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109th out of 292 books
—
419 voters
The Road to Bedlam (Courts of the Feyre #2)
by
Mike Shevdon (Goodreads Author)
Niall Petersen's whole life has been turned on its head by the revelation that he can do magic. Now he has just received the news no parent wants to hear. "There's been an accident. It's your daughter".
Learning to cope with the loss of a child is only the beginning of the new challenges facing Niall Petersen. An old enemy has returned and Niall already knows it’s not a soc...more
Learning to cope with the loss of a child is only the beginning of the new challenges facing Niall Petersen. An old enemy has returned and Niall already knows it’s not a soc...more
Mass Market Paperback, 474 pages
Published
2010
by Angry Robot
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This is Part 2 in the series, following Sixty-One Nails.
Blackbird is heavily pregnant, and Niall is in training to become a Warder when they get word that Alex (Niall’s daughter) has been involved in an accident at her school, and exposed to some form of biological contamination which has killed three of her fellow students.
Things aren’t quite as they seem though, and Alex has in fact come into her Fey powers that she has inherited from Niall.
I felt that there were a couple too many side-stories...more
Blackbird is heavily pregnant, and Niall is in training to become a Warder when they get word that Alex (Niall’s daughter) has been involved in an accident at her school, and exposed to some form of biological contamination which has killed three of her fellow students.
Things aren’t quite as they seem though, and Alex has in fact come into her Fey powers that she has inherited from Niall.
I felt that there were a couple too many side-stories...more
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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When last we left Niall Peterson he had just landed on his feet after having been thrown into the world of fey. In the conclusion of the first book, Sixty-one Nails, Niall joined the Warders, the security squad of the fey council. Although having met a lot of different fey, we had still to get any real introduction into any of the particular fey courts.
I thought the idea of the warders was excellent, and can see how useful it will be in placing Niall at the center of the games the fey play.
I won...more
(3 full stars)
After struggling to get through the overworked Sixty-One Nails (Courts of the Feyre, Book 1), I decided to give Mike Shevdon's writing another chance. Fortunately Road to Bedlam (Courts of the Feyre, Book 2) was a definite improvement over it's predecessor. Although still a bit wordy through the middle, there was comparatively more action in this second book, which helped the story along immensely. While the first book took me a painful 6 days to labor through, Road to Bedlam only...more
After struggling to get through the overworked Sixty-One Nails (Courts of the Feyre, Book 1), I decided to give Mike Shevdon's writing another chance. Fortunately Road to Bedlam (Courts of the Feyre, Book 2) was a definite improvement over it's predecessor. Although still a bit wordy through the middle, there was comparatively more action in this second book, which helped the story along immensely. While the first book took me a painful 6 days to labor through, Road to Bedlam only...more
The Road to Bedlam is the first sequel to Sixty One Nails. We are back with Niall, former human, now one of the fae (those mythological magical other humanoids), and training hard to be a kick-ass fae warder (something akin to the Secret Service of the fae, but there's only seven of them).
Then, one day, there is a major incident involving his teenage daughter (who lives with his ex-wife and is presumed human unless she starts showing some magical abilities).
The book kicks off with a hard, engros...more
Then, one day, there is a major incident involving his teenage daughter (who lives with his ex-wife and is presumed human unless she starts showing some magical abilities).
The book kicks off with a hard, engros...more
I devoured this book just as quickly as the first one, it was just that good. I don't really like talking about what happened in the books because you can get a pretty good idea of that from the synapse that Goodreads provides as well as the other reviews from readers. Blackbird is way pregnant and about to pop and is off on her own path in bidding while Niall is on a new mission with the warders. I still feel like I really don't know who Blackbird is, she still seems a mystery to me and she's...more
As anyone who reads my reviews may have noticed , I'm a big fan of urban fantasy - & Mike Shevdon is at the top of that genre .
This follows directly on from "sixty-one nails" & starts with a bang : Niall's daughter Alex is attacked by 3 school bullies , who try & drown her in a toilet when there's an explosion - the 3 bullies die , then Alex & his ex-wife are told Alex is dead too.....
