Ink & Quill

When you are governed by a Lord Ruler who has turned the world into a cult of the person and a complete dictatorship, you crave some change! This is what Kelsier felt when he gathered a group of thieves to overthrow the present government. If they succeed, this will mean a new world order, a new life, especially for the oppressed skaa, the workers. But it will also mean a whole new world of trouble. Mistborns, allomancers, Terrispeople, kandra, koloss, mists, ashes, Brandon Sanderson has created a rich universe in which his three dimensional characters evolve and grow. A delightful yet multi-layered read! Not your average Medieval Fantasy. This one is much better!

This is the story of two brothers, Nestor and Cesar, fresh out of Cuba, trying to make it as musicians in 1950's New York. Vibrant, exciting, full of life, the novel relates the brothers' trials and tribulations on the music scene, night life in the various clubs that hire them to play, love, sex, alcohol, fun and partying. But it also deals with immigrants' lives and with what it means to grow old in the anonymity when you were once so admired. A Pulitzer winner and the basis for the movie “The Mambo Kings” with Antonio Banderas, this is a deeper novel than it looks, full of all the elements required to turn a novel into a Classic of modern literature.

Bruno is a PhD student from New York. When he hears about Julio Martel, a tango singer with a marvelous voice, he gets on a plane and heads to Buenos Aires. There he will meet people who will help him reconstruct Martel's life and his passion for old tangos. As Bruno gets closer to meeting Martel, he comes closer and closer to understanding why Martel sings, and the significance of the places he chooses to sing. A deep and emotional story of Argentina's past and present filled with music. A fascinating tale, even for a reader unfamiliar with Argentina's (and Buenos Aires') geography.

In this complete and complex biography of Nikola Tesla, the reader discovers the man, the inventor and the inventions. Very detailed and quite thorough, this work is for everyone interested in Tesla but want to know more than the bare necessity. Very well written and easy to follow (albeit heavy on the science but still understandable to non-specialists), this is a fascinating work about a fascinating man.

In this extensively researched text, the author takes us inside the life and works of Galileo, his family, his friends, his masters and patrons, every detail to get a better picture who Galileo was and what was happening at the time. A thorough description of a very full life.

Genius 12 year-old evil mastermind Artemis Fowl goes from adventure to adventure accompanied by his faithful bodyguard Butler, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon,  Foaly the smart-aleck high-tech centaur and Mulch Diggums, a criminal dwarf suffering from flatulence. Together they can pretty much do it all! Each novel takes the characters into another action-packed adventure with a mystery to solve. Artemis Fowl is a series about growth, trust and friendship. Not your average YA; this one is a bit more serious, making it better, more rounded, more interesting. In this episode we discuss both the series and the graphic novels :)

After the death of his father, James leaves Yorkshire and his beloved sister Charlotte to move to London and study at Oxford. Once his studies are over, he takes lodging with an exciting young man who goes out every night. Slowly yet surely, James is drawn to this life of party, money and easy pleasures. Until one night when he and his friend get attacked… From now on, James' life has taken a turn. For the best or for the worst? That is a matter of perspective.

A young man simply referred to as “A” inherits a very large mansion. That happens everyday! He and his mute (not deaf) companion Niamh come to the US from Europe to take possession of said mansion with all its contents. OK! The mansion once belonged to Ambrose Wells, his second cousin twice removed, who jumped off the window. Hmmm…! The cousin committed suicide the exact same way his father did at the exact same age in the exact same room in the house. Wait! What?? Oh, and the house is haunted! But there is more, so much more! What exactly happened to Ambrose Wells and what kind of person was he before he decided to attempt a somersault a few stories high? Who are those people who names resonate of Greek philosophers? What kind of weird society was Ambrose presiding over? What is going to happen in December at the next scheduled meeting? And most importantly, why is A having all kinds of weird and recurring nightmares? A great story that plays with both form and content. For those who enjoy Stephen King, Lovecraft, or creepy novels like “House of Leaves” or “The Manuscript found in Sarragosa” this one is for you!

