The three books of Volume One of my new Archibald Lox series were reviewed by The Bookbag recently. The Bookbag is one of those review sites whose feedback means a lot to me -- they review a LOT of books (over 15,000 and counting!) and their reviewers are well-read experts in their field. Of course every reader's opinion of a book is as valid as anyone else's, but there's no getting away from the fact that some are better informed. (I've met loads of librarians over the years, and I'm always amazed by how many books they've read, so when they offer an opinion on a specific book, I place a lot of faith in it.)

So, when I spotted a link to Jill Murphy's review on The Bookbag of Archibald Lox and the Bridge Between Worlds, I braced myself, knowing that my stomach would sink if they hadn't enjoyed it. (It would have been a double sinking sensation, because Jill Murphy is also an author -- of The Worst Witch series -- and it's always a bit of an extra blow when one of your writing peers finds your work lacking.) Luckily, a minute later, I was wiping nervous beads of sweat from my forehead and smiling with relief, because their summation of Book 1 was:

"Inventive and imaginative with plenty of jeopardy - as satisfying a read as we've come to expect from Darren Shan."

Phew!!!

Jill liked Book 2 too -- "even more pacy and exciting than the first."

And she noted in her Book 3 review that "I read quite a lot during the seemingly endless lockdown but nothing made me smile quite as much as these first three instalments in the Archibald Lox series."

And very little has made ME smile over the last several months as much as when I read Jill's reviews! :-) I've included the links for the three reviews below -- they're short and well written (of course!) and well worth the few minutes of your time that they'll take to quickly read through.

Book 1: http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/Archibald_Lox_and_the_Bridge_Between_Worlds_by_Darren_Shan

Book 2: http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/Archibald_Lox_and_the_Empress_of_Suanpan_by_Darren_Shan

Book 3: http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/Archibald_Lox_and_the_Vote_of_Alignment_by_Darren_Shan

The Archibald Lox books are currently only on sale as eBooks, but paperback editions are due later this month, as well as a bind-up edition which collects the story into a single large volume. You can find out more about those in the October issue of the Shanville Monthly, here: https://www.darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly