There will be Dragons by John Ringo
The premise of There Will Be Dragons is interesting, the kind of premise that made me want to read the book just to see where John Ringo would go with it. Ringo paints a unique, utopian world with a nearly perfect society. Then, in this perfect world, an apocalypse happens and forces these individuals to live in pre-industrial style. I would consider There Will Be Dragons a science fiction/fantasy hybrid.
This is a broad undertaking for any author,
January 22nd, 2013. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 3 | John Ringo | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Emma Bull turns the infamous gunfight at the OK Corral into a romping fantasy adventure in Territory.
Since I don’t know much about this period, most of the historical specifics were lost on me. For example, I can’t critique her characterization of Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday or say if she was accurate with the nitty-gritty details of events. Thus, historical accuracy wasn’t a huge deal to me, which allowed me to sit back and really enjoy the book for its story.
July 25th, 2012. Sarah Chorn | Emma Bull | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
I’ve been on a young adult kick recently, which is odd for me because I tend to not enjoy young adult books. I’ve lucked out, though. I’ve actually been enjoying the recent flood of young adult books that have come my direction. It’s been a refreshing change of pace from my usual reading routine. Lightbringer is one of those young adult books I didn’t expect to enjoy, but ended up appreciating more than I anticipated.
Lightbringer takes place both in our world and in a parallel world called The Never.
July 2nd, 2012. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 4 | K.D. McEntire | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Thirteen Hallows by Michael Scott & Colette Freedman
I don’t generally read urban fantasy, but this one looked too good to ignore. Thirteen Hallows is an incredibly dark, urban, mystery/suspense novel based on the legend of the thirteen hallows, which I had never heard about before I read this book. The hallows fill the book with an interesting and appealing history that may inspire readers to research these legendary objects on their own.
Thirteen Hallows is told from multiple points of view and while some of these perspectives are done better than others,
June 13th, 2012. Sarah Chorn | Michael Scott | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Rules of Ascension by David B. Coe
I picked up Rules of Ascension randomly from the library. I was wandering around the shelves and saw the guy on the cover and thought, “huh, he’s oddly white…” This sealed the deal. I had to learn more about the abnormally white guy on the cover (isn’t my thought process fascinating?). It was rather exciting to pick up a book I had never heard of and knew nothing about. The experience paid off. I didn’t have high hopes for this book,
April 7th, 2012. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 4 | David B. Coe | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Justine Jones is a hypochondriac whose mental health is quickly spiraling downward. She’s convinced she has vein star syndrome, the condition that killed her mother. Then she meets the mysterious Packard, who recruits her into his team of Disillusionists. Disillusionists are essentially psychic vigilantes, attacking criminals by zapping their own psychological problems into the bad guy’s energy field. When the criminal has been reduced to a gibbering mass of anxiety, so Packard’s theory goes, he or she can start building a new life as a better person.
May 23rd, 2011. Kelly Lasiter and Sarah Chorn´s rating: 3 | Carolyn Crane | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Shadow by K.J. Parker is a difficult book to recommend because I highly enjoyed it, but I can also understand why many readers might hate it or be unable to finish it. It’s a unique book.
Shadow opens with the protagonist waking up surrounded by dead bodies and having no memory of who he is. He goes from one odd situation to another trying to make some sort of life for himself while trying to find out who he is and where he fits in the world.
April 17th, 2011. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 4 | K.J. Parker | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Escapement picks up where Evil for Evil left off. It’s shorter than the previous two books in The Engineer Trilogy, but for all its brevity, it’s still packed with surprises. After reading two books without fully knowing what is being manipulated and planned, readers are presented with nearly constant revelations regarding characters and plot points that had only been hinted at and alluded to before.
Up to this point in the trilogy, Parker has indirectly discussed love and the question of the existence of good and evil.
March 3rd, 2011. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 5 | K.J. Parker | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Ian McDonald’s River of Gods is a complex, multi-threaded tale that takes place in near-future India which has been split into somewhat warring states. There is a water shortage as the monsoon hasn’t come in three years, a rigid caste system is in place, and political and economic strife is tearing cities apart at the seams. While the rich get richer and designer babies are common among the elite, there is a gross gender imbalance where men outnumber women by two thirds.
January 15th, 2011. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 4 | Ian McDonald | BSFA Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Evil for Evil is the second book in K.J. Parker’s Engineer Trilogy and it is probably one of the strongest “middle books” I’ve read. Evil for Evil hits the road running and not once does the plot slow down or ease up. Parker’s writing is, as always, rich, detailed, evocative and dry. The theme is the same: the importance, and ultimately destructiveness, of love as well as the importance of creation and desire. While these themes may seem rather mundane and arbitrary,
January 9th, 2011. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 5 | K.J. Parker | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
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…