I’m a huge fan of Dan Simmons’s work — when he hits. With The Hollow Man, he misses. Though his talent as a stylist is once again on full display here, the story is confused and overly-complex, leaving the objective of The Hollow Man obscure and ambiguous. One look at the plot devices at work — neuroscience, serial killers, homelessness, telepathy, depression, the mafia, quantum physics — ought to tell you the story is bogged down with excess baggage.
January 25th, 2013. Jesse Hudson´s rating: 2.5 | Dan Simmons | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Megan Lindholm is perhaps better known under her pseudonym Robin Hobb. Since the appearance of Assassin’s Apprentice in 1995, her work set in the Realm of the Elderlings has gained her a wide popularity among fans of epic fantasy. Before the emergence of Hobb, Lindholm had already published ten other novels. A lot of these are out of print these days and that is a shame; the seven I’ve read so far are more than worth reading. It should be noted that Lindholm had a good reason to adopt another pen name.
January 10th, 2013. Rob Weber´s rating: 4.5 | Megan Lindholm | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Readers considering whether they should read Neal Stephenson’s breakthrough novel, Snow Crash, would do well to read the novel’s opening chapters about the Deliverator. Rarely has a sales pitch been so blatantly — and so masterfully — launched at the start of a novel. Even James Bond must envy such a rich opening gambit.
For some readers, the remainder of Snow Crash will not live up to the pacing of the opening sequence.
May 2nd, 2012. Ryan Skardal, Stuart Starosta and Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Neal Stephenson | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Master of Whitestorm by Janny Wurts
As The Master of Whitestorm starts off, Haldeth, a blacksmith turned galley slave, gets involved in an escape attempt by his bench mate, a mysterious and silent man who quickly proves to have surprising skills and hidden depths. After the two companions escape, they strike out together, and the mysterious man, whose name turns out to be Korendir, takes on a number of mercenary missions. It quickly becomes clear that Korendir is, to put it lightly, very focused on gathering enough money to build an impregnable fortress on the cliffs of Whitestorm…
March 10th, 2010. Stefan Raets, John Hulet and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Janny Wurts | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
In this homage to the troubadours and the “court of love” of medieval France, Guy Gavriel Kay comes down from the dizzying heights of The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy and creates a beautiful and memorable tale of mere mortals ensnared by political intrigue, enmity and love. (GGK does allude to Fionavar quite nicely, however, in a brief lullaby.)
While the plot is perhaps too complex for adequate summary here, it’s certainly not too complex for your reading pleasure.
September 27th, 2007. Rob Rhodes and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4, 4.5 | Guy Gavriel Kay | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.