Posted by Kat Hooper | May 7, 2018 | SFF Reviews | 1
Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey Talia is not like normal 13-year-old girls. She likes to read adventure stories and she fantasizes about being a Herald for the queen of Valdemar. She does not want to get married to one of the dreary men in her patriarchal village. So, when a Companion — one […]
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Posted by Sarah Chorn | Feb 5, 2018 | SFF Reviews | 0
Wraeththu by Storm Constantine Oddly enough, I started reading Wraeththu because I happened upon it randomly in the bookstore and I was absolutely entranced by the fact that I didn’t like the cover art at all. That’s the opposite response I usually have toward cover art. I’m not sure why this is the one book that I […]
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Posted by Katie Burton | Dec 8, 2017 | SFF Reviews | 14
Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurts THE EMPIRE CYCLE is the second trilogy set in Raymond E. Feist’s (and in this case Janny Wurts’) Riftwar universe. Readers of the RIFTWAR SAGA (the first trilogy by publication date) will know all about the world of Midkemia and its war with the otherworldly […]
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Posted by Marion Deeds | Jun 29, 2017 | SFF Reviews | 0
Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody Elspeth has dreams that come true. She can read thoughts, even the thoughts of animals, especially the strange cat Maruman. These gifts make her a Misfit, marked for death in her world. Isobelle Carmody’s post-apocalyptic fantasy Obernewtyn, published in 1987, follows Elspeth from the “orphanage farm,” where she and her brother […]
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Posted by Kat Hooper | Aug 16, 2016 | SFF Reviews | 3
Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners by Ellen Kushner Set in a fictional Georgian-era-type society, Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners is a “fantasy of manners” or “mannerpunk” novel. In contrast to epic fantasy, where the characters are fighting with swords and the fate of the universe is often at stake, mannerpunk novels are usually set in a hierarchical […]
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Posted by Stuart Starosta | Mar 23, 2016 | SFF Reviews | 3
Dawn by Octavia Butler Dawn (1987) is the first book in Octavia Butler’s XENOGENESIS trilogy, written after her PATTERNIST series. By this point she had been writing challenging science fiction novels for a decade, and her writing craft and ideas had reached a high level. Dawn is a very impressive book. Imagine that mankind has […]
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Posted by Kat Hooper | Dec 31, 2015 | SFF Reviews | 3
Dawn for a Distant Earth by L.E. Modesitt Jr In the far future, after humanity has spread throughout the galaxy, Old Earth is an abandoned ruin. Nuclear waste and bad environmental policies have killed the ecology and changed the climate. Now Earth is a frozen and desolate wasteland with dangerous sheer winds. Only the toughest […]
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Posted by Jesse Hudson | Jan 29, 2015 | SFF Reviews | 0
THE CADWAL CHRONICLES by Jack Vance The 1980s found Jack Vance moving into his sixth decade of life. Imagination still sharp, he produced such works as the LYONESSE trilogy, the second half of the DYING EARTH saga, as well as began THE CADWAL CHRONICLES with Araminta Station published in 1989. The novel is on par with […]
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Posted by Ryan Skardal | Dec 28, 2012 | SFF Reviews | 2
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks Consider Phlebas, the first of Iain M. Banks’s CULTURE novels, introduces readers to the Culture, a machine-led intergalactic civilization that offers its biological humanoids a carefree, utopian lifestyle. Though most centuries are free from worry, Consider Phlebas takes place in the middle of the Idiran-Culture War. The Culture is an […]
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Posted by Kat Hooper | Sep 15, 2012 | SFF Reviews | 1
Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card When you’re surrounded by light, how do you know whether it’s the glory of God, or the flames of Hell? Set in an alternate American frontier, Seventh Son is the first in Orson Scott Card’s THE TALES OF ALVIN MAKER. Alvin Miller is the seventh son of a seventh […]
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Posted by Kat Hooper | Jul 12, 2012 | SFF Reviews | 1
In Conquest Born by C.S. Friedman If you like epic space opera with imaginatively detailed world-building and a focus on characters rather than gadgets, try In Conquest Born, C.S. Friedman’s extremely impressive first novel. This complex, sprawling story begins with the births of two enemies-to-be from two different worlds that have been fighting each other […]
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Posted by Kat Hooper | Feb 3, 2012 | SFF Reviews | 2
Infernal Devices: A Mad Victorian Fantasy by K.W. Jeter George Dower’s father was a watchmaker, but he didn’t just make watches. Some of his special customers knew he was a genius with all sorts of gear work. When his father died, George inherited the watch shop. Unfortunately, he didn’t inherit his father’s genius. He can […]
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Posted by Kelly Lasiter | Nov 5, 2010 | SFF Reviews | 0
Child of the Northern Spring by Persia Woolley Child of the Northern Spring is not, strictly speaking, a retelling of the Arthurian legend. I discovered it on a used-bookstore shelf and didn’t realize that it was the first book in a trilogy, and that it only dealt with Guinevere’s early life, up until her marriage […]
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Posted by Ruth Arnell (RETIRED) | Jun 14, 2010 | SFF Reviews | 3
Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll I know Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll has gotten really good reviews, and is supposed to be the source material for the Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman, but 50 pages in to the story, I didn’t care about any of the characters and the only […]
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Posted by Guest | Sep 12, 2008 | SFF Reviews | 0
THE TALE OF KRISPOS by Harry Turtledove The opening chapter of The Tale of Krispos really sucked me in. There is realism, which I’m always a fan of, and there are hardly any wasted words. At least that’s how it is at first — but more on that later. Harry Turtledove does a great job of describing […]
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Posted by Guest | May 27, 2008 | SFF Reviews | 0
THE MALLOREON by David Eddings Take the plot from The Belgariad, add in the same characters, plus a couple of new ones that look strangely similar to ones in The Belgariad, and you have The Malloreon. Instead of chasing the Orb, the gang is chasing Garion and Ce’Nedra’s son. This is a quest type of fantasy, and the […]
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Posted by Robert Thompson (RETIRED) | Oct 5, 2007 | SFF Reviews | 1
Stalking the Unicorn by Mike Resnick I had a complete blast reading Mike Resnick’s Stalking the Unicorn. It was smart, highly inventive, outrageously funny — led by hilariously wry dialogue — and fun. It was also immensely rewarding, especially getting to see how John Justin Mallory ended up in the other Manhattan, how he became […]
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Posted by Rebecca Fisher | Jun 19, 2007 | SFF Reviews | 0
The Night of the Solstice by L.J. Smith The Night of the Solstice, followed by its sequel Heart of Valor, were Lisa Jane Smith‘s first novels, targeted at younger readers, unlike her later (and more popular) horror/teen romance novels surrounding the lives of vampires, witches, shapeshifters and the like. In her delving into the fantasy […]
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