Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: December 2009

Jailbait Zombie: An undead and unclever version of Get Shorty

Jailbait Zombie by Mario Acevedo

I confess I sometimes wonder about writing bad reviews (not reviews that are bad, but reviews of bad books). With so much out there, is it better to point people to the good stuff or warn them of the not-so-good? The feeling is exacerbated when the book is one by a popular author, let alone, as in this case, part of a popular series. Obviously somebody (a lot of somebodies) likes these books, so who am I to say they’re wrong? Or to warn people off who may have,

December 24th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 1.5 | Mario Acevedo | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Sanctuary: Keep your purse close and your dagger closer!

Sanctuary by Lynn Abbey

I’m a big fan of the original series, Thieves’ World, which ended over a decade ago. When I’d finished the last page of the last book of Thieves’ World, I’d experienced for the first time what I would come to judge all other books by: that bittersweet feeling of a triumphant conclusion to a great story mingled with slight sorrow at the parting with its characters.

So I started Sanctuary with apprehensions. One of them being that this book was written by a single author while Thieves’

December 22nd, 2009. Greg Hersom´s rating: 3.5 | Lynn Abbey | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

To Ride Hell’s Chasm: One heck of a ride!

To Ride Hell’s Chasm by Janny Wurts

At the start of To Ride Hell’s Chasm, an outstanding standalone fantasy by Janny Wurts, Princess Anja of the tiny isolated kingdom of Sessalie has gone missing on the eve of the ceremony for her betrothal to the Crown Prince of Devall. Since Anja is beloved by her people, and the alliance with Devall represents potentially big trade increases, it doesn’t take long for many people to be involved in the search, from Mykkael, a foreign-born former mercenary now in charge of the city’s garrison,

THE BRIDGE OF D’ARNATH: Carol Berg is a favorite

THE BRIDGE OF D’ARNATH by Carol Berg

Carol Berg has been one of my favorite authors for years now, ever since I picked up Son of Avonar, having been intrigued by both the title and the cover. She’s an author who can handle first person point of view with skill (no, it’s not easier, trust me), weaves some truly fascinating plots with excellent twists, and creates interesting worlds peopled by races that feel unique in a genre full of elves, dwarves, and the like. Though she has her occasional disappointments,

December 22nd, 2009. Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 5 | Carol Berg | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Morrigan’s Cross: Toss in a dozen fantasy clichés and stir for 352 pages

Morrigan’s Cross by Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts (aka J.D. Robb), as you probably know, is a prolific award-winning (and best-selling) author of romance novels. Not being a romance novel reader, I had never before read any of her work. But, when I found that I could freely download her fantasy trilogy (The Circle) from my public library’s website, I decided to give it a try.

First, let me say that authors don’t get to be award-winning best-sellers for writing poorly, so I’m perfectly willing to believe that Nora Roberts is an excellent romance writer and,

Santa a Vampire? You decide.

Dear Karen Chance: Thank you for agreeing to do an author interview at fantasy literature.com on January 5th. Normally, I start an interview asking about an author’s childhood, work habits and hobbies and the like. But during my research, I noticed that someone has written the most extraordinarily frank and well researched answers to these questions on your website at www.karenchance.com

For instance,
• Place you grew up? The land of make believe
• Work habits: Astonishingly lazy
• Morals: Prone to relationships with vampires (note: this may be more implied than stated)
• Hobbies: giving relationship advice to women.

December 21st, 2009. Stephen B. Frank | Giveaway! | 13 comments |

Palimpsest: Gorgeous

Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente

The first thing that strikes you about Palimpsest is the gorgeous prose. Every sentence is crafted with the utmost care, resulting in a novel that almost reads like poetry. It simply begs to be read out loud. I’ve read many books that attempt this kind of lush prose, but Palimpsest is one of the most successful and most beautiful.

Palimpsest is a sexually transmitted city. People who have been there have a small tattoo — a piece of the city’s map — somewhere on their body.

Skellig: Sad and joyful, poignant and funny

Skellig by David Almond

Michael is living in a stage of upheaval and transition in his life: his parents have just moved to a rather derelict house, his unnamed baby sister is drastically ill, and the house is often visited by ‘Doctor Death’, the doctor sent to check up on his sister. On top of this, he now has to bus for school; the previous occupant of the house was dead for a week before anyone found him, and the outside garden is a wilderness. The garage in particular is a nightmare — slumping over,

Warhost of Vastmark: Quickly becoming one of my favorites

Warhost of Vastmark by Janny Wurts

Warhost of Vastmark by Janny Wurts takes up directly where The Ships of Merior left off. The two books are definitely meant to be read back to back — together they comprise Arc 2 of the author’s THE WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW series, and some editions actually combine both of them in one cover.

It’s hard to give many details of the story without throwing in spoilers for The Ships of Merior,

December 20th, 2009. Stefan Raets and Greg Hersom´s rating: 5 | Janny Wurts | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Dragon and Phoenix: Slow To Begin, But Well Done Overall

Dragon and Phoenix by Joanne Bertin

Joanne Bertin’s Dragonlord plot has been rather weak overall. However, Dragon and Phoenix is a huge improvement on The Last DragonLord.

The Dragonlords are no longer the sole concern and in fact, they are hardly mentioned for a good deal of the novel. They’re much less overbearing this time around and while the whole “soultwin” bit is still silly, it isn’t quite as absurd as it was throughout The Last DragonLord.

December 20th, 2009. Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 4 | Joanne Bertin | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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