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]: 2002.01

Undead and Unwed: Cute and entertaining paranormal romance

Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson

Betsy Taylor is having a rough week. First she gets fired, then she gets hit by a car, and then she wakes up in a coffin lined with plush pink satin (yuck!) wearing an unfashionable dress, cheap shoes, and the wrong color make-up. How embarrassing! After piecing together the clues and visiting a minister, Betsy realizes that she’s a very unusual vampire — she’s not affected by crosses, holy water, or sunlight. She does, however, need to drink blood.

Betsy is determined to make the most of her death by getting back to her normal life,

Hominids: What if Neanderthals survived on a parallel Earth?

Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer

What would it be like if Neanderthals had become the dominant race of humans on the planet? Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer explores that very idea. This book follows a brilliant Neanderthal physicist named Ponter Boddet. Ponter and his partner, while working on experimental quantum computers, accidently open a bridge between universes. The bridge leads to the world we (Homo sapiens sapiens) currently reside in. Ponter fell into our world accidently and has now become stranded here.

Rules of Ascension: A pleasant surprise

Rules of Ascension by David B. Coe

I picked up Rules of Ascension randomly from the library. I was wandering around the shelves and saw the guy on the cover and thought, “huh, he’s oddly white…” This sealed the deal. I had to learn more about the abnormally white guy on the cover (isn’t my thought process fascinating?). It was rather exciting to pick up a book I had never heard of and knew nothing about. The experience paid off. I didn’t have high hopes for this book,

April 7th, 2012. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 4 | David B. Coe | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Light: I feel drained

Light by M. John Harrison

Michael Kearney is a physicist. He’s also a serial killer. Obsessed with numbers and patterns since he was three, he sees something behind them. Something is there, something dark and ominous that starts to emerge sometimes. He calls it the Shrander and the only way to hold it back is to kill someone. Trying to appease the Shrander, Michael uses Tarot cards and a special pair of bone dice to try to figure out what he’s supposed to do next. He’s also teamed up with a colleague named Brian Tate to study the relationship between mathematics and prophecy.

The Dragon DelaSangre: Troop can’t quite pull it off

The Dragon DelaSangre by Alan F. Troop

Peter DelaSangre is a dragon. Yes, he looks human; that’s because dragons are shapeshifters. And he appreciates a lot about the human race, including such things as television, music, and women — but he probably appreciates the way they taste most of all. Because for dragons, humans are prey, and nothing else will really do, at least not in the long run.

Alan F. Troop’s protagonist in his first novel, The Dragon DelaSangre, is therefore not a likeable character.

January 20th, 2012. Terry Weyna´s rating: 2 | Alan F. Troop | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Fifth Sorceress: Clutters rackspace

The Fifth Sorceress by Robert Newcomb

This ambitious debut novel is set in a realm in which two kingdoms are divided by an impassable sea. Over 300 years prior to the story’s opening, a vicious war led to the exile of a coven of evil sorceresses whose lust for power would have led to the utter destruction of peaceful Eutracia had it not been for the intervention of the noble Directorate of Wizards. The book’s startlingly blunt sexual politics, in which the heroes are all male and the villains female, is only one of its dubious qualities.

July 22nd, 2011. Thomas M. Wagner (guest)´s rating: 1.5 | Robert Newcomb | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

Fires of the Faithful: Sad, frightening, stirring

Fires of the Faithful by Naomi Kritzer

Eliana’s music-conservatory education is uneventful until Mira and the new song arrive. Mira is her new roommate; Eliana is drawn to her but suspects she is lying about her past. The song — a catchy little ditty about a murderous stepmother –may actually be a cover for a controversial idea. Then the inquisitors of the Fedeli show up at the conservatory, looking for heretics. Eliana is shocked and angered when a friend is executed —— and shocked again when she learns the secret cause behind a famine that has been plaguing the land.

April 25th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Naomi Kritzer | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Gates of Rome: A fast-paced adventure

The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden

I was surprised to discover that Conn Iggulden’s The Gates of Rome isn’t a fantasy novel.

Sure, The Gates of Rome is about Julius Caesar. And there is an author’s note discussing historical authenticity at the end of the story. Clearly, this is supposed to be a work of historical fiction. Nevertheless, that doesn’t stop Conn Iggulden from borrowing liberally from fantasy’s most enduring tropes, ranging from the defiance of bullies to the ascension of a child of fate.

Altered Carbon: Graphic, brutal, and thrilling

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan

Richard K Morgan’s Altered Carbon, the first Takeshi Kovacs novel, is a roller-coaster ride. Morgan cycles us through traditional science-fiction, some mean-streets detective drama and a fine caper story before the book ends, all told by Kovacs himself, a disillusioned killer, a futuristic Sam Spade only slightly less dirty than the dirty business he’s in, a battered knight in tarnished armor.

In Altered Carbon’s future world, science has given humanity the ability to digitize consciousness and store it in a tiny canister embedded in a vertebra at the base of the skull.

April 16th, 2011. Marion Deeds and Greg Hersom´s rating: 3, 5 | Richard K. Morgan | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

Tithe: Engaging characters in complex situations

Tithe by Holly Black

Kaye is not your typical 16-year-old. For one thing, she’s spent the last few years of her life acting as mother to her mother: holding Mom’s head as she vomits, following Mom around to her various unsuccessful singing gigs, working in a Chinese restaurant to make enough money so that she and Mom can eat from time to time. She doesn’t attend school and she isn’t happy in the least.

For another thing, as a child she used to have a few fairies as dear friends.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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