Alex is then sent on a mission by the warders to investigate the disappearances of young women i...more
This follows directly on from "sixty-one nails" & starts with a bang : Niall's daughter Alex is attacked by 3 school bullies , who try & drown her in a toilet when there's an explosion - the 3 bullies die , then Alex & his ex-wife are told Alex is dead too.....
Alex is then sent on a mission by the warders to investigate the disappearances of young women i...more
The Road to Bedlam by Mike Shevdon
Shevdon weaves an excellent magical thriller around the fayre, set in England in London,
Yorkshire and Wiltshire. this is a real page turner where the reader can suspend disbelief,
though the emotional trauma of Niall's daughter's apparant death is mitigated by the reader
knowing she's not really dead -- the strapline on the back cover reveals that much -- and
consequently the first fifty pages become a liile like the scene in every movie where you're
supposed t...more
Shevdon weaves an excellent magical thriller around the fayre, set in England in London,
Yorkshire and Wiltshire. this is a real page turner where the reader can suspend disbelief,
though the emotional trauma of Niall's daughter's apparant death is mitigated by the reader
knowing she's not really dead -- the strapline on the back cover reveals that much -- and
consequently the first fifty pages become a liile like the scene in every movie where you're
supposed t...more
Last October I read the first book in this series, 61 Nails, and I found it to be original and endlessly interesting and imaginative. The protagonist, Niall Peterson, lives in modern day London and suddenly finds out that he has part Fey ancestry and begins to learn of the world and powers that come with it. In this second book, Niall's teenage daughter begins to exhibit Fey powers of her own. She's kidnapped and Niall is initially duped into believing she's dead. Just as he learns she's not, so...more
3.5
This is a good sequel to Sixty One Nails. It is not up to the standard of the first book as there is little new in this book. Where book one was an awakening for our hero Niall, this one was simply an action piece. That being said, this book is filled with great action, chases, suspense, and really sweet magic. The dialog is fun and witty. Ned is a great lead but he is pretty much a one man show in this book.
The best part of this book is the storytelling of Shevdon. He writes a fast paced pag...more
This is a good sequel to Sixty One Nails. It is not up to the standard of the first book as there is little new in this book. Where book one was an awakening for our hero Niall, this one was simply an action piece. That being said, this book is filled with great action, chases, suspense, and really sweet magic. The dialog is fun and witty. Ned is a great lead but he is pretty much a one man show in this book.
The best part of this book is the storytelling of Shevdon. He writes a fast paced pag...more
The Road to Bedlam by Mike Shevdon is the second book in the Courts of the Feyre series.
And I can’t wait for more. Mr. Shevdon has created a world I want to spend a long time in and with Niall Peterson, our hero of these stories, I know I’ll be in good hands.
The story in The Road to Bedlam begins nine months after the concluding events in Sixty-One Nails. Niall is training hard to be a Warder of the courts and Blackbird is well on her way to being a mom for the first time in her 800 year existen...more
And I can’t wait for more. Mr. Shevdon has created a world I want to spend a long time in and with Niall Peterson, our hero of these stories, I know I’ll be in good hands.
The story in The Road to Bedlam begins nine months after the concluding events in Sixty-One Nails. Niall is training hard to be a Warder of the courts and Blackbird is well on her way to being a mom for the first time in her 800 year existen...more
Following on from the first book, Road To Bedlam is another wonderful book from Mike Shevdon. As a new Warder or the seven courts, Niall Petersen must chose between love, honor, duty and responsibility. An old enemy has returned and Niall already knows it's not a social call. The choices he makes will lead him to discover dark secrets buried in the core of the ancient world he now calls home.
