1997.01 | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

Crown of Stars: Stunning in scale and complexity

CROWN OF STARS by Kate Elliott

CROWN OF STARS is well-thought out and obviously well-planned. It’s epic in scope and it’s got a lot of texture. There are many complex characters who we follow in parallel, as in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. Some of them are very likeable, and there are some really excellent villains (e.g., Hugh). Kate Elliott’s creatures are imaginative and enjoyable, and I especially liked the way they interact with the humans. Ms. Elliott uses a lot of description and intricate world-building and therefore her plot moves very slowly (again,

May 16th, 2008. Kat Hooper and John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 3, 3.5 | Kate Elliott | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Lord of the Isles: Not bad, but not engrossing enough

Lord of the Isles by David Drake

David Drake has a considerable reputation as a science-fiction writer, but Lord of the Isles was my first introduction to his work. To be frank, it is not a good introduction.

Lord of the Isles begins in the tried-and-tested high fantasy tradition — ancient events outlined in the prologue, cut to the present on a bucolic location, unexceptional adolescent male character introduced, and on you go. The island of Haft in the Isles of the title is then shocked by the appearance of a ship from the past.

May 16th, 2008. Guest´s rating: 0.1 | David Drake | SFF Reviews | no comments |

When the Gods Slept: Go to the library

When the Gods Slept by Allan Cole

When the Gods Slept is the first book in Allan Cole’s Timuras trilogy and I am debating whether I should read the other two books or not. Generally, I don’t like writing a review until I have read all the books in a trilogy, but I also have a strict rule against paying for additional books when the initial story is pedestrian at best. If I could develop a rating system it would not be based on stars or numbers or thumbs,

May 14th, 2008. Guest´s rating: 3 | Allan Cole | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Running With the Demon: Brooks’ best novel

Running With the Demon by Terry Brooks

Did You Sell Your Soul for So Little?

Terry Brooks is best known for his Shannara series, which is immensely popular despite being rather obviously inspired by Tolkien’s plots, characters and themes. For reasons even I can’t explain, I’ve read quite a few of these novels (despite my disdain for them) and so I can say with a fair amount of confidence that Running With the Demon is undoubtedly Brooks’s best novel.

July 31st, 2007. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Terry Brooks | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Switchers: Slow start, but drastically improves

Switchers by Kate Thompson

Tess is a reasonably distant and lonely child, who takes long walks out into the forest and park lands each day, returning home each evening to somewhat bemused parents. They don’t believe anything is seriously wrong with their child despite the fact she has no friends — they just think she’s a loner that loves the outdoors. But it just so happens that Tess is very different from other teenagers, and harbors a secret that she keeps from every other person on the planet. She has had the ability from a very early age to change into any animal she desires,

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]: 1997.01

Crown of Stars: Stunning in scale and complexity

Lord of the Isles: Not bad, but not engrossing enough

When the Gods Slept: Go to the library

Running With the Demon: Brooks’ best novel

Switchers: Slow start, but drastically improves

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