The Seven Songs by T.A. Barron
“Pursue the Seven Songs in Turn; the Parts Beget the Whole…”
The second book in T.A. Barron’s MERLIN SAGA (preceded by The Lost Years and followed by The Raging Fires) continues young Merlin’s journey toward the powerful wizard of legend. Having noticed that there was very little literature that dealt with Merlin in his formative years, Barron set about writing a “prequel” of sorts to Arthurian legend that explored what Merlin was like as a child.
August 14th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | T.A. Barron | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Terry Brooks is a New York Times bestselling author, having published his first book The Sword of Shannara back in 1977. That was before my time, but since then he’s gone on to write over thirty books, many of which were passed on to me by my father (and one of which remains one of my favourite books: Running with the Demon). It feels that I’ve always had Terry Brooks’s novels on my bookshelf.
Most famous for his SHANNARA series, Brooks has been adding to his mythos for years now,
August 7th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher | Terry Brooks | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 10 comments |
The Prince of Soul and the Lighthouse by Fredrik Brouneus
This is Turning Into the Magic Mushroom Version of the Da Vinci Code…
The Prince of Soul and the Lighthouse (2013) is a quirky, funny, thought-provoking story by New Zealand/Swedish author Fredrik Brouneus, told in very colloquial first-person narration by George Larson, an eighteen year old high school student whose life is about to get very strange. Content with his dreams of becoming a soul singer and hooking up with the beautiful exchange student Kaisa,
July 9th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Fredrik Brouneus | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Fall of a Kingdom by Hilari Bell
Let the two of us end this war…
Fall of a Kingdomis the first book in the FARSALA trilogy, followed by Rise of a Hero and Forging the Sword, all set in a pseudo-Arabian land called Farsala which is attempting to resist the invasion of an ever-growing empire that bears more than a few similarities to the Roman Empire. Known as the Hrum, these invaders are committed to fighting any conquerable land for a year before negotiating for peace;
June 14th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Hilari Bell | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Song of the Wanderer by Bruce Coville
I have promises to keep, and wounds to heal…
This is the second book in THE UNICORN CHRONICLES, a four part series by children’s author Bruce Coville, which also includes a short story to be found in the unicorn-themed anthology A Glory of Unicorns. In the first instalment, Into the Land of the Unicorns, Cara Hunter was transported via an amulet into Luster, the world into which unicorns fled when Earth became too unsafe for them to inhabit.
June 12th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Bruce Coville | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Into the Land of Unicorns by Bruce Coville
The wanderer is weary…
I had just finished reading THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy and was in search of something lighter to read — and what could be lighter than a book about unicorns, right? Well, Into the Land of the Unicorns is squarely aimed at a seven-to-ten year old reading range, but it manages to have a certain level of depth and darkness that certainly elevates it above the usual “rainbows and candy-floss” favour that usually surrounds the subject of unicorns.
June 9th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Bruce Coville | Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Now This Is the Law of the Jungle, As Old and As True As the Sky…
Most people are unaware that Rudyard Kipling wrote a sequel to his first highly successful anthology of stories, probably because most editions combine the two into one volume (much like the merging of Louisa Alcott’s Little Women and Good Wives). But for what it’s worth, the sequel (or second half) of The Jungle Book is better than its predecessor.
May 10th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Rudyard Kipling | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Gathering of the Lost by Helen Lowe
Every Avalanche Begins with One Stone Falling…
The Gathering of the Lost is the second installment in Helen Lowe’s THE WALL OF NIGHT quartet, the first being The Heir of Night, in which we were first introduced to the story’s protagonist: Malian, the rightful heir to the House of Night, the first of the Nine Houses that garrison the mountain range known as the Wall. Malian’s people,
May 3rd, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Helen Lowe | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Bitterblue is the third book in Kristin Cashore’s series that began with Graceling and continued with Fire, both excellent novels (I gave them 5 stars and 4.5 stars respectively). Bitterblue is not quite as good, but the drop-off is slight, resulting in another strong read and a more than satisfying continuation.
Bitterblue picks up some years after Graceling.
May 1st, 2012. Bill Capossere and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4, 4.5 | Kristin Cashore | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire
The Eye Is Always Caught by the Light, but Shadows Have More to Say…
Gregory Maguire is best known for Wicked, his take on the life of the Wicked Witch of the West, but due to the fact that 2012 seems to be the year of Snow White (with two big-budget films based on the classic fairytale heading into cinemas) I thought that I’d start with his retelling of the girl “with skin as white as snow.”
With a tale so familiar,
April 17th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Gregory Maguire | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
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.