Shevdon continues to develop each character and sticks to their individual personalities. He captivates h...more
Shevdon continues to develop each character and sticks to their individual personalities. He captivates h...more
Eager to continue this saga, I read this book in one night. It opens with a bang and closes leaving you wanting more. It veered off course in places (the mystery surrounding the girls missing from a fishing village in Yorkshire seemed misplaced from a different book) and there were places where I couldn't sustain suspension of disbelief. Blackbird is my favorite character in the series and she was both largely missing (granted, she's 12 months pregnant) and temporarily disabled (pregnancy interf...more
I like much of what this story gives us. Lots of motion, lots of heart, lots of magic and expedient immersive adventures.
It's daring to tell this story with Blackbird largely off-screen but it works very well for me (even though I think she's pivotal to some of the driver forces for Niall.)
Things happen quickly, so the regrets here are time not spent in follow-up to many of the nicely done elements that Niall has to rush past. Then again, spending time in Niall's head here doesn't always feel li...more
It's daring to tell this story with Blackbird largely off-screen but it works very well for me (even though I think she's pivotal to some of the driver forces for Niall.)
Things happen quickly, so the regrets here are time not spent in follow-up to many of the nicely done elements that Niall has to rush past. Then again, spending time in Niall's head here doesn't always feel li...more
This was an ejoyable follow up to Sixty-One Nails - Niall is told that his daughter has had an accident and is dead. He soon finds out the reality is somewhat different and that getting her back will involve even higher stakes than in the first book in the series. I'm really looking forward to the next book Strangeness & Charmwhen it is released next year.
Another gripping tale in the courts of the feyre series, and I was totally immersed in the book from the get-go. In fact, I found myself unexpectedly crying at one scene (it might have been upgraded to bawling if I hadn't been sat in a public car park at the time!).
The only problem with discovering a newly published author that you like is that there isn't a large body of work to plunge into; it's going to be another year before the next book is out, and then >6 months for the next (and final...more
The only problem with discovering a newly published author that you like is that there isn't a large body of work to plunge into; it's going to be another year before the next book is out, and then >6 months for the next (and final...more
Not bad, just not really satisfying at all. I was looking forward to seeing the polish of practice smoothing out some of glitches that marred the first book, but instead they seem to have got worse, and many of the good elements of the first one were not repeated here. This is far less tight that the first one, and where Sixty-one Nails was pretty non-stop and pacey, this spends pages woffling about, as our narrator steps us through moral or mental processes, many of which had been discussed pre...more
I read a few of the reviews before I purchased this book on Amazon. Sometimes I wonder why I do that to myself. The reviews sometimes turn me off of a book at first. I'm glad I ignored the reviews and went with my initial feelings.
One of the reviews basically said the main character whines too much. Maybe we were reading different books or maybe we have seriously different ideas for the definition of whining. All I know is this wasn't the case as far as I could tell. Niall goes through some toug...more
One of the reviews basically said the main character whines too much. Maybe we were reading different books or maybe we have seriously different ideas for the definition of whining. All I know is this wasn't the case as far as I could tell. Niall goes through some toug...more
Very fun, I liked it even more than the first book. It was much more immediate and urgent than the first, more of a page-turner. I was really caught-up in the world, it felt very real. The secondary plot about the seaside town wasn't quite as interesting as Niall and Blackbird's dealings with the Seventh Court, but it was fine.
I put the book on my "series reminder" shelf, hoping that the publisher will agree that this series deserves more books. The author has barely scratched the surface of wh...more
I put the book on my "series reminder" shelf, hoping that the publisher will agree that this series deserves more books. The author has barely scratched the surface of wh...more
The Road to Bedlam is a near-perfect sequel to Sixty-One Nails, tying together those loose ends that linger from the first in the series, yet leaving enough doors open to continue the storyline smoothly. This novel focuses on Niall's daughter, while Blackbird (from the first novel) takes a much smaller role; if Shevdon continues to follow this pattern, readers can expect to see a world develop through the storylines of multiple characters, of varying ages, Feyre lineage and history. And if Shevd...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This sequel to Sixty-One Nails is, I think, a stronger novel, following several months after the events of the first book. There is a better sense of urgency and intrigue, and we continue to have some of the stranger aspects of real-world history tied into the novel.
