Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: August 2009


testing

Bewitching Season: A perfectly bewitching YA book

Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle

Persephone and Penelope Leland are excited to start their first season as eligible women in London. At least Penelope is. Persephone is nervous, and besides, she’d much rather continue her studies in magic with their governess Ally.

The twin girls are witches — as is their governess — and in addition to their book and finishing training, Ally helps them to learn magic and how to use it responsibly. Things go horribly wrong however when Ally comes up missing a few short days before their coming out.


Read More




testing

Bloody Awful: Nazi Vampires!

Bloody Awful by Georgia Evans

Bloody Awful continues the story of Brytewood, a cozy English village that is secretly home to several supernatural beings. Brytewood’s inhabitants, both human and Other, face an ongoing struggle as German bombs fall from the sky and Nazi vampires infiltrate the town itself. It’s the characters that make this series compelling. I had issues with Bloody Good, but wanted to keep reading to find out what happened to the people I’d “met.”

I enjoyed Bloody Awful more than I did Bloody Good.


Read More




testing

Servant: Better-than-average traditional epic fantasy

Servant by John D. Brown

Editor’s Note: This review is for the original version of Servant which was, back in 2009, titled Servant of a Dark God.

CLASSIFICATION: Servant of a Dark God is a mostly traditional epic fantasy novel in the vein of David Farland, Greg Keyes, and James Clemens, with elements of Brandon Sanderson, David Keck, and Kate Elliott.


Read More




Thoughtful Thursday – Egregious Errors Edition

Welcome to the second installment in the Thoughtful Thursday column. If you have questions you would like to see addressed in this space, feel free to contact us, and put Thoughtful Thursday in the subject line.

Last week we had a great discussion about what your fantasy sin is. I’d like to acknowledge and welcome all the recently out-of-the-closet Goodkind fans. This week, I’d like to focus on the other end of the reading relationship: the author. There was a spirited discussion last week about the use of the word “sin,” so to keep anyone from thinking I have serious issues,


Read More




testing

Tentacles: A real blast!

Tentacles by Roland Smith

When I picked up Tentacles by Roland Smith, I had no idea it was a sequel (the first book being Cryptid Hunters). But I quickly discovered that it didn’t matter. Not only is there a list of dramatis personae at the beginning of the book, but Roland Smith is very deft at refreshing plot details without info-dumping the events of the previous book on unsuspecting readers.

In Tentacles,


Read More




testing

Ruined: There’s nothing I like better than a good ghost story

Ruined: A Ghost Story by Paula Morris

There’s nothing I like better than a good ghost story. And New Orleans is a great city to set one in. In fact, Ruined‘s greatest strength is its setting.

Because I’ve been doing research on NO for a project of my own, some of what the book offers is stuff I already know. Even so, all of it is fascinating, especially for people only just being exposed to it. Paula Morris paints the city into the perfect backdrop for her ghost story,


Read More




testing

Daggerspell: Innovative world building, sympathetic characterization

Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr

As a young man, Nevyn’s inability to choose starts a series of events that leads to the death of his betrothed, her brother, and another man. At his beloved’s grave he swears to never rest until he has righted the wrongs he caused. The gods accept his vow, and he is gifted with immortality until he has fulfilled his promise. Daggerspell follows Nevyn’s attempts to pay the debts he owes as the spirits of the three people to whom he is spiritually tied are born and reborn.


Read More




testing

Beldan’s Fire: Final showdown

Beldan’s Fire by Midori Snyder

Beldan’s Fire is the final showdown between the new Queens’ Quarter and the Fire Queen Zorah, and the plot races along to its conclusion. Midori Snyder doesn’t pull any punches as she wraps up the story, and it does not end the way you probably think it will.

She balances beautiful, lyrical writing with gritty characters from the urban underbelly. The characters continue to develop, and are still flawed human beings doing what they have to do, which I think is what makes them interesting,


Read More




testing

Night Runner: Good book for teenage boys

Night Runner by Max Turner

Thanks to Stephenie Meyer, teen fiction and vampires is on fire and the past couple of years has seen an explosion of new series riding the popularity wave. One of the newest entries in this subgenre is Max Turner’s debut which was originally released in Canada last year.

Not quite 300 pages long, Night Runner is a nonstop, high-speed adventure / mystery / thriller starring 15-year-old Zack Thompson who discovers that he’s — what else — a vampire!


Read More




Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

We have reviewed 8406 fantasy, science fiction, and horror books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and films.

Subscribe to all posts:

Get notified about Giveaways:

Support FanLit

Want to help us defray the cost of domains, hosting, software, and postage for giveaways? Donate here:


You can support FanLit (for free) by using these links when you shop at Amazon:

US          UK         CANADA

Or, in the US, simply click the book covers we show. We receive referral fees for all purchases (not just books). This has no impact on the price and we can't see what you buy. This is how we pay for hosting and postage for our GIVEAWAYS. Thank you for your support!
Try Audible for Free

Recent Discussion:

  1. Great review! I agree this book had some entertaining parts, and the final section with the invading crystals was very…

  2. Marion Deeds
August 2009
M T W T F S S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31