Charlotte E. English

English both by name and nationality, Charlotte hasn’t permitted emigration to the Netherlands to change her essential Britishness (much). She writes colourful fantasy novels over copious quantities of tea, and rarely misses an opportunity to apologise for something. Spanning the spectrum from light to dark, her works include the Draykon Series, Modern Magick, The Malykant Mysteries and the Tales of Aylfenhame.

Website: http://charlotteenglish.com/
Twitter: @charlottenglish
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Blog: http://charlotteenglish.com/

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• The Dragon Who Didn't Fly on March 25, 2011
  
  The title of this book is mildly misleading. I expected a very humorous book, and it does have humour; but it also has a more serious & occasionally tense storyline. The book is constructed around three interwoven narratives. One is the story of Druid, a depressed water dragon left alone in the swamps without the company of any other dragons. The second is the story of a group of cats, principally Tara, destined to save the world - even though she is only a pint-sized kitten. The third is the human angle, following a feeling young woman and her artistic lover through the difficulties of a rather deranged, emotion-suppressing society. The agenda of the story is clear: it makes some salient points about the destructiveness of human societies and the need to change our way of thinking. Some books could become leaden with such a heavy core message, and this one does come a little close to belabouring this point. However, it is written with a light, entertaining style and leavened with sufficient humour to avoid this. The characters are engaging and largely loveable, and I liked the resolution to the story. I'd have liked to hear more about the final fate of characters such as Phileas - is he allowed to marry and have a normal life now? - and Serazina & Berto. However, perhaps this is coming up in a sequel! This book also stands out from the crowd in the quality of the writing, editing and proofreading. I will recommend it to others & hope a sequel emerges fairly soon.
  
• A Fine Cast of Characters on Sep. 11, 2011
  
  This short story collection stands out for its varied characters and voices. The author presents tales ranging across the horror spectrum; we encounter ghosts and ghost ships, demons and vampires, soldiers at war and plenty of strange and inexplicable happenings. The stories range in length from a mere few pages through to three or four full chapters. Most of them are set in the modern world (though one of my personal favourites had the air of a nineteenth-century horror story); each story features protagonists with clear, distinct personalities and voices and it certainly feels like meeting a fine cast of characters. I didn't enjoy every story here, but the majority were absorbing and all were well presented. Recommended for readers who enjoy chilling, creepy short fiction.
  
• Liberator's Ruin on Sep. 29, 2011
  
  It’s hard to know how how to classify this book. It’s been called steampunk, which it certainly isn’t. It’s full of gadgets, yes, but the level of technology is more twentieth century. There are cars, planes, radios, movies and telephones. It makes for a very interesting world; I don’t think I’ve ever read a work of fantasy fiction (including a form of magic) that featured essentially modern technology. A refreshing change. The story centres around the country of Illum, which has been conquered and absorbed into the Rhivellian Empire. A deposed princess is determined to take it back, but a High Inquisitor stands in her way. And around the edges of this is one airship captain and his crew, just trying to make a living. The characters are a high point in this story. One thing I liked best about the book is the lack of real heroes. Everyone has an agenda, everyone has their strengths and their moral weak points. My favourites were Airship Captain Nathaniel and his crew; there’s a hint of Firefly about this group that’s highly appealing. The ending also turns some expectations around, giving a resolution that’s something of a surprise. Like I said, there are no heroes. The book is sadly let down by very poor editing. I noticed typographical errors on nearly every page, and there are areas where the writing needs some tidying up. It says a lot, though, that I thoroughly enjoyed the book anyway. My rating would hover between four and four-and-a-half stars if not for the editing issues. As it is, I give three-and-a-half, rounded up to four.
  
• The Man Who Crossed Worlds (Miles Franco #1) on Jan. 09, 2012
  
  These days it seems like the title of Urban Fantasy can be given out to anything that so much as involves a city somewhere. This book is Urban with a capital U; you can practically smell the stench of Bluegate, a city that’s fallen a long, long way from grace. There’s nothing remotely pretty about this story. Miles Franco is a Tunneler, which means he can do entertaining stuff with reality and pop off to another dimension anytime he feels like it. But that isn’t too rare a skill in Bluegate. What’s unusual about him is that, unlike almost everyone else in the city, he honestly means well. He could’ve taken a well-paid job with one of the many city gangs if he didn’t mind too much about incidental things like morality. But he does, so he doesn’t, and ends up living pretty rough in an apartment barely better than a shed. Being the only decent bloke also gets him into trouble. When a dangerous new drug seems set to hit city circulation, Miles is dragged into the mess that’s rapidly developing. Really, with the number of beatings Miles seems to attract it’s amazing he’s survived this long. All the more so given what a naive, easily manipulated chump he is. But he manages to be likeable in spite of being constantly duped. This is a well-written story, very noir with a clear and diverting narrative voice. Miles’s sense of humour is enjoyable, and one of the most likeable things about him is that his sense of the ridiculous never fails, even when he’s in deep trouble. He’s got a line ready for all circumstances. Perhaps it’s the only defence this shrimp can manage to muster, albeit a poor one. Shrimp he may be, by the way, but he certainly doesn’t lack courage. This story is full of twists and turns and Miles would do well to avoid trusting anyone too much. Most of the twists are well done, and kept me guessing until almost the end. The final one let me down a little when it turned out to be exactly what I was hoping wouldn’t happen. That aside, this was a really strong book and an entertaining read. I’m hoping Miles will grow a bit of a brain in time for the next book, though; maybe next time he won’t be duped by almost everyone.