7th November 2026

The latest James Bond novel introduces us to a modern day Bond in his 30s, caught up in a typically complex plot which requires travel to exotic locations and interaction with a variety of strange characters.

This is the first time I've really noticed Bond being actually younger than me, and that's quite a weird transition to notice. The character is more nuanced than we've sometimes seen him, with times were his impulses override his rationality. But he's also inconsistent in his take - we see segments where he's critical of anti-technology attitudes, and some where he exhibits exactly the same himself.

I was nervous going in having abandoned a previous Higson thriller, and my nerves felt justified by the first half of the novel. The first half almost felt like it didn't want me reading it, the narrative feeling like it was attacking aspects of modern culture, presenting stereotyped younger people, not bothering to put in effort to understand how technically-minded people might talk or behave, and introducing a surprising number of side characters with reprehensible views.

But the second half then pivoted to a more classic action thriller style, a bit more focussed on plot, and that half flowed much more smoothly. This I found more engaging and raced through without feeling put out by what was going on.

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31st October 2026

For book three, Annie heads to London to stay with her mum after there's yet another murder that she feels drawn to investigate.

The London setting almost makes it feel more like a classic mystery than the country house setting of the first two novels, but possibly because that added a unique twist to the setting that isn't quite so present here.

The uniqueness of crossing two time periods persists though, as we continue to explore the diaries of Annie's great aunt in parallel with the modern day, with characters and events that cross through the span of time.

It's a good adventure, but I think maybe does more to develop the characters and their relationships than the plot. It was interesting to note from the end that book four will be the last in the series, and that has made me wonder how much of this book was about shuffling things into place for a finale.

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31st October 2026

The third and final entry in the trilogy continues to follow the life of an AI trapped in a single human body as she learns more about how to be human and respect the humans around her, as well as wage war against the leaders of the empire which created her.

And yet it's really quite a small plot within a rich universe - we're focussed on one person and what one person can do to protect the lives and wellbeing of others, rather than it being some grand universe-defining adventure. And so it can have everything.

The characters are what really make this, and the introduction of several new characters makes for world building that's even more exciting than before. I've really loved spending time with them and seeing them change and grow and explore.

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25th October 2026

In book four, Ernest Cunningham finds himself travelling to an out of the way Austrailian town in search of a bank loan to fund his fledgling detective business. When naturally someone turns up to rob the place, and takes everyone hostage.

The setup is highly convoluted, but there's nothing you wouldn't have come to expect from this series - if anything though this does turn the dial up slightly on the implausibility of the scenario.

The pacing is perfect, with new information, new interactions, and twists aplenty. But it wasn't quite as compelling to read as I might have liked and as a result I didn't race through it.

A perfectly functional fourth story and I definitely intend to return for the next adventure.

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25th October 2026

The Atlas Six is a book I've been considering reading for ages but has proved hard to find, but it eventually popped up in the local Oxfam and I bought it.

It's the story of six unsuspecting young magicians, generally fresh from education or at an equivalent age, judged by Atlas (who it turns out is a character) to be the most promising of their generation to be candidates to join the secret society he works for.

Some aspects I really liked - there's a lot of interesting characters and possibly gradually learning their backstories was the best part of the novel. The story itself feels a lot like just uncovering that, and teasing out each player's abilities.

But then I felt like it ended disappointingly. The climax managed to do none of the things I was really hoping for, and felt like it left the novel feeling unfinished, but equally not cliffhangery enough to make me want to buy the sequel.

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26th September 2026

The ninth book of the Wheel of Time is mostly focussed on Mat and what's happening to him as his destiny approaches. There are shorter parts with Rand and Elayne, and occasional minor characters - but two of the main characters don't even make an appearance.

From memory, this was where in my first readthrough I thought the story became plodding and slow. This time, I only really felt that in the very middle of this book, deep into Mat's plotline. Either end of the book felt like it moved at a good pace, both wrapping up cliffhangers from earlier and moving the overall story on in interesting ways.

As expected, there's a lot of world-building, especially with the new civilisation and new city that we separately get to visit. But it does feel like the story is moving towards the climax now - the various pieces are moving into position on the board to try to set them up towards the endgame.

I'm intrigued to find out how I find the next book on this re-read, as my memory says book ten was the low point before everything started to pick up pace again.

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9th September 2026

ABK's second Montgomery Bonbon mystery sees the mysterious detective on holiday with her grandfather, visiting the unusual Odde Island where it turns out, in classic mystery fashion, there's been a murder.

The mystery is solid, with a range of suspects, and lots of the classic elements that a younger reader would be seeing for the first time. The characters are great, with real personality, turned up to eleven, and lots of fun to be had.

There's jokes aplenty and some very funny choices of simile and phrasing to entertain child and adult readers alike.

It just lacked some of the magic of the first novel though - it wasn't quite as compelling to read, and I can't quite put my finger on why.

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