Honored Enemy & Murder in LaMut by Raymond E. Feist, William R. Forstchen & Joel Rosenberg
Raymond E. Feist has always been notable for his willingness to share the world of Midkemia. In all his acknowledgments and dedications, Feist notes that from its very inception the world has been a collaborative effort. His Empire trilogy was a collaboration with Janny Wurts, and the computer game Betrayal at Krondor had to be shared,
June 18th, 2009. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 3 | Joel Rosenberg, Raymond E. Feist, S.M. Stirling, William R. Forstchen | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Charles de Lint said once that the current urban-fantasy novels are highly focused on character, and that readers like or dislike a series based on whether they connect with the protagonist. (I wish I could find that quote!) Based on this, I’m not surprised that Charlaine Harris has, as I write this review, the top three best-selling fantasy titles on Amazon. Disclaimer: I’ve only read this first book so far, and haven’t seen the TV series. But from what I’ve seen, Sookie Stackhouse is a delight.
June 16th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter and Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5, 4 | Charlaine Harris | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ill Met by Moonlight by Sarah A. Hoyt
Quicksilver is a faery version of Prince Hamlet. He is the rightful ruler of his people, but his inheritance has been usurped by his murderous brother. He can only wreak revenge and claim his birthright with the help of a mortal, and Will Shakespeare seems like just the man for the job. Luckily, Quicksilver has a gender-shifting talent, and Will is much intrigued by Q’s female aspect…
Will has an agenda as well; his wife has been kidnapped by the aforementioned usurping king,
May 26th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Sarah A. Hoyt | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
In the years beyond the 30th century, after life as we know it is destroyed in the Sixty Minutes War, the world is divided into three: the Static communities, who live in farms and buildings firmly stationed on the earth, the aviators, who travel the Bird Roads in the sky, and the Traction Cities, the giant cities on engineered wheels who live by the Municipal Darwinism — the big cities devour the little cities for their resources. And the biggest Traction City of them all is London,
August 5th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Philip Reeve | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Yesterday’s Dreams by Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Danielle Ackley-McPhail’s novel Yesterday’s Dreams is an interesting mix of Celtic myth, women’s empowerment literature, and urban fantasy. The story is about Kara O’Keefe, a gifted violinist who, through unfortunate circumstance, is forced to pawn her most prized possession, her violin. In doing so, she comes across an unusual pawnshop, called Yesterday’s Dreams, with a caring and kind proprietor who gets Kara out of her jam. But unbeknownst to Kara, this pawnshop and its proprietor are unique in magical and mystical ways.
July 11th, 2008. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 3.5 | Danielle Ackley-McPhail | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Kelley Armstrong is a very competent writer and her command of the urban fantasy genre is also really good. She knows how to manage dialogue and keep pace with both action and character development. So, Bitten, the first book of the Women of the Otherworld series, should be a great book, right?
Ok, I despised Bitten because the main character, Elena Michaels, is such a ridiculous brat that I simply couldn’t stand her. Armstrong has created such a completely unbelievable character that I was happy when the book was over and the totally predictable ending brought my suffering to a close.
March 9th, 2008. John Hulet´s rating: 2.5 | Kelley Armstrong | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Kingless Land by Ed Greenwood
To say there is little plot to The Kingless Land is an understatement. I used to game with a number of players where one of them kept notes of our gaming session. The next time we came together to game, he would recap what occurred the last time we played. Greenwood apparently has this down to an art form. The Kingless Land reads exactly like a D&D gaming session. I can’t think of anything more boring than reading about someone else’s D&D adventures.
January 25th, 2008. Guest | Ed Greenwood | SFF Reviews | no comments |
THE SWANS’ WAR by Sean Russell
I struggled through these books and I only read them because Stephen Donaldson and Robin Hobb gave them high praise.
What I did like is that the characters were unique, with the exception of Tam and Prince Michael — they seemed to be the same character. All other characters seemed to be woven from a fresh cloak — they were different people who came from different backgrounds but learned to live together.
What I didn’t like was that there was a distinct lack of urgency.
November 6th, 2007. Guest´s rating: 2 | Sean Russell | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Prospero’s Children by Jan Siegel
Fern is a no-nonsense kind of girl, who acts as her befuddled father’s aid and her young brother Will’s mother-figure and certainly has no time for games or imaginings. But all that is about to change when her family inherit a home in Yorkshire and her father introduces two new business associates; the cold and creepy Javier Holt and the sensuous and manipulative Alison Redmond.
A painting of a lost city, a rock that looks like a cloaked man, a sinister talking idol, a ship figurehead,
October 26th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Jan Siegel | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Anselm Audley begins a somewhat non-traditional fantasy series set in what was one of the most creative environments I have read recently. The main character of Heresy, Cathan, is very typical for most fantasy in that he has powers he doesn’t know about, is the son of a nobleman, and gets caught up in a major struggle that will affect the world. Cliché…
The bad guys are a group of fanatical priests who are trying to control the whole world and make the worship of their God the only acceptable form of religion.
August 9th, 2007. John Hulet´s rating: 3.5 | Anselm Audley | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Childhood's End- Arthur C. Clarke
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