You could make an argument for establishing a new sub-genre called something like “assassin fantasy,” given the number of novels currently on the shelves with heroes in that grim and surprisingly popular profession. So when the cover of Shadow’s Son, Jon Sprunk‘s debut novel, shows a man wearing a hood and flashing a set of matching knives, it’s not hard to predict the main character’s occupation before even opening the book.
And yes, right in the opening scene,
June 7th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3 | Jon Sprunk | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Suburb Beyond the Stars by M.T. Anderson
As a reader, I find M.T. Anderson a bit all over the map. I tend to see his strongest work as aimed at the older crowd, while his children’s novels tend to leave me a bit cold. That was the case with The Game of Sunken Places, a children’s fantasy involving two boys playing a Game of high stakes involving trolls, ogres, etc. M.T. Anderson hadn’t done enough with the relatively “humdrum” concepts and his plotting and characters were a bit muddled.
June 7th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | M.T. Anderson | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Kid vs. Squid by Greg van Eekhout
Kid vs. Squid, by Greg van Eekhout, is definitely a children’s fantasy. It comes in at a slim sub-200 pages (with pretty good-sized print) and doesn’t take much time with detailed description, rich character development, or intricate plotting. That isn’t a complaint; it’s just to say that Kid vs. Squid knows who its audience is, and while it won’t dumb things down or talk down to its readers, it also won’t stretch them.
June 7th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Greg Van_Eekhout | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Oh, Marion, you say "but dark" as if it were a bad thing! 😂
Hammer Studios is... reborn? I only ever read the "Kane" stories, which I found good but dark. It's a little…
Oh...and the men used the name "The Great Northern Expedition" to throw people off as to their actual destination, even…
Oh, it IS, Marion! It is!
Sorry if I mislead you in this detail, Paul...the voyage by ship was only the first leg of the quintet's…