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A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. First of the Grim Reaper series, a comic contemporary fantasy set in San Francisco. This was great fun. Quite reminiscent of his "Love Story" trilogy, the same setting and some quite similar characters, but this didn't detract anything for me. Much of the story was not particularly unexpected, but it had a few twists. And did I mention it was fun? 4/5.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. An contemporary/apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic story. This was odd. I really liked the start, but then the timeline began to switch back and forth and for a long time I could not work out why. I'm still not entirely certain of the point, but the story becomes satisfying as the back story links the pieces of post-apocalyptic story. None of the pieces felt particularly novel, except perhaps the Station Eleven itself, but it was well told and all-together came to something quite different and very good. 4/5.
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H. G. Parry. A contempoary fantasy set in Wellington, New Zealand. There were times that the story felt long, but I was always fascinated. The large cast of characters, both the re-imagined versions and those original to this story, are wonderfully done. The story is neat, and while I have reservations about the wrap-up at the end, it was told well. I am amazed that the author has managed to make such a fantastical fantasy seem so real. 4.5/5.
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