The Queen of Sinister by Mark Chadbourn
The Queen of Sinister, the middle book in Mark Chadbourn‘s DARK AGE trilogy, introduces a different set of characters from book 1, The Devil in Green. This is a bit surprising, because the author’s earlier AGE OF MISRULE trilogy, which describes the events leading up to the start of the DARK AGE books, focuses on the same characters throughout all three books. So, rather than offering a continuing story,
June 14th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 2 | Mark Chadbourn | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Charlie Bone and the Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo
The first Charlie Bone book had lots of basic flaws in it: lack of story or character development, a sense of arbitrariness, an overly familiar feel to it, etc., but the premise was just interesting enough, and the characters’ magical “endowments” just quirky enough that one hoped Jenny Nimmo could improve in book two and start putting together a worthwhile series. Sadly, based on this second effort, that hope isn’t borne out.
First, Charlie Bone and the Time Twister simply has a careless feel to it.
December 4th, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2 | Jenny Nimmo | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Charnel Prince by Greg Keyes
The Charnel Prince succeeds in what should be the immediate and least of goals for second books in series — it moves the plot along. The book is well-paced, moving quickly through various storylines and transitioning nicely from one point-of-view to another. The shifts occur smoothly and repeatedly act to increase suspense (some may tire of the tactic; it never really bothered me). The different stories are mostly well-balanced, each carrying its own weight in terms of plot and character. Though I’d say one is noticeably weaker than the others,
July 28th, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Greg Keyes | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In the previous book, the sixteen year old mermyd Niniane (called “Nia” for short), discovered betrayal and conspiracy in her underwater home of Atlantis. With the escape of an evil mermyd named Ma’el and the Farworlder (powerful, intelligent squid-like creatures) that he is telepathically connected to, Atlantis was overthrown and Nia the last living Farworlder were thrown ashore.
Reunion picks up again from the point of view of Corwin, a young man whose master has recently been executed by the tyrannical King Vortigern and is now on the run himself.
July 18th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Kara Dalkey | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Gods’ Concubine by Sara Douglass
I bought the previous book in this series, Hades’ Daughter, because it was based loosely on Greek and British myth. I shelved it for a long time because I hated the characters. I finally, reluctantly, read it again, because I was still interested in its storyline — and realized that despite the characters, I did like the book.
And then I devoured Gods’ Concubine in two days, and can’t wait until the third installment, which is supposed to take place during the Restoration period.
July 2nd, 2007. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Sara Douglass | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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.
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…