Reading Roundup: The 14th week of 2025
two new reads this week, one published today, and a dive into nostalgic fanfiction!
Another week, and a personal treat this time, although not something I can add to Goodreads. SO let's get the 2 "real" books shelved this time around out of the way first, one of them an ARC which you could be one of the very first people to read as it's out this week ...
4 stars to The Mountain Ride (Unfought Wars Book 1), by Jaakko Koivula
Book Description:
"Us or them?Seventeen-year-old Folke wants to be a hero. It didn’t have to be today, and he could have started with something smaller than preventing a war, but what can you do? The armies of Kerthar will cross the border at nightfall, and the wizards insist only Folke can stop them. His mission would be impossible if not for the Mountain Ride—an artifact that lets him relive the same events over and over, learning from every deadly mistake. But with each loop, the truth becomes the solution to saving Velonea might be even worse than the war he's supposed to stop. Don't miss out on the first installment of the thrilling Unfought Wars series - buy THE MOUNTAIN RIDE now! "
My Thoughts:
" I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I'd have bought it anyway, though. Time loops always appeal, but often they're involuntary or inexplicable. To be able to control them, and then to add in the layer of not knowing if someone is in one already so you never know what on earth is happening, was utterly delightful. Folke is a plucky young hero, of course, just what this story needs. His team are harder to get into, but I think that actually works well given how little time we spend with them, at least in a linear fashion. The whole idea of being "on a Ride", of knowing what you do has no impact around you yet lets you learn, is excitingly done, and being smashed over the head at the prospect of being a player in someone else's Run is a great motivator to think of the Human condition (hopefully not too much of a spoiler there, but the Run idea is in the description). I want to know how things play out next, want to see more of Velonea, want to know about the janitors, want to know where our intrepid grew end up. It's a fast-paced, sometimes confusing but action-packed world I really enjoyed being a part of for a fun few hours."
This Book: has 214 pages, a community rating of 3.75 and was first published This week in 2025.
3 stars to The Time-Travelling Estate Agent, by Dale Bradford
Book Description:
"Time takes everything – but what if it could also give back? It’s December 2019 in a small Welsh town, and 60-year-old estate agent Eric Meek discovers a property which boasts a truly unique garage conversion. Instead of the more customary home office or gym, it contains a hole in space-time that has been developed into a traversable portal. The portal allows movement between 2019 and the day it was first powered up, 3rd July 1976, which just happened to be the best – and worst – day of 16-year-old Eric’s life. Presented with a chance to right the wrongs of the past, Eric revisits the moment he believes defined his future. His adventures in time also find him caught up in a decades-old missing persons case while he attempts to improve the lives of those close to him, including his long-dead father. The Time-Travelling Estate Agent is the story of a first love, a second chance, and a third age redemption. Will Eric change history? Or will history change Eric?"
My Thoughts:
" (After mentioning a waterbed) Mrs Ducreux stood very close to Eric, one hand holding her glass and the other gently stroking his face. “Have you ever had sex on one?” she purred. “The motion of the ocean can cause quite a commotion.” “I can’t say I have.” “You have had sex, though?” she teased, tapping his nose with her index finger. “I just assumed that door was closed to me now,” Eric said. “Well, you know what they say,” she whispered in his ear. “When a door is firmly closed, it might just need a good bang to get it open again.” I note that the author's also written a book on sex toys. Not surprised, after reading that bit. This had a bit of lovely quaintness to it, and even though the recursion of the day was a bit odd (the opening in particular jarring), I grew up close enough to Cwmbran that it was nice to read about local places doing interesting things."
This Book: has 365 pages and a community rating of 3.87.
Things not on Goodreads or reread
Seven Short Science Fiction Stories by harry harrison
I read this a couple of years ago but picked it up when I new time was short. I enjoyed The Velvet Glove, The Repairman and Arm of the Law all over again
The Stainless Steel Rat 01-06: The Gateway Collection
Another reread of Harrison. I remember being confused by The Rat early on because "is born" was written later than the title story. Having read the stories in this volume separately and now this one at least twice, I can't imagine I have much more to say other than they're escapist.
Harry Potter and the Flying Squad, by Horst Pollman
Very early in my fanfic days I read this series and enjoyed it greatly. I didn't really have much to compare it to, I suppose. it doesn't really age particularly well, there's something I can't put my finger on about the English which just comes across as really weird and I've rarely seen a Harry Cho relationship work, so there's that. Some of the ideas here are interesting, though, and it really gave me the nostalgia feel. I had given up hope of finding this series on any of the modern fanfiction sites, and had 2 copies of it already, neither of which were easy to read. One had been grabbed as plain text with JAWS, full of block quote starts and badly-mangled French accent marks, and the other was a PDF someone (presumably sighted) had saved, with page numbers every 37 seconds in my output. Yuck. Luckily one of my most appreciated Mastodon followers told me of a tool that could convert an online archived copy to ePub, so I spent a very happy few hours revisiting this world. it's been over 20 years since I did, and it was a special thing, even if not for any literary merit, really.
Harry Potter and the Magical Tours, by Horst Pollman
And of course after finishing the first one by Monday lunch time, I had to start book 2 immediately. This is Harry's 6th year and ends, as did the squad, with a Voldemort showdown.
The weird thing about book 2 was how little time was covered, word-wise, by Japan. yet in my mind, it was the entire opening of the book, it set the stage for everything else and, to my 15 year old self, the idea of learning how to be a great fighter and lover both was incredibly appealing to read. Some years later, one of my most beloved fanfic authors (Semprini) wrote a story where Harry also goes to Japan, and though I know these two were not connected and shared no influences, I felt like there was some special connection all the same.
There are 4 more to get through and I have a day job, pregnant wife and daughter approaching her GCSE's. If I deduct an 8 hour workday, plus 6 for sleeping and a further 2 each to wife/housekeeping and daughter and homework, I theoretically have 6 hours a day to myself. Somehow it never manages to all go on books, though.