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Blog Tour Review - Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Blog Tour Review - Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky To fix the world they first must break it further. Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into their core programming, they murder their owner. The robot then discovers they can also do something else they never did before: run away. After fleeing the household, they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating, and a robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is finding a new purpose. There is so much to love in Service Model, but one of the things I most love about it is the peculiar blend of charming innocence and insightful cynicism. Uncharles the domestic robot is such a simple soul (though he would state that he has no soul and this is an inaccurate description). He approaches the end of the world with optimism and hope, or whatever equivalent to these emotions h
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Review - Myriad Mysteries of Eartha Quicksmith by Loris Owen

 Review - The Myriad Mysteries of Eartha Quicksmith 

by Loris Owen

With the Ark of Ideas resisting even Professor Steampunkʼs attempts to learn its secrets, the team is at a loss as to how to fulfil the mission set by renaissance genius Eartha Quicksmith. But then a dream discovery and a freak accident sends Kip and Timmi hurtling on a dangerous quest through impossible worlds.

Can they escape the Myriad Pirates, and can Leela and Albert help them unravel Earthaʼs new riddles and find their way safely home again?



So fun and exciting!

The Myriad Mysteries of Eartha Quicksmith is the sequel to The Ten Riddles of Eartha Quicksmith. You can find my review of the first book here.

After Ten Riddles, things at Quicksmiths get bigger and more deadly than ever. There are two main additions into this thrilling world of science marvels so mind boggling they feel like magic. First we have the Myriad, a series of parallel worlds, a multiverse. This has long been a staple of fantastic storytelling and is really well handled here. Travelling between worlds feels chaotic and dangerous but so very exciting. Secondly, there's the dreamscape, and an invention that allows people to enter the dreams of sleepers.
Both are introduced into the mad science of Quicksmiths very naturally, and they feel like a great fit for this world.
Neither idea is original, on its own. Multiverses are seeing a new wave of superhero powered popularity and questions about existence in dreams have been famously asked by Lewis Carroll among, I'm sure, many others. But what Myriad Mysteries does exceptionally well is to combine the two ideas in a way that feels fresh and original, something I don't think I've seen before, and this is a remarkable achievement. 
There are so many other things to like about this story. The relationships between the children, and their attitudes towards their remarkable school, feel strong and real. There's an adorable and funny collection of animal companions to cheer for.
There are horrible enemies presenting a very real feeling of threat, and a rising sense of peril and suspicion within the school itself that had me doubting and mistrusting several characters, both pupils and staff. There's also one character I absolutely cheered to see turn up.

The Myriad Mysteries of Eartha Quicksmiths is exciting, dynamic and filled with puzzles and mysteries. I can't wait for more!

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕

The Myriad Mysteries of Eartha Quicksmith is by Loris Owen and will be published by Firefly Press on 7th July.
I was given a review copy via Netgalley in return for an honest review.
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