Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Note: This review contains spoilers for Six of Crows, the first book in this duology.
Crooked Kingdom (2016) picks up the story begun in Six of Crows and takes off like ― well, there are no freight trains in this world, so ― a runaway Grisha on jurda parem. In Six of Crows, teenage crime lord Kaz Brekker and his handpicked group of five pulled off a near-impossible heist,
September 25th, 2020. Tadiana Jones, Rebecca Fisher and Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Leigh Bardugo | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Leigh Bardugo, best known for her GRISHA young adult magical fantasy trilogy, explores a different corner of the Grisha world in her new young adult novel, Six of Crows. In the city of Ketterdam, an analog for Amsterdam, criminal gangs control the waterfront, and the surrounding area is a den of iniquity where everything can be bought and sold, including people. One of the gangs, appropriately called the Dregs, is led by 17 year old Kaz Brekker,
September 23rd, 2020. Tadiana Jones, Rebecca Fisher and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4, 4.5 | Leigh Bardugo | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia & Gabriel Picolo
This recent line of graphic novels showcasing some of DC’s younger heroines seem designed to draw more girls into the world of comic books (not that there weren’t plenty before) with more emphasis not only on female characters, but their experiences as teenagers. Other additions to this series have focused on Mera, Selina Kyle and Harley Quinn, though each one is a standalone story.
As such, the writers assume that readers have no foreknowledge of DC comic books, and each one treats the characters as a “clean slate”,
July 28th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Kami Garcia | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Dark Lord of the Sith Vol. 4: Fortress Vader by Charles Soule & Giuseppe Camuncoli
Have you ever wondered as to how Darth Vader came to have a giant castle on Mustafar, the planet where he was left to die by Obi-Wan Kenobi before Emperor Palpatine gave him his cybernetic body? I mean, it seems a really weird place to have your headquarters, right?
Charles Soule has clearly wondered that too, and like most of the questions raised throughout this Vader-centric series, he supplies some pretty satisfying answers in Dark Lord of the Sith Vol.
July 27th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Charles Soule | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dark Lord of the Sith Vol. 3: The Burning Seas by Charles Soule & Giuseppe Camuncoli
The early years of Darth Vader continue in Dark Lord of the Sith Vol. 3: The Burning Seas, in which Charles Soule explores Vader and the Empire in the near-immediate aftermath of The Revenge of the Sith. As the Empire consolidates its rule over the galaxy, Vader is sent on various missions that test his abilities in the Dark Side and allow him to grow more comfortable with his ever more destructive powers.
July 24th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Charles Soule | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dark Lord of the Sith Vol. 2: Legacy’s End by Charles Soule & Giuseppe Camuncoli
Charles Soule’s DARTH VADER comics explore the character’s thoughts, decisions and actions in the immediate aftermath of The Revenge of the Sith, in which the Empire is still consolidating its power and Vader himself grappling with his new identity as the Emperor’s apprentice.
This volume sees him training the Inquisitors (which featured so heavily in the first two seasons of Star Wars Rebels),
July 23rd, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Charles Soule | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Dark Lord of the Sith Vol. 1: Imperial Machine by Charles Soule & Jim Cheung
Although Charles Soule’s DARTH VADER: DARK LORD OF THE SITH was released after Kieron Gillen’s DARTH VADER, it’s chronologically set several years before, in what is almost the immediate aftermath of The Revenge of the Sith (whereas Gillen’s story was set after the destruction of the Death Star in A New Hope).
So the character featured here is a “young” Vader,
July 22nd, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Charles Soule | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Mera: Tidebreaker by Danielle Paige & Stephen Byrne
This is one in a series of graphic novels starring DC heroines in their teenage years, not compliant with any comic-book continuity, but which are aimed at slightly younger readers who might be interested in some of the female characters to have appeared in the recent influx of superhero movies (other titles in the series include Catwoman, Raven and Harley Quinn).
Having enjoyed Aquaman starring Jason Momoa and Amber Heard, I picked Mera: Tidebreaker up on a whim to learn more about the character of Mera,
July 16th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
The third and final instalment in Leigh Bardugo‘s GRISHA trilogy was far more rewarding than I had ever anticipated. Though I liked the first book Shadow and Bone and really liked the sequel Siege and Storm, it was Ruin and Rising that I truly loved.
It’s difficult to summarize the finale of any book series without giving away details of its predecessors,
July 15th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Leigh Bardugo | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Siege and Storm (2013) is the second book in Leigh Bardugo‘s GRISHA trilogy, and does what any good sequel should do: expands the world, deepens the characters and raises the stakes. On the other hand, it can’t quite avoid the pitfalls of a typical middle book — being unable to truly start or properly finish anything; it ends on a note that gives the impression the whole thing has been setup for the third and final instalment.
July 10th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Leigh Bardugo | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
For some strange reason, I get the feeling I might like this one! 😁
Wow, 20 dollars? That seems a lot for a 100-or-so-page book, but most of my novellas have come via ARCs…
I might say "formulaic" actually.
Your review made me curious, so I looked this book up. Sure enough: Tor. Tor seems to specialize in these…
It's a tightrope act for sure.