Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
I read Furies of Calderon while waiting for Jim Butcher’s next DRESDEN FILES novel. Butcher’s little blurb at the end of his books had convinced me to give it a whirl.
Let it be known, this is not to the caliber of THE DRESDEN FILES. It is a good book nonetheless. The story follows several characters in the world of Alera who find themselves intertwined together in a land on the brink of war. Furies of Calderon is a book of themes.
February 13th, 2009. Justin Blazier and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Jim Butcher | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan
For being such a long book (nearly 1000 pages in my trade paperback copy), amazingly little happens in The Fires of Heaven, and this is why so many readers have abandoned this otherwise interesting story. Approximately the first third of the novel contains so much recap and repetition that, if I’d had “my hair in a proper braid,” I would have been yanking it as often as Nynaeve does.
The formula for the first 100 pages or so goes something like this: One or two lines of dialogue,
February 1st, 2009. Kat Hooper and Greg Hersom´s rating: 3 | Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Master of Dragons by Margaret Weis
Master of Dragons, the final book in Margaret Weis’s Dragonvarld trilogy was a tasty but sloppy finale — like a cheesecake that didn’t quite set.
This last book wraps things up, as we knew it would, and everything is finally well in the world, as we knew it would be. There are some fine moments (Draconas showing tenderness to a female dragon, Ven finds a family, Marcus falls in love) and even some hilarious ones (Draconas darning socks,
January 12th, 2009. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Margaret Weis | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
In The Shadow Rising, things start to slow down. In fact, it often feel like the reading of the story must take longer than it took for the events to actually occur.
Part of the problem is that Mr Jordan tells us nearly everything except when the characters make a bowel movement. Also, he regularly launches into pre-set spiels in which he re-describes something or someone who we’ve encountered numerous times before or re-explains something we’ve been told dozens of times (e.g.,
January 1st, 2009. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In this story of the Western Shore, we meet Memer, a 17 year old girl — a “siege-brat” — who lives in the occupied land of Ansul, a city of people who used to be peaceful, prosperous, and educated but who were overtaken 17 years ago by the illiterate Alds who consider all writing to be demonic. All of the Ansul literature, history, and other books were drowned… except for a small collection of books that has been saved and hidden in a secret room in the house of Galvamand and can only be accessed by the last two people in the Galva household — Sulter Galva (the Waylord) and Memer,
December 28th, 2008. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Ursula K. Le-Guin | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan (on audio)
In The Dragon Reborn, Rand finally starts to discover his new talents. Unfortunately, we don’t get to watch that happen. We only see a few glimpses of him learning to use his power. It makes me wonder if it was just easier for Jordan to show us the newly developed Rand rather than to explain how he got that way.
A couple of times here (and in later books) we’re told that Rand doesn’t really know how he wields the power — he just does.
December 21st, 2008. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
I really enjoyed Helen Hollick’s trilogy about King Arthur, and I love pirates, so I had very high hopes for this historical fantasy. Therefore, I was extremely disappointed that I couldn’t even get past chapter five of Sea Witch. The story and the characters seemed promising, and I know from past experience that Ms. Hollick tells a good tale, but the writing was so badly done that I couldn’t continue. I had to keep re-reading paragraphs in order to understand what was going on.
December 21st, 2008. Kat Hooper´s rating: 0.1 | Helen Hollick | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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”
December 2nd, 2008. Rob Rhodes, Kat Hooper and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Daniel Abraham | Audio | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
Here’s another really fun installment of The Wheel of Time. Like The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt kept me thoroughly entertained. Everything I said in the review above goes for this book, too. It’s fast-paced and full of plot. I think this is the best book in the series.
We get to meet some excellent secondary heroes and villains in The Great Hunt — Egeanin and the Seanchan from across the sea who use captured and chained women with power to fight for them,
November 15th, 2008. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Dragon’s Son by Margaret Weis
This typical middle novel concerns the twin sons born to Melisande: Marcus, the son of the King of Idlyswylde, and Ven (short for Vengeance), the son of the dragon who (in the body of the human Grald) raped her.
Most of the book focuses on the development of both boys from age 6 to 16. Neither of them know about the other. Ven is half dragon (his legs are dragon’s legs) and is being raised by Bellona (Melisande died at the end of Mistress of Dragons).
November 12th, 2008. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Margaret Weis | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…
Gentlemen, I concur! (Forgive me for jumping into your convo)
The cover is amazing. I love how the graphic novel (and the review!) hewed close to the theme of "good…
I've thought about picking that one up. The artwork looks perfect.