by Ben Elton
If you like your humour black with a bit of social commentary then Elton's latest takes you to a slightly futuristic world affected by global warming. Amplify the excesses of current life where publishing your website must be updated daily to reveal all - no matter how intimate, popularity is paramount & total acceptance of the doctrine of your Parish Confessor is essential for survival. Books are banned, science distrusted & vaccinations outlawed despite regular "plagues" decimating the population. Trafford Sewell treads a narrow line between keeping his own secrets & conforming to the mores of the masses, to avoid detection by the Inquisitors especially when he seeks to protect his baby by inoculation. Not everyone's choice of a good read, but definitely thought provoking. LB

by Simon Scarrow
The eighth outing for Roman army comrades, Cato and Macro, now both centurions. This time it's all action in the desert state of Palmrya, long a buffer between Roman-held Syria and old enemy, the Parthian empire. Sudden outbreak of civil war in Palmrya, with the king beseiged in his oasis fortress, sees an advance detachment of the Tenth Legion led by Macro and a Second Illyrian auxilliary cohort led by Cato dispatched post-haste to aid the beseiged king. There are battles galore and treachery afoot in this fast-paced, entertaining new military adventure which should keep Simon Scarrow's fans more than happy. AM