Here’s another thoroughly delightful installment (book 4 of 5) of The Demon Princes. The plot is as usual: Kirth Gersen is hunting down one of the Demon Princes who destroyed his family and homeland when he was a boy. There’s no doubt that Gersen will kill Lens Larque; the question is how he’ll kill him and what adventures he’ll have on the way.
The Face distinguishes itself by introducing a couple of cultures which Vance uses to make fun of human behavior.
October 5th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Jack Vance | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe
The Citadel of the Autarch is a satisfying conclusion to Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun. (A fifth book, The Urth of the New Sun, is a coda to the original four books.) We’ve known all along that Severian the torturer would be the autarch by the end of his story, but his fascinating journey to the throne is what this saga is all about… on the surface,
October 3rd, 2010. Kat Hooper and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Gene Wolfe | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
This is a great time to be an audiobook reader! I’ve said often recently that I’m so pleased with Audible Frontiers for bringing us some older fantasy literature on audio, and this month their UK production team released Stormwarden, the first novel of Janny Wurts’ THE CYCLE OF FIRE trilogy which was first published in 1984.
Having greatly enjoyed Wurts’ stand-alone novel To Ride Hell’s Chasm, and knowing how several of my fellow FanLit reviewers feel about her THE WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW saga,
October 1st, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Janny Wurts | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron
In the opening scene of The Spirit Thief (2010), Rachel Aaron’s charming debut novel, the notorious thief Eli Monpress is trying to escape from the royal dungeon of Mellinor. Since he’s not just a thief but also a wizard, he does this by quite literally trying to charm the dungeon’s door into opening: not by casting a spell on it, but rather by persuading, cajoling and wheedling it into letting him through, explaining that it really would be much better off without those annoying nails keeping it together (which results in the memorable line “Indecision is the bane of all hardwoods.”).
September 30th, 2010. Stefan Raets and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Rachel Aaron | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Last Song of Orpheus by Robert Silverberg
Finally. After all of the conflicting information we get from the numerous myths, legends, writings, and operas about Orpheus, we have the true story told by Orpheus himself as he writes his life story for Musaeus (with some help from Robert Silverberg).
In The Last Song of Orpheus, all the bits and pieces of Orpheus’s life are tied together into a single chronological narrative and Orpheus tells his own version of how he obtained his famous lyre and used it to charm Pharaoh,
September 23rd, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Robert Silverberg | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Return: An Innkeeper’s World Story by Peter S. Beagle
Return: An Innkeeper’s World Story was my first Peter S. Beagle read, but it certainly won’t be my last. I’ve just put his The Innkeeper’s Song on my TBR list.
Return is a slim novella (only 104 pages) which tells the story of Soukyan’s return to that place where he was raised and from which he’s been running for years. He’s ready to put an end to those who’ve been hunting him,
September 22nd, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Peter S. Beagle | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe
Gene Wolfe’s The Sword of the Lictor essentially contains no plot, but it’s the best plotless book I’ve ever read. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read, period. I loved every moment of it! (I read this on audio; Audible Frontiers‘ audio version, read by Jonathan Davis, is exceptional.)
This third installment of The Book of the New Sun continues Severian’s journey from apprentice in the torturers’ guild to Autarch.
September 20th, 2010. Kat Hooper and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Gene Wolfe | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe
The Claw of the Conciliator is the second book in Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun quartet. If you read The Shadow of the Torturer and felt like you were lost (or drunk), and weren’t sure whether things would get clearer in the second book, I have to tell you that no, they don’t. But if you, like me, enjoy that dreamy I’m-not-sure-where-I-am-or-how-I-got-here-or-where-I’m-going-but-everything-sure-feels-fine literary experience, then read on,
September 14th, 2010. Kat Hooper and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Gene Wolfe | Audio, Nebula Award | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Mavra, Queen of the Black Vampires, is after “The Word of Kemmler,” the ultimate how-to on being an all-powerful necromancer. Mavra wants it, and is blackmailing Harry into getting it for her. Harry must find this book, while dodging a whole collection of black wizards who are also seeking the tome.
Jim Butcher’s Dead Beat is another one of the “middle” DRESDEN books that I love so much. Just about the time when most series start getting stale,
September 8th, 2010. Justin Blazier and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Jim Butcher | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Little, Big: or, The Fairies’ Parliament by John Crowley
“All Part of the Tale. Don’t Ask Me How…”
This review is going to be well-nigh impossible to write, as the subject matter is so impossible to describe. Well, John Crowley’s Little, Big is definitely a book. That’s a good start. But the second I try to narrow down rudimentary elements like plot and character, my brain gets a bit fuzzy. It’s about a family. And a house. And how this family lives in the house which is situated on the borders of another world which sometimes intrudes upon their own,
September 8th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4, 4.5 | John Crowley | Audio, Mythopoeic Award, Stand-Alone, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Thanks for the kind words, Ira! Much appreciated!
Fine review
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
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!