When the law (Pat Garrett) meets the outlaw (Billy the Kid), gunfire happens! In this 2010 extremely well researched text, author Mark Lee Gardner traces the clash between Billy and Pat, and the infamous years of 1880 and 1881 leading to Billy's (still somewhat strange) death. A fascinating tale of the Wild West, guns, horses, gambling and cattle. Saddle-up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Everybody knows about the Pinkerton Agency. Yet, probably less people know about the man behind it all: Allan Pinkerton. Allan and his wife Joan came to the USA in the 1840's. Allan was to be a cooper, as was his trade in Scotland. Little did he know he was to be the father of one of the most notorious law enforcement agencies on the continent. Studying the life and work of Allan Pinkerton year by year, the author does a great job at allowing the reader a peak into what it means to be one of the most thorough crime fighters in history. Enlightening!

John Charming has a lot of issues. Yes, he is a Charming, kissing princesses, fighting dragons and all. But this was a long time ago. Now, he is a bartender in a small town in Virginia. Yet, his peaceful days behind the counter are almost over. When Sig, a tall gorgeous blonde walks into his bar, John soon realizes his life is about to change, not necessarily for the better. In episode 100 we discuss both “Charming” and “Daring”, books 1 and 2 of the Pax Arcana series. An hilarious, fast pace read featuring John Charming, Prince, Knight, Werewolf, Renegade and all together badass with a exceptional supply of punchlines, smart aleck comments and loaded guns. I strongly recommend! :D

John Taylor really does not want to go back to the Nightside, that shady weird underside of London, where all types of mythical creatures dwell, good and bad. But when a rich lady comes begging to help her find her missing teenager, John cannot say no. Plus she is offering a lot of money! And just like that John is back in the Nightside! His reputation for locating things with his “gift” precedes him. Clearly John and the Nightside have a history. Could be because of his mother? In episode 99, we discuss both “Something from the Nightside” (looking for the missing teenager) and “Agents of Light and Darkness” (who stole the Unholy Grail?), books 1 and 2 of the Nightside series. Fun (and funny) little novels. Highly enjoyable! Can't wait to read all the others and tie the loose ends :)

New York, 1845. The Irish population is increasing with new immigrants coming by the dozens every day. The “copper stars” are born. A few children are found dead. Three events that look like they have nothing in common; yet, they are deeply intertwined. This is what Timothy Wilde, ex-bartender turned “copper” is going to find out.  In this mystery novel told from Tim's point of view, the reader is thrown into the slums of New York. Very-well written with an abundant use of “flash” speech (slang of the time and place), the reader will follow Tim as he pieces the reasons why 10 year old Bird Daly came running to him one fine evening, her nightgown covered in blood…

New York, 1896. The city is devastated and shocked! Young boys have been found dead, utterly mutilated. The police does not even know where to begin. New York City police commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, reaches out to two of his college buddies: one John Moore, our narrator and New York Times journalist, and one Laszlo Kreizler, an alienist. With new methods and in the wake of H.H Holmes' and The London Ripper's killings, a team of five including Moore and Kreizler will try to profile and hunt a new breed of New York murderer: the serial killer!  

New father, new boarding school, new “friends” (if you can call the girls in school “friends”), a twin sister gone and an insane mother. Oh, and of course that father you have never seen before takes you away from Wales to England,  so now, you also have to deal with culture shock. Great! This is Mori's life in a nutshell. And to add insult to injury, she needs the help of a stick to help her walk, making her the pariah of her new boarding school. Awful, right? Well it would be if it weren't for Sci-Fi novels and faeries. Yes, faeries! They do make life a bit better, if you know where to look. A great Hugo Award winner that takes you through Mori's life at 15. Written in the form of a diary, the novel takes the reader through the trials and tribulations of a teenager discovering love, life and whole bookshelves of Sci-Fi novels :)

