Lammas Night by Katherine Kurtz
Within neo-pagan circles, there is a persistent legend that numerous British witches and occultists banded together during World War II, using magic to keep Hitler from invading Britain. I’m not convinced there was a huge organized effort, but I’m sure there were occultists in Britain at the time, and it would surprise me more if no one had tried to lay the magical smack down on the Führer. Katharine Kurtz uses this legend as the basis for Lammas Night.
July 16th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Katherine Kurtz | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Seventh Swan by Nicholas Stuart Gray
I had a hard time getting into The Seventh Swan at first; I think Nicholas Stuart Gray‘s writing style was the culprit. He jumps between points-of-view constantly, so it’s hard to tell who’s thinking what. After I got used to that, though, I found The Seventh Swan moving.
Alasdair is the seventh swan-brother from the famous fairy tale, left with a swan’s wing instead of one of his arms because his sister was unable to finish that last shirt in time.
July 14th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Nicholas Stuart Gray | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Warning: This review will contain spoilers for the previous book, Shiver. There’s simply no good way to discuss Linger without them.
You could stop with Shiver. You really could. It ends on a tentative note of happiness, and it’s easy to imagine that everything worked out OK after that. Sure, there are a few loose ends: Isabel’s dad is still itching to shoot some wolves, the lycanthropy cure is incredibly dangerous and might have unintended consequences,
July 11th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Maggie Stiefvater | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Black Heart, Ivory Bones edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Black Heart, Ivory Bones is the sixth and final entry in Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s series of fairy tale anthologies. Of the six, I’ve read four, and each has its own particular flavor, its own unique mood. While all of the books contain a mix of light and darkness, in this volume there seems to be more of a balance: “all that’s best of dark and bright,” if you will. The mood that Black Heart,
July 10th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Charles De_Lint, Delia Sherman, Ellen Datlow, Esther Friesner, Jane Yolen, Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke, Tanith Lee, Terri Windling | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
Brown Girl in the Ring is a novel that may have been a little ahead of its time. When it was first published in 1998, it had “Science Fiction” stamped on the spine. Cue angry Amazon reviewers complaining that it was full of “mumbo jumbo.” If I were to wager a guess, I’d say that Brown Girl in the Ring was marketed as science fiction because of its near-future setting and heavy violence level, which were not nearly as common in late-nineties urban fantasy as they are today (see Ilona Andrews,
July 9th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Nalo Hopkinson | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Godmother by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
In traditional fairy tales, fairy godmothers show up when they are least expected but most needed, to right wrongs and assist those in peril. Enter Felicity Fortune. Summoned to Seattle by a sweet but burned-out young social worker named Rose, she sets out to solve problems both modern and ageless with magic and kindness.
Felicity discovers many young people in danger in the city. Hank and Gigi have been abandoned by their mother and kidnapped by a child molester. Cindy has just been fired from her job by her own stepsisters and booted out of her family home.
July 8th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Elizabeth Ann Scarborough | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Pray for Dawn by Jocelynn Drake
I loved the first DARK DAYS novel, Nightwalker, but was a little disappointed in the next two installments. I am happy to report that with Pray for Dawn, Jocelynn Drake gives the series the shot of adrenaline it needed.
Drake makes the unusual choice of switching narrators for this book; it’s told from Danaus’ point of view. A few months have passed since the battle at Machu Picchu,
July 6th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Jocelynn Drake | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Bullet begins with Anita slipping backstage at a dance recital. Her former friend Monica forgot the hat for her son’s costume, so Anita brings it to her, and the two women have a bit of a spat. Then, in chapter two, Anita sits down to watch the performance with her various boyfriends and —
Wait.
When I was a preteen, I used to read the BABY-SITTERS CLUB series. There’s one cardinal rule for reading BSC books: Skip chapter two.
July 5th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 0.1 | Laurell K. Hamilton | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
To be something abnormal meant that you were to serve the normal. And if you refused, they hated you… and often the normal hated you even when you did serve them.
In Nnedi Okorafor’s post-apocalyptic Sudan, there are two predominant ethnic factions: the light-skinned Nuru and the dark-skinned Okeke. Who Fears Death takes place amid a genocide that the Nuru commit against the Okeke, a campaign that (like genocides in our own time) includes both murder and rape.
July 2nd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter and Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Nnedi Okorafor | Audio, Stand-Alone, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Dark Oracle by Alayna Williams
For years, Tara Sheridan has been a hermit. She was once a criminal profiler, and a tarot-reading oracle destined for the all-female secret society Daughters of Delphi. After a series of traumas, she left these callings behind and retreated to a remote cabin in the woods. But when a brilliant scientist goes missing amid the ruins of his cutting-edge lab, leaving behind a young daughter, Tara reluctantly agrees to take the case.
This means dealing with the Daughters again, along with a former colleague who makes Tara uneasy.
June 29th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Alayna Williams | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.