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]: 2009.02

The Stranger’s Woes: Exactly what I was craving

The Stranger’s Woes by Max Frei

ABOUT THE STRANGER’S WOES: The Stranger’s Woes continues the story of twenty-something loser Max Frei. A loafer who sleeps all day, Max one night finds himself transported to the magical world of Echo, where he possesses magical abilities and becomes the Nocturnal Representative of the Most Venerable Head of the Minor Secret Investigative Force of the City of Echo.

With his new friends and co-workers — the omniscient Sir Juffin Hully, the hilarious Melifaro and the beautiful Lady Melamori Blimm — Sir Max enjoys a life where he’s no longer a social outcast as he solves crimes,

June 1st, 2011. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Max Frei | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Friday Night Bites: Better than the first book

Friday Night Bites by Chloe Neill

In Friday Night Bites (2009), the second in Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampires series, Cadogan House is in trouble again. The villain of Some Girls Bite has gotten off with a slap on the wrist, and now there’s a journalist threatening to expose some of vampire-kind’s less savory secrets to the public. When the journalist turns out to be an old friend of Merit’s from her high-society upbringing, she is thrust back into the world she spent her human lifetime trying to escape.

May 16th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Chloe Neill | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Perilous Prophecy: Had me reaching for the Kleenex

The Perilous Prophecy by Leanna Renee Hieber

Editor’s Note: This book was originally published as The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess.

In The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker, we met Beatrice Smith, a member of the Guard that preceded Alexi Rychman’s circle. The Perilous Prophecy is a prequel, focusing on Beatrice’s time in the Guard and on the goddess Persephone as she makes preparations for the war against Darkness. While this book is set earlier than the two existing books,

May 10th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Leanna Renee Hieber | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

May: A sweet tale for preteen girls

May by Kathryn Lasky

May is the second in Kathryn Lasky’s Daughters of the Sea series, which tells the story of three orphaned sisters, separated as infants, who discover they are mermaids. In the previous book we met Hannah, who found her true nature while working as a maid to a wealthy family. Here we meet the second sister, May, who was adopted by a lighthouse keeper and his manipulative wife. Her parents have kept something from her, and when she is fifteen she works up the courage to learn what it is.

The Midnight Mayor: Merely enjoyable

The Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin

I loved Kate Griffin’s A Madness of Angels.

I merely enjoyed the sequel, The Midnight Mayor.

This is not an uncommon experience to have with a sequel. I think part of the problem comes from the amount of time devoted to the first novel, when the writer had years to re-imagine, revise, reread and rethink; time to burnish that pivotal paragraph or really dig deep to capture that motivation, contrasted with the length of time allowed with Book Two of a multi-book contract.

April 3rd, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Kate Griffin | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Chaos: A realistic, gritty portrayal of how society spits out teens who don’t fit in

The Chaos by Rachel Ward

The Chaos is the sequel to Numbers, and is a much better book. The way the numbers work is explained better and the plot is more consistent. The Chaos also has the effect of making Numbers feel like a prequel. Jem is long dead in this installment, and her son’s story has a much larger scope.

It’s the year 2026, and things are a little different: climate change has led to many towns being flooded,

Death’s Sweet Embrace: Doesn’t really stand out

Death’s Sweet Embrace by Tracey O’Hara

Death’s Sweet Embrace is the second novel in Tracey O’Hara’s Dark Brethren series and the follow-up to 2009’s Night’s Cold Kiss. Here, O’Hara focuses more on the shapeshifters of her world than on the vampires, and introduces readers to the Dark Brethren themselves, a creepy faux-angelic race that once enslaved all parahumans and wants to regain its supremacy.

The central plot deals with a serial killer who preys on shapeshifters and whose grisly crimes may be connected to the Dark Brethren.

January 27th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2.5 | Tracey O'Hara | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Behemoth: A fun, smart series for all ages

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

Behemoth is Scott Westerfeld’s follow-up to Leviathan, the first book in a new steampunk series set in an alternative Europe on the edge of WWI with the Austro-Hungarians and Germans (“Clankers”) using steam-driven machines and the British and their allies (“Darwinists”) using genetic engineering. Leviathan was one of my best reads of 2009, and Behemoth would have been on my list for 2010 had I gotten around to reading it by the time I compiled my list.

Crimson Wind: A heck of a ride!

Crimson Wind by Diana Pharaoh Francis

Reading a Horngate Witches book is a bit like watching a big summer movie. Action! Explosions! Impossibly tough characters doing awesome things! It’s a heck of a ride. Crimson Wind, the second installment in the series, is better than the first and quite enjoyable.

Crimson Wind benefits, in part, from my having read Bitter Night and gotten an idea of what to expect from the series. These really aren’t much like the usual urban fantasies.

January 6th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Diana Pharaoh Francis | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Above His Proper Station: Finally a reason to care

Above His Proper Station by Lawrence Watt-Evans

After I finished A Young Man Without Magic, I didn’t know how Lawrence Watt-Evans was going to salvage this series. The main character, Anrel Murau, was so inconsistent and indifferent that I loathed him. In Above His Proper Station, Lawrence Watt-Evans finally gives us a reason to care.

Anrel Murau’s one redeeming characteristic is his high moral standards. When it comes to standing his ground and choosing right from wrong, he is willing to sacrifice his own comfort and security.

January 6th, 2011. John Hulet´s rating: 3 | Lawrence Watt-Evans | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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