1995.01 | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

Stalking Tender Prey

Stalking Tender Prey by Storm Constantine

Stalking Tender Prey draws on the legend of the Grigori, or Watchers. The Grigori are said to be angels whose over-entanglement with mortals led to their Fall. The central character in Stalking Tender Prey, Peverel Othman, is a Grigori who takes up residence in the small English hamlet of Little Moor, with life-changing results for the townspeople. His arrival precipitates an awakening of sorts, and a loss of inhibitions.

At first, what this means is sex. This is where some readers may be put off.

April 8th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Storm Constantine | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Book of Earth: I’m indifferent

The Book of Earth by Marjorie B. Kellogg

Erde, the daughter of a German noble, is suddenly and terribly thrust into a world of magic and fear when she is accused of a crime she did not commit. After fleeing her father’s wrath and the insane ravings of a power-hungry priest, Erde heads into the mountains to be joined by a small, clumsy, surprisingly un-fantastic dragon named Earth.

Earth knows that he is called to a higher purpose, he just does not know exactly what. Content to put as much distance between her father and herself as possible,

February 10th, 2008. Guest´s rating: 2.5 | Marjorie B. Kellogg | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Book of Words: Never a dull moment

THE BOOK OF WORDS by J.V. Jones

The Baker’s Boy kicks off the exciting Book of Words trilogy. These are J.V. Jones‘ first published books and already she had pinned down all that we as fantasy lovers enjoy most about our genre: picturesque settings, dangerous cities, noble and mysterious heroes, three-dimensional villains, plotting royalty, charismatic rogues. And it’s all seasoned with just the right amount of sorcery.

I was introduced to J.V. Jones with A Cavern of Black Ice,

July 2nd, 2007. Greg Hersom´s rating: 4 | J.V. Jones | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Fortress in the Eye of Time: Different slant on an old story

Fortress in the Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh

I loved Fortress in the Eye of Time. To be honest, the first half of the book doesn’t move very fast, but you come to appreciate how C.J. Cherryh controls the flow of the story based on the progress of the main character. It’s a very interesting technique that takes a little patience to enjoy.

The story centers around a young man who is called back from a distant past and who’s soul has already lived a life.

June 14th, 2007. John Hulet´s rating: 5 | C.J. Cherryh | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Golden Compass: Extraordinary, controversial, fascinating, infuriating

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass (or, if you follow the British print-run, Northern Lights) is the first book of Philip Pullman‘s extraordinary, controversial, thought-provoking, fascinating, infuriating, allegorical trilogy His Dark Materials. Followed by The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, the books have a huge range of ideas and meanings; from exploring the bond between the body and soul, to denouncing modern religious practices, to retelling Milton’s Paradise Lost from a completely different point of view.

Sabriel: Intoxicating reading

Sabriel by Garth Nix

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,

The Sword of Truth: This is a mean number of stars. I mean a statistical mean.

THE SWORD OF TRUTH (books 1-10) by Terry Goodkind

Terry Goodkind’s first book, Wizard’s First Rule, was entertaining many years ago when I was a relatively new adult epic fantasy reader. Except for the actual First Rule (“People are Stupid”), which was… stupid. The story had some fascinating characters (mostly the secondary ones — I could never muster up much care for Kahlan) and Richard started out as a pretty good hero. The next couple of books of The Sword of Truth were also fun for someone who is not particularly demanding (which I wasn’t at the time).

June 3rd, 2007. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Terry Goodkind | SFF Reviews | 13 comments |

Order [book in series=yearoffirstbook.book# (eg 2014.01), stand-alone or one-author collection=3333.pubyear, multi-author anthology=5555.pubyear, SFM/MM=5000, interview=1111]: 1995.01

Stalking Tender Prey

The Book of Earth: I’m indifferent

The Book of Words: Never a dull moment

Fortress in the Eye of Time: Different slant on an old story

The Golden Compass: Extraordinary, controversial, fascinating, infuriating

Sabriel: Intoxicating reading

The Sword of Truth: This is a mean number of stars. I mean a statistical mean.

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