Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
Dragon Rider is an early Cornelia Funke novel brought to the U.S. after the success of hermore recent The Thief Lord and Inkheart. Dragon Rider begins with a young dragon named Firedrake who starts off on a quest for the Rim of Heaven, a possibly mythical land where Firedrake and his fellow dragons hope to flee to in order to escape encroaching mankind whose earth-moving machines are on their way.
April 5th, 2008. Bill Capossere and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Cornelia Funke | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews
No sophomore slump here! Ilona Andrews follows — and tops — her debut novel with an excellent sequel, Magic Burns (2008).
We get some more world-building. Andrews explains, in a way that flows smoothly with the story and doesn’t feel like an infodump, the theory as to why the magic and tech have gone wonky in the first place. We also learn about magic flares, which occur roughly every seven years. During these upsurges in magic, powerful and dangerous summonings can be done.
April 1st, 2008. Kelly Lasiter, John Hulet, Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Ilona Andrews | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones
Castle in the Air is the sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle, both of which are two of my favourite Diana Wynne Jones books (and according to an interview Howl’s Moving Castle is one of hers). I strongly suggest reading this preceding novel before tackling the sequel as several of the characters and plot twists found here will not be fully appreciated without knowing the previous story (which is a mistake I made).
February 11th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Diana Wynne Jones | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold
After reading Lois McMaster Bujold‘s first Chalion book, I was an instant fan (see review above). So, I was really excited to get my hands on the audio versions of the first two novels in her second fantasy series: The Sharing Knife.
Alas, it really pains me to have to write a lackluster review for anything Bujold does, but here we go.
First, let me say that Beguilement is a romance novel,
January 15th, 2008. Kat Hooper and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3 | Lois McMaster Bujold | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
Magic Bites (2007) is an exciting urban fantasy with a unique premise and detailed world-building, somewhat marred by an unsatisfying twist in the story’s central mystery.
I give Ilona Andrews a lot of points for creativity here. In Magic Bites‘ near-future setting, magic and technology come and go a bit like the weather; when magic is working, tech isn’t, and vice versa. The shifts are unpredictable, but it can be assumed there will be several per day.
January 9th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter, Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Ilona Andrews | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
At the start, I want to give Brandon Sanderson props just for doing what seems to be the unthinkable nowadays — writing a standalone fantasy, a book that actually comes to a close, a book that is just that, a book and not the “start of a bright new fresh trilogy that out-Tolkien’s Tolkien!” Luckily, Elantris holds up well and even merits beyond being a standalone.
Elantris is the name of the city that until ten years ago was inhabited by near-gods,
November 7th, 2007. Bill Capossere, Kat Hooper, Terry Weyna and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Brandon Sanderson | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Sorcery and Cecelia (The Enchanted Chocolate Pot) by Patricia C. Wrede
To best understand Sorcery and Cecelia one has to first flick to the back of the book in order to read the authors’ afterword in which they explain the format and history of their story. After hearing of a game called “The Letter Game,” Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer decided to have a go — each took on the persona of two young women in a more magically flavoured 1800’s, and wrote to each other concerning their activities.
August 6th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Caroline Stevermer, Patricia C. Wrede | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
I’m giving Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell a 5 for the simply reason that I thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through, but I’d warn all readers to be more wary than usual of reviews (including this one). More than many books, this one I think will be a matter of true personal taste and experience will be your only truly accurate guide.
To begin with, Strange is often referred to as a “fantasy”
July 14th, 2007. Bill Capossere, Kat Hooper, Marion Deeds, Tadiana Jones and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Susanna Clarke | Audio, Hugo Award, Mythopoeic Award, Stand-Alone, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Overall, I am impressed with Maria Snyder‘s first novel, Poison Study. It was well written and the main characters are likeable, complex, and engaging. The characters of the “supporting staff” are also well done. The dialogue is realistic and the writing style is pleasant and unpretentious. The pace is quick, there is political intrigue, spying, treachery, fighting, forgiveness, personal growth, and romance (although the single love scene was confusing and a bit corny).
However, the plot was somewhat predictable and there were few surprises.
June 9th, 2007. Kat Hooper, John Hulet, Tadiana Jones and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Maria V. Snyder | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Sabriel is one of the best fantasy books out there, full stop. Although not up to the deep literary analysis of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings or Pullman’s His Dark Materials, it is a realistic, fantastical, intriguing and thought-provoking novel that’s right up there with the best of them. Garth Nix creates a dark, almost Gothic world that echoes with age and believability that is intoxicating to explore: the magically-imbued Old Kingdom that lies across the Wall from the more scientific-orientated Ancelstierre,
June 4th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Garth Nix | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
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
These weird westerns are always interesting and have been popping up more in recent times (it seemed like there was…
Looking forward to reading the review.