In an opening letter concerning Caragh O’Brien’s new book Birthmarked, her editor says that she could describe the book as a “Hollywood-style pitch (The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games)” but chooses to avoid the lazy and instead describes how the main character, in the book’s first chapter, must deliver a baby solo (not hers) and then, against the wishes of the mother, take it away and deliver it (literally this time) to a group called The Enclave.
April 30th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Caragh O'Brien | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
Ten years. A long time to go without rain, but the citizens in Sydelle’s small country town are used to it by now. Until one ordinary day when Wayland North wanders into the sleepy community and brings rain with him.
Sydelle is drawn to the self-proclaimed wizard and when her town is raided the night after North’s arrival, she soon finds herself the wizard’s unwilling “assistant” and suddenly on the adventure of a lifetime. Even though Sydelle longed to leave her village, she questions why North,
April 30th, 2010. Guest´s rating: 3 | Alexandra Bracken | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Fall of Light by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
(Note: Fall of Light is a “sideways sequel” to A Fistful of Sky. It refers back to some of the things that happened in A Fistful of Sky, but you could read Fall of Light on its own without any problem.)
Opal LaZelle (sister to Gypsum LaZelle of A Fistful of Sky) is a Hollywood makeup artist who specializes in making monsters for horror movies.
April 30th, 2010. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 2.5 | Nina Kiriki Hoffman | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Choice of the Cat by E.E. Knight
David Valentine returns home for a break in Choice of the Cat, but his rest is short-lived, as he quickly becomes the victim of military bureaucracy and is given a special assignment: he is to partner with a special agent who goes by the code name Smoke. Smoke, a small, attractive female killer with mild psychotic tendencies, is a specialized soldier called a Cat. While we learned a little about Cats in Way of the Wolf,
April 30th, 2010. Justin Blazier´s rating: 4 | E.E. Knight | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
I’ve started listening to books on my commute. I spend an hour each day in my car, and since apparently I am turning into a cranky old woman who complains about kids and their crazy music, I have lost patience with the radio. Luckily for me, my library has an impressive collection of books on CD so I can find something new to listen to every week.
As I’ve dipped my toe into this new medium for enjoying fantasy, I’ve discovered that just like there are good authors, there are also good readers. Jim Dale is amazing.
April 29th, 2010. Ruth Arnell | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 31 comments |
Fever Crumb is a prequel of sorts to Philip Reeve’s fantastic HUNGRY CITY CHRONICLES, which started with Mortal Engines. I say “of sorts” in that it’s set in the prehistory of the HUNGRY CITY CHRONICLES world, but far back enough in time that Fever Crumb doesn’t act as a direct lead-in to the larger series: instead of giving us more of the same characters, it sets up the major concepts and incipient events of the series.
April 29th, 2010. Bill Capossere and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Philip Reeve | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Well, here is my very first World Wide Wednesday as a 30 year old, so let’s get straight to it in a very grown-up and efficient manner!
1) Arthur C. Clarke Analysis
The Arthur C Clarke award has been mentioned a couple of times on previous WWW — today is the day that the award winner is revealed in a glittering ceremony (to which your humble scribe has been invited!) There have been a couple of posts detailing which of the shortlist should be the winner of the Arthur C Clarke award.
April 28th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest) | World Wide Wednesday | 3 comments |
In Terrier Tamora Pierce tells the story of Rebekah “Beka” Cooper, an ancestor of George Cooper who was the City’s Rogue in the time of Alanna (a setting and characters familiar to readers of her other novels). Beka is starting her first year as a trainee Dog, known as a Puppy (these are nicknames for the Provost’s Guard — the force that keeps peace in the city of Corus). She is assigned to the Dog team of Tunstall and Goodwin, two of the best Dogs in the Evening Watch — and two who have never before taken a Puppy.
April 28th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 4.5 | Tamora Pierce | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
In case you haven’t noticed, we’re fans of Guy Gavriel Kay, and Rob and Stefan recently reported that Mr. Kay’s newest novel, Under Heaven, which releases today, is definitely up to par. (Comment below for your chance to win a copy.) While striving to suppress his enthusiasm about speaking with his favorite fantasy author, Rob was recently able to chat coherently with GGK about his newest work
Robert Rhodes: As with your previous books, I greatly enjoyed and admired Under Heaven.
April 27th, 2010. Rob Rhodes | Guy Gavriel Kay | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 37 comments |
It’s a hot and humid Georgia summer, and 10 year old Beau Jackson and his family have made their annual journey to the summer retreat of Gull Island. (Gull Island is not really an island, it’s a peninsula, but like the name of Gull Island, not everything is like it seems.) Beau’s family stays in the old home still occupied by his grandmother and they’re joined by his aunt and his odd cousin Sumter. The Jacksons seem like a typical albeit somewhat dysfunctional Southern American family, but that doesn’t take long to change.
April 27th, 2010. Justin Blazier´s rating: 4 | Douglas Clegg | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…