Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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]: 2008.01

The Poison Throne: Immediately engaging characters

The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan

After five years away on the King’s business, Wynter Moorehawke and Lorcan, her father, have returned to court. Though they are carpenters of common birth, they also serve their friend, King Jonathan, as Lord and Lady Protector. Wynter is excited to be reunited with her childhood friends Alberon and Razi, the King’s legitimate and illegitimate sons, respectively. They were like brothers to her and she and Lorcan were practically part of the King’s family. But it quickly becomes clear that things have changed dramatically since she’s been gone.

Night Child: Unoriginal, but lots of heart

Night Child by Jes Battis

Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first. All of these paranormal investigator potboilers coming down the pike are more or less the same. It’s all a question of how well each one rearranges the furniture. Some do it sufficiently well so as to avoid the easiest of criticisms, that the book in question is little more than a CC of the latest Laurell K. Hamilton/Jim Butcher/Kim Harrison opus.

November 25th, 2010. Thomas M. Wagner (guest)´s rating: 2.5 | Jes Battis | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Stowaway: A YA adventure in the Forgotten Realms

The Stowaway by R.A. & Geno Salvatore

FORGOTTEN REALMS books are good for a quick, fun read, where I don’t normally expect a lot of character development and the world has been built so well that you can download maps of the different cities. The Stowaway is a perfect example: a quick, light YA adventure through well-known areas of a well-developed world.

The Stowaway begins with a young child being saved from certain death by a group of noble, powerful people.

November 14th, 2010. John Hulet´s rating: 2.5 | R.A. Salvatore | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Keeper of the Grail: Reluctant readers, especially boys, will like this one

Keeper of the Grail by Michael P. Spradlin

Tristan of Saint Albans is an orphan foundling, raised by the monks and with no idea who his birth-parents are. Despite this, he’s happy enough living in the monastery, and is given a good education by the time a group of Templar Knights arrive on their way to the Holy Land. One of them, Sir Thomas, takes an interest in young Tristan, just as another, Sir Hugh, takes an immediate dislike. To Tristan’s astonishment, Sir Thomas offers him a job as his squire and by the next morning,

The Sweet Scent of Blood: Too confusing

The Sweet Scent of Blood by Suzanne McLeod

Genevieve is the only sidhe fae in London and has a traumatic past involving vampires, which we readers learn about in flashbacks throughout the story. She works as a spellcracker, removing hexes from objects. There are two ways she can remove a spell. She can “crack” the spell, thereby destroying both the spell and the object, or she can absorb it into herself, which carries its own problems. As the story begins, a celebrity vampire stands accused of murdering his girlfriend, Melissa. The vampire’s father hires Genny to examine Melissa’s body for evidence of magic.

July 27th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2.5 | Suzanne McLeod | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Happy Hour of the Damned: Did Not Finish

Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry

How to review a book that is unquestionably excellent at what it’s trying to do, but which I didn’t finish? Happy Hour of the Damned is, in short, shallow, disgusting, infuriating, and damned good at it.

Happy Hour stars Amanda Feral, a fashion-obsessed zombie. Zombies, in Mark Henry‘s world, can stay well-preserved forever as long as they eat a steady diet of human flesh. There’s only one other thing zombies can consume without getting violently ill: booze.

June 16th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 0.1 | Mark Henry | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Shadow Mirror: YA ghost story with realistic relationships

Shadow Mirror by Richie Tankersley Cusick

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love a good ghost story. I don’t love it when a book isn’t clearly marked as a sequel. However, that is the fault of neither Shadow Mirror nor Richie Tankersley Cusick, so I’ll let it slide. Just know you’ll want to read Walk of the Spirits first, if you’re interested in Shadow Mirror.

Miranda Barnes has the ability to hear and see the dead.

Possessed: Spooky YA

Possessed by Kate Cann

The beginning of Possessed drops the reader right into the stifling life of Rayne, a young London teenager. Her relationships with her mother and boyfriend are dysfunctional, and she’s unable to find a moment’s peace amid the noise and crime of the city. Kate Cann does an excellent job of showing us Rayne’s frayed nerves and her desire to get out of her neighborhood by any means necessary. Desperate, she takes a live-in job at the country estate of Morton’s Keep.

As Rayne settles into her new life,

Seekers of the Chalice: Great premise, bad execution

Seekers of the Chalice by Brian Cullen

Seekers of the Chalice is the story of a small group of heroes who set out to recover the Chalice of Fire, a symbol of peace for Ulster, after it is stolen from the Red Branch by a traitor.

The premise behind the book, which is an attempt to do a high fantasy retelling of the traditional Celtic myth Táin Bó Cúailnge, is great. However, the execution falters. The characters are flat, the dialogue stilted, and the plot is an endless series of near identical battles against every imaginable dark creature.

April 2nd, 2010. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 0.1 | Brian Cullen | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Edge of Reason: Unique concept and solid characters

The Edge of Reason: Rationalism vs. religion

Richard Oort, a police officer in Albuquerque, finds out that he is a paladin for the forces of rationality and science. He is recruited in the fight against the forces of evil: Cthulhu-esque beings from another dimension who feed on humanity’s fears and pain to break through to our world and use religion to gain power by spreading hatred and fear.

The Edge of Reason (2008) is set in the present day but successfully ties the history of various myths and religions into its background.

March 19th, 2010. Stefan Raets and Terry Weyna | Melinda Snodgrass | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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