The characters in the book didn’t stand out to me, as much as the ideas. What I’ve always found mind-boggling, from the very first time I saw the map of the Edge which prefaces the start of each book, is the Edge itself. What is it an edge of? Is there something below it, or does the waterfall go on forever? The book kind of addresses the latter, although it was still a little mysterious. The story does wrap the plot up neatly, but is longer than it needs to be. The title refers to a group of adventurers and academics who explore below the Edge cliff, facing the peril in their quest to further their knowledge. I think the book is a good ending to the series, but not one of the best.

Published by Corgi, 2019.

The story is set in a kingdom where the humans and goblins co-exist uncomfortably. Princess Irene, a young girl who encounters the goblins, is saved by Curdie, a miner’s boy. He discovers the goblins are plotting against the humans. Meanwhile, the spirit of Irene’s great-great-grandmother helps Irene to rescue him.

The main points of the plot are included in the film, with some changes, particularly towards the end, where the goblins’ plans to flood the mine, take over the castle and kidnap Irene are converged into one campaign. The main difference is the portrayal of the goblins. In the book, they are the traditional kind, short and ugly but also vaguely human-looking. The theory in the book is that they are primordial beings, an evolutionary throwback. They speak in quite a sophisticated manner and are not particularly violent. The film turns them into cartoonish gargoyles with a variety of skin colours, a crude way of speaking and an aggressive nature. The culmination of this is the character of Prince Froglip (Harelip in the book), a green-skinned, lisping, scantily-clad goblin voiced enthusiastically by Rik Mayall, who plots viciously against the sun-people.

The film gives a feline companion to Irene, named Turnip. Perhaps this was inspired by the goblin-cat from the book, so that it has a normal cat for a rival. There’s a fun comedy moment when the two are fighting, and Princess Irene accidentally cuddles the goblin-cat, which looks terrified. The end credits of the film have a lovely line animation of Turnip playing about.

Irene’s father, or ‘papa-king’ as in the book, is away for much of the story. He is given a voiceover at the start and end of the film, just as in the book, the author’s voice – which sounds like a genial storytelling uncle – talks directly to the reader.

One more thing I’m going to mention is the use of music. In both the book and film, singing at the goblins is one way to fight them (the other is to stamp on their feet – although in the book, Curdie actually kills one with a blade). Curdie is particularly renowned for making up rhyming songs on the spot and some songs are more effective than others. In the film, instead of making things up, he sings the one song over and over, ‘There’s a Spark Inside Us’. It’s a good song and has a suitably Christian tone which I’m sure that George MacDonald, a minister, would have approved of.

The film has rather an international background; the production companies were Hungarian, Japanese and Welsh. Strangely I always thought it was set in Wales, perhaps because of the mining theme. It was first released in Hungary in 1991 as A hercegnő és a kobold, then the English version in 1992 in the UK, and finally the US in 1994.

Image by IMDb, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55826137

To enjoy the album, you really have to like the original versions of these songs, because all the tracks on here are about twice as long – variously called extended, special, or dance mix, as well as 12″ versions. I like some of these better than the originals, for example ‘Planet Earth (Night Version)’ by Duran Duran and ‘Happy Birthday (Dance Mix)’ by Altered Images. Obviously there are fewer tracks on the album than usual because only 11 or 12 can fit on each disc. I don’t listen to disc 3 as much as the others (there are a generous 4 CDs), not because it’s bad, just that the music style is more r’n’b and groove, when I prefer the synth pop which dominates the other discs. There are more in this series of 12″ mixes for other years, but I’m not likely to get any more unless nearly all of the songs appeal. I’d recommend this one if you love early 80s music and want different versions of those classic songs!

I would have liked more about her early life. She’s from New Zealand and suffered a near-fatal shark attack aged 13. Aside from this chapter, the book focuses on her time at Facebook and not all of the content interested me, although I recognised its importance.

Published by Macmillan, 2025.

Thank you to the publisher Brigids Gate Press for the advance copy via NetGalley. Publication date: 16th June.

I had my eye on this book for a while, ever since I caught up with Linkin Park’s back catalogue after being impressed with their comeback album From Zero. The book was written in late 2023, I think, so it didn’t go that far. Although the majority of information and quotes in the book can be found elsewhere, if you trawl through a lot of articles, videos etc, it’s well put-together into a cohesive look at the band’s origins, rise to fame, chart success and influence. What I thought was most valuable, however, was the author’s twin perspectives of music critic and fan. His descriptions of the music are very effective and he provides valuable context on topics such as rock styles, chart trends, changes in music consumption and mental health representation in music. With his other hat on (perhaps an LP baseball cap?) he is around the same age as me and was a young teen when Hybrid Theory came out. He critiques the music of Linkin Park and the band members’ side projects in a way that you know he’s a fan.

The book has a particular focus on the band’s early career; halfway through, we’ve only reached the second album, Meteora. I would have liked more space given to the later albums too, more descriptions of the shows, and more about the band members other than Mike and Chester (to be fair, as the vocalists and biggest personalities they were always going to have more attention). The author discusses a handful of songs in more detail, which are most significant in LP’s career. However, I liked that he put his personal views in there too. He wants justice for A Thousand Suns, the nuclear-themed electronic album which is bold and genius but not critically appreciated enough at the time. He thinks the video for ‘One Step Closer’ is embarrassingly silly, but doesn’t he realise it’s iconic, floating monks and all? He considers that Out of Ashes, the album from Chester’s band Dead by Sunrise, wasn’t as successful as it deserved to be, overshadowed by the LP single ‘New Divide’ (it’s a great song, but he’s right, the sound is too safe). He also makes fair assessments on One More Light, the band’s last album (at the time he was writing), with its change in direction from heavy rock, to expertly-crafted radio-friendly pop which baffled both fans and critics. The last few chapters of the book are devoted to the memorial concert, tributes and the legacy of the band. There is a small section of black and white photos.

There are a few oddities about the book. In one chapter, Brad plays the trumpet at school, but in the next, it was the trombone! There are some ‘interludes’ taken from interviews with other musicians but mostly I don’t think they add much. Further appraisal of the music videos, in which Mr Hahn had a major role, would have been welcome. The tone of the book is possibly a little too professional, or sanitised, I’m not sure how to describe it. The strong focus on chart performance and quotes from serious interviews about the music-making process don’t leave much room for anecdotes which would bring more colour to the narrative. However, these are minor criticisms and I thought it was a very well-written read which, although preaching to the converted, emphasises the talent and influence of Linkin Park in the context of the 2000s, music trends and popular culture.

‘In the End,’ this book was definitely worth reading. It’s ‘Crawling’ on to my list of top reads this year. I may have ‘Lost’ the plot somewhat on this review, so I’m saying ‘Good Goodbye’.

Published by Hachette, 2024.

The narrative switches between Ollie’s memories of his younger days, especially of a quirky girl he befriended one summer, and his diary on board the spacecraft on its long journey, where they are out of contact with Earth. He made a decision to leave his family to go on this mission and he’ll forever wonder if he did the right thing. It’s quite a sad novel in some ways and the main character remains somewhat mysterious. I was very impressed by everything about this book. The author also mentions Tim Peake’s Limitless in her acknowledgements, for a sense of what it’s like to work in space.

Published by 4th Estate, 2026.

Written with Valérie Péronnet, translated from French by Andy Bliss. Published by William Collins, 2017.

Thank you to the authors and Zooloos Book Tours for the review copy.