Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman‘s place on my personal “favorite authors list” is cemented firmly by Smoke and Mirrors, a versatile collection of his short stories and narrative poems. There is a wide variety of “types” of story here, from fantasy to horror to mystery to wildly hilarious comedy. I liked almost all of them.
Neil Gaiman‘s two finest gifts are (1) humor, and (2) truly scary horror that gets under your skin rather than just grossing you out with gore.
January 25th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Neil Gaiman | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Finally the origins of Koom Valley are explained. Commander Vimes of the City Watch, and Duke of Ankh-Morpork, is desperatly trying to solve the mystery of one dead dwarf. And who is Mr. Shine? What does he have to do with the death of Grag Hamcrusher? And what, oh what, is he to do about the vampire in the watch? Commader Vimes solves the crime in his usual no-nonsense, magic-is-not-part-of-crime-solving, politics-is-for-politicians-not-coppers way.
Terry Pratchett has once again created a hilarious story with twists and turns and answers no one would have dreamed.
January 23rd, 2008. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 5 | Terry Pratchett | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Gloriana, or The Unfulfill’d Queen: Being a Romance by Michael Moorcock
Gloriana (1979) is Moorcock’s homage to Mervyn Peake (author of the Gormenghast saga), and fittingly, is a lush tale of intrigue told in thoroughly British prose. At times brilliant (especially in the descriptions of the seasonal festivities), often captivating and humorous, often sluggish and overly subtle, ultimately unfulfilling, it’s a book I recommend borrowing from the library before buying. Not everyone will enjoy such decadence.
Speaking of decadence,
January 21st, 2008. Rob Rhodes´s rating: 2.5 | Michael Moorcock | Stand-Alone, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Scarlet, the second book in Stephen Lawhead‘s King Raven Trilogy focuses on Will Scatlocke (“Scarlet”), a disillusioned forester who goes searching for, finds, and joins King Raven’s infamous band of thieves. During one of their exploits, Will is caught, sentenced to hang, and thrown into prison where he is asked to tell his story to a priest in hopes that he’ll let slip some information that will help sheriff Guy of Gysborne find and defeat the robbers. Thus,
January 21st, 2008. Kat Hooper and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Stephen Lawhead | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Dragon Champion by E.E. Knight
Dragon Champion, the first Age of Fire novel, begins with a newborn whose initial impressions of the world are artfully depicted, but the fact that this newborn is a dragon makes it even more fun. E.E. Knight’s story follows the life and growth of a young dragon through interesting and perilous adventures.
Knight’s world-building is creative; he mixes races, geography, and geo-politics to create a vibrant background. The story takes on an almost scientific tone at times as Knight explains some of the aspects of dragonkind in a way that makes sense to human readers.
January 20th, 2008. John Hulet´s rating: 4 | E.E. Knight | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold
After reading Lois McMaster Bujold‘s first Chalion book, I was an instant fan (see review above). So, I was really excited to get my hands on the audio versions of the first two novels in her second fantasy series: The Sharing Knife.
Alas, it really pains me to have to write a lackluster review for anything Bujold does, but here we go.
First, let me say that Beguilement is a romance novel,
January 15th, 2008. Kat Hooper and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3 | Lois McMaster Bujold | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Gregor and the Code of Claw by Suzanne Collins
This is the fifth and series-ending (I shy from ever using the word “final” with regard to fantasy nowadays) book in the Gregor series, one of the most original and powerful young adult fantasy series now in recent years. It is not a standalone book, so if you haven’t read the first four, you should start. Assuming you have, however, how does Code stack up?
I have to admit to some disappointment. While much of what has made Gregor such a strong series can be found here: strongly distinct characters,
January 14th, 2008. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Suzanne Collins | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Devil You Know by Mike Carey
In a genre that has become over-saturated in recent years with second and third-rate carbon copies looking to feed off the successes of more popular series such as Laurell K. Hamilton’s ANITA BLAKE novels, The Devil You Know is quite a breath of fresh air. At a glance there may seem to be a lot of similarities: the contemporary setting where the paranormal has become a part of everyday life, the down-on-your-luck main character who narrates in a first-person perspective,
January 14th, 2008. Robert Thompson´s rating: 3.5 | Mike (M.R.) Carey | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
Magic Bites (2007) is an exciting urban fantasy with a unique premise and detailed world-building, somewhat marred by an unsatisfying twist in the story’s central mystery.
I give Ilona Andrews a lot of points for creativity here. In Magic Bites‘ near-future setting, magic and technology come and go a bit like the weather; when magic is working, tech isn’t, and vice versa. The shifts are unpredictable, but it can be assumed there will be several per day.
January 9th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter, Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Ilona Andrews | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
To Catch a Mermaid by Suzanne Selfors
I don’t usually read children’s novels and I probably will demur in the future, except for young adult. I did my homework on To Catch a Mermaid and read a bunch of other reviews out there, and none of them are in the least bit negative.
The writing itself is great. It’s about a boy named Boom Broom who brings home a wild baby mermaid (actually more like a toddler) from a reject seafood bucket. The merbaby brings a curse that Boom must break in order to save his sister.
January 7th, 2008. Tia Nevitt (guest)´s rating: 2 | Suzanne Selfors | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Would you believe that this was the first time that I ever read it? SO glad that I finally caught…
LOVE The Big Front Yard!
Always my pleasure, Marion! And Part 2 of this review should be appearing soon....
Kevin S,if you live in the USA, you win a Fan Lit T-shirt (please specify 1st and 2nd preferred sizes)…
He's one of my favorites of the Pulp Age writers. Thanks for sharing these tales!