On my Desk: THE TWELVE CHILDREN OF PARIS by Tim Willocks

I purchased The Twelve Children of Paris even before I was halfway through the first book in this series (trilogy?), The Religion. I was so moved by the skill and beautiful writing in The Religion, that I had to buy the follow up book as soon as possible.
Hard to come by authors who write so well and in so epic a manner.  I always grab onto them tight when I do.
Another that caught my interest with The Religion was the fact I hardly ever got bored. Not easy for a 774 page book. I have read many doorstoppers and so many of them frustrate me because they should have been edited harder and made a shorter read.
The Twelve Children of Paris is an equally long book. Hope the author can do the same here.

To my utter delight, there is a map in this second book! Huzzah!! A great map of Paris. Again and again I found myself bemoaning the lack of any form of map in The Religion. It desperately needed one too. The locations of battles that took place in the book, which were based on real battles that took place on Malta of course, were confusing the heck out of me. A map would have given an
extra layer to that first book. To help the reader not familiar with the layout of land and fortifications on Malta in that period, to wrap their head around where everything was taking place.

That's why I actually made outward noises of satisfaction (some huzzahs and some oh hurrahs) when The Twelve Children of Paris arrived in my mailbox and I opened the parcel, opened the book, to discover a double page map of Paris to go with the story.

Hoping to get to this book by the end of 2014. If not, then definitely January 2015.

- MM