Stealing Death by Janet Lee Carey
Stealing Death by Janet Lee Carey is a book I really wanted to like. It has an unusual YA setting — a desert land of red sandstone and small villages; a great premise — a young boy (Kipp) who steals the sack Death uses to collect souls so no more have to die; an exciting, emotional beginning with all but one of Kipp’s family killed in a fire; and a pattern of inserting small folktales into the larger narrative.
November 11th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Janet Lee Carey | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
That the twelfth book in a series is entitled The “Gathering” Storm probably points to a fundamental problem with the series. I mean, we’re eleven books (long, long books by the way) down and the storm is only just “gathering”? And anyone who has stuck with The Wheel of Time thus far (which I’m assuming is pretty much everyone reading this because otherwise why the heck are you reading this?), knows that pacing has been a big problem in Robert Jordan’s work,
October 27th, 2009. Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan | Audio | SFF Reviews | 12 comments |
Editor’s note: This book is tilted The Rats and the Ruling Sea in some markets (UK) and The Ruling Sea in others (US).
The Rats and the Ruling Sea by Robert V.S. Redick
PLOT SUMMARY: The great ship Chathrand, supposedly launched to bring an end to centuries of war, has all along been a tool of evil men. And behind them all stands Arunis, a 3000-year-old sorcerer bent on scouring life from the world of Alifros.
Now this enchanted,
October 19th, 2009. Robert Thompson and Bill Capossere | Robert V.S. Redick | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Year of the Horse by Justin Allen
Justin Allen’s Year of the Horse is one of the more original fantasy amalgamations I’ve come across — a mix of fantasy, historical western, and coming-of-age boys’ adventure tale peppered with some Devil and Daniel Webster / Washington Irving / Mark Twain / Zane Grey, and topped off by a heaping of multi-culturalism. Does it all work? Not in all places, but certainly often enough to keep the reader enjoyably engaged.
The story is told from the perspective of Yen-Tzu-lu (mostly known as Lu),
October 15th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Justin Allen | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Canticle, the follow-up to Ken Scholes’ Lamentation, shares some of the same flaws and strengths as the first novel, including a rough start, but like its predecessor overcomes its flaws to turn into an engrossing, if not action-packed, novel.
Canticle picks up a few months after the events of Lamentation. It’s Scholes’ concerted effort to recap those events that makes the opening somewhat flawed,
October 5th, 2009. Bill Capossere and Robert Thompson´s rating: 4, 4.5 | Ken Scholes | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Fire follows Kristin Cashore’s debut novel Graceling, which garnered quite a lot of praise from reviewers, including this one. A coming-of-age tale set in the Seven Kingdoms, where some are born with a particular “grace” or talent, Graceling focused on Katsa, whose grace seemingly is death. Many readers loved Katsa’s fiercely strong and independent character, as well her compatriots Po and Princess Bitterblue; loved to hate the creepy villain;
October 1st, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Kristin Cashore | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Mermaid’s Madness by Jim C. Hines
In The Stepsister Scheme, Jim Hines introduced us, or rather, re-introduced us, to three of the best-known fairy-tale characters: Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty, known respectively in the book as Snow, Danielle, and Talia. When Talia used her deadly fighting skills to save Danielle from a murderous attack by one of Danielle’s step-sisters, then joins with Danielle (wielding a glass sword) and Snow White (wielding mirror magic learned at her evil stepmother’s hands) to rescue Danielle’s kidnapped husband, Prince Armand,
September 29th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Jim C. Hines | SFF Reviews | no comments |
CLASSIFICATION: Set in an alternate history Seattle, sometime around the year 1880, Boneshaker is a steampunk-flavored adventure that incorporates elements of zombie horror, pulp fiction and post-apocalyptic retrofuturism. Think The Wild Wild West meets Fallout (a videogame series) meets George Romero…
FORMAT/INFO: Page count is 416 pages divided over 28 numbered chapters, an Epilogue, and an excerpt from Unlikely Episodes in Western History which serves as the prologue. The book also includes a map and an Author’s Note regarding the historical and geographical liberties taken in the novel.
September 25th, 2009. Robert Thompson, Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Cherie Priest | SFF Reviews | no comments |
City of Fire is the opening book in a new YA fantasy trilogy by Laurence Yep, set in an alternate version of 1941 where humans and magical creatures (trolls, lap griffins, shapeshifters, dragons, etc.) freely intermingle and society employs a mix of magic and technology. The novel opens in San Francisco with a tense and mysterious pov, as the assassin narrator Bayang observes her target — a young boy named Leech who somehow poses a threat to Bayang’s “people” and who has yet to come into his “true power.” The scene then shifts to another pov,
September 23rd, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Laurence Yep | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Midnight Charter by David Whitley
The Midnight Charter by David Whitley is an intriguing YA book with some deep ideas behind it, though it doesn’t quite meet its potential in terms of the story itself. The book is set in the city of Agora, a walled-off dystopia whose workings revolve around a barter-for-everything system: Food, art, labor, even emotions, are commodities of trade. The system has stood for some time, but as the story opens, the needed disruption (otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a story) is about to occur.
September 16th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | David Whitley | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
so you're saying I should read it? :)
As a native New Yorker, I love the idea of the city being filled with canals and no skyscrapers! And…
How did I miss this? Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
I guess that is true, Marion. And when it comes to "You Only Live Twice," I saw the movie TWICE…
You managed to work in your two loves; vintage fiction and films!