“Times of Victory” by Pedro Luis Adames Valdez – A Place Under God's Wing

The Meditations of Pedro Luis Adames Valdez

The topic of religion is one that's becoming increasingly contested with the advent of globalization as it became apparent that there are many more faiths out there than meet the eye. Each and every one has its own belief system and designations, with a few being much more heavily-proliferated and discussed than others, namely Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Simultaneously, the sceptics are more numerous than ever before, with atheism and agnosticism gaining popularity, especially amongst the intelligent elite. Whether or not you're a religious person though, I believe that there is much for us to learn from the teachings passed down through holy scriptures for they often connect with our lives in surprisingly non-religious ways. I myself am not a religious person, and thus it is precisely the approach I took to Times of Victory by Pedro Luis Adames Valdez.

“The Boy Who Saw” by Simon Toyne – Putting the Ghosts of War to Rest

Simon Toyne and the Lost Identity

Compelling characters that consistently stimulate our desire to discover them across multiple books are few and drastically far in-between, with virtually ninety-nine percent of protagonists being throwaway vehicles used to conduct a single story. Even when it comes to book series it is rare for an author to truly capture our interest with the same person one novel after the next... and I would argue that Solomon Creed, created by Simon Toyne, accomplishes that to perfection. Here is a character with no memory or knowledge of himself, besides the words stitched into his perfectly tailored jacket: “This suit was made to treasure for Mr. Solomon Creed”. While his mystery is certainly the centre of his world, it does take a back seat to more pressing cases, as we see in The Boy Who Saw, the latest book in the series.