Deep Water is the second book in Pamela Freeman’s The Castings trilogy and though it suffers just a tad from middle book syndrome, this is a great continuation from the last book Blood Ties, enriching the world and developing the characters, as well as setting things up nicely for the final installment.
The Eleven Domains were conquered thousands of years ago by Acton’s people, who marched across the northern mountains and massacred the dark-haired people (now called “Travelers”
October 31st, 2009. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Pamela Freeman | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Me and my Shadow by Katie MacAlister
Me and My Shadow is the third book in Katie MacAllister’s Silver Dragon series, which is set in the same world as her Guardian series. In fact, many Guardian characters (including Aisling and Drake) reappear in her Silver Dragon series. My personal favorite carryover character is Jim, the demonic Newfoundland. His inappropriate and ribald comments had me laughing aloud frequently.
The story itself is about May, a shadow-walking doppelganger who is the offspring of Cyrene,
October 30th, 2009. Stephen B. Frank´s rating: 4 | Katie MacAlister | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Fantasy novels are all about escaping into another world, or at least a different version of this one. That is one of the things that was mentioned repeatedly in the post from Tuesday, the possibility for escape. Saturday is Halloween, another occasion for escaping into another world, or at least a character from another world, and getting the chance to be someone else for a little while. I would love to be Menolly, from Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey. How cool would it to have a real fire lizard? Or convince my sister to dress up with me and we could be the Crow Girls from Charles de Lint’s books.
October 29th, 2009. Ruth Arnell | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 23 comments |
Queen of Song and Souls by C.L. Wilson
Queen of Song and Souls, the much-anticipated fourth book in C.L. Wilson’s Tairen Soul series, continues the story of Rain and Ellysetta’s quest to complete their bond and defeat the sinister Mages of Eld. In this volume, they attempt to enlist allies in their war against Eld.
First, this means a return to Celieria City. We learn more about the consequences of the weave Ellie inadvertently spun at the end of Lord of the Fading Lands;
October 28th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | C.L. Wilson | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Sasha is the first volume in A TRIAL OF BLOOD AND STEEL, a projected 4-book fantasy series by Australian author Joel Shepherd, who previously also published a science fiction trilogy called the CASSANDRA KRESNOV series. His novels have been available in Australia for several years, and are now being released in the US thanks to Pyr, with Petrodor, the next volume in A TRIAL OF BLOOD AND STEEL,
October 28th, 2009. Stefan Raets´s rating: 4 | Joel Shepherd | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
In His Majesty’s Service by Naomi Novik
In His Majesty’s Service is an omnibus edition containing the first three novels in Naomi Novik‘s TEMERAIRE series. (These 3 novels were also released in a Science Fiction Book Club omnibus edition called Temeraire: In the Service of the King.) Aside from these three books, Naomi Novik has written two more novels in the series, Empire of Ivory and Victory of Eagles,
October 27th, 2009. Stefan Raets´s rating: 2.5 | Naomi Novik | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The premise of Tainted is this: A young woman, Lily, is killed while carrying out vengeance against a rapist who attacked her sister. Lily is sure she’s going to hell for all the things she did in her short life, but instead she comes back from the dead…in someone else’s body. Her mission: to hunt demons for God. Her reward, if she succeeds, is redemption.
At first, I was reminded of a couple of other urban fantasy series. The wrong-body plotline and the theme of sisterly love reminded me a bit of Vicki Petterson’
October 27th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Julie Kenner | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Next week, on November 3rd, we’ll be sharing an interview with Ann Aguirre. Today, we welcome Heather LH of “Book Obsessed”. All commenters to Heather’s guest post will be eligible for a copy of Ann Aguirre’s Doubleblind. But hurry, this contest is only good today!
Heather: I read a Meme the other day that was entitled something like ‘My Life Thru the Books I Have Read” and it got me thinking about how people come to be readers of a particular genre or sub-genres.
October 27th, 2009. Guest | Giveaway! | 44 comments |
The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
That the twelfth book in a series is entitled The “Gathering” Storm probably points to a fundamental problem with the series. I mean, we’re eleven books (long, long books by the way) down and the storm is only just “gathering”? And anyone who has stuck with The Wheel of Time thus far (which I’m assuming is pretty much everyone reading this because otherwise why the heck are you reading this?), knows that pacing has been a big problem in Robert Jordan’s work,
October 27th, 2009. Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan | Audio | SFF Reviews | 12 comments |
Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
I confess, I’ve been put off by YA books a lot lately. The trends seem to lean towards dark and “edgy” books (many of which sound depressing) and Twilight clones and wannabes. I can deal with the former, but the latter isn’t my thing. But while I was browsing one day, the cover of Eyes Likes Stars caught my attention (not surprising, since it’s gorgeous). I read the blurb and decided I had to get it; it sounded fresh,
October 26th, 2009. Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 4.5 | Lisa Mantchev | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…