Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Kelly Lasiter

Ombria in Shadow: Dreamy and intricate tale

Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip

Like all of Patricia McKillip‘s books, Ombria in Shadow is a dreamy, intricate tale, made memorable by her distinctive poetic prose. Symbols, circumstances and meanings can be interpreted on any number of deeper levels, making her books ones to be savored and re-read. If you are a lover of eloquent poetry and subtle imagery, then let Ombria in Shadow be the first of McKillip’s range of stories to let you drift away on language that must have been meticulously chosen in order to create a sense of faery and dreaming.

Kelly Chats With Maggie Stiefvater

Kelly interviewed Maggie Stiefvater about her Young Adult fantasy novel Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception. Be sure to also read Kelly’s review of Lament. Learn more about Ms Stiefvater at her website.

Lament hearkens back to the old faerie legends, which were often tragic and often frightening, and not at all sugar-coated. How did you become interested in faerie lore, especially the darker stuff?

When you write about things like homicidal faeries, you get asked “why faeries?”

January 1st, 2009. Kelly Lasiter | Maggie Stiefvater | Author Interviews | no comments |

Unclean Spirits: Daniel Abraham takes on urban fantasy

Unclean Spirits by M.L.N. Hanover

Jayné Heller is feeling pretty alone in the world. She’s estranged from her intolerant family. She has just dropped out of college, and her friends have moved on without her. The only dependable person left in her life is her black-sheep uncle Eric … and he’s just been murdered.

When Jayné travels to Denver to settle Eric’s accounts, she learns two things:
1. Eric was filthy rich and left it all to her.
2. He was killed by Randolph Coin, an evil magician.

December 1st, 2008. Kelly Lasiter and Robert Thompson | M.L.N. Hanover | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Blood Bargain: Darn good paranormal mystery

Blood Bargain by Maria Lima

It took me a little while to get fully engrossed in Blood Bargain, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down. Maria Lima’s second Blood Lines novel is even better than the first, a fun and sometimes poignant paranormal treat.

Once again, there’s trouble in Rio Seco, and Keira Kelly finds herself embroiled in it. Her vampire boyfriend Adam is showing alarming signs of weakness, and at the same time, Keira is drawn into two missing-persons cases that seem unconnected on the surface but may in fact be linked.

November 25th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Maria Lima | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Kelly chats with Louise Hawes

Kelly recently interviewed Louise Hawes after reading and enjoying her book Black Pearls: A Faerie Strand (2008). You can read Kelly’s review here and learn more about Louise Hawes and her works in other genres at her website.

Kelly: Did you have a favorite fairy tale as a child? Do you have a favorite now? If so, what made/makes that particular story resonate with you?

Louise Hawes: Snow White was always a very special story for me. I think, even then, the idea of a large young girl and tiny men,

November 3rd, 2008. Kelly Lasiter | Louise Hawes | Author Interviews | no comments |

Magic to the Bone: A breath of fresh air

Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk

Magic to the Bone is a breath of fresh air in the urban fantasy genre, in much the same way that Ilona Andrews‘ Kate Daniels series is a breath of fresh air. Instead of the same tired werewolf/vampire soap opera that so many novels perpetuate, Magic to the Bone is more concerned with the ramifications of adding magic to modern society and exploring the realistic consequences. Magic, in Devon Monk’s universe, has been recently discovered,

November 2nd, 2008. Kelly Lasiter and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Devon Monk | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Beauty: We are divided on this one!

Beauty by Robin McKinley

I hate writing negative reviews, especially for books that are obviously both loved and respected. Beauty appeals to a lot of people, and you may well want to disregard my opinion and go with the majority. But for what it’s worth, I can’t quite bring myself to recommend Beauty for those of you out there who enjoy reading novels in the fairytale genre.

To McKinley’s credit, Beauty was written before the sudden demand in retold/fractured/fleshed-out fairytales.

October 15th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher, Kelly Lasiter and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2, 5 | Robin McKinley | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Matters of the Blood: Urban fantasy without the “urban”

Matters of the Blood by Maria Lima

Maria Lima rings some refreshing changes on the urban-fantasy formula in Matters of the Blood. The two most striking departures from cliché, to my mind, are the heroine’s age (37, rather than early twenties), and the story’s vividly-drawn rural-Texas setting. I loved the locale. Lima does a great job of making the lonely town of Rio Seco real to the reader.

Our heroine, Keira Kelly, comes from a long supernatural line; there’s a brief passage that suggests she’s one of the Sidhe.

September 29th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Maria Lima | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Kelly Chats with Justin Gustainis

Recently I spoke with Justin Gustainis, author of Quincey Morris Supernatural Investigation: Black Magic Woman. Mr Gustainis’s second QUINCEY MORRIS novel, Evil Ways, will be released on Dec 30, 2008. Don’t miss my review of Black Magic Woman.

Kelly: Why Quincey Morris? That is, how did you come up with the idea of making your hero a descendant of Stoker’s character, and why that particular Stoker character?

Justin Gustainis: I’ve always thought that Quincey Morris got pretty short shrift in Stoker’s original novel.

September 26th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter | Justin Gustainis | Author Interviews | no comments |

Nights of Sin: A trip through the darker avenues of magic

Nights of Sin by Matthew Cook

First, a confession: I haven’t actually read Blood Magic, the novel that precedes Nights of Sin. However, kudos to Matthew Cook for never letting me get lost. Everything I needed to know was provided to me, and in a way that flowed naturally with the story rather than feeling infodumpy.

Nights of Sin begins with a harrowing description of Kirin, the heroine, attempting to shepherd her lover, Lia,

September 23rd, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Matthew Cook | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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.