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Month: January 2010

The Cuckoo Tree: A deeper, more scary adventure than usual

The Cuckoo Tree by Joan Aiken

After her light-hearted adventures on the island of Nantucket in the previous installment in Joan Aiken’s Wolves Saga, Dido Twite comes up against darker enemies once she reaches English soil once more. At the end of the last book, Dido left Nantucket with Captain Hughes, who since then has become rather ill. When the carriage they’re riding in overtips thanks to a dodgy cabby-driver, Dido goes for help and soon finds herself in the company of more weird and wonderful acquaintances — so many in fact,

Watership Down: So much more than bunnies

Watership Down by Richard Adams

The other reviewers mocked me when I said I was going to review Watership Down. ‘I hope you like rabbits!’, they sniggered. Well, Watership Down does have rabbits as the main characters, but it is so much more than a story about bunnies. That would be like saying The Hobbit was about hobbits. Both stories encompasses so many greater themes — adventure, friendship and loyalty, courage in the face of adversity, leadership, the value of home and security,

Touch of Evil: Interesting but uneven

Touch of Evil by C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp

Touch of Evil (2006) is a mixed bag. There were aspects of it that I liked a great deal, and aspects that didn’t work for me.

First, the good: C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp’s vampires and werewolves are different from the usual fare. The vampires in Touch of Evil are victims of a parasite and ruled by a hive mind; the werewolves are matriarchal and not tied to the lunar cycle.

January 2nd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2.5 | C.T. (Cat) Adams | SFF Reviews | no comments |

FanLit’s Favorite Books of 2009

It’s quite a bit longer this year because we added a few new reviewers. Mostly we did not read the same books, but special mention goes to the first 10 novels which were highly recommended by more than one of us. Hover over the cover to see who recommends each book.

Children / Young Adult

Anthologies

January 1st, 2010. FanLit | Best of the Year | 2 comments |

Leviathan: A wonderful mix of the utterly original and the familiar

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan is the beginning of a new steampunk YA series by Scott Westerfeld, author of other well-known (and highly recommended) YA series such as Uglies and Midnighters, along with one of my favorite non-YA science fiction works of recent memory, The Risen Empire (even more highly recommended). As is usual with good YA, don’t let the label turn you away; Westerfeld knows how to write for a younger audience without dumbing things down and without excluding older readers.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow: Not too deep

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow is an ultimately frustrating retelling of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” a Norse fairytale about a girl (who is never referred to by name) and an enchanted white bear. It just happens to be one of my favorite fairy tales. Jessica Day George stays very true to the original story, while judiciously adding details to fill out the sparseness of the tale. She gives us a reason that the girl in the story has no name,

Under in the Mere: Inaccessible, maddening, rewarding

Under in the Mere by Catherynne Valente

Catherynne Valente’s novella Under in the Mere is about as inaccessible a book as I’ve read in some time. That doesn’t mean I’m not recommending it, but it’s fair warning to any who attempt it. Under in the Mere is a poetic, surrealistic “retelling” of several Arthurian tales (a mix of the better and lesser known ones), although “retelling” is really far too pedestrian and prosaic a term for Valente’s dense, imagistic and poetic language here,

Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
Bill Capossere on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
We’re in total agreement David!
David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.
Sandy Ferber on The Druid Stone: Ugony and the EcstasyJune 30, 2025
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔

Month: January 2010

The Cuckoo Tree: A deeper, more scary adventure than usual

Watership Down: So much more than bunnies

Touch of Evil: Interesting but uneven

FanLit’s Favorite Books of 2009

Leviathan: A wonderful mix of the utterly original and the familiar

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow: Not too deep

Under in the Mere: Inaccessible, maddening, rewarding

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