Welcome to the Intrepid! Congratulations, you are a brand new ensign on a famous spaceship. You have your life of adventures ahead of you. Yet you notice that as soon as a senior officer comes along asking for volunteers for an “away mission”, most of your team mates suddenly disappear, following an irresistible craving for coffee or disappearing into closets for inventory. Something weird is going on! Better ask Jenkins. Jenkins knows. But what Jenkins has to say about why most ensigns who go on “away missions” die freakish deaths is almost too much to fathom. The knowledge will take our crew of ensigns all the way back to the 21st century Hollywood, bringing with them a few answers and a whole lot of questions. A fun read that asks deep questions. Highly entertaining but profound just as much!

A very difficult language to follow but a tremendous story of love and honor. Christopher Tietjens is torn between a wife he hates but cannot divorce, and a young lady he loves but cannot be with. All this in the middle of World War One! More than a mere love story, this is the story of a changing society and what its people need to do (or give up) to adapt and survive. The new versus the old, tradition versus change and new beginnings. A difficult but rewarding read. In this episode we talk as much about the book as about the mini series with Benedict Cumberbatch.

Thomas Fowler, British reporter in his 50s, has been in Saigon for a few years, happily living with Phuong, his young Vietnamese mistress. Despite the conflict between the French and the Viet Minhs, life is not so bad. Until the arrival of Pyle. Alden Pyle is an American, very well mannered, quiet, and in love with Phuong. Will this love destroy his friendship with Fowler? But what if Pyle had ulterior motives? Why is he really in Saigon? Could he have been sent on a special mission? What if there was more than the eye could see and more at stake politically than everyone knows? A wonderful story of love in the midst of political intrigues by a world famous British author :)

What happens when you steal a cat from the past? Does the whole course of history changes? What can you do to make sure what is supposed to happen actually does happen? Do you bring the cat back? And where on earth is the bird stump? Those are a few of the questions Ned will have to answer. In doing so, this time traveler from the 2050′s will have to spend some time in the Victorian era, learn to be trusted by the people whose life he hopes the cat situation has not altered (too much!), and bring back the bird stump for Lady Schrapnell's consecration. A really funny book with deep underground themes along the time of determinism, free will, time, space and the many lives of cats! But we can't really expect any less from a Hugo and Nebula award winner now, can we?

Matthew is an unassuming research assistant at MIT. Somewhat mediocre, nothing special about him really. Except that one fine day, the time machine he is working on disappears and reappears almost instantaneously. Matt decides to investigate, and, why not, see where it is willing to take him. He thus embarks on a journey from one future to the next, each further away. Can the machine go back or is it only capable of taking Matt further away towards the end of times? And more importantly, what type of humanity is he going to encounter? New and improved? Or same old same old?

No good deed goes unpunished! Richard Mayhew decides in a split second to rescue a wounded girl bleeding on the pavement instead of accompanying his girl-friend to an important dinner, and his life is turned upside down. And by upside down, I do mean upside down! He is drawn into a world underground that bears little resemblance (and yet it does!) to his own. Richard has entered London Below, the labyrinthic universe of the London “Tube” where things are not what they seem. Akin to Alice stepping into the looking-glass, Richard will have to figure out how to behave in a world whose rules are unfamiliar. And to top it all, he is now fully involved in a creepy situation helping Door, the young wounded lady, find out who killed her family and why. By now “Neverwhere” has become a Classic of urban fantasy. Dark but overly, funny at times, definitely exciting and fast pace, the reader is taken along with Richard into a world that will make you wonder which one of the two, London Below or London Above is better, and, to some extend, which one (of any) is real. A fun take on perception and reality. A great great GREAT book! :D

Welcome to the world of the strange, the creepy, darkness and dread. Saul has been accused of killing his father and sent to jail. Comes to visit him a weird character who calls himself King Rat and who helps Saul escape. Did King Rat help Saul out of the kindness of his heart? Probably not! The enemy is back and Saul is the only one who cannot be touched. Who's the enemy? The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Yes, the Piper is back! The same one who so long ago forced all the rats out of Hamelin. He is back and he expects everyone to dance to his tune. A very evil creature! Saul's half-ratness, may well be the only thing that can prevent the Piper from taking over the world.

