On the surface, Blood Engines seems like any number of urban fantasy novels out there. Strong leading heroine? Check. Contemporary backdrop? Check. Supernatural action, sex, and sarcastic humor? Check, check, check.
Yet, Blood Engines has more going for it than you might think. For instance, in most of the urban fantasy series that I’ve read, the opening volume usually spends a lot of time on set-up and ends up leaving the reader with more questions than answers.
June 24th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Tim (T.A.) Pratt | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow
Lilith Saintcrow is the perfect name for an author of urban fantasy.
Like most of the novels that I’ve read that are classified as urban fantasy, supernatural thriller or paranormal romance, Night Shift has its good and bad qualities. What I like about the book was its darker vibe, the emphasis on action instead of romance or comedy, the intense pacing, Jill Kismet’s noir-esque narrative voice, and Lilith Saintcrow’s piercing prose:
The arkeus took shape, rising like a fume from dry-scorched pavement,
June 22nd, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 3 | Lilith Saintcrow | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Year of Our War by Steph Swainston
I’m always drawn to material that is described as “fresh,” “original” or “inventive.” So when I was introduced to Steph Swainston and her highly praised fantasy series, I was eager to delve into this fascinating new world starting with Ms. Swainston’s debut The Year of Our War. Unluckily for me, it wasn’t quite what I expected.
Set in The Fourlands, The Year of Our War focuses on three races (humans, winged yet flightless Awians,
June 15th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 2 | Steph Swainston | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett
Havemercy was not the novel that I was expecting. After all, it’s a fantasy debut written by twenty-year-olds, one of whom is a huge Harry Potter fan, with a picture of a dragon on the cover… Let’s just say I made assumptions and was quite delighted to find that Havemercy had much more in common with Sarah Monette — who I feel is one of the most original authors in the genre today — instead of say,
June 13th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Jaida Jones | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Gears of the City by Felix Gilman
Despite a somewhat slow and haphazard beginning, I thought Felix Gilman’s Thunderer was one of the best debuts I read in 2007 and couldn’t wait to get my hands on the sequel. Alas, Gears of the City was a bit disappointing in comparison, but still a very good book.
I think the biggest issue I had with the book were the characters. Simply put, I just didn’t care about any of them,
June 11th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 3.5 | Felix Gilman | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Whitechapel Gods by S.M. Peters
S.M. Peters’ Whitechapel Gods is a debut novel that I would have passed over if not for its eye-catching cover by artist Cliff Nielsen. Like Stephen Hunt’s The Court of the Air and Jonathan Barnes’ The Somnambulist, Whitechapel Gods takes place in a fantastical Victorian setting. In this case, the backdrop is 19th century London, specifically the district of Whitechapel — that is,
June 2nd, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | S.M. Peters | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
British author John Meaney is primarily known as a writer of hard science fiction. In his latest offering however, he changes tack a bit and delivers a novel in Bone Song that is described as blending “gritty futuristic noir with gothic fantasy.” A fairly accurate description, although personally I would categorize the book as urban fantasy because the backdrop is definitely present day, the main character is a police lieutenant, and the story is driven by a murder investigation that features plenty of familiar police procedural elements and subplots like a romance,
May 29th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 3.5 | John Meaney | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Map of Moments by Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon
Mind the Gap, the first collaboration between award-winning and bestselling authors Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon, was a solid offering, marred by a slow start and conventional plotting, but ended on a very strong note. Their second collaboration follows a somewhat similar path — slow beginning, powerful ending — but with some key differences.
Firstly, the setting for The Map of Moments is much more interesting than it was in Mind the Gap.
May 29th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Christopher Golden, Tim Lebbon | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Reaper’s Gale by Steven Erikson
In modern fantasy literature, there are certain select works that define the genre such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire, the Shannara novels by Terry Brooks, and Stephen Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant Chronicles among others.
May 26th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 5 | Steven Erikson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In my opinion, Jay Lake’s Mainspring was a novel full of great potential that was hindered by inconsistent writing and execution. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and was looking forward to reading the sequel. Happily, everything that worked so well in the first book has been retained in Escapement, while most of the problems were corrected, resulting in a greatly improved sequel that is everything Mainspring could have been and much more.
I had several issues with Mainspring — notably the description of Jay’s clockwork universe,
May 21st, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4.5 | Jay Lake | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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