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Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: October 2008

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Twilight: 98% brain candy

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

It begins with the cover, the perfect red apple — forbidden fruit! — offered to the reader by perfect, pale hands. (Note the epigraph from Genesis: “But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it… “) It continues, and continues, with the blossoming relationship between the narrator, Bella Swan, and the physically perfect and mysterious Edward Cullen — who, as the back cover states, is a vampire.

The popularity of this book, and the upcoming movie release, have probably broadcast the basic plot: Bella,


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October 31st, 2008. and ´s rating: | | | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

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Ascendancy of the Last: Exciting and accessible

Ascendancy of the Last by Lisa Smedman

The sava game is still being played, and Lolth and Eilistraee continue to vie for control of all the drow of Faerun. But the drow were once dark elves — surface dwellers — and faithful to the pantheon of the “light” elves. As Lisa Smedman‘s The Lady Penitent draws to its conclusion, the fate of all hangs in the balance. Ascendency of the Last, the concluding volume of this trilogy, returns the reader to the halls of the Promenade,


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October 15th, 2008. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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Beauty: We are divided on this one!

Beauty by Robin McKinley

I hate writing negative reviews, especially for books that are obviously both loved and respected. Beauty appeals to a lot of people, and you may well want to disregard my opinion and go with the majority. But for what it’s worth, I can’t quite bring myself to recommend Beauty for those of you out there who enjoy reading novels in the fairytale genre.

To McKinley’s credit, Beauty was written before the sudden demand in retold/fractured/fleshed-out fairytales.


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October 15th, 2008. , and ´s rating: , | | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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Thicker Than Water: Best Felix Castor novel to date

Thicker Than Water by Mike Carey

The fourth Felix Castor novel starts out with a bang: the liberation of Rafi from the Charles Stanger Care Facility under the nose of Jenna-Jane Mulbridge, told in a clever departure from Felix’s usual first-person narrative.

From there, Thicker Than Water follows the same formula as the other Castor novels — a tangled supernatural mystery comprised of seemingly unrelated parts — but with some significant differences.

For one, the case is personal this time, revolving around an old childhood acquaintance who was brutally attacked with razors and Castor’s name written in blood.


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October 14th, 2008. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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Warprize: Beware the heart with the arrow through it

Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan

Scenario: I’m in the library. It’s 5 minutes until closing. I’ve got to find a book fast. My library is a small neighborhood branch and there’s not a huge selection. There are plenty of fantasy books, but it’s hard to find one I haven’t read that’s not a sequel to something I haven’t read. I’m starting to panic as I’ve got only one minute left. I grab a book that has the little “fantasy” sticker on it (black unicorn with glowing horn dancing on a purple background) and it’s something I’ve never heard of before: Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan.


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October 12th, 2008. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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The Dark River: Typical middle volume

The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks

In 2005, an enigmatic author by the name of John Twelve Hawks — a writer who supposedly lives ‘off the grid’ — delivered one of the most hyped novels of the year, the critically-acclaimed, New York Times Bestselling debut The Traveler. In that book, readers were introduced to a chillingly familiar world ‘inspired by the modern technology that monitors our lives,’ where Travelers — individuals who possess the ability to send their conscious energy (“Light”) to other realms where they gain insights into transforming the world — and Harlequins (sworn to protect the lives of Travelers) oppose their mortal enemies the Brethren (also known as the Tabula) and their quest for a virtual Panopticon — an invisible prison where the population would assume that they were being watched at all times and therefore would automatically follow the rules.


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October 12th, 2008. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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Dead to Me: Too hokey

Dead to Me by Anton Strout

What is there to say about Anton Strout’s Dead to Me? Good things, I mean, since that is my quest these days…to begin my reviews with the positive rather than the negative. This isn’t proving to be easy and if I was a more paranoid person I’d wonder if Mr. Strout didn’t just write Dead to Me for the sole purpose of trying my (admittedly rather short) patience.

Well, I love the fact that Strout chooses to give his character the power of psychometry.


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October 11th, 2008. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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Centaur Aisle: Apply this review to any Xanth novel

Centaur Aisle by Piers Anthony

Piers Anthony‘s Centaur Aisle is one of his many Xanth books — Xanth being the magical land these stories are set in, filled with dragons, ogres, and really bad puns. Often the puns provide clues to the riddles and plot twists and sometimes it takes a while until you have enough information to realise how certain puns will effect the story. Other times the puns form the basis of the flora and fauna of Xanth. For instance, a cocoa tree provides hot chocolate drinks.


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October 9th, 2008. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

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The Shadow Roads: Decent but anticlimactic close to trilogy

The Shadow Roads by Sean Russell

The Shadow Roads brings The Swans’ War to a somewhat satisfying close, but its many weaknesses lessen the impact it might have had. The strength is the backstory — the sense of myth surrounding the three children of Wyrr, Death walled away into his own world, stories of loss and transformation. When Sean Russell spends time in this area, whether in detail or just tangentially, it lends a sad sense of grandeur and depth to the work as a whole.


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October 7th, 2008. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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Kull, Exile of Atlantis: Foundational reading for the sword & sorcery fan

Kull: Exile of Atlantis by Robert E. Howard

* If you’re not — or not looking to become — a reader of sword-and-sorcery or fantasy tales, then you can probably skip the rest of this review and move on… unless you might acquire a taste for stories of a philosophical barbarian-king, whose axe or sword slays on-comers as easily as you might mosquitoes… *

OK, now that they’re gone: this intriguing compilation probably merits 3-1/2 stars, but I’ll give one of the genre’s cornerstones the benefit of the doubt. Be warned,


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October 6th, 2008. and ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

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Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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