Young Locke is an orphan, picked up in the street by the Thiefmaker who teaches him and dozens of other children the fine art of picking pockets. But when he goes too far, brings too much attention to himself and ends up having another boy killed, Locke is sold to the Eyeless Priest. There a new life begins for Locke. The Eyeless Priest will teach Locke, along with a few other boys, the art of thieving, of the masquerade, of faking accents, how to pass for a Noble, for a merchant, for a King even, turning his group of teenage boys into the Gentlemen Bastards, the finest most capable band of bandits this side of Camorr! Five young men, highly trained in lies and masquerades, able to con and fool anyone and anything, Locke and his Gentlemen Bastards are quite the group! But that is without taking into account the ongoing feud between the two main leaders of the thieves world. On the one hand Capa Barsavi, to whom Locke owes allegiance, and on the other, the mysterious Gray King who also wants a piece of the action, and who thinks that Locke, with all his resources, might very well be the best person to help him in his endeavor…

When you are a band of mercenaries to hire, you don't really care what the job is. When it turns out that you are going to have to go into battles with big bad evil dark sorcerers recently out of their grave, well, so be it! To battle we go! Told from the perspective of Croaker, the doctor and the historian, The Black Company is a fascinating tale of adventure despite its slow start. Once the story starts moving and the reader finally figures out who is who, and who is behind it all, hold on to your seat, you are in for a bumpy ride! The Black Company   is a mix between medieval fantasy and an epic tale filled with mystery, first in a long series of books that will little by little fill in all the gaps and leave the reader satisfied, fulfilled with a plot well wrapped and characters well developed 

Written from three different perspectives and in three different time periods, “The Feast of the Goat” retells the Dominican Republic years of dictatorship under General Rafael Trujillo. First and foremost, Urania in the present. Daughter of Trujillo's secretary of state Agustin Cabral, Urania comes back to Cuidad Trujillo (now Santo Domingo) to visit a father she has not seen in more than 30 years. She will also have to face the demons she has left behind and the gruesome reason why she so deeply hates her father. Second, the assassins in 1961. A gathering of men, soldiers or ex-military who have been wronged one way or another by Trujillo will plot to take matters into their own hands and free the country of Trujillo's power once and for all. Will they succeed? And if they do, what consequences will the face? Third, Trujillo himself from 1930 to 1961. The reader will follow his raise to power, his reign of terror, his life as “the Chief”, as well as his slow descent into decadence as the now old man tries to hold on to his dignity while his body slowly abandons him. For anyone interested in Latin America's history, this is a great novel. Full of details, very much alive and realistic to the point of verging on naturalism, “The Feast of the Goat” will chill you to the bone, in so many ways

In this masterpiece of Iranian literature by Sadegh Hedayat, the nameless narrator is slowly falling into madness. The images he sees are troublesome to say the least. Is he dreaming? Is he losing touch with reality? Are we dealing with the hallucinations of an opium user? The text does not provide any answer and the reader is left to decide on his/her own how to interpret the maniacal laughter and the various shadows that keep disturbing the narrator's peace. And death, ever so present. A fascinating read but not recommended for a fun novel to bring on the beach. It will make your mind wonder if you are all sane yourself and if the murderous tendencies the narrator exhibits may not be yours just as well.  “The Blind Owl” has been compared to Poe's stories, to “One Hundred Years of Solitude” and to some of Dostoevsky's novels. Written from the first person narrative for a more “hands-on” experience, “The Blind Owl,” short yet dense, will shake you to the core. Prepare to be moved!

