aaaah congratulations Dr Tom!!!! Llongyferchiadau!!

We did this meal the other day and I was too busy reeling that ordinarily the two pizzas would cost more than a fiver, but adding ice-cream made them cheaper to realise that the ice-cream on its own was more expensive 🤣

Read an Excerpt From Mortedant's Peril by RJ Barker - Reactor In a city of ancient automata, strange spirits, and sleeping gods, a cleric of death finds his own life on the line…

Curious about MORTEDANT'S PERIL? Wonder what a Mortedant gets up to? Well, the lovely @reactorsff.bsky.social are hosting the first chapter so you can get to meet Irody and find out about that most important of investigative tools, the cabbage.

reactormag.com/excerpts-mor...

My second novel, THE KNIGHT WATCH, will be published by Orbit in June this year. It features the Knights of the Round Table killing Nazis and living their messy queer afterlives during the Second World War. I'll be sharing the wonderful cover art as soon as I'm permitted to do so.

Taliesin the giant magical salmon! ❤️

I can say with absolute conviction if I could hear the thoughts of the dead then I, too, would be a trial to all who knew me

And we tried so hard to avoid spoilers 🤣 thank you for reading our review!

Fantasy Hive drop one of the first reviews of MORTEDANT's PERIL and i think they liked it...

"Mortedant’s Peril is a shining demonstration of an author going from strength to strength...an absolute triumph of a page-turning fantasy murder-mystery."

(Possible minor spoilers.)

We absolutely loved Irody Hasp and can't wait for his next trial!!

25% off books coming soon at Waterstones, pre-order now with code FEB26, 17-20 February online only, selected lines only, T&Cs available on Waterstones.com

🚨3 DAY PREORDER DEAL KLAXON🚨

THE IRON ROAD pb is 25% off in the Waterstones flash February sale - use code FEB26 at checkout

Plus loads of other killer titles, fill your boots, 3 days only!

www.waterstones.com/book/the-iro...

The Cover of MORTEDANT'S PERIL. Two towers flank a column of fire which crows are flying through. Journey with the irascible Irody through the byzantine city of Elbay while he tries to unravel a murder before someone stretches his neck with a hangman's noose.

GOOD NEWS!

Waterstones are also offering 25% off my new book MORTEDANT'S PERIL with the code FEB26. I've seen a few reviews I can't talk about yet and it all looks pretty good so far.' Only one way to know, right? AND save money. BARGAIN.

#WPreorder

We did the winter lit fest and it was so lovely, wonderfully bookishly festive!

I've just had my head baffled by The Elsewhere Express? Would you care to be baffled? In a nice way, it's very beautifully written

Age verification?

I met Terry Pratchett.
In the Hay festival.
When it was in the town.

Beth reviews Amélie Wen Zhao's stunning and dark Xianxia romantasy THE SCORPION AND THE NIGHT BLOSSOM:

"an addictively rich read, one to gorge your senses upon"

Read more: tinyurl.com/mrxryd3n

@ameliewenzhao.bsky.social
@bethanmay.bsky.social

FREEDOM & LITERACY, a slower-paced book discussion forum. We're NOT a book club. We're just a bunch of readers who love to discuss books. Oh, also we're almost 5 months old with over 130 members and over 350 topics!

Come take a breath with us.

freeliteracy.jcink.net

#currentlyreading #booksky

ICYMI - we run a year-end awards annually on the Hive celebrating our favourite books that came out that year. Check out all our nominations and winners!

Such a bittersweet category to vote in - what's your favourite series that ended and now you can't read any more of???

Nils was so excited reading this one, she sent me so many whatsapps about it that I feel like I've read it vicariously through her 😂

Your characters are always so memorable RJ! I look forward very much to meeting him and the rest of your cast!

It's a sobering thought that, as per the maths, there will not be enough days in my life to read all the books I'd like to be able to... and yet I torment myself by creating lists like this

Sorry not sorry bout your TBR

Did you see my wrap up for 2025? What were some of your favourite reads?

AGNES AUBERT'S MYSTICAL CAT SHELTER by Heather Fawcett (BUDDY READ REVIEW) | Fantasy-Hive Nils and Beth squeeze in one last buddy read review for you - Heather Fawcett's highly anticipated upcoming cosy fantasy AGNES AUBERT'S MYSTICAL CAT SHELTER

Today on @thefantasyhive.bsky.social myself and @bethanmay.bsky.social are reviewing Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett.

Nils: “A perfectly enchanting read!”

Beth: “I want to pick this book back up and re-read it.“

Link: fantasy-hive.co.uk/2025/12/agne...

Win tickets to see the Scarlets and help Kidwelly Scouts fundraise:

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/mnMvmGq...

Win tickets to Swansea City AFC and help Kidwelly Scouts fundraise:

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/eWoNJk2...

Please help spread the word!

My kids' Scouts group have two giveaways running with Crowdfunder, one for tickets to see the #Scarlets, the second for tickets to see #SwanseaCity - neither have any entries yet!

Please share and help us get them going!

Links in attached posts:

I don't understand why they've had to make this decision, this is awful 😞

My picks include
@annasmithwrites.bsky.social
@davewragg.com
@justinleeanderson.com
@sennydreadful.bsky.social
@freyamarske.bsky.social
@tkingfisher.com
@nicholaseames.bsky.social
@thomasdlee.bsky.social
@alixeharrow.bsky.social
@authoralexknight.bsky.social
@hgparry.bsky.social
& more 🤣

Helping customers pick a book for someone else is something I really miss about bookselling, so I had an absolute ball with this post!

If you ever need a recommendation, tag me!!