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Terry Deary – Dark Knights and Dingy Castles | Review

Title: Dark Knights and Dingy Castles

Author: Terry Deary

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count: 176

Rating: 4/5

I was a big fan of the Horrible Histories books back when I was a kid, and so when I won a job lot bundle of them on eBay for a bargain price because of a misspelling in the title, I was delighted to find a few books in there that I hadn’t come across.

It’s made even better by the fact that they were all about half again as long as a regular Horrible Histories book, which meant there was more for me to geek out on, and that this one in particular focusses on medieval history, which is probably my favourite period, all things considered.

This one is worth reading whether you’re a kid or an adult, and especially so if you’re into medieval stuff and castles. The sense of humour is occasionally juvenile, but the information itself is solid gold. It’s arguably now one of my favourites of his!

Learn more about Dark Knights and Dingy Castles.

Peter James – Billionaire | Review

Title: Billionaire

Author: Peter James

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 322

Rating: 3*/5

Peter James – Billionaire

This book is one of the oldest books in James’ bibliography, and it’s definitely a product of the times in which it was written – as the author himself admins in his introduction. It’s actually a reasonably well-written book, and certainly a sign of things to come – but at the same time, it feels old-fashioned.

There’s also the fact that it isn’t a crime novel, which is what James is most well-known for. Instead, it’s sort of a cross between an espionage novel and a thriller based on money and power, and the story line follows a man called Rocq who gets into an awkward situation involving gold and coffee stocks. It’s pretty confusing if you’re not into politics and the way that the world works – but with the added complexity of it being based on the way the world worked in the 1980s.

Overall, I wouldn’t say that this was a bad book – it just wasn’t as good as his others. It’s also not the kind of genre that I’d usually read – I find that a lot of spy thrillers are pretty much the same, and this one didn’t do much to make itself stand out. In fact, by the time that I reached the end of it, I’d already forgotten half of the things that happened along the way.

Really, you’re only going to love this book if you’re a big fan of the genre of writing, and I don’t think it has a huge amount of mainstream appeal. I read at least a hundred books per year, and this one’s the type that would be about bang in the middle if I were to list them in order of how much I enjoyed them. Because of that, I’d recommend reading one of Peter James’ Roy Grace books before giving this one a go.