Big Chief Elizabeth by Giles Milton

This is a great retelling of the story behind the early British Colonies in Virginia. If you ever wanted to know about the Jamestown settlement or colony of Roanoke and wonder where people like Walter Raleigh, John Smith, Pocahontas and Virginia Dare fit in then I highly recommend this book. Entertaining as well as educational

Orcs (First Blood Trilogy) by Stan Nicholls

The unique selling proposition of Nicholls' trilogy is that orcs are the good guys while humans, for the most part are the baddies. This was enough of a hook to sell millions of books but to be honest it wasn't as revolutionary as it sounds. These Orcs are not the baby eating monsters of legend, they are worthy and honourable fighters who are far more sinned against than sinning. Thankfully it doesn't matter because Nicholls has crafted a highly entertaining tale of a troop of Orc warriors who find themselves declared renegades when they inadvertently make off with a magical artifact. Learning that this artifact is only one of five and realising that they cannot return to their despotic queen they embark on a epic adventure to find all the pieces. Highly enjoyable.