This is an entertaining collection of short stories set within the same comic universe as Clovenhoof and Pigeonwings. Writing duo Goody and Grant treat us to a selection of bite-sized escapades featuring the characters of their popular novels but also allow us sneak peeks of characters rumoured to appear in the third and fourth novels in the Discworld-meets-Dogma series.

Several of the stories feature Clovenhoof (the new alias for Satan after he is fired and forced to retire in Birmingham) and his neighbours Nerys (lovable tart) and Ben (lovable geek). The gang get into fights with snowmen, ruin a wedding and find themselves in a life drawing class. 'Clovenhoof and the Spiders' is a particular joy to read, in which Clovenhoof loses twenty tarantulas somewhere in Ben's flat. Chaos ensues and the punchline is very funny.

Goody and Grant use this collection to trial new characters from both Heaven and Hell, broadening their roster of saints and sinners for future novels.  St Christopher is introduced in 'Patron Saint of Nothing At All' where he must come to terms with losing believers on Earth, despite his proud yet desperate insistence that he is the patron saint of travel, storms and toothache, and once carried the baby Christ across a river. He appears again in 'The Non-Specific Prayer Assessment Unit' where he has been relegated to a call centre which responds to prayers. Very inventive and lots of fun.

More fantastical characters appear in 'St Nick and the Krampus', depicting the annual Heaven and Hell Christmas gift exchange and featuring Joan of Arc, St Nicholas, demon Rutspud and the fantastic Christmas demon, the Krampus. We meet Rutspud again in 'A Cat's Chance in Hell' in which he finds a kitten in Hell and is utterly confused and terrified by the little furry creature. Definitely my favourite story in the collection.

Newcomers need not be deterred, thanks to a brief and clever introduction in which a victim of the first novel meets with a psychologist, helpfully providing an overview of the central characters. Even without this introduction, the majority of stories hold their ground as funny standalone tales, therefore no prior knowledge of the series is required. However, returning fans will be richly rewarded with references to the novels that they have already enjoyed.

Satan's Shorts is a brilliant example of how short stories can assist in franchise-building. More importantly, it is a delight to read and perfect for digesting one story at a time during your next week of commuting.

On Tuesday 27th January, I organised a Meet The Authors event at The Big Comfy Bookshop in Coventry. The bookshop is one of the coolest new literary locations in Coventry (they have Roald Dahl print cushions on their big comfy sofa) and it was the perfect setting for a group of authors to share their work.

The full line-up of authors were myself, Iain Grant, Heide Goody, James Brogden and AA Abbott. Between us, we read a selection of novel extracts and short stories, offering the audience a mixture of genres including horror, fantasy, thriller and comedy. I personally read two short stories from my collection, Breadcrumbs.

The evening was a huge amount of fun and the audience included student journalists from The Boar (University of Warwick) and The Source (Coventry University), as well as a member of the Coventry Writers' Group.

Iain Grant's unstoppable steampunk series continues with this fifth instalment of The Sedgewick Papers.

The series has been working its way home with each publication, beginning in the far reaches of space (Angels of the Abyss), visiting Mars (The Pearl of Tharsis), hiking through Tibet (The Well of Shambala) and more recently stopping by Cambridge and the seaside (The Bridge to Lemuria). Now, the series arrives in the heart of the British Empire, Victorian London, for a subterranean adventure.

Inspector Wilmarth, the honest copper from Cambridge who briefly appeared in Lemuria, is on narrative duty on this occasion, bringing some down-to-earth everyman charm to the series. 

Wilmarth is commanded by Queen and Country to descend below London where his cousin has supposedly committed a murder at the construction site of a 200-mile tunnel being built between Liverpool and London. As always, things are never that simple. Wilmarth's investigation is soon diverted as he encounters numerous Irish tunnel workers who revel in the darkness, devotees of a sinister cult and its otherworldly ancient gods.

Suffice it to say, Shadow is Grant's darkest chapbook yet, both literally, as a result of its underground setting, but also in terms of its tone. Wilmarth's retrospective narration feels tainted with doom, underpinning a sense of dread from its opening which promises to explain the reason behind an explosion that claimed the lives of hundreds. Grant further builds unease by placing Wilmarth away from help and sunlight amidst a fanatic cult. I was reminded of films The Wicker Man and The Descent on several occasions.

There are monsters too. The subterranean terrors are gruesome and vividly described, making good use of Grant's grasp of language: "They were translucently rubbery sacks of butcher's offal. Their skin was coarse and thick and seemed to be arranged around their heads and bodies in bands that, as they approached me, shifted and rolled over one another, profoundly varying their height in the manner of a concertina." Grant's creations are a Doctor Who monster waiting to happen.

Fans of the franchise will be rewarded with references to previous chapbooks and characters. Herbert Walton from Shambala and Chiox Khan from Pearl both appear, as well as passing references to the destructive climax of Lemuria. Professor Sedgewick himself does not appear in this edition of The Sedgewick Papers (nor does his sometimes-ally-sometimes-adversary Mina Saxena) but Wilmarth does meet his niece, Rose Sedgewick, an aspiring physician who shares her uncle's brains and Saxena's beauty.

As is customary in a steampunk story, we expect an element of historical fiction and Grant continues to pepper his stories with cameos from real-life Victorian figures. There is a nice reference to John Haldone, the 19th century expert in natural gas, and Lady Paget, an early pioneer in the hollow earth theory. Yet, the highlight is an appearance from Queen Victoria herself, who speaks with "a voice as soft as any mother's and yet underlaid with a core of steel."

Sadly, this is the penultimate instalment of The Sedgwick Papers, with the sixth and final chapbook due out in Spring. The end may be in sight but, based on the quality of this adventure, the series looks set to finish on a high.