Like most veteran readers, I know to take the author endorsements on the front of a book with a sizable grain of salt. Among other things, they’re often taken slightly out of context. I had to relearn that lesson recently when I picked up a copy of Darkborn by Alison Sinclair and saw a cover quote from Carol Berg. My inner fangirl, whom I keep tied up and gagged somewhere down in the dark pits of my black, cranky reader heart was unable to resist.
July 22nd, 2009. Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 3 | Alison Sinclair | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The fantasy shelves are rife these days with tough ladies fighting supernatural crime, but Faith Hunter delivers something original.
The originality of Skinwalker begins with Jane Yellowrock, the heroine. Jane is a loner and a smart aleck, but her similarities to the stereotypical urban-fantasy protagonist end there. Jane is a skinwalker — a shapeshifter drawn from Native American folklore — and she lives in a sort of symbiosis with “Beast,” the spirit of a mountain lion. Some chapters are narrated from Beast’s perspective and Faith Hunter does a great job of altering her style to fit Beast’s feline thought processes.
July 18th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Faith Hunter | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Mel has a lot on her mind. She’s raising a teenage daughter, living in a renovated High School, has her mother and her grandmother living with her, and just got two dead Amazon girls left on her doorstep. Determined to find the murderer of her tribeswomen, and answer her own questions about her past, Mel has to summon the courage to face the tribe she left behind.
People seem to keep getting in her way however, particularly men. One is a very talented, secretive, and sexy tattoo artist she just hired to work in her shop.
July 18th, 2009. Guest´s rating: 3.5 | Lori Devoti | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Irons in the Fire by Juliet E. McKenna
Contemporary wisdom holds that a fantasy novel should include the following non-exclusive elements and that they, or at least tantalizing glimpses of them, should be apparent from the beginning:
Ideally, a brisk (or at least smooth) pace and clean, crisp prose combine with these elements to create a lucid,
July 15th, 2009. Rob Rhodes´s rating: 0.1 | Juliet McKenna | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Lev Grossman’s The Magicians attempts to take the unreal world of fantasy — magic, spellcasting, other worlds, fabulous beasts — and tie it much more tightly to the real world than is usually done. And (I think) the attempt as well is to tell a “realistic” novel which takes as its premise that magic exists and is being used (not quite the same thing as the first). I’d say he only partially succeeds, though he does so often enough that the book makes a worthy,
July 7th, 2009. Bill Capossere, Stefan Raets, Ryan Skardal, Kelly Lasiter and Terry Weyna | Lev Grossman | Audio | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Vicious Circle by Linda Robertson
The bare bones of this story will be familiar to urban-fantasy devotees: Werewolves, vampires, faeries, and witches all exist and have become public knowledge in recent years. Girl, tough and feisty, takes it upon herself to dispense justice in a supernatural murder case. Girl is chosen against her will to play a major role in paranormal affairs. Girl is wooed by attractive werewolf and attractive vampire. I was worried Vicious Circle would be just like a hundred other novels with a similar premise,
July 3rd, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Linda Robertson | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Naamah’s Kiss by Jacqueline Carey
In Naamah’s Kiss, Jacqueline Carey returns to the world she created in the Kushiel’s Legacy series, and introduces a delightful new heroine.
Moirin mac Fainche is a descendant of Alais de la Courcel and a member of the Maghuin Dhonn tribe of Alba. On her father’s side, she’s D’Angeline, with lines of descent from Naamah and Anael. When a tragedy changes Moirin’s young life, and an initiatory rite reveals that she has a destiny beyond the sea, Moirin travels to Terre d’Ange in search of her father.
June 16th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Jacqueline Carey | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Eric Nylund’s new novel Mortal Coils is a young adult urban fantasy which is lacking in werewolves and vampires. Thus, Mortal Coils is a wonderful entry into this genre and it doesn’t have to fall back on all things cliché.
Eliot and Fiona Post are twins being raised by a strict controlling grandmother in a small town in Northern California. They don’t get to do any of the normal things that their peers get to do. Their education is non-typical and excellent,
June 8th, 2009. John Hulet´s rating: 5 | Eric Nylund | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Slathbog’s Gold by M.L. Forman
Alex Taylor is not having a good day. He didn’t mean to drop all the glasses and break them. Besides it was his cousin’s fault. Thinking that a brisk walk would clear his head, Alex wanders down a street and happens to see a sign in the window of a bookshop: Adventurers Wanted, apply within.
Curious, Alex enters the store and before he knows it he is signing a contract to go on an adventure with an Elf and a Dwarf. With the rest of his company Alex goes on the adventure of a lifetime searching for the evil dragon Slathbog and pursuing his legendary treasure.
June 2nd, 2009. Guest´s rating: 4.5 | M.L. Forman | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge
Inspector Pete Caldecott is baffled. A rash of child abductions has swept London and all of her leads are turning up bad. The good news is that the lost kids are turning up alive; the bad news is they’re… changed — blinded and usually raving mad by the time the police turn them up.
Pete is almost ready to throw in the towel when a blast from the past suddenly crosses her path. Jack Winter, her sister’s boyfriend from almost a decade ago, shows up and tells her where to find one of her missing children.
June 1st, 2009. Guest´s rating: 2.5 | Caitlin Kittredge | SFF Reviews | no comments |
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…
It's hardly a private conversation, Becky. You're welcome to add your 2 cents anytime!
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…
Gentlemen, I concur! (Forgive me for jumping into your convo)