Darren Shan’s Hell’s Horizon is a weird sequel — if you think it’s weird to completely ignore the hero of the first novel in a trilogy. After describing the mysterious and mystical rise of Capac Raimi in Procession of the Dead, Shan turns his attentions to Al Jeery, a random soldier in the Cardinal’s army known as Troops. Al doesn’t realize it, but he’s about to be promoted. His new job, believe it or not, is to develop some ambition in life by investigating and solving a murder.
January 11th, 2011. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 2 | Darren Shan | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Anton Gorodetsky is a magician-detective from Moscow’s Night Watch, an organization of light wizards and sorceresses that police the dark magicians. In spite of all the Night Watch’s claims about self-sacrifice and goodness, Sergei Lukyanenko’s urban fantasy takes place in a world that exists beyond the borders of good and evil. The light magicians are just as prone to illicit activities and there is a Day Watch that monitors the activities of wizards like Anton before they can go overboard in their attempts to save the world.
January 9th, 2011. Ryan Skardal and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Sergei Lukyanenko | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Procession of the Dead by Darren Shan
Procession of the Dead has had an interesting publication history. First published in 1999, Procession of the Dead was originally titled Ayuamarca and was intended to be the first novel in The City trilogy. Unfortunately, the series did not find an audience and the third book was never published. The original author, Darren O’Shaughnessy, went on to fame and fortune under a new pen name (Darren Shan) and with a new series (The Saga of Darren Shan).
January 9th, 2011. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Darren Shan | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ryan Skardal introduces Edge of the Universe, a new column that will run on occasional Fridays.
Justin Cronin’s The Passage was one of the most popular novels of 2010. In fact, The Passage may well be a tour de force of genre fiction, if for no other reason than it seems to bring so many genres together with its cowboys, vampires, post-apocalyptic society, and even a mystical nun. Yet, The Passage was often marketed,
January 7th, 2011. Ryan Skardal | Edge | SFF Reviews | 9 comments |
When we think of Arthurian legends, we tend to imagine certain things. Merlyn is ancient and wise, and Arthur is strong and a leader of men. In his A Dream of Eagles series (Camulod Chronicles in America), Jack Whyte does his best to undermine these expectations. When we meet Merlyn in The Eagle’s Brood, the third book of the series, he is a warrior. Now, we meet Arthur, a toddler with golden eyes. Will he prove fit to carry the sword that Publius Varrus forged in The Singing Sword?
January 4th, 2011. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Jack Whyte | SFF Reviews | no comments |
THE BOOK OF THE SHORT SUN by Gene Wolfe
Gene Wolfe has earned a reputation for writing novels that benefit from being read twice. His works are often complex and they do tend to reward careful reading, so much so that it’s not uncommon to hear prospective readers asking which of his Solar Cycle works is the easiest to read. Wolfe’s Book of the Short Sun trilogy is certainly not the place to start, but it is an otherwise fine finish to this distinguished cycle of stories that bridge the gap between fantasy and science fiction,
December 31st, 2010. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Gene Wolfe | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The Eagle’s Brood by Jack Whyte
The Eagle’s Brood, by Jack Whyte, is the third book in the A Dream of Eagles series (Camulod Chronicles, in America) and it does something that up to this point has been unthinkable: characters that are recognizably from Arthurian legend take center stage.
For two novels, Whyte’s take on the Arthurian legend has focused on the exploits of Publius Varrus and his visionary general Caius Britannicus. Now, a new generation has taken over, one including Uther Pendragon and Caius Merlyn Britannicus.
December 25th, 2010. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Jack Whyte | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison®
If Harlan Ellison’s afterword from 2010 is to be believed, Deathbird Stories is a short story collection about the merits of religion and the religious. Given that Ellison is perhaps as confrontational as he is influential in sci-fi circles, we can expect him to crush eggshells as he goes. However, with a few exceptions (“Bleeding Stone,” for example) these stories tend to examine the values and ideas that we have placed at the forefront of our society. In short, Ellison explores the West’s changing values and the new deities of the 20th century.
December 22nd, 2010. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Harlan Ellison | BSFA Award, Hugo Award, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Epiphany of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe
EPIPHANY OF THE LONG SUN is an omnibus that combines Caldé of the Long Sun and Exodus from the Long Sun.
A smooth speaker, naturally athletic, and an intuitive and inventive tactician, Silk may well prove to be the greatest Caldé that Viron has ever had. He even has impeccable manners. Even authors of fantasy, a genre that has created many near-perfect savior figures, run a risk when they make their heroes too good.
December 17th, 2010. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 5 | Gene Wolfe | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Singing Sword by Jack Whyte
In some ways, The Singing Sword, second in Jack Whyte’s A Dream of Eagles (Camulod Chronicles in America) series, is just like The Skystone. The Roman Empire is in retreat and soldier/ blacksmith Publius Varrus chronicles the early days of Caius Britannicus’ Roman villa. Arthur is still nowhere in sight.
Whyte has a great talent for outlining battles and duels, but his passion is for world building through dialogue,
December 16th, 2010. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Jack Whyte | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…
this sounds like a fun one