Kat Hooper | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

Author: Kat Hooper

Poison Study: Lightweight political fantasy

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Overall, I am impressed with Maria Snyder‘s first novel, Poison Study. It was well written and the main characters are likeable, complex, and engaging. The characters of the “supporting staff” are also well done. The dialogue is realistic and the writing style is pleasant and unpretentious. The pace is quick, there is political intrigue, spying, treachery, fighting, forgiveness, personal growth, and romance (although the single love scene was confusing and a bit corny).

However, the plot was somewhat predictable and there were few surprises.

June 9th, 2007. Kat Hooper, John Hulet, Tadiana Jones and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Maria V. Snyder | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Kushiel’s Chosen: A painful but beautiful story

Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey

Jacqueline Carey returns to the lush and decadent world of Terre d’Ange in Kushiel’s Chosen, sequel to the strange but beautiful Kushiel’s Dart, and produces a sequel that unfortunately doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor.

Our masochistic heroine, Phèdre, leaves behind her comfortable new life as a country countess when she begins to suspect that all is not well in Terre d’Ange. She believes that Melisande Shahrizai, from her hiding place in La Serenissima (Venice),

Mistborn: The Final Empire: So much to like!

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

I was a fan of Brandon Sanderson’s first novel, Elantris, though the novel had some pretty clear flaws. I’m an even bigger fan of his follow-up, Mistborn, a book that has all the plusses of Elantris without the problems.

Mistborn takes places in an ashen, devastated world where the “Skaa” are a brutally downtrodden majority who do all the work for the aristocratic minority of the Great Houses,

Kushiel’s Dart: Love and pain are never far apart

Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel’s Dart is the story of Phèdre, marked as a masochist by the angel of pain and punishment, and trained from youth as a courtesan and spy. The book follows her through her childhood and then the vicissitudes of one fateful year, in which Phèdre learns more about pain and love than she had ever dreamed possible. Tragedy strikes her comfortable life, and she is sold into slavery among the Skaldi (analogous to Vikings), and must use her talents and her wits to survive.

The Sword of Truth: This is a mean number of stars. I mean a statistical mean.

THE SWORD OF TRUTH (books 1-10) by Terry Goodkind

Terry Goodkind’s first book, Wizard’s First Rule, was entertaining many years ago when I was a relatively new adult epic fantasy reader. Except for the actual First Rule (“People are Stupid”), which was… stupid. The story had some fascinating characters (mostly the secondary ones — I could never muster up much care for Kahlan) and Richard started out as a pretty good hero. The next couple of books of The Sword of Truth were also fun for someone who is not particularly demanding (which I wasn’t at the time).

June 3rd, 2007. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Terry Goodkind | SFF Reviews | 13 comments |

The Blade Itself: Vivid, tense, action-packed, and droll

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

By setting The Blade Itself (2006), the first book of his FIRST LAW series, in a well-built world and filling it with interesting, “gritty” characters, Joe Abercrombie creates a good balance of stage-setting and story-telling.

The story is told from the perspective of five major characters who are gradually drawn together and whose collected experiences create an engrossing tale. There is the mage, the apprentice, the barbarian, the gifted young noble, the crippled anti-hero… and so forth. Abercrombie writes engaging characters — perfect for my personal tastes.

June 1st, 2007. John Hulet, Kat Hooper, Rob Rhodes and Greg Hersom´s rating: 4 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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Author: Kat Hooper

Poison Study: Lightweight political fantasy

Kushiel’s Chosen: A painful but beautiful story

Mistborn: The Final Empire: So much to like!

Kushiel’s Dart: Love and pain are never far apart

The Sword of Truth: This is a mean number of stars. I mean a statistical mean.

The Blade Itself: Vivid, tense, action-packed, and droll

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