Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: January 2010

Thoughtful Thursday: Heard it from a friend who…

First off, how awesome would it be to title all of my Thoughtful Thursday posts with lines out of classic 80’s songs?

Secondly, thanks for all the well-wishes. I have a drug resistant form of strep so it’s been a tough week and a half. I’m finally starting to see some improvement. Hopefully, by this time next week I’ll be back to my (ab)normal self.

Third, on to today’s topic for discussion!

One of the benefits of the internet is it allows you to tap the minds of lots of people to make decisions.

January 28th, 2010. Ruth Arnell | Thoughtful Thursday | 15 comments |

Hallowed Circle: Passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors

Hallowed Circle by Linda Robertson

Linda Robertson’s first novel, Vicious Circle, was a fun read, and its sequel, Hallowed Circle, is even better. In this second installment, Robertson spins a highly original plot (if this has been done in urban fantasy before, it was in a book I missed!), further develops her characters and the relationships among them, and as an added bonus, passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors.

Persephone Alcmedi is still reeling from the discovery that she is the Lustrata,

January 27th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Linda Robertson | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

The Tales of Beedle the Bard: Rewarding addition to the Potter-Verse

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

During almost the entire length of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Hermione Granger carried with her an old book titled The Tales of Beedle the Bard that was bequeathed to her by Professor Dumbledore in his will. It was not until much later that the full significance of the book, (particularly the final story) became clear in helping Harry achieve his quest of defeating Lord Voldemort.

There have been little allusions to “wizard fairytales”

The Alleluia Files: Beautifully written, emotionally compelling

The Alleluia Files by Sharon Shinn

Set one hundred years after Jovah’s Angel, rumors are abounding that Alleluia had discovered the truth about the god Jovah — that he is actually a large spaceship orbiting the planet. While these ideas are declared heretical, a small cult has sprung up around finding the files Alleluia is said to have left behind. The Jacobites are declared criminals, and the Archangel Bael brutally suppresses their existence. But there are enough people believing the rumors that Bael can’t stop them all,

January 27th, 2010. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 4.5 | Sharon Shinn | SFF Reviews | no comments |

A Time of Omens: Treading water

A Time of Omens by Katharine Kerr

A Time of Omens, the second book of the second Deverry quartet, is no more than a competent entry. Despite the easy reading, it took me days to get through and I really struggled at times to muster much interest in the doings of Rhodry.

Rhodry spends a number of years wandering in the Westlands, integrating himself into the lives of the Elcyion Lacar. Jill has gone seeking the remnant of the Elven race that fled south when the Hordes destroyed their homelands.

January 27th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 2.5 | Katharine Kerr | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Tempest Rising: Funny chick-lit urban fantasy

Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler

Jane True has always been an oddity in Rockabill, Maine, what with her scandalous (and missing) mother, her secret habit of swimming at night near the dangerous whirlpool called the Old Sow, and most of all, the tragic death of her childhood sweetheart in a drowning accident. Though some of Rockabill’s residents blame Jane for the tragedy, she has stayed in town to care for her ailing father. She works in a bookstore. It’s not an exciting life, but it’s the only life Jane knows.

Everything changes when,

January 27th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Nicole Peeler | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

A chat with Caitlin Kittredge

Please welcome today, Caitlin Kittredge. Caitlin is the author of two popular urban fantasy series: BLACK LONDON and NOCTURNE CITY and the co-author with Jackie Kessler of the ICARUS PROJECT. She will be stopping by throughout the day to respond to fan questions and comments and to give away a copy of Street Magic and Demon Bound. So, please make sure to thank her for stopping by and let her know which novel you prefer to receive.

SB Frank: Caitlin,

January 26th, 2010. Stephen B. Frank | Caitlin Kittredge | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 42 comments |

Elphame’s Choice: Rough (and Elphame’s supposed to have brown skin)

Elphame’s Choice by P.C. Cast

I think I’m just not meant to read P.C. Cast. Maybe I’m just anal-retentive; maybe I just have too much trouble shutting off the “mythology geek” section of my brain. I crack open a Cast novel, and instead of sinking into the story, I find myself thinking, “Celtic mythology doesn’t have centaurs,” or “Apollo would make a lousy Prince Charming,” or in this case, “Elphame’s a place name, darn it, not a character name! It means fairyland.” Elphame’s Choice is so called because its heroine is named Elphame,

January 26th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | P.C. Cast | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

20 Heroes: Remy

This the second installment in our Heroes series, written by our own Robert Rhodes. The art is courtesy of Yoni Danziger.

It is not the first night he has waited on a rain-slick roof in the Lily Quarter, his chest braced on the knobby spine of a gargoyle, between whose curving horns he watches another mansion’s diamond-paned windows. It is cheap entertainment — after days when his long fingers have lightened purses or pockets, or evenings when the theaters offer nothing he does not know by rote — to espy Cassant’s lords in their paneled studies,

January 25th, 2010. Rob Rhodes | 20 Heroes | 5 comments |

The Poison Eaters and Other Stories: Dark, gorgeous, emotional

The Poison Eaters and Other Stories by Holly Black

The first collection of short stories by author Holly Black, The Poison Eaters and Other Stories is dark, gorgeous, and emotionally compelling. Ranging from longer stories to short little character sketches, Black has created a handful of settings and characters that will live on in memory long after you close this slim volume. Holly Black manages to evoke an incredibly detailed world with a spare prose that conveys the static crackle of a remote video feed,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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