Blog, Reviews Thomas H. Brand Blog, Reviews Thomas H. Brand

“Bone China” by Laura Purcell

Once more, Laura Purcell demonstrates she a master of the Victoria Gothic. With Bone China, she delivers yet another chilling story that creeps up on you, then leaves you wondering what is true and what is madness. 

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Blog, Reviews Thomas H. Brand Blog, Reviews Thomas H. Brand

“Safe and Sound” by Philippa East

I enjoyed Philippa East’s first novel, but I didn’t love it. But with Safe and Sound she’s taken what she had and built on it, hitting all the points that make it incredibly readable and almost impossible to put down. 

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Blog, Reviews Thomas H. Brand Blog, Reviews Thomas H. Brand

“The Good Ally” by Nova Reid

“Forget what you think you know” is a well-known adage, but sometimes, if you truly want to improve yourself, it's actually bad advice. Because as Nova Reid's The Good Ally made me understand, sometimes we can't afford to forget what we know. Instead, we need to hold it and focus on how much of it is wrong

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Blog, Reviews Thomas H. Brand Blog, Reviews Thomas H. Brand

“A House of Ghosts” by W. C. Ryan

I knew nothing about A House of Ghosts or W.C. Ryan when I bought it. It was 100% a spur of the moment whim based on the cover. But boy, am I glad I did. Because while it’s not a book that’s going to change your life, it will nevertheless be an incredibly enjoyable read.

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Ethical Alternatives to Amazon

This Christmas, I implore you all to try and keep from giving any more money to the company that treats its workers like scum while its owner spends the pandemic building his own private spaceship. 

This year, let's try to avoid using Amazon. 

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Blog, Reviews Thomas H. Brand Blog, Reviews Thomas H. Brand

“Spinning Silver” by Naomi Novik

This was another book that I couldn't really fault. It has an interesting story, and was rooted in a folklore I'm not familiar with. It had a strong sense of heritage and culture outside of my own. Yet, I simply couldn't get lost in it as much as I would have thought I would. 

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Blog, Reviews Thomas H. Brand Blog, Reviews Thomas H. Brand

The Wheel of Time TV Show: My Thoughts…

Well, I've watched the first two episodes of Amazon Prime's new The Wheel of Time series. And, given my love of the series and my thoughts on the importance of change in book-to-film adaptations, I thought I should give my opinion. 

Which comes in with a resounding... meh. 

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Writing, Blog Thomas H. Brand Writing, Blog Thomas H. Brand

I Need my Dedicated Writing Space

When I was put on furlough at the start of Lockdown, I was ecstatic. For as long as this lasted, my days were my own to do as I wished. And that meant writing!

And so, on Day One, I sat down at my desk and started working.

An hour later, I had to stop. That was it. I’d run out of steam.

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