two o'clock in the morning at the top of the stairs. Just my luck to have a mother like her. There is a chance my parents could be alcoholics. Next year I could be in a children's home." Meet Adrian Mole, a hapless teenager providing an unabashed, pimples-and-all glimpse into adolescent life. Writing candidly about his parents' marital troubles, the dog, his life as a tortured poet and 'misunderstood intellectual', Adrian's painfully honest diary is still hilarious and compelling reading thirty years after it first appeared. 'I not only wept, I howled and hooted and had to get up and walk around the room and wipe my eyes so that I could go on reading' Tom Sharpe. 'One of the great comic creations' Daily Mirror. 'Marvellous, touching and screamingly funny . . . set to become as much a cult book as The Catcher in the Rye' Jilly Cooper. Sue Townsend is Britain's favourite comic author. Since the publication of The Secret Diaries of Adrian Mole Aged 13 and 3/4 in 1982, she has made us weep with laughter and pricked the nation's conscience. Seven further volumes of diaries have followed: The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole, Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years, Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years, The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction and Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years. All have been acclaimed bestsellers, some have been adapted for radio and TV, starring Lulu, Julie Walters and Stephen Mangan, among others. She has also written six other popular novels (The Queen and I, Queen Camilla, Number Ten, Rebuilding Coventry, Ghost Children and The Woman Who Went to Bed for A Year) and penned many well-received plays. She lives in Leicester, where she was born and grew up. How many literary diaries can you name? I can think, off the top of my head, of the diaries of Samuel Pepys, The Diary of a Nobody, and... Adrian Mole. Adrian Mole and his diary dominated the 1980s, and rightly so. It provided a searchlight on the world of the anxious teenager, his loves and hates, his fears and joys, his troubles and his trials, in a form that was at once both readable and entertaining. It was totally unique at a time when the masses of the working classes were being oppressed to the point of extinction - and here we are thirty years later, with a ConDem government doing exactly the same thing. This isn't going to be a political rant, I promise you, but it is worth mentioning that we are in pretty much the same situation that spawned the wonderful Adrian Mole, and this only serves to indicate that nothing much changes. We put up with everything because we think we have to. The voice of Adrian Mole was and is a beacon of light in a stale, dire world, a bastion of literary genius that reads perfectly well thirty years on as it did in 1982. Adrian Mole is a folk hero, and should not be forgotten. We've had anniversary editions of THE WOMBLES and PADDINGTON BEAR, and the time is ripe for a new generation to discover the delights of Sue Townsend's brilliant prose, the sheer genius of the diary entries of a boy not unlike one H. Potter Esq. I am revelling in reading this again - it is exquisitely funny, poignant, riveting, hilarious, and exemplary. Utterly brilliant.
 CELIA REES: THIS IS NOT FORGIVENESS
Bloomsbury PB
Everyone says that Caro is bad . . . but Jamie can't help himself. He thinks of her night and day and can't believe that she wants to be his girlfriend. Gorgeous, impulsive and unconventional, she is totally different to all the other girls he knows. His sister, Martha, hates her. Jamie doesn't know why, but there's no way he's going to take any notice of her warnings to stay away from Caro. But as Jamie falls deeper and deeper under her spell, he realises there is more to Caro - much more. There are the times when she disappears and doesn't get in touch, the small scars on her wrists, her talk about revolutions and taking action, not to mention the rumours he hears about the other men in her life. And then always in the background there is Rob, Jamie's older brother, back from Afghanistan and traumatised after having his leg smashed to bits there. Jamie wants to help him, but Rob seems to be living in a world of his own and is increasingly difficult to reach. With Caro, the summer should have been perfect . . . but that isn't how things work out in real life, and Jamie is going to find out the hard way. This taut psychological drama is the brilliant new novel from acclaimed Celia Rees. The only thing I found disconcerting about this book was the way it is told from different perspectives. It's a relatively new phenomenon and I'm not sure it works. I also found the politics a little out of place in a YA novel, but enjoyed it nevertheless.
 MARY HOFFMAN: DAVID
Bloomsbury PB
Michelangelo's statue of David is renowned all over the world. Thousands flock to Florence to admire the artistry behind this Renaissance masterpiece, and to admire the beauty of the human form captured in the marble. But the identity of the model for this statue that has been so revered for over five hundred years has been lost ...In this epic story Mary Hoffman uses her persuasive narrative skills to imagine the story of Gabriele, an eighteen-year-old who, by becoming Michelangelo's model, finds himself drawn into a world of spies, politicking, sabotage and murder. Set against the backdrop of Florence, this is a rich, colourful and thrilling tale. Lacking in humour, and the scenes of a sexual nature would preclude younger teens from reading (or should, in my opinion). Hoffman's take on the relationship between the two greats, Leonardo and Michelangelo is of interest, though. Probably would work better as a purely adult historical novel, but would need some fleshing out, and the injection of a little humour now and then.
 STEVEN ERIKSON: THIS RIVER AWAKENS
Bantam Press HB
In the spring of 1971, Owen Brand and his family move to the riverside town of Middlecross in a renewed attempt to escape poverty. For twelve-year-old Owen, it's the opportunity for a new life and an end to his family's isolation and he quickly falls in with a gang of three local boys and forms a strong bond with Jennifer, the rebellious daughter of a violent, alcoholic father. As summer brings release from school, two figures preside over the boys' activities:
Walter Gribbs, a benign old watchman at the yacht club, and Hogdson Fisk, a vindictive farmer tormented by his past. Then the boys stumble on a body washed up on the riverbank - a discovery whose reverberations will result, as the year comes full circle, in a cataclysm that envelops them all... Steven Erikson's first novel, This River Awakens, is a lyrical, tender and disturbing portrayal of a rite of passage that is both harsh and revelatory. Previously published under the author name Steven Lundin, Erikson's first non-fantasy novel has some touches of humour but otherwise concentrates largely on the troubled minds of its characters, partiucularly the children in this rather doomy rite of passage.
