⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’ve really been enjoying watching the Tiffany Aching books grow along with the character herself. A Hat Full of Sky feels a bit bigger and stranger than The Wee Free Men, but also more personal. It’s less about the adventure you go on and more about the kind of person you decide to be … Continue reading Learning to Be Yourself the Hard Way
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Monstrous Regiment was next up in my chronological read-through of the Discworld books, and it ended up being one of those moments where the project suddenly feels even more worthwhile. I went in expecting something solid and funny, and came out feeling like I’d just read one of Pratchett’s most pointed and emotionally grounded … Continue reading Marching Against the Absurd
⭐⭐⭐⭐ I’ll be honest: this one took me a little while to click with. Not in a bad way, exactly — more that I had to adjust my expectations. The opening didn’t immediately grab me in the way some Discworld stories do, and for a bit I felt like I was circling the edges of … Continue reading A Scrappy, Sharp-Edged Fairytale
⭐⭐⭐⭐ I’ve just finished Night Watch as part of my slow, slightly obsessive chronological read through the Discworld books, and I’ve got to say: this one really stuck with me. Not in a loud, laugh-out-loud-every-page way (though there’s still plenty of Pratchett humour), but in a heavier, more reflective sense that lingered after I closed … Continue reading History, Hoods, and Sam Vimes
Mona Higgins lived on Willow Crescent, in one of those neat little post-war houses where the hedges were clipped straight and the curtains were drawn at half-past six sharp. It was 1963, and her world moved to a clockwork rhythm: Her husband, George, left for work at the insurance office each morning at seven; she … Continue reading The Dial Tone
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Don’t Let the Forest In is one of those books that sneaks up on you. At first, it feels like a quiet story about grief, family, and the lingering ache of loss, but before long, it grows into something much darker, stranger, and more unsettling. C.G. Drews has a real talent for weaving emotion … Continue reading Haunting, Lyrical, But Just a Little Uneven
The bathroom always smelled faintly of lavender and damp. Not fresh lavender, but the cloying, synthetic kind that tried to cover mould and failed. It clung to the cracked tiles, the rust-flecked radiator, the blackened corners of the old tub. Hannah didn’t love the bathroom. But then again, she didn’t love the house, either.Still, it … Continue reading Bath Time
Jamie wasn’t much of a charity shop kind of person. Not because he thought he was too good for second-hand things—he just rarely had the patience to dig through rails of bobbled jumpers and battered trainers for the chance of finding something decent. But that afternoon, walking home in the thin, unforgiving November rain, he … Continue reading The Coat
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Death books have always been my favourite corner of the Discworld series, and Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett more than delivers everything I love about them — big ideas, biting humour, and characters that feel both ridiculous and strangely wise. It’s one of those books that plays with the fabric of reality … Continue reading A Timely Triumph: Death at His Finest
This is the continuation of my Twitter story written through the daily VSS365 word prompts. You can read Part I here. Follow me on Twitter @GaxTZ to catch up each day. I climb up into the graveyard but have to prompt John to follow. From the way he is acting, I'm starting to think he's … Continue reading Who Lives Beneath: A VSS365 Story (Part II)
Gareth Ellis - Author 