The Story of Silence by Alex Myers

The Story of Silence by Alex Myers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - as able over 10 days

Pages - 400

Publisher - Harper

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

A knightly fairy tale of royalty and dragons, of midwives with secrets and dashing strangers in dark inns. Taking the original French legend as his starting point, The Story of Silence is a rich, multilayered new story for today’s world – sure to delight fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale.

There was once, long ago, a foolish king who decreed that women should not, and would not, inherit. Thus when a girl-child was born to Lord Cador – Merlin-enchanted fighter of dragons and Earl of Cornwall – he secreted her away: to be raised a boy so that the family land and honour would remain intact.

That child’s name was Silence.

Silence must find their own place in a medieval world that is determined to place the many restrictions of gender and class upon them. With dreams of knighthood and a lonely heart to answer, Silence sets out to define themselves.

Soon their silence will be ended.



My Review

Silence, born a girl, raised a boy. The laws of the land that only males could inherit therefore Silence MUST be a boy. I had never heard of this medieval poem so this retelling was shiny brand new to me from all angles. We open in an old tavern with a bard telling the story of Silence and we go back to Silence's birth, why the law came into play that only males can inherit and Silence's life.

This is brilliant, different, unique (I felt) going back to a time when there is war, inheriting through marriage, birth, titles, land. Being raised as a boy, knowing you are different but not exactly why and living your life a lie, trying to constantly prove your worth. It is emotive in places, I really felt for Silence. Nothing was good enough, just wanting approval, only wanting to be a knight. Silence is such a good person, kind, honest and it is almost constantly used against them.

I don't generally read books like this and I am glad I got a chance to, historical fiction (I am coming more around and enjoying this genre), fantasy, gender vs sex, adventure, friendship, relationships, deceit, betrayal and even a wizard! There is just so much and for me it was fresh, different, new. I read a lot of books across genres but this was really different. I plan to hunt down the poem and have a read at it. When reading this I did find myself pondering life/situations for Silence then and for those in the LGBTQIA community now. I don't know if that was one of the authors goals in writing this but it certainly left me deep in thought. Sometimes you don't realise how much you take for granted purely because of how you were born/raised. 4.5/5 for me this time, this was my first time reading this author, I will be looking at their other work and other books in this kind of vein. It is thought provoking read and I think I will be thinking about this long after I put it down.

View all my reviews

Nothing Is Strange by Mike Russell

Nothing Is Strange by Mike Russell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - less than 1 hour

Pages - 146

Publisher - StrangeBooks

Blurb from Goodreads


20 mind-expanding short stories.
Inspiring, liberating, otherworldly, magical, surreal, bizarre, funny, disturbing, unique... all of these words have been used to describe the stories of Mike Russell so put on your top hat, open your third eye and enjoy: Nothing Is Strange



My Review

I could have read this in twenty minutes, but for the fact pretty much after each story I sat and pondered what I had just read. Bizarre, different, strange to say the least, certainly thought provoking. After reading them I wondered did the author have other levels to the stories to provoke thought, or was I reading the stories of someone under the influence? You know sometimes when you read, say Irvine Welsh or the like and you just think what did I just read there and even go over it again? Kind of like that.

Sometimes with short stories I will try and do a wee bit of commentary on each, however they are so short and few pages, not to mention bizarre I don't feel I can here. Some definitely highlight morality I would say, how choices and actions have consequences that we then must live with. Some are just bat crazy and even after going over them twice I genuinely don't know what to say or think about them. There is small content of sex, love, relationships, a wee bit of swearing and a whole mixed bag of crazy, you can dip in and out of the book as the stories are so short. I have never read this author before but I would read him again, would be interesting to see a novel and longer narration rather than just short sharp bites from him. If you like a book that is a bit trippy, mind bending and throws you a wee bit then this is absolutely the book for you, 3/5 for me this time.

View all my reviews