In her latest trilogy, Margaret Atwood describes an eerie post-apocalyptic world in which most of the human race has been destroyed by a “waterless flood” aka an engineer plague. All that is left are a few Gardeners (a cult-like group who refuse to eat meat and live according to nature), the Crakers (an engineered race created by Crake to be a perfect humanoid civilization) and a few mixed animals (the most important being the pigoons, pigs equipped with human brain tissue) Will humanity survive? And if yes, how? The story is told from various perspectives (from Jimmy to Ren, to Toby, to Zeb, and finally to Bluebeard) and move back and forth between the present (year 25, post-apocalypse) and the past (how and why the plague came to be? who were Oryx and Crake? who is Adam one? was there an Eve One? what happened to the world?) A very good tale of despair and hope, of civilization (re)created, of what it means to live in a deprived world run by the CorpSeCorps, of love and friendship, and of blue abdomens… 

If you think you are embarking in a simple detective story, think again! The New York trilogy will take you deeper and further than any other “noir” novel you have read thus far. Composed of three stand alone novellas, the reader soon realizes they all share common threads, if not common characters. Touching on broad themes like identity, narrative creation, what constitutes a writer, solitude, obsession, the blurred lined between fiction and reality, and between sanity and insanity, The New York trilogy cannot leave its reader indifferent. Purposefully written to provide a mirror for its reader, the New York trilogy cannot but leave the reader pondering, shaken and forever altered. Brilliant, it is not however to be put in everyone's hands. A reader with some knowledge of narratology, meta-fiction, deconstruction and post-modernity may be better equipped to swim in the dark and muddy waters of Paul Auster's fascinating creation.

One day out of the blue, a dome comes down, creating a perfect circle around your town. Where does it come from? No idea! Who put it there? Dunno! And why? Well wouldn't you like to know? The people of Chester's Mill will have to learn to live with each other and the daunting thought that maybe the dome will never lift. As the townspeople spend more and more time together, secrets start to come out… and they are not all pretty, to say the least… Mixing supernatural, mystery, science and behavioral psychology, Stephen King has done it again, creating another highly enjoyable novel with a tremendous ending. Careful though, this book is quite long! In this episode we are talking both about the book and the new TV series.

Who has not wondered what happened to Danny, the cute little boy locked in a battle of wits with a haunted hotel in the middle of the winter? Who has not pondered whether the negative energy trapped in the Overlook was still present, despite the boiler's explosion and the hotel being burned to the ground? Doctor Sleep revisits the character of Danny. Now grown, he is ready to help Abra, a little girl whose psychic powers have attracted a band of “steam vampires” who want nothing more than harvest and inhale her powers in order to survive. In pure Stephen King fashion, the story creeps up to its final showdown when the three main factions, Dan, Abra and the True, will fight to the death. It's suspenseful, creepy, funny at times and dark at others but all in all, you just can't put it down.  What more can I say? The name Stephen King says it all!

What do we remember of Mata Hari? A dancer? Yes. A spy? Yes, that too. But what else? In this fast-pace biography, Pat Shipman provides a fascinating account of how Margaretha Zelle MacLeod, Dutch citizen, became Mata Hari, and how this led her to be executed at the end of World War One. Was Mata Hari a likable character, a gorgeous woman victim of her circumstances? Or was she a vile manipulator, eager and able to use men to retrieve her only means of sustenance: money? Was she by far the most intelligent women of her time, or an mere opportunist? For anyone who is not familiar with Mata Hari, this is a very good start and will give the reader a pretty good idea who she was, what she was all about, and why she is still remembered today, for better or for worse.

In this great depiction of the lives and conquests of the Mongols throughout history, Jack Weatherford sheds light on an historical character that has been given a lot of bad press, Ranging from before Genghis Khan's birth to the end of the Mongol empire long after his death, the author portrays the culture and ideals of a people united under one ruler, one goal. The reader will be taken back in time and into a world not that different from our own, and that the Mongols' actions have helped shape.

