Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: June 2008

The Gossamer Plain: Not much happens

The Gossamer Plain by Thomas M. Reid

What happens when the alu-fiend Aliisza gets a conscience? Will she turn to good? Will the justice of Tyr change a creature half-human, half-demon? Interesting questions, especially when you consider that demons are, by their nature, wholly evil. Such a plot allows for discussions on the nature of good and evil, and how choices affect our lives.

Thomas M. Reid, best selling author of Insurrection, returns to the character he created for that story in The Empyrean Odyssey.

June 15th, 2008. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 3.5 | Thomas M. Reid | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Howling Delve: Worth the wait

The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson

In The Howling Delve, Jaleigh Johnson, unlike Erik Scott De Bie in Depths of Madness, does not rely entirely on the dungeon as the setting. Set in Amn in the Year of Lightning Storms, The Howling Delve’s plot revolves around two protagonists: a nobleman’s son who seeks revenge for the overthrow of his family, and a fire elementalist who once lived on the streets of Amn and who seeks something unknown even to her.

The First Vampire: A Novel of Samson & Delilah

The First Vampire by Alicia Ryan

I am a big fan of alternate history books and urban fantasy. Alicia Ryan has done a more than adequate job of blending the two into a fun book. The First Vampire is a story based on the Biblical Samson and his seductress/destroyer Delilah. Ryan weaves urban fantasy into the culmination of a millennia long search by Samson to have his final revenge.

The First Vampire takes elements of alternate history to explain how vampirism came to be through a fluke event.

June 15th, 2008. John Hulet´s rating: 4 | Alicia Ryan | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Dead Men’s Boots: Another delightful Felix Castor novel

Dead Men’s Boots by Mike Carey

Dead Men’s Boots is the third Felix Castor novel after Vicious Circle and The Devil You Know. Like the previous volumes, the book finds Felix dealing with several different issues that may or may not be connected. In this case, there’s the suicide of a fellow ghostbreaker (exorcist) who leaves a message for Felix; a wife who hires Felix to clear her husband’s name of murder; a Chicago mob femme fatale who seemingly continues to kill decades after her execution;

June 14th, 2008. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Mike (M.R.) Carey | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Great God Pan: A little forgettable

The Great God Pan by Donna Jo Napoli

Donna Jo Napoli is famous for her retellings of fairytales; from Rapunzel (Zel), Rumplestiltskin (Spinners) and Hansel and Gretel (The Magic Circle), but she’s also done a couple of Greek myths as well: Sirena, and this, The Great God Pan. Taking inspiration from two mythological mysteries: the fate of Iphigenia (the king’s daughter sacrificed in order to ensure safe passage to Troy) and the goat-legged god Pan (of whom Plutarch wrote: “the great god Pan is dead!”),

Shadowbred: A fun read with plenty of suspense

Shadowbred by Paul S. Kemp

First off, I’d like to clarify one thing. I don’t really consider myself a Forgotten Realms reader (never mind my various Drizz’t books or the Shadows of the Spider Queen novels) so I don’t have a Master’s degree in the setting. Having said that, Shadowbred was an interesting read and starts out with a prologue that hooked me.

As for the rest of Shadowbred, Paul S. Kemp manages to juggle multiple points of view from both heroes and villains.

June 12th, 2008. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | Paul S. Kemp | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The City of Splendors: Not WOTC’s usual fare

The City of Splendors by Ed Greenwood & Elaine Cunningham

The City of Splendors is very different from Wizards of the Coast’s usual fare. In fact, it’s even unusual for The Forgotten Realms, and that’s saying something.

The story almost seems to have no main character, no central conflict, and no central motivation. It revolves around many characters who live their lives in Waterdeep, also known as the City of Splendors due to its astonishing beauty and variety. The interconnectedness of the central characters and the way that they interact with each other and the city that surrounds them (both the actual city and its citizens) is so cleverly written that the reader is never sure just what might happen next.

June 12th, 2008. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 5 | Ed Greenwood, Elaine Cunningham, Mel Odom | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Orc King: Welcome return to the Drizzt legend

The Orc King by R.A. Salvatore

Picking up where The Two Swords left off, The Orc King continues the adventures of Drizzt Do’Urden and the Companions of the Hall. King Obould Many-arrows seeks to create a kingdom of orcs, at peace with its neighbors, a thing unheard of in Faerun. Tosun Armgo continues to seek to be a new Drizzt, a dark elf of good character while fighting off the advances of Khaizid’hea the evil sentient sword. And Wulfgar, recently widowed, sets out to find his lost daughter Colson.

June 12th, 2008. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 3 | R.A. Salvatore | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Promise of the Witch-King: Homage to Leiber

Promise of the Witch-King by R.A. Salvatore

Promise of the Witch-King is the second book in R.A. Salvatore’s Sellswords series, a spin-off/repackaging of his famous Drizz’t series. While the title may sound like a rip-off from Tolkien (and indeed, Dungeons & Dragons does name Lord of the Rings as one of its influences), Salvatore is actually paying homage to Fritz Leiber.

The novel follows the anti-hero adventures of Artemis Entreri, a mellowed-down assassin, and the dark elf Jarlaxle,

June 12th, 2008. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 2 | R.A. Salvatore | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Mistress of Dragons: Dragons gone bad

Mistress of Dragons by Margaret Weis

Mistress of Dragons is an interesting story with some likable heroes and excellent villains. The heroes are the humans and their dragon allies, but the humans don’t realize that dragons are their friends because the villains are a couple of dragons gone bad. Very bad. The good dragons concoct a plot which uses humans to conquer the bad dragons. Mistress of Dragons ends with an unexpected plot twist.

This story is well-told, though it annoys me how often Margaret Weis omits conjunctions from her sentences.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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