Watch out Twilight and Hunger Games

Move over Twilight, there's a new supernatural saga in town

A headlong read from start to finish

(Of The Starburster): A great story to read aloud or for new readers to tackle on their own

(Of Deep Secret): We should treasure writers like Berlie Doherty who are incapable of writing a mediocre sentence

(Of The Humming Machine): Doherty writes for children with simplicity, pace and zest, making thoroughly modern stories out of tales that have roots delicately lace in Celtic myth

Excruciatingly funny, ferociously intelligent.

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of... stuff one can find in a Terry Pratchett book

Amazing Maurice has one of the most satisfying and effective endings in the series!

Humour, humour and more humour, an utterly unpredictable plot, interesting rats - err, characters - and a profound denoument, this is Discworld at its best.

An astonishing novel . . . I marvelled at the ferociousness of the humour, and the willingness to go into dark places . . . Were Terry not demonstrably a master craftsman already, The Amazing Maurice might be considered his masterpiece

One of Terry Pratchett's funniest creations of recent years . . . It all adds up to a wonderful book - hilarious, brilliantly constructed and, especially towards its conclusion, shot through with an edginess to balance the laughs

Ethically challenging, beautifully orchestrated

An enticing and occasionally gory introduction to the master of flat earth . . . proves that the Pied Piper of Hamelin was a front for an insider-dealing scam . . . alongside the gags and pest-control politics, there are enough complex ideas about nature, nurture and understanding to satisfy a wide audience

The humour is sophisticated and demands that the reader keep up to speed. A passion for language, wordplay and puns bursts from the pages

Razor-sharp satire . . . excruciatingly funny, ferociously intelligent

A brilliant and bizarre reworking of that well-known folk tale about the Pied Piper of Hamelin

Great for both girls and boys . . . I loved the plot and the illustrations were interesting and spooky

Enthralling...This beautifully written story will keep readers enchanted until the very last page.

When fairytales grow up the are often rebranded fantasy, a genre that readers tend to love or hate. I picked up this novel on the strength of having been previously impressed by Red Spikes, a collection of the author's short stories. Margo Lanagan can inhabit an unusual character, see the world from their point of view and transfer that to the page. The Brides of Rollrock Island relates to selkie myths which have often been retold, but Margo Lanagan makes them her own by treating her characters as individuals, rather than types. She particularly considers the motivation of the witch Misskaella who can call beautiful, biddable women from the bodies of seals and uses this power to destroy a community that has shunned her. As the book moves through its different sections, time passes and we trace the effects on Rollrock Island from the point of view of different characters. As Margo Lanagan is completely inside her characters' experiences, information is slowly revealed and sometimes needs unravelling, a strength in the writing but one which may prove challenging. A brilliant novel that draws you in to its particular world and holds you spellbound.

Readers will find themselves beguiled by Lanagan’s deliciously unsettling and haunting prose

Bracing, powerful, resonant

This book is utterly enchanting, the dark atmosphere adding to the tension within the narrative. A brilliantly written story that I highly recommend.