In this futuristic series of 10 volumes set in “The City,” Spider Jerusalem, rogue journalist and truth seeker is out to get the politicians, and to expose them for who they are. In the decadent world they live in, Spider and his “filthy assistants” will stop at nothing, sex, drugs or videos to dig up the truth and expose the lies. Very cyber punk, graphic in both senses of the word, this series is not for everyone. You like a foul-mouthed character with a habit of beating up his opponents to get the truth out of them, Transmetropolitan is for you! If you have more of a sensitive stomach, you might want to skip a few pages. All in all an interesting take on the world toward which we are heading. A world of endless stimuli, endless commercials, extremely corrupt and evil politicians, self-indulgence in the form of medical conveniences, and drugs drugs drugs!!

Have you been wondering what happened to Snow White and if she is still happily married to her Prince Charming? And what about that Big Bad Wolf that ate poor Red Riding Hood's grandmother, where did he disappear? Cinderella? The three blind mice? King Cole? Rest assured, they are all alive and well… in Fabletown, a hidden area of New York City. But that is only for those who can pass for humans (aka Mundy). The others are kept in upstate New York in The Farm run by Snow White's sister, Rose Red. What are they doing there you ask? They have been kicked out of their homeland by the “Adversary.” And when you find out who that it, it will knock your socks off! Now is the time to confront said adversary, and to go home. In this episode we review the whole series. Yup, all 18 books!

This is Paris through the eyes of five families: the aristocrats, the “low-life”, the Jews, the workers and the merchants. Five different perspectives from the Middle-Ages to 1968, five ways to look at Paris, to be in Paris, to make Paris what it is today.  The novel shows the relationship between people and the city; how a city has an effect on its people, and how the people and their beliefs shape a city. This is a fast read (despite its 800-something pages) and a very interesting look at the main events in French history that have left their mark on Paris.

This is not your typical book about New York. This one is all about impressions, about slices of life, about what a city does to you and how you can influence a city. Manhattan Transfer is a wonder of literary mastery. Its shadowy characters evolve in a New York that evolves with them. A tremendous novel that takes you deep in the heart of a large metropolis. A pure jewel.

When you are the first 100 people on Mars, there are a few things that need to happen. First, you need to get along. That's a given (but not as easy as it looks..). You also have to have an infrastructure that allows you to breath, travel, explore, and, maybe just live. Also not that easy.. Especially when you have factions on Earth trying to dictate how THEY want Mars to be, factions on Mars trying to replicate Earth, those who want Mars to remain the same, untouched and those who are simply trying to do their job! Not an easy combination. Winner of the Hugo and the Nebula Award, Kim Stanley Robinson has created a very believable Martian colonization scenario from all perspective. Written in the third narrative but allowing every major player (and every major field of study) to have its own chapter, the author manages to present to his reader the various discoveries, joys, disappointments and road blocks that such a set of scientist (soon followed by various waves of immigration) deals with when faced with such a fascinating yet daunting endeavor. Kim Stanley Robinson puts the science back in science fiction. For all you dreamers out there, lets' go to Mars!

A Classic of science-fiction, The Martian Chronicles are a gathering of little stories told from many perspectives, from the Martians witnessing the coming of large rockets from the sky, to the Earth people (scientists, families, or individuals) settling on a new planet with all the changes and adaptation (or lack thereof) that the move implies. Each little story is a slice of life, a character study, an individual thrown in a situation to observe his or her behavior. More than a simple work of science-fiction, The Martian Chronicles are an observation on Mankind, their attitude, their behavior, their mentality. Dealing greatly with the themes of the Other (inside as much as outside), this novel is a wonderful peek at what humanity can do when it is at its best and at its worth.

