Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Kelly Lasiter

Dark Prince: Ugh!

Dark Prince by Christine Feehan

Mikhail Dubrinsky is the leader of the Carpathians, a powerful race that is dying out due to lack of females. Raven Whitney, a human, is vacationing in the Carpathian Mountains after using her telepathic skills to help catch a serial killer. Raven senses Mikhail’s distress and the two of them realize they have a connection to each other. Raven may be the life mate that Mikhail thought he’d never find and she represents hope for the Carpathians.

Ugh. I really hated Dark Prince and,

Child of a Rainless Year: Refreshing

Child of a Rainless Year by Jane Lindskold

Mira Bogatyr Fenn is fifty-one and unfulfilled, having sublimated her artistic talents for reasons she doesn’t quite understand. Her adoptive parents pass away, and Mira finds herself drawn to the Victorian house she inherited from her long-missing birth mother, and realizes there’s more to her mother’s disappearance than she ever suspected as a child.

In Child of a Rainless Year, Jane Lindskold leads the reader into the mystery slowly, letting the weirdness accumulate until Mira can no longer deny it,

Knights of the Sea: Reminiscent of Gaiman’s lighter works

Knights of the Sea by Paul Marlowe

I was first drawn to Knights of the Sea by the hilarious cover art. Now, having read the book, I can say two things: First, the art is accurate! Every element of the cover design — wolf, capsized boat, ghostly damsel, and lemon — is present in the plot. Second, the book is just as funny as the cover, and in a very good way.

In the previous The Wellborn Conspiracy book, Sporeville, Elliott Graven made a powerful enemy in the dastardly Professor Strange.

The Summer Country: Not your little sister’s faerie novel

The Summer Country by James A. Hetley

First, a caveat. Don’t let the pretty cover art fool you. The Summer Country is not a “pretty” book. It’s really more horror than fantasy, full of violence and truly twisted characters. That said, I enjoyed The Summer Country. It stands out, with a few others, as a novel that presents a distinctive and original way of looking at the Otherworld, the faerie realm.

James A Hetley‘s “Summer Country” is ruled by those of the Old Blood,

June 3rd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | James A. Hetley | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Silver’s Edge: Who to trust?

Silver’s Edge by Anne Kelleher

I loved Silver’s Edge. It’s an eyes-glued-to-the-page story of politics and war between three realms in a world not unlike Dark Ages Britain or Ireland. The silver caul that once held the Sidhe, the goblins, and the humans in their own little worlds is missing; now the three races are thrown back together for reasons unknown, and chaos ensues.

The story focuses around several young women struggling to survive in this chaotic situation. I loved it — it’s rare that a book about political intrigue really does surprise me and pull the rug out from under my feet.

June 2nd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Anne Kelleher, Anne Kelleher Bush | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Naamah’s Curse: Stupid boy!

Naamah’s Curse by Jacqueline Carey

At the end of Naamah’s Kiss, Moirin’s lover Bao set out on his own, uncomfortable with the magic that bound him and Moirin together. As Naamah’s Curse begins, Moirin undertakes a dangerous journey to find him. The beginning is on the slow side, focusing on the hardships of winter travel and on Moirin’s stay with a kindly Tatar family.

Then, Moirin learns that Bao has done something stupid.

It took me a while to warm to Bao in Naamah’s Kiss,

June 1st, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Jacqueline Carey | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Swoon: Strangely addictive

Swoon by Nina Malkin

Some books are like candy. You know they’re not good for you. You feel compelled to keep reading them anyway. Maybe, after a while, they start leaving an “off” taste in your mouth. Still, you keep reading. This is what Nina Malkin’s Swoon was like for me.

The plot is sort of Twilight-meets-Heathers. The protagonist, Dice (everyone has a cheesy nickname, you get used to it after a while), is a misfit in moneyed, WASPy Swoon,

Black Pearls: A Faerie Strand: Lovely as petal, sharp as thorn

Black Pearls by Louise Hawes

Once upon a time, there was a woman who was so caught up in a book that she did nothing all day but read it, from cover to cover.

Black Pearls: A Faerie Strand is a gem. Louise Hawes‘ dark, sensual fairy tale retellings and Rebecca Guay‘s evocative illustrations work perfectly together to form one of the best books of retold tales that I’ve ever read. I checked this out from the library, but I’ve resolved that I simply must have a copy of my own to treasure.

Drinking Midnight Wine: I love the characters, but where’s the Mysterie?

Drinking Midnight Wine by Simon R. Green

Simon R. Green lives in Bradford-on-Avon in real life, and I’ll wager a guess as to how Drinking Midnight Wine came to be written. I think Green has met some eccentric folks and seen some weird places in the time he has lived in that town, and so it occurred to him to make up magical explanations for them, and build a fantasy novel around them.

Green does a great job of creating engaging characters and vivid scenery.

Shiver: Twilight with werewolves, but better

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Forget everything you thought you knew about werewolves.

Forget the full moon and silver bullets. Maggie Stiefvater’s werewolves are different from any you’ve seen before. After being bitten, a werewolf changes erratically for a while, then settles into a seasonal cycle. Cold weather brings on a change to wolf form; warm weather returns the werewolf to human form. However, this cycle doesn’t last forever. As the years pass, it takes more and more heat to trigger the change back to human, until one year the werewolf remains a wolf forever.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Recent Discussion:

David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
Bill Capossere on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
We’re in total agreement David!
David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.