Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton
Skin Trade is enough of a step in the right direction that I’m sorely tempted to give it a higher rating than it actually deserves. There’s a plot! With murders! And investigating! And I turned out to be right about Marmee Noir’s plans for Anita. And the two explicit sex scenes are better-written and less icky than what I’ve come to expect from Laurell K. Hamilton. And she’s being copy-edited again, so there are only a few typos.
June 14th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | Laurell K. Hamilton | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Midori Snyder set out to write a trilogy, because that is what fantasy authors were supposed to do, and she wrote one of the best trilogies I have ever read. This little known gem, in its first printing named The Queen’s Quarter and in its second printing referred to as The Oran Trilogy, is a multi-layered treasure of a story. It is a story not only about the personal struggles of four young heroines, but of the country’s quest for political freedom,
June 14th, 2009. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 5 | Midori Snyder | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett
Havemercy was not the novel that I was expecting. After all, it’s a fantasy debut written by twenty-year-olds, one of whom is a huge Harry Potter fan, with a picture of a dragon on the cover… Let’s just say I made assumptions and was quite delighted to find that Havemercy had much more in common with Sarah Monette — who I feel is one of the most original authors in the genre today — instead of say,
June 13th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Jaida Jones | SFF Reviews | no comments |
[Abelar] thought of Eldren, of Enden, recalled his father’s words to him — the light is in you — and realized, with perfect clarity, that his father was right.
The light is in you. As a theme for Paul S. Kemp’s Shadowrealm, the final novel in The Twilight War trilogy of Forgotten Realms novels, it might seem rather odd. After all, the story surrounds Erevis Cale, the First Chosen of the thief god Mask. Cale is a shadowman,
June 12th, 2009. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 5 | Paul S. Kemp | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Best American Fantasy by Jeff VanderMeer (ed.)
The first thing that stands out is that if I merely stuck to looking for fantasy stories from the usual sources, I probably wouldn’t have come across many of the short stories in this anthology. And that I think is the strength of Best American Fantasy — that it reprints stories some genre readers were never aware of. That’s not to say this doesn’t have its fair share of “expected” stories but for the most part, it’s been a real treat.
June 12th, 2009. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 4 | Jeff VanderMeer | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
THE FORESTWIFE TRILOGY by Theresa Tomlinson
Theresa Tomlinson’s Forestwife is a good kids’ book. For the most part, it kept me interested, but there were many “cheesy” sections that ended way too “neatly” for me. There was also no recognizable “bad guy” which makes a plotline sort of boring and unrecognizable.
The nice thing about The Forestwife was that it was not your typical Robbin Hood/Maid Marian novel. Marian was more of a hero herself in this version, making it an empowering book for young girls,
June 12th, 2009. Guest´s rating: 2 | Theresa Tomlinson | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
I’m going to come right out and say what will make most people think I’m slightly crazy: I enjoyed reading The Silmarillion more than I enjoyed reading The Lord of the Rings. Why? I haven’t the faintest idea. Maybe I was too young to properly appreciate The Lord of the Rings. Maybe my love of mythology made The Silmarillion a shoe-in. Maybe the lack of three-dimensional characters was more understandable in a book this vast.
June 12th, 2009. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | J.R.R. Tolkien | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
“You have never heard a story quite like this one.”
Start a book with a sentence like this, and you’ve given yourself a tall order to fill. However, Alex Bell doesn’t disappoint. Jasmyn is something special indeed, putting me under its spell in a way that only a few books a year ever do.
Our heroine, Jasmyn, is devastated when her beloved husband Liam dies suddenly, just a year after their marriage. Then, at his funeral,
June 12th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Alex Bell | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Wizard in the Tree by Lloyd Alexander
All the wizards have long since departed this land for Vale Innis — but one has been left behind. When Mallory’s favorite oak tree is felled, she finds a surprising discovery inside: an old wizard named Arbican who’s desperate to follow his fellow wizards across the sea. The orphaned Mallory has grown up with stories of magic and enchantment, and couldn’t be more delighted with the discovery — especially if there’s a chance that she can go with him. Mallory does not have the most wonderful life as scullery maid to the nasty Mrs Parsel,
June 12th, 2009. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 2 | Lloyd Alexander | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ill Wind is the first book in Rachel Caine’s urban fantasy series Weather Warden. The book stands well on its own and doesn’t have any of those nasty cliffhangers so often found in fantasy series, but it still keeps you interested in what happens in the next book.
Ill Wind starts in the middle of the action and I was impressed with the first chapter because Caine seamlessly juxtaposes the present with flashbacks and keeps readers on the edge of their seats.
June 11th, 2009. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | Rachel Caine | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.