Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Bill Capossere

Charlie Bone and the Time Twister: Lots of flaws

Charlie Bone and the Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo

The first Charlie Bone book had lots of basic flaws in it: lack of story or character development, a sense of arbitrariness, an overly familiar feel to it, etc., but the premise was just interesting enough, and the characters’ magical “endowments” just quirky enough that one hoped Jenny Nimmo could improve in book two and start putting together a worthwhile series. Sadly, based on this second effort, that hope isn’t borne out.

First, Charlie Bone and the Time Twister simply has a careless feel to it.

The Wounded Hawk: Better than first book

The Wounded Hawk by Sara Douglass

Set amid the drama and cast of the 100 Years War (though more parallel than true history), this sequel to The Nameless Day continues the story of Thomas Neville, former cleric returned to his noble life, as he tries to complete the quest given him by archangel Michael — to retrieve a mysterious casket that will allow him to send back to hell the demons that now roam the world. As readers of the first book know (and only readers of the first one should read this),

December 2nd, 2007. Bill Capossere and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Sara Douglass | SFF Reviews | no comments |

WorldWeavers: Gift of the Unmage & Spellspam

Gifts of the Unmage & Spellspam by Alma Alexander

Despite some rough spots, Alma Alexander’s Worldweavers series is an intriguing new entry in YA fantasy. At least based on the first two books in the series: Gift of the Unmage and Spellspam. The series is set in a world roughly akin and contemporaneous with our own, save that people can use magic and there are other “polities” such as dwarves, Alphiri and the Faele. Into this world a little over a decade ago is born with lots of fanfare and media coverage,

Elantris: Above average stand-alone

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

At the start, I want to give Brandon Sanderson props just for doing what seems to be the unthinkable nowadays — writing a standalone fantasy, a book that actually comes to a close, a book that is just that, a book and not the “start of a bright new fresh trilogy that out-Tolkien’s Tolkien!” Luckily, Elantris holds up well and even merits beyond being a standalone.

Elantris is the name of the city that until ten years ago was inhabited by near-gods,

The Nameless Day: Major flaws but somehow kept us going

The Nameless Day by Sara Douglass

The Nameless Day is a difficult book to review as there was so much I didn’t like about it. To begin with, the main character is extremely unlikeable, which isn’t an automatic mark against a book, but when the character stays so consistently unlikeable for such a long time, it does get a bit wearying. We see some slight glimpses of a better man here and there more towards the end, but following Thomas Neville through several hundred pages can seem a bit of a chore.

November 2nd, 2007. Bill Capossere and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Sara Douglass | SFF Reviews | no comments |

City of Masks: Different opinions

City of Masks by Marry Hoffman

City of Masks is an “other world” novel, one where characters from our world can travel back and forth to another, in this case an alternate history 16th century Italy known as Talia. These travelers (and it works both ways) are known as “stravaganti,” thus the series title. While this book takes places in this world’s version of Venice (Bellezza), others in the series will range elsewhere (City of Stars, for example, is set in an alternate Sienna).

Shaman’s Crossing: Slow start, builds nicely

Shaman’s Crossing by Robin Hobb

The first thing to say is that while I’m giving Shaman’s Crossing four stars, I’d actually recommend not reading it until you’ve got Forest Mage in hand. It isn’t because Shaman’s Crossing ends on a cliffhanger (it stands fine on its own), but because it’s a very slow set-up to what is to come and I think disappointment in the pace will be assuaged if one can move smoothly from the set-up book to the (I assume) more quickly moving sequel.

October 29th, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Robin Hobb | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Ships of Air: Promising improvement

The Ships of Air by Martha Wells

The Ships of Air, the second book in The Fall of Ile-Rien, builds upon the strengths of the first while also improving several of the first book’s flaws. As in The Wizard Hunters, the main character’s depth and likeability is a major strength. Tremaine is a complex character, displaying a variety of emotions and pursuing a variety of actions, some of them not so clearly understood by those around her or even herself.

October 21st, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Martha Wells | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Wizard’s Dilemma: One of the stronger in a strong series

The Wizard’s Dilemma by Diane Duane

The Wizard’s Dilemma continues the story of Nita and Kit, young wizards at work. If you haven’t read the others, you should. Though one could get through this and the others without prior knowledge, lack of background knowledge robs the reader of the full impact of the story.

The Wizard’s Dilemma is a darker, more personal book than the previous ones, which is made quickly clear when Nita’s mother is diagnosed with cancer. As one might expect,

Gifts: Le Guin’s usual mastery of story and style

Gifts by Ursula Le Guin

There are lots of reasons to like a good Le Guin novel — her spare prose, her sharpness of description, her ease of storytelling, but in simple terms, when Le Guin writes well (nearly always), it boils down to the fact that reading becomes bare unadorned pleasure. Pleasure at its purest and simplest. And that is the gift of this book.

The backstory is pretty simple — families living in the Uplands have hereditary magical abilities or “gifts” (one type to a family) that can and usually are employed to harm: gifts of “unmaking”

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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