Lady of Light and Shadows by C.L. Wilson
Lady of Light and Shadows is the second volume in C.L. Wilson’s romantic fantasy epic, Tairen Soul. Like the previous novel, Lord of the Fading Lands, Lady of Light and Shadows is a fun guilty pleasure. Ellysetta and Rain may be a little over the top in terms of their powers, treading close to Mary Sue territory, but I’m enjoying the heck out of their story anyway.
October 16th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | C.L. Wilson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
With a new job that requires a commute, I’m listening to a lot more NPR than I have recently. In between penetrating interviews and brilliant commentary, I was fascinated to hear the newest installment in their semi-regular series, My Guilty Pleasure, that has writers talk about the books that they are embarrassed to admit that they read but secretly love. Every long time reader has it – that one book that gets hidden behind the impressive hardbacks on the bookshelf, or that you put in a different slip cover, or toss behind the couch when someone walks in the room.
October 15th, 2009. Ruth Arnell | Thoughtful Thursday | 9 comments |
Year of the Horse by Justin Allen
Justin Allen’s Year of the Horse is one of the more original fantasy amalgamations I’ve come across — a mix of fantasy, historical western, and coming-of-age boys’ adventure tale peppered with some Devil and Daniel Webster / Washington Irving / Mark Twain / Zane Grey, and topped off by a heaping of multi-culturalism. Does it all work? Not in all places, but certainly often enough to keep the reader enjoyably engaged.
The story is told from the perspective of Yen-Tzu-lu (mostly known as Lu),
October 15th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Justin Allen | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Janny Wurts has become a favorite of several of the reviewers here at Fantasy Literature, and much to our delight, her epic series, THE WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW (“TWoLaS”) is back in print this year in America and Canada! With its return to North America, one of the most important fantasy series currently underway is once again available to readers of epic high fantasy the world over.
One of the great strengths of Wurts’ writing is that it is not mere escapism. Fantasy Literature reviewer Stefan Raets notes that “rather than the standard cotton-candy fantasy tomes you find nowadays,
October 14th, 2009. Guest | Janny Wurts | Author Interviews | no comments |
Malinda Lo combines several highly creative ideas in her debut novel, Ash. We all know the tale of Cinderella, but it’s never been told quite like this. Cinderella (here called Aisling, Ash for short) falls for a young woman instead of the prince. And the fairy who helps Ash break free of her stepmother is no rosy-cheeked godmother, but a coldly beautiful fairy lord right out of the older, darker legends of the fey folk, and he demands a steep price for his aid.
October 14th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Malinda Lo | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
PLOT SUMMARY: The power of Imagination has been lost! Now it’s all about the artillery as AD52’s, crystal shooters, spikejack tumblers and orb cannons are unleashed in a war of weapons and brute force.
As Alyss searches wildly for the solution to the disaster that has engulfed her Queendom, Arch declares himself King of Wonderland. Meanwhile, deep within the Valley of Mushrooms, the Caterpillar Oracles issue this prophecy: “Action shall be taken to ensure the safety of the Heart Crystal. For Everqueen.” But who is Everqueen?
October 13th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4.5 | Frank Beddor | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
My Dead Body by Charlie Huston
PLOT SUMMARY: Nobody lives forever. Not even a Vampyre. Just ask Joe Pitt. After exposing the secret source of blood for half of Manhattan’s Vampyres, he’s definitely a dead man walking. He’s been a punching bag and a bullet magnet for every Vampyre Clan in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, not to mention a private eye, an enforcer, an exile, and a vigilante. But now he’s just a target with legs.
For a year he’s sloshed around the subway tunnels and sewers, tapping the veins of the lost,
October 13th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4.5 | Charlie Huston | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology by Gordon Van Gelder (ed.)
The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology is an excellent collection of 23 stories picked from the treasure trove of short fiction that’s been published in the eponymous magazine over the past 60 years. Editor Gordon Van Gelder — also the editor of the magazine since 1997 — has done an admirable job, picking stories that illustrate the diversity of both the genre and the magazine.
October 12th, 2009. Stefan Raets´s rating: 4.5 | Harlan Ellison, Jeffrey Ford, John Kessel, Michael Swanwick, Neil Gaiman, Peter S. Beagle, Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, Roger Zelazny, Stephen King, Ursula K. Le-Guin | Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
When I first opened Kin by Holly Black, I was surprised to find it was a graphic novel. Once I started reading, I was absorbed in the story of Rue Silver, a slightly punk college student who is facing an unexpected crisis in her life. Her mother has disappeared, and her father has been arrested for her murder, and the murder of one of his grad students. And to make matters worse, Rue has started seeing people — or more precisely things — that shouldn’t be able to exist.
October 9th, 2009. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 3.5 | Holly Black | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Imagine what would happen if P.G. Wodehouse and Jane Austen got together and wrote an urban fantasy novel. Gail Carriger did (that’s how she describes this novel) and the result is a delightfully amusing paranormal romance. Soulless is the story of Alexia Tarabotti, who has the social misfortune of being a spinster with a dead Italian father; not having a soul is just an additional burden to bear. Then she gets attacked by an ill-mannered vampire. That’s when Lord Maccon gets involved.
October 9th, 2009. Ruth Arnell and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Gail Carriger | 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.