Fast-paced and gripping . . . loaded with set pieces, contains wonderful dialogue, witty exchanges, explosive showdowns, unlikely alliances, and features some of the finest character creations that the genre has to offer.

Heart-stopping fights, impressive displays of magic and desperate final stands . . .the book has it all.

Engrossing . . . has all the hallmarks of great epic fantasy . . . an essential read for Malazan fans.

Everything you expect of a Malazan story . . . nail-biting and anything but obvious.

Impossible to put down and highly recommended for all fans of the Malazan Book of the Fallen.

The finest Esslemont novel so far, and a superb Malazan novel in its own right'

A winningly grounded manifesto for artists: forget the preciousness so often urged as the route to brilliance, and embrace prodigiousness instead – and don’t forget to make sure you get paid

Beneath the surface of this fascinating biography there lies a warm and wise craft book about what it takes to make great art in any century

A fascinating little book

Hornby’s admiration for his subjects is infectious . . . a zesty tribute to two cultural legends not often spoken about in the same breath

This pairing – two magnificent creatives, centuries and genres apart – makes stunning sense in the hands of their wisest, wittiest fan

Hornby’s love for the work, for the sheer unbelievably prodigal output of both artists, is intense. And when he does write about Prince and sexuality, he is almost jarringly illuminating, particularly when he wrestles with Prince as shapeshifting sexual avatar

Ambitious, atmospheric... This is a full-blooded novel of passion and anger with a deep, bassy resonance

Fire Rush is a lyrical debut powered by uncompromising political force

A startling debut novel... Jacqueline Crooks has crafted a richly textured world... She succeeds with great aplomb

Penetrates a subculture that we are unused to seeing represented in British fiction, depicting it in all its messy, exuberant complexity

Fire Rush is a book with the power to fill and break your heart... One of the strongest debuts of the year

An eye-opening, jaw-dropping story

An immersive debut... This is a triumph

Jacqueline Crooks' lyrical debut dances to the rhythm of the reggae music that pulses throughout it, in a powerful portrait of black womanhood

Incantatory

Exhilarating . . . An adroit novel of ethics

'Lyrical, piercing . . . The New Life is a fine-cut gem, its sentences buffed to a gleam . . . [Crewe's book] brims with élan and feeling, an ode to eros and a lost world, and a warning about the dangers ahead'

'Crewe deserves applause for his vivid scene-setting . . . There's much to admire in this meticulously researched, boldly envisioned debut'

'Nothing less than remarkable . . . A beautiful, brave book that reminds us of the terrible human cost of bigotry; this is a novel against forgetting'

'Rich and engrossing . . . blending the graceful ambiguity of literary fiction with the deftness of a page-turner . . . A smart, sensual debut'

A few established novelists continue to write first-class literary fiction on LGBTQ themes... The debut novel by Tom Crewe...reveals a new talent in the field. It is underpinned by extensive research... [with] a great story at its heart.

The New Life drives with a satisfying pace and a pleasing sense of both conclusion and open endings... how impressive it is that Crewe has synthesised a coherent and compelling fiction from his elements

Superb . . . Remarkably sensuous and intimate

Crewe demonstrates rare promise in this beautifully crafted story about two real-life pioneers who tried to make a case for homosexuality in Victorian Britain... Crewe brings this era pungently to life

[An] incredibly assured debut... A fresh take on the historical novel, with desire at its heart, written with a charged certainty that the personal is political

A rich, panoramic novel stuffed with vivid characters, heartaches and hazards... [a] brilliant debut

Crewe's beautiful novel is filled with nuance and forensic insight into love. Deftly recreating the atmosphere of 1890s London, The New Life is a tour de force of intelligent and empathetic fiction

A debut of impressive skill... Crewe is a trained historian and it shows: the period detail is exquisite

The novel is full of exquisitely drawn detail, right from the opening scene, making the moral and social dilemmas at the centre of the story dynamic and compelling

[A] pitch-perfect debut novel

Sometimes there comes along a debut novel that feels like an immediate classic. Tom Crewe’s The New Life is just such a book. It’s a beautifully crafted, seductive story about illicit desires in Victorian London