God Stalk, first in the Kencyrath series authored by P.C. Hodgell in the early 80s, opens with Jame stumbling into Tai-Tastigon, which is apparently deserted, after being so long on the run that she’s delirious with exhaustion and fighting off her race’s healing dwar sleep. She chances upon Penari, a famous thief, as he’s trapped in a doorway by a couple of footpads. Jame rushes to the rescue and Penari offers her a job as recompense. Too weak, confused and lost to comprehend,
April 29th, 2011. Guest´s rating: 3.5 | P.C. Hodgell | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
I was introduced to Paul Kearney’s writing when I read The Ten Thousand, and I instantly loved the way Kearney does his brand of historical fantasy. His focus is on a Greek-like, Bronze Age civilization peopled by the Macht, a war-like civilization of city-states very much like the Greece of ca. 400 BC. In both The Ten Thousand and Corvus, Kearney uses ancient history as a broad structure for telling a tale of war in all of its bloody horror.
October 21st, 2010. Guest´s rating: 4 | Paul Kearney | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Century of the Soldier by Paul Kearney
Century of the Soldieris the omnibus edition of The Iron Wars (1999), The Second Empire (2000) and Ships from the West (2002), and is the concluding volume of Paul Kearney’s re-issued The Monarchies of God. It is as compelling and readable as Hawkwood and the Kings, and while it does not enjoy five-star status with its predecessor, it is an excellent conclusion, and I stand by my statement in my previous review: any person who loves good epic fantasy must read these books.
September 29th, 2010. Guest´s rating: 4.5 | Paul Kearney | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Hawkwood and the Kings by Paul Kearney
Hawkwood and the Kings is an omnibus of Hawkwood’s Voyage and The Heretic Kings, first released in the mid-nineties to critical acclaim but limited commercial success. Paul Kearney is, to the detriment of readers of fine fantasy, one of those authors who ran into publisher difficulties. Had the publisher actively marketed the original releases of The Monarchies of God, the books would have sold well and would unquestionably be considered classics alongside other great adult fantasies like George R.R.
September 24th, 2010. Guest´s rating: 5 | Paul Kearney | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Rise of the Darklings by Paul Crilley
Emily Snow is old beyond her years. Only 12 and supporting herself and her younger brother by selling watercress on the streets of Victorian England, Emily is lucky if she makes enough in one day to buy one meal to keep herself and her brother alive for one more day. Her parents having both mysteriously disappeared, Emily is not in a great mood when she pulls herself out of bed one cold winter morning to drag herself to work. On the way however, Emily comes across something she should not have seen.
July 23rd, 2010. Guest´s rating: 4.5 | Paul Crilley | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Portrait of Mrs Charbuque by Jeffrey Ford
The best thing about being my own master when it comes to choosing what I want to read is that when I read a book I really want to talk about I can without feeling like I have to put aside any other obligations, and I really want to talk about The Portrait of Mrs Charbuque.
Piero Piambo, a portrait artist in New York in 1893, is currently in fashion and as a result also in high demand.
July 20th, 2010. Guest´s rating: 4.5 | Jeffrey Ford | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A good friend of mine who has excellent taste recommended The Traitor to me. I had heard of Michael Cisco, mostly through people like Jeff Vandermeer and Jeffrey Ford saying nice things about his work, but until now I hadn’t read any of his novels. With strong recommendations from three people who opinions I rate highly I expected quite a lot, and I have to admit I wasn’t disappointed.
The Traitor is written as a first person narrative by Nophtha,
July 13th, 2010. Guest´s rating: 5 | Michael Cisco | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Mansfield Park and Mummies by Vera Nazarian
I had always heard great things about Vera Nazarian’s books, both from friends and publications, but I never quite got around to reading any of her work until recently when I picked up her short story collection Salt of the Air, published by Prime Books. The introduction was by Gene Wolfe, a man I have an enormous amount of respect for as a writer. After reading the wonderful things that Gene had to say about her,
July 2nd, 2010. Guest´s rating: 4 | Vera Nazarian | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
During the height of the French-Indian War, Isabella and her father, who is a doctor with the British army, are making their way to a new fort through the New York wilderness. In the meantime, Wusamequin, a Native American brave who is looking to avenge the death of his wife and child has a vision of soldiers crossing through the lands of his people. In a fit of rage Wusamequin leads a party of warriors against the English. Impressed with the way Isabella fights back, he spares her life and takes her into his home as his slave,
June 20th, 2010. Guest´s rating: 2 | Nancy Holder | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Mother Aegypt and Other Stories by Kage Baker
When Kage Baker died from cancer earlier this year, I was regretful that I had never gotten around to reading any of her work. I had always heard good things about her writing, both from friends and from other writers, and had seen she had been nominated for a number of writing awards I value. I always intended to get around to it, but we all know what our reading piles are like and I never did. Wanting to read her work,
June 15th, 2010. Guest´s rating: 4 | Kage Baker | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…
this sounds like a fun one