The Price of Spring by Daniel Abraham
I’ve been a big fan of Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet and The Price of Spring, its concluding volume, confirms my view that it is one of the more original and best-written fantasy epics in recent years.
If you haven’t read the third volume, An Autumn War, stop reading here as you’ll run into spoilers for that book.
As has been the pattern in the series, the story picks up years after the events of An Autumn War.
July 21st, 2009. Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Daniel Abraham | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
A Darkness Forged in Fire by Chris Evans
“Mountains shouldn’t scream, but this one did.” Those words start the first volume in The Iron Elves series by Chris Evans, a first time author. A Darkness Forged in Fire is one of the best new fantasies that I’ve read in a long time. Evans has a visceral writing style that makes the world come alive, interesting takes on standard fantasy races such as elves and dwarves, and one of the most terrifying landscapes I can remember.
July 9th, 2009. Ruth Arnell and Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5, 5 | Chris Evans | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Suzanne Collins has already proven her talent for storytelling with her recently completed Gregor the Underlander series. In that series, she showed she was able to create strong characters, move plot along quickly, deftly control the rise and fall in tension, and create moving scenes. While there were some weak sections in the series (sometimes the pace moved too quickly, settings often could have been more detailed, and a few characters could have been more richly drawn), by the end she had crafted one of the best YA series to hit the shelves the past few years — a thoughtful,
July 9th, 2009. Bill Capossere, Kelly Lasiter, John Hulet, Terry Weyna and Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Suzanne Collins | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Lev Grossman’s The Magicians attempts to take the unreal world of fantasy — magic, spellcasting, other worlds, fabulous beasts — and tie it much more tightly to the real world than is usually done. And (I think) the attempt as well is to tell a “realistic” novel which takes as its premise that magic exists and is being used (not quite the same thing as the first). I’d say he only partially succeeds, though he does so often enough that the book makes a worthy,
July 7th, 2009. Bill Capossere, Stefan Raets, Ryan Skardal, Kelly Lasiter and Terry Weyna | Lev Grossman | Audio | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
MythAdventures by Robert Asprin
Robert Asprin’s series of Myth books follows the buddy adventures of Skeeve, a young apprentice magician whose teacher is killed in the first few pages of book one (Another Fine Myth) and Aahz, a demon (anyone from a non-native dimension) who takes Skeeve under his wing. The two get in and out of one scrape after another over the course of many books as their relationship deepens and grows more equal, and they pick up a crew of friends along the way,
July 4th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Robert Asprin | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Hunter’s Run by George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, Daniel Abraham
Hunter’s Run is somewhat interesting in that it’s a collaboration novel that you can’t really tell is a collaboration and a science-fiction novel that relies surprisingly little on science fiction. And these are by no means complaints. The collaboration’s seamlessness speaks to the craft and professionalism of the three writers while the lack of reliance on science fiction allows for a fine mix of quick-paced adventure and character introspection.
Don’t get me wrong — the science fiction elements are essential to the plot: space-faring races,
July 2nd, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Daniel Abraham, Gardner Dozois, George R.R. Martin | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander
In many ways, this fourth book in Lloyd Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain is the odd one out. It is the only story that does not pit our characters against the forces of supernatural evil (well, except in one small instance). It is the only installment in which Princess Elionwy is completely absent. It is the only story that has no clear destination in its quest narrative. Even the title is a little different, lacking the usual “The” before the noun.
June 26th, 2009. Rebecca Fisher and Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Lloyd Alexander | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander
Lloyd Alexander’s five-part The Chronicles of Prydain is essential reading for anyone, regardless of age, gender or reading preferences. Although they are classed as both fantasy and children’s literature, these books can be enjoyed by everyone, not just for its fantastical elements and the broad good vs. evil conflict, but for their gentle humour, loveable characters and vindication of humanity over, not just fantasy-evil, but the more base qualities of greed, ignorance, spite and pride. At their core, the books are a coming-of-age story for our protagonist Taran,
June 26th, 2009. Rebecca Fisher and Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Lloyd Alexander | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Bauchelain and Korbal Broach by Steven Erikson
Bauchelain and Korbal Broach collects three of Steven Erikson’s novellas set in the Malazan Empire series, certainly one of the most ambitious, and I’d say one of the best, epic fantasies going. The collection, which includes Blood Follows, The Lees at Laughter’s End, and The Healthy Dead, follows the exploits of its eponymous main characters, a pair of joyfully destructive necromancers we first met in book three of the larger series,
June 17th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Steven Erikson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V.S. Redick
In The Red Wolf Conspiracy, Robert V.S. Redick manages to overcome several flaws and some conventional character types to create a mostly compelling and complex novel that leaves the reader eager to continue on to the next installment.
The plot is far too complex to go into any detail here, but the major set-up is this: two great Empires, Arqual and Mzrith, are in a period of uneasy peace after having fought several wars,
June 15th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Robert V.S. Redick | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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Interesting! I have to say I had a "Jim and Huck underwater" moment, reading your synopsis.