World’s End is the first book in British fantasy author’s Mark Chadbourn AGE OF MISRULE trilogy. The novel was originally released in the UK in 1999, and has been re-released in the US by Pyr in 2009.
World’s End can probably best be categorized as dark contemporary fantasy. The setting is England, in more or less the present day. Jack Churchill (“Church”) lives in London and is trying to cope with the apparent suicide of his girlfriend Marianne.
January 6th, 2010. Stefan Raets and Justin Blazier | Mark Chadbourn | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Morganville Vampires (Glass Houses & The Dead Girl’s Dance) by Rachel Caine
I pretty much avoid sparkly vampire stories. I’ve never read Twilight, and have not seen the movies. I am only vaguely familiar with Anne Rice’s stuff. I have been “self-sheltered” from vampire fantasy fiction. But when I saw that Penguin Books was re-releasing Rachel Caine’s The Morganville Vampires in omnibus editions, I asked for a copy of the first one (Glass Houses and The Dead Girl’s Dance).
December 30th, 2009. Justin Blazier´s rating: 3.5 | Rachel Caine | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
Joe Abercrombie is the new master of dark, gritty, realistic fantasy, and Best Served Cold might well be the masterpiece that represents that subgenre. Monza Murcatto is a renowned and very successful mercenary … or was until she was stabbed, beaten, and thrown from a mountainside by her employer. Monza wants revenge, so she contracts a party of unsavory characters to aid her. Monza’s story goes from dark to black to “a wet match in the bottom of a dark cave” — everyone suffers,
December 24th, 2009. Justin Blazier, Greg Hersom, Kat Hooper and Terry Weyna´s rating: 5 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | 15 comments |
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington
Jesse Bullington’s debut novel is a difficult one to review, not because of plot or character, but because of the general style in which it is written. Plainly speaking; it’s pretty gross. Full of pus, vomit, blood, urine, gore, snot and other bodily fluids, The Brothers Grossbart isn’t short on content that will make you screw up your nose in disgust. Yet dismissing this novel for its ability to make you cringe is a bit like going to a Quentin Tarantino movie and complaining about the violence.
December 15th, 2009. Rebecca Fisher, Robert Thompson, Greg Hersom, Kat Hooper and Justin Blazier | Jesse Bullington | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 14 comments |
First Lord’s Fury by Jim Butcher
Grab your helms, shields and swords, fantasy fans. In First Lord’s Fury, Jim Butcher is taking you to war! In the 6th and final book in the CODEX ALERA series, Butcher not only takes you to war, but makes you laugh and cry along the way. First Lord’s Fury is a very suitable ending to what I found to be a most enjoyable fantasy series. The CODEX ALERA series takes place several thousand years after a lost Roman legion found its way to another world and rebuilt a society.
December 8th, 2009. Justin Blazier and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Jim Butcher | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Nightingale’s Lament by Simon R. Green
The Nightside stories are so hard boiled that it’s hard to put in perspective, but I’m going to try anyway: If you took Dashiell Hammett’s corpse, rolled it in batter, then deep fried it till black, you would have a pretty good approximation of what Simon R. Green is going for.
Nightingale’s Lament is the third book in the Nightside series, and follows the same pattern as the previous books do: basically,
November 24th, 2009. Justin Blazier and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Simon R. Green | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Silver Skull by Mark Chadbourn
There are times when you read a book that’s so amazing to you that you feel the author had you personally in mind when they wrote it, that’s exactly how I feel about Mark Chadbourn’s The Silver Skull.
The Silver Skull is set in an alternate version of the Elizabethan England period. The story follows Will Swyfte — the greatest spy England has ever known. He’s handsome, daring, smart, and dangerous. He’s everything a great spy should be.
November 17th, 2009. Justin Blazier´s rating: 5 | Mark Chadbourn | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
In the not-too-far-off future New York, John Shirley has created a world that’s not too different from our own. Except that in Bleak History, the spirit world (The Hidden) has become a force that manifests itself through various “gifted individuals,” giving them special abilities.
Gabriel Bleak, an ex-Army Ranger now turned bounty hunter, is one of these. Ever since leaving the Army, Gabe has been under the watchful eye of a shadowy government agency that tries to use this hidden world and its gifted people in its anti-terrorism agenda.
November 4th, 2009. Justin Blazier´s rating: 4 | John Shirley | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green
Agents of Light and Darkness, the second book in Simon R. Green‘s Nightside, once again follows the almost always abstruse John Taylor, the private detective who is really good at finding things. In Something From the Nightside we learned that John is a former Nightside badass who developed a conscious during his time away from the Nightside and returned to help someone in need. Agents of Light and Darkness follows a similar premise,
October 20th, 2009. Justin Blazier and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Simon R. Green | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Something From the Nightside by Simon R. Green
I picked up Something From the Nightside on Jim Butcher‘s recommendation and I enjoyed it for what it was: not high literature, but a fast fun read.
John Taylor is a private detective with a gift for finding things. He takes a case about a missing girl that forces him to confront his past and enter the Nightside. John Taylor has a serious reputation in the Nightside and he thought he had left that world behind years ago.
October 2nd, 2009. Justin Blazier and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Simon R. Green | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
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…