In the end though, it falls pretty squarely into the hidden-world urban fantasy genre, with all that entails. A great example of it, but not anything I feel is exceptional.
In the end though, it falls pretty squarely into the hidden-world urban fantasy genre, with all that entails. A great example of it, but not anything I feel is exceptional.
I still thought this was good -- but I liked it a bit less than book 1. Since it starts time-wise very soon after book 1, Niall hasn't had a chance to learn more about his new self / power / whatever you want to call it, and there were times in this book where Blackbird is so frustrated with him and I, the reader, was EVEN MORESO.
He gets consumed by his helplessness when in fact he's really not helpless but just doesn't know what to do next / how to get to the next step. That combined with the o...more
He gets consumed by his helplessness when in fact he's really not helpless but just doesn't know what to do next / how to get to the next step. That combined with the o...more
Following on from Sixty One Nails this is the 2nd book in a lovely magical trilogy.In the footsteps of Neil Gaiman, these books feature another world running alongside a modern England where Niall tries to adapt to his newly discovered powers and deal with a centuries old feud between humans, The Gifted and the Feyre. Excellently written, Mike Shevdon manages to merge the magical into modern establishments featuring Bedlam, Portland Down and even the crown.Exciting and suspenseful can't wait to...more
Excellent sequel to the hugely enjoyable sixty-one nails.
The characters were well developed and progressed for the reader. The story also took on a new dimension, with new additions who were only fleetingly mentioned in the first.
However, I did find the writing repetitive at times, and was possibly too wordy for its own good.
This being said, I really enjoyed it, and look forward(hopefully) to the next, which the ending suggests.
The characters were well developed and progressed for the reader. The story also took on a new dimension, with new additions who were only fleetingly mentioned in the first.
However, I did find the writing repetitive at times, and was possibly too wordy for its own good.
This being said, I really enjoyed it, and look forward(hopefully) to the next, which the ending suggests.
I wish I liked this more. I think I read it out of stubbornness because I read the first book. Like that one, there are some very cool concepts and moments, but in between, there is quite a bit of time spent on things that do not advance the plot as much as they should. For example, the protagonist is desperate about the situation with his daughter (omitted for potential spoiler-hood), but the urgency doesn't come through for hundreds of pages until that story picks back up.
The author is really getting into his game, as it were, the pace of the book was different. The first book was off-putting to some folks, I think, because everything was new to them and the character(s), and maybe there was a bit of a lost feeling. I thought it was a fantastic way to introduce a confusing, life changing, event for the main character. It would have been wrong, I think, to continue in that vein in this second book. Fortunately the author did not, he keeps the same first person-y...more
An excellent followup to 61 Nails.
The book had me in tears at the beginning and at the end I was cheering, conflicted, and concerned. Shevdon does an excellent job fleshing out a believable world and believable characters. They have concerns and foibles - fae and human both.
I would say that the second book had a tighter more tense plot. I hope the third novel continues that trend. Book three can't come soon enough.
The book had me in tears at the beginning and at the end I was cheering, conflicted, and concerned. Shevdon does an excellent job fleshing out a believable world and believable characters. They have concerns and foibles - fae and human both.
I would say that the second book had a tighter more tense plot. I hope the third novel continues that trend. Book three can't come soon enough.
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Good follow up to Sixty-One Nails. Many times I thought I had it all figured out, to find out later that I was wrong, so I enjoyed the surprises. I also enjoyed seeing more of Raffmir, but I really wasn't very fond of many of the new characters. While Sixty-One Nails left questions unanswered, it was still wrapped up in a way that left me feeling content. The Road to Bedlam, on the other hand, left a lot out there hanging. I wish it was tied up as neatly as Sixty-One Nails was!
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Mike Shevdon lives in Bedfordshire, England, with his wife and son, where he pursues the various masteries of archery, technology, and cookery. His love of Fantasy & SF started in the 70s with C S Lewis, Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov and continued through Alan Garner, Ursula Le Guin and Barbara Hambly. More recent influences include Mike Carey, Phil Rickman, Neil Gaiman, and Robert Crais, a...more
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