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Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: December 2009

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The Golem’s Eye: Good sequel, lacks a bit of the spark

The Golem’s Eye by Jonathan Stroud

The Golem’s Eye is a solidly enjoyable if slightly disappointing follow-up to The Amulet of Samarkand, which admittedly set itself a very high standard. The book returns to the same setting and characters first introduced in Samarkand, while expanding upon the first novel with a few new characters, one new setting (Prague) and a somewhat more complicated plot.

As in the first book, the major story involves a plot against the government which Nathaniel the young ambitious wizard must confront with his much more wise and experienced (and acidic) djinn,


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December 28th, 2009. ´s rating: | | | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

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The Amulet of Samarkand: Highly recommended children’s fantasy

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

As I’ve said in previous reviews, if you’re going to set your book in England and have as a main character a young boy learning the art of wizardry, you’ve guaranteed yourself a comparison to HARRY POTTER. With The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud can proudly say, “bring him on — wands at 15 paces!” With so much pallid fantasy out there, Amulet is a breath of fresh air,


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December 28th, 2009. ´s rating: | | | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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The Scepter of Mercy: Fantasy lite

THE SCEPTER OF MERCY by Dan Chernenko

Okay, this trilogy is fantasy lite. These books have really good covers, and the blurbs on the back read pretty good, but by the time I was halfway through the first one, I was feeling guilty, and it was the kind of guilt you have for skipping Masterpiece Theatre because you want to watch Desperate Housewives (that has not happened to me, but it was the best analogy I could come up with). I would note that the cover of The Scepter’s Return bears a striking similarity to Steven Erikson’s Deadhouse Gates’ cover.


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December 28th, 2009. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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Ysabel: GGK didn’t work out for me this time

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay

What can I say about this book? If I see a new Guy Gavriel Kay book on the shelf at the bookstore, I buy it. It didn’t work out this time, though, and the reason is that the way this story is told makes no sense to me as a reader, and I cannot fathom why Kay wrote this book from the perspective of a teenager.

The story is about a fifteen year-old boy from Canada who accompanies his father, a world-renowned photographer,


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December 28th, 2009. ´s rating: | | , | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

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New Blood: Did Not Finish

New Blood by Gail Dayton

The blood sorcerers have been exterminated; The last one was killed almost two centuries ago. Her magical servant has spent the intervening years looking for a successor, and finally finds her — a young woman wounded by the world around her — and now has the unlucky task of trying to convince her to take up the forbidden power. As they struggle to make sense of the crumbling world around them, they are forced to draw closer together, and they may find the most magical thing of all: love.


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December 27th, 2009. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

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The Oath of Empire: A brilliant idea

THE OATH OF EMPIRE by Thomas Harlan

The Oath of Empire is a series of four books, namely The Shadow of Ararat, The Gate of Fire, The Storm of Heaven, and The Dark Lord, which is at once a fantasy and an alternate history of the Western and Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empires, and which is set in the early 7th Century. The alternate history part pre-supposes that Christianity never gained much of a foothold in the Empire, and Constantine was only a rebel, never Emperor,


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December 27th, 2009. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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Slaves of the Shinar: A good historical fiction

Slaves of the Shinar by Justin Allen

This is the debut novel for Justin Allen, and its whole title is Slaves of the Shinar: An Epic Fantasy of the Ancient World. The title is misleading, because I am of the solid opinion that this book is not fantasy, but is rather historical fiction, and pretty good historical fiction at that. Perhaps it is classed as fantasy by the publisher because of the creative manner in which Allen sets his story in very early (I assume pre-Hammurabi) Mesopotamia,


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December 27th, 2009. ´s rating: | | | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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Best Served Cold: Comes with a price

Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

Joe Abercrombie is the new master of dark, gritty, realistic fantasy, and Best Served Cold might well be the masterpiece that represents that subgenre. Monza Murcatto is a renowned and very successful mercenary … or was until she was stabbed, beaten, and thrown from a mountainside by her employer. Monza wants revenge, so she contracts a party of unsavory characters to aid her. Monza’s story goes from dark to black to “a wet match in the bottom of a dark cave” — everyone suffers,


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December 24th, 2009. , , and ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | 15 comments |

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War for the Oaks: Rockin’ in the Sidhe World

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

Anyone who likes urban fantasy should go “back to basics” and pick up this defining classic of the subgenre. I’ve read several books that borrow zillions of plot elements from War for the Oaks, but never reach the same sort of exhilarating heights. Yeah, yeah, we all know the story: young woman wanders the city at night and meets a mysterious stranger, so on, so forth. Now sit back and see it done right!

Eddi McCandry has just quit her boyfriend’s abysmal band,


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December 24th, 2009. ´s rating: | | | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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