Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: May 2008

Legacy: Shut up, Fawn.

Legacy by Lois McMaster Bujold

It sincerely hurts me to give Lois McMaster Bujold the “DNF,” but I didn’t get very far into The Sharing Knife: Legacy before giving up. It tried it on audio, with the same reader who read Beguilement (see above).

The first scene was a sex scene: Dag (who’s 55 years old) and Fawn (who’s 19) on their wedding night. I rolled my eyes through most of it, and when Fawn started chatting about her family’s propensity to produce twins and other unsuitable topics for a wedding night scene (this is during the act,

Mind the Gap: Not much to complain about

Mind the Gap by Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon

Even though Mind the Gap is extremely fast-paced, the novel started out really slowly for me and it wasn’t until 160 pages in that I began to get excited about the book. The problem was that for almost the first half it seemed like Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon were just going through the motions, delivering a plot that was one recognizable convention after another:

The protagonist’s mother mysteriously murdered by shadowy people and forced on the run… Raised to trust no one,

May 25th, 2008. Robert Thompson´s rating: 3.5 | Christopher Golden, Tim Lebbon | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Stolen Child: Not a fairytale

The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue

Expectations and presumptions are dangerous things. I opened Keith Donohue’s debut novel, The Stolen Child, with plenty of them, and found myself disillusioned with what I found myself reading. A simple plot summary is as follows: A young changeling and his hobgoblin fellows snatch seven-year-old Henry Day and takes his place in the human world. The real Henry (henceforth known as Aniday) begins his new life as a creature of the wild, whilst the changeling (now known as Henry) copes with his sudden reintegration into the human world.

The Magic Circle: Poignant and thought-provoking

The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli

Donna Jo Napoli’s trademark technique of fleshing out a fairytale is in fine display in The Magic Circle, her retelling of Hansel and Gretel. Napoli’s stories often reveal motivations behind some of the action that takes place in the traditional fairytales, reasoning out some of the fantastic elements and explaining the behaviour of the familiar characters; which usually results in the villain becoming more sympathetic and understandable. Such is certainly the case in The Magic Circle,

Crown of Stars: Stunning in scale and complexity

CROWN OF STARS by Kate Elliott

CROWN OF STARS is well-thought out and obviously well-planned. It’s epic in scope and it’s got a lot of texture. There are many complex characters who we follow in parallel, as in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. Some of them are very likeable, and there are some really excellent villains (e.g., Hugh). Kate Elliott’s creatures are imaginative and enjoyable, and I especially liked the way they interact with the humans. Ms. Elliott uses a lot of description and intricate world-building and therefore her plot moves very slowly (again,

May 16th, 2008. Kat Hooper and John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 3, 3.5 | Kate Elliott | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Sorcerer’s Son: Hell hath no fury like a sorcerer scorned

Sorcerer’s Son by Phyllis Eisenstein

After the sorceress Delivev Ormoru rejects his marriage proposal, sorcerer Smada Rezhyk becomes worried that she’s out to get him. In order to reduce her powers so that he’ll have time to weave himself a protective gold shirt, Rezhyk sends his demon slave Gildrum to impregnate Delivev with Rezhyk’s own seed. Gildrum takes on the form of a handsome young knight (Mellor) and shows up injured at Delivev’s doorstep. As expected, Delivev falls in love with Mellor, but unexpectedly, Gildrum (who doesn’t even have a heart) falls in love with her,

May 16th, 2008. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Phyllis Eisenstein | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Lord of the Isles: Not bad, but not engrossing enough

Lord of the Isles by David Drake

David Drake has a considerable reputation as a science-fiction writer, but Lord of the Isles was my first introduction to his work. To be frank, it is not a good introduction.

Lord of the Isles begins in the tried-and-tested high fantasy tradition — ancient events outlined in the prologue, cut to the present on a bucolic location, unexceptional adolescent male character introduced, and on you go. The island of Haft in the Isles of the title is then shocked by the appearance of a ship from the past.

May 16th, 2008. Guest´s rating: 0.1 | David Drake | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Mirror of Her Dreams: Different, but disappointing

The Mirror of Her Dreams by Stephen R. Donaldson

The Mirror of Her Dreams is a low fantasy that chronicles the “translation” of the beautiful but insipid Terisa Morgan into the besieged realm of Mordant by way of “Imagery,” sorcery that brings things out of mirrors. In this case, a clumsy apprentice, Gerarden, enters a mirror in Mordant in hope of finding the “champion” that the mirror depicts. Instead, he finds himself in Teresa’s sterile New York penthouse and, thinking that she may instead be Mordant’s savior, persuades her to return with him.

May 16th, 2008. Rob Rhodes´s rating: 3 | Stephen R. Donaldson | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Unshapely Things: Lacks the spark

Unshapely Things by Mark Del Franco

Mark Del Franco’s Unshapely Things is another addition to the urban fantasy universe. I bought it for a break from all the female authors and their super powerful sassy female characters. That’s not criticism of those authors or their characters — just my desire to read something different.

Del Franco’s main character, Connor Grey, is a formerly powerful investigator for the Guild, a sort of FBI for fey. Elves, fey, and many other permutations of non-humans have become part of the world we live in due to a magic cataclysm.

May 16th, 2008. John Hulet´s rating: 3 | Mark Del_Franco | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Shadows Return: Didn’t feel right until the end

Shadows Return by Lynn Flewelling

Lately, whenever I pick up a new book by a favorite author and read the back of it, I get this feeling of dread. I don’t know what it is, but my favorites are throwing out some really thin-sounding plots. Lynn Flewelling has been a favorite for years, though, since I first began reading her Nightrunner series, so I held out hope for Shadows Return.

So Alec and Seregil are on a new mission when they’re captured and sold into slavery.

May 16th, 2008. Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 3.5 | Lynn Flewelling | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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