Category: Authors U-Z (By Surname)

Robert Webb – Come Again [REVIEW]

Title: Come Again

Author: Robert Webb

Type:  Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 296

Rating: 3.5/5  

Fun fact: When I first came across Robert Webb, I took an immediate dislike to him. I’m not sure why. It wasn’t until I got into Peep Show and That Mitchell and Webb Look that I became a proper fan of his.

I’ve read (and enjoyed) Webb’s memoir, How Not to be a Boy, but this is his first foray into fiction. Weirdly, it had quite a lot in common with The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, which I read not long beforehand.

That’s because they both take a look at how the decisions that we make influence our lives, as well as whether we might be able to change our lives for the better by doing things differently. Here, though, the focus is less on saving yourself and more on saving the person you love.

Our main character is a middle-aged woman who’s struggling to come to terms with the unexpected death of her husband, who she’d loved since they met at university. It’s a moving portrayal of grief that Webb does well, and it makes me wonder whether he’s had to deal with a grief like that himself. I hope not.

The result is a touching novel that has a little bit of everything, including a potentially huge diplomatic incident involving AI and deep fakes. Pretty topical, then.

It’s quite impressive how Webb has managed to weave some of these deeper questions and concerns together with a plot that’s a lot of fun to read. It’s hard to get the balance right between telling a decent story and asking questions of the reader, but Webb gets it just right here. It’s an impressive novel!

Learn more about Come Again.


Cam Wolfe – Blood for Coins [REVIEW]

Title: Blood for Coins

Author: Cam Wolfe

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 182

Rating: 3.5/5  

I’ve read a couple of bits and bobs from Cam before, and so I was excited to pick this up once I saw that it was out.

Here, we have his first foray into fantasy, and I guess my biggest complaint would be that it isn’t long enough. It has all of the ingredients of epic fantasy except for the length, and that left it feeling more like an introduction or a sampler than the first book in a series, which is what it’s supposed to be.

I thought the world-building was pretty good, although I get impatient with fantasy in general because sometimes the names and lore get on my nerves, and the characterisation was good, too.

Really, there’s a lot to like here, and if you’re a fantasy fan or you want to read more indie, this could well be the book for you. But I think I’ll reserve my judgement until I’ve read more of the series.

Learn more about Blood for Coins.