Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Bill Capossere

Warbreaker: Sequel, please!

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

I just finished Warbreaker, and the words that keep coming to mind are “That was so good!” This is the first Brandon Sanderson novel I’ve read, and it certainly won’t be the last. Warbreaker combines highly original world-building with an exciting plot that kept me on the edge of my seat.

The novel begins with the introduction of two major characters: Vivenna and Siri, princesses of the tiny kingdom of Idris. You may think you’ve seen these archetypes before — the stiff,

In the Night Garden: Delicious and clever (but not for Kevin)

The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente

In the Night Garden is the first in a two-book (maybe more?) series and if book one is any guide, this is as delicious and clever a tale-telling as one is likely to run into for some time. With an Arabian Nights feel and structure, we’re introduced to one engrossing story after another as the demon-girl of the garden (that’s the Sultan’s garden of course) spins them out to the enraptured young prince who disobeys orders and decorum to listen.

April 16th, 2009. Bill Capossere, Rebecca Fisher, Marion Deeds, Kat Hooper and Kevin Wei´s rating: 5 | Catherynne M. Valente | SFF Reviews | 9 comments |

Nights of Villjamur: I liked what Newton was going for

Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton

Nights of Villjamur by Mark Newton is the first in a series entitled Legends of the Red Sun. The setting is the Boreal Archipelago, though the vast majority of the action takes place in the capital of the Jamur Empire — the eponymous city of Villjamur. The empire is built on its military and the remnants of ancient technology scavenged, studied, and used or modified (not always as the original technology was intended) by a group of Cultists (who are subdivided into sects).

April 8th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Mark Charan Newton | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Lamentation: A rich story, beautifully told

Lamentation by Ken Scholes

Lamentation is a promising start to a new fantasy (or at least semi-fantasy) series, which is a bit ironic as its own start is a bit bumpy. The story begins with a bang — literally. We’re witness to the utter destruction of an entire city — screams, flames, toppling buildings, searing winds, etc. Many novels would end with the scene, but Ken Scholes chooses to make it the starting point of the plot, an original beginning which I liked a lot.

Unfortunately,

April 7th, 2009. Bill Capossere and Terry Weyna´s rating: 4, 4.5 | Ken Scholes | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Shadowmancer: Almost unreadable

Shadowmancer by G.P. Taylor

I didn’t finish Shadowmancer, finally giving up about three-quarters of the way through after oh-so-painfully forcing my way through to that point.

The reasons for not finishing are pretty basic. The characters are mere shadows (no pun intended) of real people, offered up in mostly two-dimensional form with the occasional attempt at depth through clumsy and often lengthy interior exposition. Motivations are either never explored or shift with blinding speed. The plot is a pretty helpless muddle, filled with inconsistencies, gaps,

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo: Both flaws and great moments

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye

Leven Thumps has some major problems. Its main character, Leven, is too shallowly drawn and far too passive throughout the novel — more acted upon than acting. The book is overlong by about 50-70 pages with some repetitive parts. Its villain isn’t sharply drawn enough and not quite villainous enough. There seems to be a disappointing pattern of equating moderate mundane villainy with being overweight or homely. And far too often Skye tells the reader what is happening rather than showing it.

The Steel Remains: Dark, gritty, obscene

The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan

The Steel Remains, by Richard Morgan, is a dark, gritty, and in some places obscene fantasy that will not be to everyone’s liking. So let’s get the surface material out of the way — if you don’t like your books laced with a heaping amount of f-bombs, graphic sex (hetero and homosexual), and graphic violence, The Steel Remains is not for you. In the slightest. Run. Run as far as you can. And if you can live with the swearing,

January 19th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Richard K. Morgan | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Stepsister Scheme: Nicely sidesteps all the pitfalls

The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines

I’m always a bit wary of books that take fairy tales as source materials. Too often, I’ve found, they fall into a few typical traps. One is they become enslaved by the structure of one cute explanation/cute twist per each plot point of the original fairy tale, so that the twists themselves become predictable: beat one, two, twist, beat one, two, twist. Another is they become so enamored in the humor aspect of their humorous retelling that they lose sight of the telling aspect — so the plot is unoriginal and dull.

January 2nd, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Jim C. Hines | SFF Reviews | no comments |

A Shadow in Summer: A book worth re-reading

A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham

The Cities of the Khaiem shine like jewels in the East, and the brightest is the port of Saraykeht. The realm’s profitable cotton trade flows through the city, quickened by the artistry of the poet Heshai. For in the East, a poet’s art can become incarnate as a powerful spirit-slave (andat), and it is on the shoulders of Heshai, master of the andat Seedless, that the weight of Saraykeht’s continuing prosperity balances… a weight outsiders would gladly topple.

In these delicate times, first-time novelist Daniel Abraham chronicles the poignant choices of a handful of characters seldom seen in the “fantasy”

Lord of the Silent Kingdom: Hugely complex

Lord of the Silent Kingdom by Glen Cook

In my review of Glen Cook’s first book in the Instrumentalities of the Night series, I bemoaned the lack of a map. Somehow, my opinion managed to go unheard and/or unheeded and so I’ll start again by asking if it would be too much to include a map in a book that jumps among a slew of kingdoms, countries, islands, and petty territories.

As a long-time fan of “epic” fantasy, I consider myself pretty well-versed in how to handle sweeping geography,

November 14th, 2008. Bill Capossere, John Hulet and Robert Thompson´s rating: 3, 4 | Glen Cook | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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