In this first person narration, the main character, whose name the reader never gets to discover, struggles with hunger. As his stomach remains empty, his head fills with delusions, inner monologues and streams of consciousness that lead the reader to wonder whether or not the narrator is sane. The question remains as to whether the hunger is the cause or the consequence of the narrator's delusional state. Focusing mainly on social interactions and personal dilemmas, Hunger is a psychological novel in the same vein as Dostoevsky's The Double, albeit not as dark.. A must-read for anyone interested in the inner mechanisms of the human mind

The whole town is suddenly blind! No reason, no cause, but it is contagious. And it is spreading…fast! The military takes matters into its own hands and in order to confine the epidemic, sends the affected into a secluded ward. Lost, only able to rely on themselves and each other, this is the story of a struggle. Will they be able to retain their dignity when faced with adversity? When push comes to shove, will they allow themselves to do the unthinkable to help themselves and each other? The story follows seven principal protagonists of both sexes, of various ages and from different social backgrounds. Helped in their misery by the only person who has miraculously retained her eyesight, will those seven people survive the horrors that mankind is capable of causing? A heart-wrenching tale that will entice the reader and allow him/her to experience many and at times contradictory emotions. A fantastic work of literature by Jose Saramago, Nobel Prize winner for Literature.

All her life, Diana has stuck her fingers way deep into her ears, refusing to accept that she is a witch, and a powerful one of those. But the situation has changed. The discovery of a thought to be lost book is raising interest. On the one hand, there is Peter Knox, a powerful wizard that belongs to one of the oldest group of “peace-keepers” across species, who would love nothing more than to put his hands on the book. And on the other hand, Matthew de Clairmont, the vampire, whose charms Diana can't resist… But what is it exactly that Matthew wants? As the plot thickens and mystery unveils more mysteries, Diana may be forced to start using her powers if she wishes not only to find out what happened to her parents and what secrets Ashmore 782 holds, but also and simply, to stay alive. Visit the show website!

In her first novel, Erin Morgenstern takes her reader to a magical place; a circus only opened at night. There the spectator encounters tents after tents of unimaginable goodies, spectacles of light, mirror effects, illusionists, kitten shows and everything that makes a circus what a circus is. However, the circus is there for a darker purpose; Celia and Marco are to battle each other to the last person standing. Who will win? That is the question. But they are nothing but puppets in the hand of sinister beings who challenge each other using young unaware pupils. Why? This is what we venture to find out, along with the outcome of the challenge. This is a fun first novel, different and interesting. Set in 19th century, the “reveurs” among us will appreciate being thrown in a world where imagination stands at the center. Visit the show website!

In this episode we discuss Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series. The WHOLE series. That's right, the 10 episodes! Set against the background of Dream's abduction from the Dream World of which he is the King, the story of the Sandman mixes folklore with fantasy, reverie with reality, dilemmas with decisions.  A very ambitious work that touches on a lot of various themes, the Sandman series will entice anyone interested in reading a graphic novel with a message. Change or not change, that is the question that Dream (aka Morpheus) will be forced to ponder over the course of 10 volumes once he finally escapes his prison and his world has been shattered by his very absence. After 70 years of imprison0ment, both the Dream World and the Waking World are in dire need of his presence. Be ready to meet the Endless (Dream's brothers and sisters), the Fates, the vortex, personified nightmares like the Corinthian,  Rose Walker, Loki, Abel and Cain, Matthew the raven, Lucien the librarian, Mervyn of the pumpkin head,  and many others. Visit the show website!

This is the story of how the man became the legend. The author follows the various circumstances, good and bad, that have allowed Walt Disney to become the icon we all know him to have become. From his early years in Kansas to the triumph of Snow White to the war all the way to the creation of the first entertainment park of that magnitude, the author leaves no stone unturned. Discover the real Walt Disney, find out the trials and tribulations he had to go through, both professionally and personally, to reach that level of greatness. A long yet very interesting book dedicated to a brilliant man. Visit the show website!

