Conjure Wifeis a 1943 horror novel by master fantasist Fritz Leiber, who is best known for his excellent FAFHRD AND THE GRAY MOUSER stories. While Conjure Wife is usually labeled as horror, the recently released trade paperback edition from Orb is marketed as “the classic of urban fantasy” — maybe to latch on to the recent surge in popularity of that sub-genre? Regardless of which genre it’s placed in, Conjure Wife is an excellent novel that definitely deserved a re-release.
October 26th, 2009. Stefan Raets´s rating: 4 | Fritz Leiber | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Everyone’s talking about Tor’s upcoming release of The Wheel of Time: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.
Bill‘s got a copy in his hot little hands and we’ll be posting his review on October 27 at 12:01 am.
Meanwhile…. some of us aren’t too crazy about this cover art…
So, let’s have some fun with it! Can you suggest a BETTER title for a book with this cover? Put your title below. You may enter as many titles as you like.
October 24th, 2009. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 29 comments |
The Cardinal’s Blades by Pierre Pevel
PLOT SUMMARY: Paris, 1633. Louis XIII reigns over France… and Cardinal Richelieu governs the country. One of the most dangerous and most powerful men in Europe, Richelieu keeps a constant, sharp eye on the enemies of the Crown to avoid their assassination attempts, thwart their spies and avert their warmongering. But he’s up against people who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, even going so far as to forge alliances with France’s oldest and deadliest enemies: Spain, and the Court of Dragons.
Faced with the growing threat from Spain,
October 23rd, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 3.5 | Pierre Pevel | SFF Reviews | no comments |
King of Sword and Sky by C.L. Wilson
King of Sword and Sky is longer than either of the previous two Tairen Soul books, but for me, it breezed by so quickly, I could hardly believe it. King of Sword and Sky continues several plotlines from the earlier books, resolves a really huge one, and ends with a heck of a bang.
We follow Rain and Ellie as they travel to the Fading Lands, where they set out to prepare the Fey for war with the Eld and attempt to save the tairen from the mysterious decline they’ve been suffering.
October 23rd, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | C.L. Wilson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
With apologies to Dire Straits for the title, I want to talk about free books today. Recently, the FTC announced new rules for bloggers who are given free items in exchange for advertising. While the biggest concern is over bloggers being paid to shill for corporations and not disclosing the remunerative relationship, it is something that the reviewers here at FanLit have to keep in mind because we get lots of free books.
Literature bloggers are now part of the official publicity push for publishing houses. We are frequently sent ARCs, advanced review copies or advanced reading copies,
October 22nd, 2009. Ruth Arnell | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 29 comments |
Jhegaala is the 11th novel in the excellent VLAD TALTOS series by Steven Brust. In case you’re not familiar with the series, Vlad Taltos is a human assassin living in the Dragaeran empire. Dragaerans are human-like, but live for 1000 years or more and have a complex society divided into 17 Great Houses which all bear some resemblance to a real or mythical animal. So we have the Houses of the Orca and the Hawk, but also the Houses of the Dzur,
October 21st, 2009. Stefan Raets´s rating: 4 | Steven Brust | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green
Agents of Light and Darkness, the second book in Simon R. Green‘s Nightside, once again follows the almost always abstruse John Taylor, the private detective who is really good at finding things. In Something From the Nightside we learned that John is a former Nightside badass who developed a conscious during his time away from the Nightside and returned to help someone in need. Agents of Light and Darkness follows a similar premise,
October 20th, 2009. Justin Blazier and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Simon R. Green | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Kith is the second installment in The Good Neighbors, Holly Black’s series of graphic novels about Rue, a young woman whose life is torn apart when her mother disappears. Kin, the first book in this series, traces Rue’s discovery that her mother is a fairy princess who returns to her own people when Rue’s father is unfaithful. Kith picks up the action as the fairy world fights for Rue to join her mother,
October 20th, 2009. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 2 | Holly Black | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Editor’s note: This book is tilted The Rats and the Ruling Sea in some markets (UK) and The Ruling Sea in others (US).
The Rats and the Ruling Sea by Robert V.S. Redick
PLOT SUMMARY: The great ship Chathrand, supposedly launched to bring an end to centuries of war, has all along been a tool of evil men. And behind them all stands Arunis, a 3000-year-old sorcerer bent on scouring life from the world of Alifros.
Now this enchanted,
October 19th, 2009. Robert Thompson and Bill Capossere | Robert V.S. Redick | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Sleeping God by Violette Malan
The Sleeping God is the story of Dhulyn Wolfshead and Parno Lionsmane, Mercenary Brothers who share a Partnership that cannot be broken, even in death. This first novel in the Dhulyn and Parno series focuses on the Marked, people born with special powers to Find, or Heal, or Mend. Dhulyn is one of the rarest of the Marked, a Seer. However, her gift is sporadic and can be as much a curse as a blessing. When a vision sends her and her partner into a burning building to rescue children trapped on the second floor,
October 17th, 2009. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 4 | Violette Malan | SFF Reviews | no 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…