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]: 2003.01

testing

Joust: Quite entertaining despite the problems

Joust by Mercedes Lackey Vetch’s family used to own land in Alta, but when they were invaded and occupied by Tia, Vetch’s father was killed and the rest of his family became serfs. Vetch, who was taken away from his mother and sisters, is now the servant of a horrible fat and lazy man who’s […]

Read More
testing

Supreme Power: Contact by J. Michael Straczynski

Supreme Power (Vol. 1): Contact by J. Michael Straczynski I guess you could consider J. Michael Straczynski’s Supreme Power the bastard child (or perhaps grandchild) of books like Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in which the four-colour superheroes of old get a more ‘realistic’ make-over and are shown for […]

Read More
testing

The City of Ember: Powered by a rich setting

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau Long ago, the Builders created Ember, an underground city. The Builders only intended for the people of Ember to stay underground for two hundred years, but, due to a slight wrinkle in the Builders’ plans, the people of Ember have stayed underground far longer than two hundred years. […]

Read More
testing

Runaways, vol 1: Pride & Joy

Runaways: Pride & Joy by Brian K. Vaughan (writer) and Adrian Alphona (pencils) What do you do when you find out your parents aren’t who you thought they were? Brian K. Vaughan deals with ages-old drama of teenagers confronting the fallibility of their parents in an interesting and exciting way. Though most of us have never […]

Read More
testing

Fast Times at Fairmont High: The future of middle school?

Fast Times at Fairmont High by Vernor Vinge Juan is an eighth grader in a near-future San Diego. Final exams have arrived and Juan and his friends are under a lot of pressure to perform well because those who don’t keep up in this fast-moving information-driven virtual-reality society are left behind. That’s what happened to […]

Read More
testing

Trading in Danger: Appealing space opera

Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon “Of course we didn’t do autopsies. We know exactly what killed them — I killed them!” Kylara Vatta, daughter of the head of the most prestigious shipping empire in the universe, didn’t want to follow in her family’s footsteps — trading is boring and Ky wants adventure and her […]

Read More
testing

There Will be Dragons: Standard

There will be Dragons by John Ringo The premise of There Will Be Dragons is interesting, the kind of premise that made me want to read the book just to see where John Ringo would go with it. Ringo paints a unique, utopian world with a nearly perfect society. Then, in this perfect world, an apocalypse […]

Read More
testing

Fall of a Kingdom: Nice change of pace

Fall of a Kingdom by Hilari Bell Let the two of us end this war… Fall of a Kingdomis the first book in the FARSALA trilogy, followed by Rise of a Hero and Forging the Sword, all set in a pseudo-Arabian land called Farsala which is attempting to resist the invasion of an ever-growing empire […]

Read More
testing

Prince of Ayodhya: Fails to satisfy

Prince of Ayodhya  by Ashok K. Banker I don’t know exactly why Prince of Ayodhya failed to satisfy me. Ashok K. Banker has achieved a modern retelling of the Hindu mythic cycle, the Ramayana. I’m a sucker for mythology. Banker is a competent writer and some of his descriptions are beautiful. He clearly knows his […]

Read More
testing

Holder of Lightning: Solid Celtic fantasy

Holder of Lightning by S.L. Farrell Holder of Lightning is the first book of S.L. Farrell’s Cloudmages trilogy. The story takes place in a well-imagined Celtic world and there is plenty of action, particularly in the last third, where Farrell is putting things in place for a multi-generational saga. Jenna Aoire is a simple village […]

Read More
testing

Warriors, Into the Wild: May win over reluctant readers

Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter There have been some great animal stories written for children. Brian Jacques’s Redwall series invested woodland creatures with a valor and camaraderie straight out of Tolkien, and Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows charmed with its odd blend of comedy and bittersweet nostalgia. E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web […]

Read More
testing

A Great and Terrible Beauty: Neither great nor terrible

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray Gemma Doyle grew up in India, but after her mother commits suicide and her father becomes a laudanum addict, she’s sent to a finishing school in England. This is Victorian England, so at Spence Academy Gemma will be instilled with “grace, charm, and beauty” as she learns […]

Read More
testing

The Goose Girl: Sweet and irresistible

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale As the oldest child of the King and Queen, Crown Princess Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee (Ani) is being groomed for the throne of Kildenree. Much to her mother’s disappointment, though, Ani doesn’t seem to be leadership material. She doesn’t have the ability to persuade and motivate people like her mother […]

Read More
testing

The Book of Dead Days: Marvelously atmospheric

The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick The “Dead Days” are what author Marcus Sedgwick calls the time between Christmas and New Year’s Day, on account of their quiet, mysterious atmosphere; an idea drawn from various mythologies that hold that certain days of the year mark the time when doors to the spirit world […]

Read More
testing

Perseus: A great way to introduce children to Greek myths

Perseus by Geraldine McCaughrean There are probably much shorter retellings of this hero-story, and there are probably quite a few longer ones — but if you wish to avoid the simplicity of a picture book and the long-windedness of an epic, then I don’t think you’d find any reason to complain about Geraldine McCaughrean‘s version […]

Read More
testing

Pattern Recognition: A mature masterpiece

Pattern Recognition William Gibson William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition was published in 2003 and it marks the first of what has come to be known as the Bigend trilogy, a series of three novels united by a background character, Hubertus Bigend. Cayce (pronounced like ‘case’) Pollard is a marketing consultant who is highly sensitive to corporate […]

Read More
testing

Quicksilver: Information overload

Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson [The audiobook contains Book 1 of the print edition of the Quicksilver omnibus. Book 2 is King of the Vagabonds. Book 3 is Odalisque.] I’m a scientist by profession and I love history. Thus, I’m fascinated by the history of science, especially the era of Isaac Newton et al. So, Neal […]

Read More
testing

The Capture: Enjoyable and suspenseful

The Capture by Kathryn Lasky In anticipation of the upcoming movie based on Kathryn Lasky’s Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, Scholastic has re-released the first book in the series, The Capture. Being an owl fan, I of course had to give it a try! Lasky is clearly following in Richard Adams’ footsteps here, what with her […]

Read More
  • 1
  • 2
We have reviewed 8040 fantasy, science fiction, and horror books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and films.

Under ConstructionWe’re updating our theme, so things may be a little messy or slow until we’re finished. Thank you for being patient with us!

SUBSCRIBE TO POSTS

You can subscribe to our posts via email, email digest, browser notifications, Twitter, RSS, etc. You can filter by tag (e.g. Giveaway), keyword, author. We won't give your email address to anyone. Enter email to subscribe:

SUPPORT FANLIT

Want to help us defray the cost of domains, hosting, software, and postage for giveaways? Donate here:
You can support FanLit (for free) by using these links when you shop at Amazon:

US   UK    CANADA

Or, in the US, simply click the book covers we show. We receive referral fees for all purchases (not just books). This has no impact on the price and we can't see what you buy. This is how we pay for hosting and postage for our GIVEAWAYS. Thank you for your support!

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?

Archives