 CODY WELLS: SIX WAYS OF DYING
Black Horse Western HB
In his wildest dreams, Angelo never imagined he would forge such an unusual partnership with an old man, two tough brothers, their hired gunmen - and a treasure map. Though it had started well, in less time than it takes to cock a Colt the whole deal was going bad. Determined to get even, Angelo sets out to track down the men who double-crossed him. Only this time, he is saddled with an arrogant cavalry officer, some raw recruits and a beautiful girl - with whom he has fallen helplessly in love. Upon meeting Ulzana, the Apache renegade, they find themselves outnumbered and exhausted. But Angelo doesn't give a damn about the odds. If he has to go down, he'll go down fighting. Reading this is a little like watching one of those B movies we used to see in the 1960s - a Randolph Scott or an Audie Murphy - excellent quality and probably deserving of much wider recognition. The plot is terrific, and the interplay between Angelo and the Indians is handled expertly and sensitively. Thoroughly readable and very enjoyable Western.
 MACDONALD HARRIS: THE BALLOONIST
Galileo PB
A critical sensation when first published in 1976, The Balloonist is an intense love story told with the sci-fi adventure of Jules Verne, centred on an attempt by a Swedish Scientist, an American Journalist and a French speaking adventurer to become the first people to set foot on the North Pole, to arrive and return in a huge red and white balloon. In 2006, Philip Pullman brought attention back to this classic highlighting the immense talent of the writer which had been overlooked for years. Pullman offers an introduction to this much deserved reissue. Cult novels always have a reputation to live up to - can Philip Pullman have been wrong to have praised this novel so lavishly? I don't always agree with what Pullman has to say - he's a little too self-centred for me, and he's not an infallible author himself, in my opinion. But I have to agree about THE BALLOONIST - you could be forgiven for thinking you were reading a novel by H G Wells or Jules Verne - it has the look and feel of a book written at the back end of the 19th century, and the characterisation is brilliant, particularly when it comes to Luisa, who more or less leaps out of the pages at you. The descriptions of life among the rich and famous in the Paris salons are also terrific. A hearty, satisfying read.
 SARRA MANNING: NINE USES FOR AN EX-BOYFRIEND
Corgi PB
Hope Delafield hasn't always had an easy life.She has red hair and a temper to match, as her mother is constantly reminding her. She can't wear heels, is terrified of heights and being a primary school teacher isn't exactly the job she dreamed of doing, especially when her class are stuck on the two times table. At least Hope has Jack, and Jack is the God of boyfriends. He's sweet, kind, funny, has a killer smile, a cool job on a fashion magazine and he's pretty (but in a manly way). Hope knew that Jack was The One ever since their first kiss after the Youth Club Disco and thirteen years later, they're still totally in love. Totally. They're even officially pre-engaged. And then Hope catches Jack kissing her best friend Susie... Does true love forgive and forget? Or does it get mad... and get even? Pure, unadulterated chick lit, with no apologies, no misconceptions, a starry cast and a blast of refreshing humour. Does true love really last forever? It does in real life, but it may not for Hope... Absolutely brilliant.
 NAT SEGNIT: PUB WALKS IN UNDERHILL COUNTRY
Penguin PB
'Start by turning right out of the main entrance of Malvern Link railway station . . .' So begins Graham Underhill's guide to rambling in the West Midlands. But it is not many yards before Graham has gone completely off track, all but abandoning the route ahead to exult in his love for his beautiful if headstrong wife Sunita. Along the way Graham treats us to his intemperate views on mountain bikers, litter louts, landscape photographers, and the Highways Agency, who are intent on building a bypass through his home. At least he has Sunita. Or does he? With each walk it becomes clearer that the paths of Underhill Country lead into treacherous terrain. I think Segnit is in danger of confusing fact from fiction - there is far too much real rambling information for me to make this a truly succesful novel. The characters, once they get going, are excellent, particularly Sunita, who isn't that nice, but they're swamped by the rambling references, and the whole book descends into a rambling piece of hokum populated by arguments, odd people and situations. It's tempting to think outside the box and come up with something different, but I think Segnit has gone a little too far. It's as though he didn't have enough material for the actual bones of the novel, and so thought to pad it out with the country walks. It doesn't work for me, I'm afraid.
 AMANDA HODGKINSON: 22 BRITANNIA ROAD
Penguin PB
In war we sometimes lose ourselves . . . It is 1946 and Silvana and eight-year-old Aurek board a ship that will take them from Poland to England. Silvana has not seen her husband Janusz in six years, but, they are assured, he has made them a home in Ipswich. However, after living wild in the forests for years, carrying a terrible secret, all Silvana knows is that she and Aurek are survivors. Everything else is lost. While Janusz, a Polish soldier who has criss-crossed Europe during the war, hopes his family will help put his own dark past behind him. But the war and the years apart will always haunt each of them unless they together confront what they were compelled to do to survive. I found this a very dark, doomy, depressing read, with little to lift the spirits. Very well written, and the characters are first class and probably based on real people. I came away wanting something a little more uplifting. Probably bordering on what we think of as literary fiction, and will probably go on to win endless prizes. Just not my cup of tea, I'm afraid.
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Adult Fiction Book Reviews
