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]: 2007.02

Wings of Wrath: Emotional, dark, excellent

Wings of Wrath by C.S. Friedman

C.S. Friedman’s Wings of Wrath is the second book in her Magister Trilogy. It focuses on the story of a god-blessed race, the lyr, who have spent the last 1000 years preparing for the return of the Souleaters. At the end of the previous war with the Souleaters, the gods sent a magical wall, known as the Wrath, to bar them from ever being able to cross back into human lands again. Ever since, the lyr have been guarding the Wrath and watching for the Souleaters to reappear.

February 1st, 2009. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 5 | C.S. Friedman | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Riversend: Ambitious

Riversend by Sylvia Kelso

Speculative fiction sometimes gets a bad rap for being nothing but “escapism.” While there are certainly plenty of “just for fun” books in the genre, what people sometimes forget is that sci-fi and fantasy have often been a place where writers can experiment with unusual prose styles and tackle controversial themes that might not go over well in mainstream, “realistic” fiction. Sylvia Kelso’s Riversend is an ambitious novel, blending dense, lyrical prose with a thought-provoking look at gender roles and unconventional relationships, and it’s a good story to boot.

January 25th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Sylvia Kelso | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Nights of Sin: A trip through the darker avenues of magic

Nights of Sin by Matthew Cook

First, a confession: I haven’t actually read Blood Magic, the novel that precedes Nights of Sin. However, kudos to Matthew Cook for never letting me get lost. Everything I needed to know was provided to me, and in a way that flowed naturally with the story rather than feeling infodumpy.

Nights of Sin begins with a harrowing description of Kirin, the heroine, attempting to shepherd her lover, Lia,

September 23rd, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Matthew Cook | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Howling Delve: Worth the wait

The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson

In The Howling Delve, Jaleigh Johnson, unlike Erik Scott De Bie in Depths of Madness, does not rely entirely on the dungeon as the setting. Set in Amn in the Year of Lightning Storms, The Howling Delve’s plot revolves around two protagonists: a nobleman’s son who seeks revenge for the overthrow of his family, and a fire elementalist who once lived on the streets of Amn and who seeks something unknown even to her.

Armed and Magical: Darker, snarkier, funnier

Armed and Magical by Lisa Shearin

Armed and Magical picks up almost right where Magic Lost, Trouble Found left off. It’s a week later and Raine is on the Isle of Mid with her cousin, Phaelan (“He was a pirate. Excuse me, a seafaring businessman.”), and the leader of the Conclave Guardians, Mychael (“an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, coated in yum”). Raine’s young friend Piaras is also there as a student. He is the most powerful young spellsinger to come along in decades.

June 9th, 2008. Tia Nevitt (guest)´s rating: 4 | Lisa Shearin | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Rivers of Fire: Strongest book in Atherton trilogy

Rivers of Fire by Patrick Carman

Rivers of Fire is by far the strongest book in the ATHERTON trilogy. From beginning to end, the plot moves quickly, the characters develop and play to their own strengths, mysteries are resolved, bravery is tested, lives are lost, radical changes begin anew, foes are slain. And all while Atherton shows its true self.

Rivers of Fire picks right up where The House of Power left off — in the middle of a battle — so it gets going very quickly.

May 14th, 2008. Skye Walker´s rating: 4.5 | Patrick Carman | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Magic Burns: No sophomore slump!

Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews

No sophomore slump here! Ilona Andrews follows — and tops — her debut novel with an excellent sequel, Magic Burns (2008).

We get some more world-building. Andrews explains, in a way that flows smoothly with the story and doesn’t feel like an infodump, the theory as to why the magic and tech have gone wonky in the first place. We also learn about magic flares, which occur roughly every seven years. During these upsurges in magic, powerful and dangerous summonings can be done.

The Blood King: Characters are over-the-top

The Blood King by Gail Z. Martin

The Blood King is the second book in The Chronicles of the Necromancer.

Gail Z. Martin has a decent writing voice, but the book as a whole really left me wanting. Perhaps it was the combination of good characters who were too good and bad characters who were too bad that I just didn’t quite feel comfortable with.

The first book, The Summoner, took us through the overthrow of the Kingdom of Margolan by the eldest son who is evil and selfish and cruel and lecherous and impatient… see where I am going with this?

March 29th, 2008. John Hulet´s rating: 2.5 | Gail Z. Martin | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Scar Night: Doesn’t quite meet its potential

Scar Night by Alan Campbell

Alan Campbell’s Scar Night is the first book in a proposed trilogy (Deepgate Codex) and it’s a decent and intriguing start, though one hopes that succeeding books do a much better job of realizing the potential in the backstory than Scar Night itself does.

The strengths of the book mostly lie in its background. One is the underlying mythos: a millennia-ago war in heaven, a god who waits in the abyss below a major city as they feed him their dead (along with the dead’s souls) so he can create another army to storm heaven,

February 19th, 2008. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Alan Campbell | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Taste of Night: Joanna is too unsympathetic

The Taste of Night by Vicki Pettersson

The Taste of Night begins a few months after The Scent of Shadows ended, at a charity date auction where Joanna, masquerading as Olivia, meets a man who gloats that he’s uncovered Joanna’s secret identity. A fierce battle ensues, breaking the tenuous truce between Light and Shadow, and Joanna also meets a mysterious young Shadow initiate who may be an unlikely ally, or a secret enemy.

I’m really beginning to get a headache trying to keep track of who knows what information about Joanna’s identity.

February 5th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter and John Hulet | Vicki Pettersson | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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