Booklog 32/2025: Robert Harris: Conclave

Audiobook narrated by Roy Mcmillan

Just having seen the excellent movie, and with a Roman Catholic Conclave happening to elect a new pope in real life, it seemed an appropriate time to listen to this book. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel 118 cardinals are hoping to be guided by God to make the right choice, but though no one will admit it some cardinals have more ambition than others to become the head of the church. There are factions and rivalries, and through it all Cardinal Jacopo Lomeli, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, must keep order and direct the proceedings. This is a thriller filled with old men in robes, with no action sequences and no sex and violence, but tightly plotted and riveting all the same. Highly recommended.

Booklog 33/2025: Patrick Ness: The Knife of Never Letting Go – Chaos Walking #1

Narrated by Humphrey Bower

In Prentisstown there are no women, and all men leak thoughts involuntarily all the time. It’s known as noise, and is a feature of this planet with what appears to be a failing human colony. Todd, almost but not quite a man until his upcoming birthday, is in the swamp with his talking dog Manchee, when he finds a crashed scout ship and a girl whose parents have been killed. Thus starts the story of a boy’s journey to manhood. Todd has been deliberately kept innocent of some terrible facts, and misinformed about others. Why did the women die, and what happened in the war against the spackle, the planet’s indigenous beings? Answers to these questions are hard-won as Todd ends up fleeing with the girl, Viola, pursued by Mayor Prentiss. It seems as though Todd and Viola can’t catch a break as they run from danger headlong into trouble. This is well read by Humphrey Bower who differentiates between the characters with a selection of voices and accents which are pitch perfect. I’m only disappointed that it has a cliffhanger ending – and I’ve said in other reviews how much I hate those. In this case it worked because I moved straight on to the next book.

Booklog 34/2025: Patrick Ness: The Ask and the Answer – Chaos Walking #2

Narrated by Humphrey Bower.

This picks up where the Knife of Never Letting Go ended. Todd and Viola have arrived in Haven, where they hoped to get help, only to find that Mayor Prentiss and his army got there first, and that they have galloped headlong into a trap.

Todd and Viola. Separated, the two must do what they can to survive the increasingly authoritarian town run by the mayor (now the president). There’s a resistance movement, the Answer, which seems more benign, but when do freedom fighters become terrorists. There are no good sides here, just bad and worse. And in a war nobody wins. Once again, Humphrey Bower does an amazingly good reading a broad cast of characters.

Booklog 35/2025: Ian Rankin: The Beat Goes On

Narrated by James Macpherson

A collection of short stories featuring Edinburgh cop Rebus through all stages (and ranks) of his career. Each story features a crime and a solution, sometimes unexpected in that the victims are not always what they appear to be, and neither are the criminals. Extremely engaging, and beautifully read by James Macpherson in a gentle Scottish accent.

Booklog 36/2025: Terry PratchettL Eric – Discworld #9 - Audiobook

This is the BBC audio adaptation in four short parts. It’s much truncated from the full novel, but it works. Eric, an aspiring teenage demonologist conjures a demon, but instead of a regular demon he gets wizard Rincewind who’d been previously trapped in the demon dimensions. Rincewind suddenly has the ability to grant Eric’s three wishes, but as most ‘three-wishes’ stories, things don’t go as expected.