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annieb123's review against another edition
5.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
The Riddle of the Fractal Monks is the third in the Mathematical Mystery series by Jonathan Pinnock. Released 16th April 2020 by Duckworth on their Farrago imprint, it's 304 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
The setup and humor remind me very much of other humorous British SF(ish) classics: Fforde, Fowler, Grant/Naylor, Moore, Stross, Aaronovitch, et.al. It's not derivative, not really, the author has a slightly different humorous slant and oh, good heavens, the puns flow like a mighty river. Whilst reading, I definitely felt like the aforementioned authors were being channeled though...
There are genuinely funny moments and the pacing is frenetic and relentless. The bad guys are boo-worthy, the good guys are plucky and funny and brave (if often quite hapless) and the end result is enjoyably readable. This is precisely the type of mystery/speculative fiction I adore and I was honestly captivated from literally the first page. This is the first book in a while which has made me stay up late reading. The author is adept at writing in necessary backstory, so it does work well enough as a standalone, but I recommend the other volumes in the series quite highly.
Four and a half stars, rounded up for the writing. People who loathe puns (or intelligent humour) will likely not enjoy this one. Fans of Laundry Files, Red Dwarf, HHGttG, and the others will find a lot to like until the next Shadow Police novel hits the stands (if it ever does... yes, I'm lookin' at you, Paul Cornell). For North American readers, the spellings and vernacular are British English. Nothing which should prove frustrating in context.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
The Riddle of the Fractal Monks is the third in the Mathematical Mystery series by Jonathan Pinnock. Released 16th April 2020 by Duckworth on their Farrago imprint, it's 304 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
The setup and humor remind me very much of other humorous British SF(ish) classics: Fforde, Fowler, Grant/Naylor, Moore, Stross, Aaronovitch, et.al. It's not derivative, not really, the author has a slightly different humorous slant and oh, good heavens, the puns flow like a mighty river. Whilst reading, I definitely felt like the aforementioned authors were being channeled though...
There are genuinely funny moments and the pacing is frenetic and relentless. The bad guys are boo-worthy, the good guys are plucky and funny and brave (if often quite hapless) and the end result is enjoyably readable. This is precisely the type of mystery/speculative fiction I adore and I was honestly captivated from literally the first page. This is the first book in a while which has made me stay up late reading. The author is adept at writing in necessary backstory, so it does work well enough as a standalone, but I recommend the other volumes in the series quite highly.
Four and a half stars, rounded up for the writing. People who loathe puns (or intelligent humour) will likely not enjoy this one. Fans of Laundry Files, Red Dwarf, HHGttG, and the others will find a lot to like until the next Shadow Police novel hits the stands (if it ever does... yes, I'm lookin' at you, Paul Cornell). For North American readers, the spellings and vernacular are British English. Nothing which should prove frustrating in context.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
macaronoui's review against another edition
4.0
I was actually delighted that I found out this was the third book in the series. I figured it was worth reading the first two first, which was a good idea. Although the books are standalone stories, there are a lot of details and spoilers if you don't read the others.
I have spent the last two weeks with Jonathan's characters and it was super lovely. Reminded me of Carl Hiaasen (I love his books). So this is the third adventure for Tom, Dorothy and Ali and some of the fringe characters.
While the first book was paced well, the drama unfolds in every chapter and you will be sitting on the edge of your chair. Tom is a really likeable protagonist, although I would have personally made every single decision differently. The book feels very international though set in England, and sometimes some British pop slang seeps through. I really enjoy math, but I can't say if the difficult stuff is actually correct, but I assume so. I loved all the conspiracy theory stuff, crazy monks, people winding up dead (am usually very pacifistic).
It was really a perfect book to take my mind off of Corona. Every time you read you will say to yourself "this is the last chapter", but it is not. Read it in two sittings. Am very excited for the fourth book when it's done.
Highly recommend if you want to really dive into something for a few hours.
I have spent the last two weeks with Jonathan's characters and it was super lovely. Reminded me of Carl Hiaasen (I love his books). So this is the third adventure for Tom, Dorothy and Ali and some of the fringe characters.
While the first book was paced well, the drama unfolds in every chapter and you will be sitting on the edge of your chair. Tom is a really likeable protagonist, although I would have personally made every single decision differently. The book feels very international though set in England, and sometimes some British pop slang seeps through. I really enjoy math, but I can't say if the difficult stuff is actually correct, but I assume so. I loved all the conspiracy theory stuff, crazy monks, people winding up dead (am usually very pacifistic).
It was really a perfect book to take my mind off of Corona. Every time you read you will say to yourself "this is the last chapter", but it is not. Read it in two sittings. Am very excited for the fourth book when it's done.
Highly recommend if you want to really dive into something for a few hours.
annarella's review against another edition
5.0
This series never disappoints and all the books are well written and entertaining. This one was no exception.
I loved the plot, was happy to meet again the characters and had a lot of fun.
An engrossing and fun story, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I loved the plot, was happy to meet again the characters and had a lot of fun.
An engrossing and fun story, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
anjana's review against another edition
4.0
This was probably the best of the three books. It is quite possible that by now, I am accustomed to the randomness of events or the even more random conversations between the main protagonists. This time around, there is no time spent on pleasantries, and we are plunged quite literally into the narrative. For those who haven't read the previous books, this will make little to no sense so I highly advise either reading a very detailed synopsis of the last two if not the books entirely (the latter might be the best course of action). Without too much of spoiler, Tom and Dorothy ended the previous escapade with things looking good for them life-wise, but Dorothy is obsessed with the Vavasors, and it turns out she is still digging. It is hard to imagine that there is something to unearth at this point, but this instalment proves us wrong in a very spectacularly grand fashion.
It seemed like the pace was also much faster than the previous times they set out to investigate. Their learning capacity appears to have progressed. I was a little surprised to find out at the end that we have yet another mystery waiting for us. I was partly annoyed and partly happy because my reaction to this particular book meant that I might like the next as well. It is always nice to look forward to a sure thing. Annoyed because it seemed nearly impossible that there could be anything left for them to do. Old friends and even older enemies come out of the woodwork, and there are a lot of hunches that are followed here. The crumbs of clues lead them on a very wild chase with people in close pursuit nearly all the time. I even got the maths of this one a little more than before. If you are on the lookout for a wacky series of (almost) misadventures, then this might just be it.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience and my knowledge of the previous books in the series.
It seemed like the pace was also much faster than the previous times they set out to investigate. Their learning capacity appears to have progressed. I was a little surprised to find out at the end that we have yet another mystery waiting for us. I was partly annoyed and partly happy because my reaction to this particular book meant that I might like the next as well. It is always nice to look forward to a sure thing. Annoyed because it seemed nearly impossible that there could be anything left for them to do. Old friends and even older enemies come out of the woodwork, and there are a lot of hunches that are followed here. The crumbs of clues lead them on a very wild chase with people in close pursuit nearly all the time. I even got the maths of this one a little more than before. If you are on the lookout for a wacky series of (almost) misadventures, then this might just be it.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience and my knowledge of the previous books in the series.
annarella's review
5.0
This series never disappoints and all the books are well written and entertaining. This one was no exception.
I loved the plot, was happy to meet again the characters and had a lot of fun.
An engrossing and fun story, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I loved the plot, was happy to meet again the characters and had a lot of fun.
An engrossing and fun story, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
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