You are an author, minding your own business. One fine day you decide to write a book about the birth of a religion and you pick the one you know the most: Islam. From one day to the next the whole Muslim world is after you, willing and ready to kill you. This is what happened to Salman Rushdie after the publication of his famous Satanic Verses in 1989. Joseph Anton, a memoir is his recollection, under the pseudonym Joseph Anton, of nine years of nightmare, nine years of fear, nine years of wondering when this will all end. It's the story of a man dealing with forces much bigger than him. It's the story of a man dealing with every day life knowing a death threat is on him. It's the story of a man dealing with other people, trying to live life as a normal human being. Most importantly, it's a tale about freedom of speech. It does help to have read The Satanic Verses beforehand but even without, Joseph Anton, a memoir is an amazing recollection of an important piece of history from the point of view of the main protagonist. And it's written with the extraordinarily elegant prose of Salman Rushdie, a very big plus Visit the show website!

Do we really need to introduce JRR Tolkien? With the arrival on the movie scene this December 2012 of The Hobbit movie, let's re-immerse ourselves in this epic story of self-discovery. In the episode we will discuss both the movie and the book, and how they compare to each other. And for those out there who do not yet know Bilbo Baggins, welcome to one of the greatest quests of all times!! Visit the show website!

Lovers of cracked.com, this book is for you. Funny, gory, silly, completely off the wall, and of course… full of spiders! This sequel to “John dies at the end” is as funny as the first one but with a different plot all together. Yes, we are dealing here with… zombie apocalypse, spider style! Two overgrown teenagers, John and Dave, have been transformed forever after taking the “soy sauce”, a very black (and alive!) drug that gives you abilities, but at a price. Sure! now you can see things and other creepy crawlers from other dimensions. But when they start invading people's mouth and you are the only ones to see them, there's a problem, especially since the government believes the only way to get rid of the problem, is to nuke the whole town of Undisclosed. Fan of Men and Black you will love this book. Definitely different, very comic-bookish and amusing. You just need a pretty strong stomach! Visit the show website!

This sequel to “A twisted ladder” is just as good as the first novel. The reader gets reacquainted with Madeleine LeBlanc, with Zenon, with Chloe and the Briar. This time, the novel does not play between psychological abilities and madness, letting the reader wonder how the main characters can do what they shouldn't be able to do. Rather, it focuses on the briar itself, its intricacies, its depth and the creatures that inhabit it. We meet Maddie's family and, like in the first novel, the story oscillates between New Orleans of the past, and Louisiana in the present, until both intersect and clash, leaving the reader wanting for more and hoping a third novel will answer all the remaining questions. A great read, full of mystery, dark and misty, perfect for a good Halloween scare, woodoo-style!

This is one of the most intelligent books out there. Creepy but amazing! If you are looking for a story with a clear beginning and end, don't bother! This book is more question than answer, more quest than resolution. It's an exercise in deconstruction, in reader-response, it's a labyrinth, an essay on space and time, an exercise in narratology with a voice within a voice within a voice. It is absolutely brilliant! When Navi and his wife move into their new house, little did they know that said house had a mind of its own… literally!! Visit the show website!

What a strange book! Often compared to The Arabian Nights or The Decameron, this novel touches on every genre (with a large portion dedicated to the Gothic), every theme, every concept of the era from romance, to marriage, to chivalry, religion, politics, succubi, ghosts, skeletons, you name it, The Manuscript has it! Written at the turn of the 19th century, Jan Potocki, Polish author writing in French has achieved a tour de force with this novel. A whole encompassing novel that deals with everything! Not a small task Whether you like it or hate it, you can't remain indifferent to it. Composed of stories within stories within stories, told and re-told from a variety of different voices, despite its apparent disconnect the novel really forms a whole which only becomes apparent as the reader nears the end. This is not for everyone, but it is one of those texts that need to be read at least once before you die.  By now, it has become a Classic. A tedious read, but worth it!