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]: 2007.01

The Restorer: Christian fantasy

The Restorer by Sharon Hinck

When reading fantasy books, I generally apply two arbitrary criteria that I have found useful in determining books I like. The first is I look for the willingness of the author to kill important characters — not secondary or briefly mentioned characters. I’ve always felt that to do so was brave and showed a willingness to push the story’s limits rather than following a predictable course. The second is actually from Aristotle’s Poetics. Summarized, Aristotle says the primary character must be believable. In essence, the character must be more human than superhuman.

April 26th, 2008. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 3 | Sharon Hinck | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Black Magic Woman: Looks like a fun series!

Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis

Black Magic Woman begins in Salem, during the infamous witch trials, as a convicted witch utters a curse against her accuser. From there, we cut to the present time, and to a riveting vampire hunt in rural Texas. We are introduced to Quincey Morris, who is sort of a freelance paranormal investigator and vigilante, and also the direct descendant of the Quincey Morris who appears in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. (In this universe, Dracula was a true story and Morris a real man,

April 10th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Justin Gustainis | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Bad-Ass Faeries: Pretty good collection, despite the title

Bad-Ass Faeries by Danielle Ackley-McPhail

Although I disapprove of the title, I still found Bad-Ass Faeries edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, to be a pretty good collection of stories. At least, that’s true if you discount the one or two stories that really boiled down to faerie porn. Which, ironically, is part of the humor in the story by Den C. Wilson, “Heart of Vengeance” (Well, elf porn, anyway). All, in all though, the collection is pretty good. It is targeted in its concept, but broad in its application.

Bitterwood: Admirable, but lacks in certain areas

Bitterwood by James Maxey

In James Maxey‘s Bitterwood, dragons rule the planet and humans are their slaves. These dragons are not your average fantasy dragons because they have formed a community and culture and are ruled by a king. Not your typical fire-breathing, treasure hoarding dragon, right?

The premise for Bitterwood is good, but the writing just felt uneven. There were times when the characters felt shallow and too contrived and the storyline seemed to be out of control — too many highs and lows.

March 6th, 2008. John Hulet and Robert Thompson´s rating: 3 | James Maxey | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Acacia: Challenges us with an uncomfortable warp of the familiar

Acacia by David Anthony Durham

David Anthony Durham‘s Acacia has some of elements of epic fantasy we’ve all seen before: a large empire, a resentful race, a king’s children scattered and forced to grow into previously hidden strengths, a near-ritualized style of sword fighting, political intrigue, large battle scenes, and a few others. But anyone thinking to write off Acacia as simply another cookie-cutter fantasy would be missing a highly rewarding read — for Durham gives us these familiar set-ups only to repeatedly yank them out from under our feet.

February 20th, 2008. Bill Capossere, Kevin Wei and Stefan Raets´s rating: 2.5, 3, 4 | David Anthony Durham | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Lye Street: Perfect introduction to the Deepgate Codex

Lye Street by Alan Campbell

Lye Street is a 135 page novella exclusively available from Subterranean Press in two unique, limited editions — a fully cloth bound hardcover signed by the author (numbered to 2000) and a signed leatherbound copy housed in a custom traycase (numbered to 26). Cover artwork is provided by Dave McKean — longtime Neil Gaiman collaborator and noted CD cover artist — while the wonderful interior illustrations are done by the award-winning Bob Eggleton.

One of the best things about Scar Night was the thrilling prologue which first introduced the demonic Carnival,

February 19th, 2008. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Alan Campbell | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Devil Inside: Got an overdue notice

The Devil Inside by Jenna Black

I checked out The Devil Inside from the library, read the first few chapters, and then ended up simply forgetting to pick the book up again. Eventually I got an overdue notice from the library, which often results in my either renewing the book or hurrying up and reading it before returning it. Instead, I simply took The Devil Inside back to the library without regret. It took me a while to put my finger on why I lost interest,

February 15th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 0.1 | Jenna Black | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Mainspring: So much potential

Mainspring by Jay Lake

Up till now, my exposure to Jay Lake has been limited to the author’s short fiction which either really worked for me or was underwhelming. Mainspring falls somewhere in the middle with the parts that I liked and disliked usually related to one another.

For instance, I loved the concept of Earth being part of a giant clockwork mechanism constructed by God, complete with colossal gears and springs. What I didn’t like so much was the haphazard manner in which this backdrop was described with certain aspects depicted in great detail while others were left frustratingly vague — like the Mainspring itself.

February 7th, 2008. Robert Thompson´s rating: 3.5 | Jay Lake | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Heart of Stone: Worthwhile fix

Heart of Stone of C.E. Murphy

C.E. Murphybegins Heart of Stone, the first of the Negotiator books, with our main character “Grit” being shadowed by a Gargoyle as she runs through Central Park. The Gargoyle, Alban, is a member of the few Old Races that are hidden in plain sight from the rest of humanity. His tragic history and how it compels him and leads him to eventually interact with Grit is the meat of the tale.

Murphy creates a plausible background and history for this story,

January 31st, 2008. John Hulet´s rating: 3.5 | C.E. Murphy | SFF Reviews | no comments |

In the Eye of Heaven: Good for a first draft

In the Eye of Heaven by David Keck

In the Eye of Heaven has potential, but unfortunately the writing drags it down considerably. It really needed to be polished. At the moment it reads almost like a first draft, without anything properly fleshed out.

The first problem is that scenes are poorly described, when they are described at all. I felt almost blind as I was reading, because David Keck gives you nearly no idea of the places or people that the characters find themselves around.

January 27th, 2008. Guest´s rating: 2 | David Keck | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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