Armed and Magical by Lisa Shearin
Armed and Magical picks up almost right where Magic Lost, Trouble Found left off. It’s a week later and Raine is on the Isle of Mid with her cousin, Phaelan (“He was a pirate. Excuse me, a seafaring businessman.”), and the leader of the Conclave Guardians, Mychael (“an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, coated in yum”). Raine’s young friend Piaras is also there as a student. He is the most powerful young spellsinger to come along in decades.
June 9th, 2008. Tia Nevitt (guest)´s rating: 4 | Lisa Shearin | SFF Reviews | no comments |
To Catch a Mermaid by Suzanne Selfors
I don’t usually read children’s novels and I probably will demur in the future, except for young adult. I did my homework on To Catch a Mermaid and read a bunch of other reviews out there, and none of them are in the least bit negative.
The writing itself is great. It’s about a boy named Boom Broom who brings home a wild baby mermaid (actually more like a toddler) from a reject seafood bucket. The merbaby brings a curse that Boom must break in order to save his sister.
January 7th, 2008. Tia Nevitt (guest)´s rating: 2 | Suzanne Selfors | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin
Lisa Shearin is the Janet Evanovich of fantasy.
She writes with a fun, unpretentious style, and she has mastered writing with humor. In many ways, this is better than Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. Raine Benares is competent, whereas Stephanie bumbles her way through her adventures, surviving by luck and instinct rather than skill. That joke wears thin after a while. (At least on me — since there are thirteen Stephanie Plum books out, then she obviously still appeals to a lot of people.) Raine is the type of girl who rescues dudes in distress.
November 9th, 2007. Tia Nevitt (guest)´s rating: 5 | Lisa Shearin | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Wind Follower by Carole McDonnell
With Wind Follower, Carole McDonnell has written a literary fantasy that makes you feel like you are absolutely steeped in another culture. The prose is gorgeous and the characters three-dimensional, with both idealistic traits and glaring faults. Emotions are unsheathed and roil throughout the plot. It almost feels like a walk through a spirit world. Tempers flair and knifes flash at the most unexpected times.
At its heart is a very simple story, the story of a man and a woman who meet,
September 11th, 2007. Tia Nevitt (guest)´s rating: 4 | Carole McDonnell | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…
this sounds like a fun one