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The Entire and the Rose quartet tells the story of Titus Quinn, who disappears with his family following an accident during a space-flight. Later, Quinn returns to Earth, prematurely aged, and missing his memories, and his wife and daughter. His claims to have been trapped in a parallel universe are publically debunked, but the Minerva company knows the truth, and are secretly working to exploit this new-found universe for its resources and its potential for interstellar travel. Titus Quinn is singled out to return to this parallel universe, the Entire.

The Entire ("the Rose" being our own universe), is something like which I have never read before. The sky is a roiling sea of fire, with variation of hue and colour to depict different times of day reflective of our own day and night. The land stretches on for many millions of miles in five arms that radiate out from the centre of the universe. Each of these arms is bordered on one side by a river of time and consciousness and on the other by branching sub-arms that make the territories seemingly endless. Each arm is populated with different races, some familiar and some less so, all ruled by the mysterious and cruel aliens called the Tarig.

By the fourth book in this series the rules of this universe are well established, and Titus Quinn has risen to a position of power in the Entire, having censored the intentions of the Tarig. But all is not yet resolved; outside forces question his unwanted authority, some of the Tarig are rebelling, and it appears that there is no way the two universes can peacefully co-exist.

Kenyon wraps up this story well, and with moments of invention and affection. The characters so cleverly crafted over the previous three novels are all given a moment to shine, and even the Tarig are afforded, if not redemption, then at least sympathy.

Book 06: The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King
Books 5 through 1: The Affair, Kraken, Hounded, Summer Knight, and Snuff.

About halfway through his journey (in book terms, at least), Roland Deschain and his group of travellers - his ka-tet - take shelter from a fierce and deadly storm. There, Roland is put in mind of when, as a young man, he was sent out by his father to investigate a series of murders. He relates this tale to his companions, including the story his younger self tells to calm a frightened boy, who just might be the key to solving the crime.

This books follows on from arguably the best book in the series, "Wizard and Glass". In many ways the books are very similar in structure: Roland's group stops and a story is told. Tonally the books are very similar, with the references to King's other works not over-worked, and without some of the more recent pop-culture references and cameo that featured in the later books.

Structurally the book has a bit of a problem. The story-within-a-story-within-a-story is a bedtime story, told to warn of the dangers of the starkblast, but it is too long. I guess the conceit is that we are seeing the extra details that Roland isn't sharing in his telling. The stories individually are good, but we're a good hundred pages before more than a casual mention of the starkblast, and it feels like King got carried away with the telling of Tim Ross's story, forgetting what brought us here in the first place.

Ultimately though, this is a welcome addition to the journey; I could read more of these interlude stories.

Books 5 through 1: The Affair, Kraken, Hounded, Summer Knight, and Snuff.

An origin story for Child's wandering ex-military policeman Jack Reacher. This book takes the action back 16 years (at least in real-world terms) to Reacher's last investigation in uniform, and looks at the circumstances that lead him to his hitch-hiking and crime-fighting ways. A woman is murdered near an army base in Mississippi and Reacher is sent undercover. His assignment is to infiltrate the neighbouring town, but from the outset he questions whether he is being sent to help solve the crime, or to help cover it up if the wrong party is implicated.

I was repeatedly impressed with this book. The origin story offers a slightly different perspective on the protagonist - a hard ass investigator who still believes in the system - whilst maintaining the plotting and action. It also nicely ties in with the other novels without being heavy handed about its connections or heritage.

Book 04: The Affair by Lee Child
Book 03: Hounded by Kevin Hearne
Book 02: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
Book 01: Snuff by Terry Pratchett

A story that puts me more in mind of Gaiman than the previous book, is this London-set urban fantasy by China Miéville. A giant squid specimen is magicked away from the Natural History Museum in London, and the museum's "squid guy" is suspected in the theft. At first it is thought that a church dedicated to worship of the Kraken is responsible, as the squid is a holy relic to them, but it soon becomes apparent that there are many different cults, churches and crazies who would like to get hold of the specimen, and one of them want to use it to bring about the end of the world.

The secret underside of London will be familiar to anyone who has read Neverwhere, and this book has a similar sort of tone; an eclectic mix of characters, magic from the mundane and the mystical, and an every man hero who spends most of the story catching up with the world he finds himself in, but by the end comes into his own. Very enjoyable.

Book 03: Hounded by Kevin Hearne
Book 02: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
Book 01: Snuff by Terry Pratchett

(Iron Druid Chronicles 1)

Hounded is the first book in Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles, which follow the adventures of the last living druid Atticus O'Sullivan. The quote on the front cover markets this series as a cross between the Dresden Files [1] and Neil Gaiman's American Gods as it combines the single, magical male protagonist who gets into adventures and an America populated with gods and demons. I initially found it short of the quality of either of these works, yet I did warm to the narrative as the action progressed. The protagonist is more mature than Dresden, more capable despite his apparent youth, and at odds with the callous gods who have hounded him for 21 centuries. I will pick up the second book in the series - Hexed - and see if it's something I want to progress with, but so far I have high hopes.

Book 02: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
Book 01: Snuff by Terry Pratchett