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

My Soul to Take: Solid YA fantasy

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

Kaylee Cavanaugh wants to be a normal teenage girl, but her “panic attacks” stand in the way. Kaylee can sense when someone is about to die. She can’t save the dying person, though, and can’t warn them. All she can do is let out an unearthly scream. If you’re familiar with mythology, you can probably guess what kind of supernatural being Kaylee turns out to be!

As My Soul to Take begins, Kaylee learns that her premonitions are real and that her screaming episodes aren’t symptoms of mental illness.

Torn: A middle book

Torn by Julie Kenner

It’s hard to review Torn without spoiling the big twist in the previous book, Tainted! So, I’ll just say that Torn follows the further adventures of Lily Carlyle, now Alice Purdue, as she attempts to keep demons from overrunning the Earth. Meanwhile, her thorny relationship with Deacon continues, her handlers have teamed her up with a partner, and now Lily has custody of her traumatized little sister, Rose.

Rose is now facing a violation that might well be worse than what she suffered in the previous book.

December 30th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Julie Kenner | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Child of Darkness: A bridge book

Child of Darkness by Jennifer Armintrout

In Child of Darkness, Jennifer Armintrout continues the unique, genre-convention-defying story she began in Queene of Light. As before, it says “Paranormal Romance” on the spine, but while Queene of Light tweaked the conventional romance novel structure, Child of Darkness breaks it almost completely. (No happily-ever-after, at least not in this installment.) Nor does Child of Darkness follow the current tropes of urban fantasy,

December 5th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Jennifer Armintrout | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Demon Bound: Caitlin Kittredge Rocks. Jack Winter not so much.

Demon Bound by Caitlin Kittredge

Demon Bound is the second book in Caitlin Kittredge’s Black London series. Kittredge fans will be happy to know that she has once again spun a fascinating yarn that is loaded with creative nuances and twists. Her dark imagination is a breath of dank, moldering, fetid air exhaled by something creeping out of the haunted crypt she calls a brain. She has a knack for unfolding compelling stories without too much backfill (backfill is something I personally find annoying).

November 26th, 2009. Stephen B. Frank´s rating: 3 | Caitlin Kittredge | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Imager’s Challenge: Nothing new

Imager’s Challenge by L.E. Modesitt Jr

I really looked forward to L.E. Modesitt‘s return to the Imager series. The first book, Imager, was typical Modesitt fare, but it felt like he was trying out some new stuff. In Imager’s Challenge, I felt like we went right back to where we were before Imager.

After the events of Imager, Rhennthyl, the main character, had been through the typical Modesitt transition.

October 7th, 2009. John Hulet and Stefan Raets´s rating: 2.5, 4 | L.E. Modesitt_Jr | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Canticle: Rising intensity

Canticle by Ken Scholes

Canticle, the follow-up to Ken Scholes’ Lamentation, shares some of the same flaws and strengths as the first novel, including a rough start, but like its predecessor overcomes its flaws to turn into an engrossing, if not action-packed, novel.

Canticle picks up a few months after the events of Lamentation. It’s Scholes’ concerted effort to recap those events that makes the opening somewhat flawed,

October 5th, 2009. Bill Capossere and Robert Thompson´s rating: 4, 4.5 | Ken Scholes | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Mermaid’s Madness: More Grimm than Disney

The Mermaid’s Madness by Jim C. Hines

In The Stepsister Scheme, Jim Hines introduced us, or rather, re-introduced us, to three of the best-known fairy-tale characters: Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty, known respectively in the book as Snow, Danielle, and Talia. When Talia used her deadly fighting skills to save Danielle from a murderous attack by one of Danielle’s step-sisters, then joins with Danielle (wielding a glass sword) and Snow White (wielding mirror magic learned at her evil stepmother’s hands) to rescue Danielle’s kidnapped husband, Prince Armand,

September 29th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Jim C. Hines | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Sea Glass: Better than its predecessor

Sea Glass by Maria V. Snyder

Opal Cowen has been summoned back to Sita’s Magicians Keep by the high council. Never a good sign. After an unsuccessful trip to find her lost friend Ulrick who has switched souls with her long time enemy, Opal heeds the summons and returns only to be put under house arrest. Her new-found power of siphoning the magic of others has the Keep on high alert and she must earn back their confidence.

At the same time, Opal is determined to prove that Ulrick is no longer himself,

September 4th, 2009. Guest´s rating: 4 | Maria V. Snyder | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Bloody Awful: Nazi Vampires!

Bloody Awful by Georgia Evans

Bloody Awful continues the story of Brytewood, a cozy English village that is secretly home to several supernatural beings. Brytewood’s inhabitants, both human and Other, face an ongoing struggle as German bombs fall from the sky and Nazi vampires infiltrate the town itself. It’s the characters that make this series compelling. I had issues with Bloody Good, but wanted to keep reading to find out what happened to the people I’d “met.”

I enjoyed Bloody Awful more than I did Bloody Good.

August 21st, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Georgia Evans | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Eve of Destruction: Better than the first book

Eve of Destruction by S.J. Day

It’s not every day that a trilogy’s second installment is better than the first, but S.J. Day has done it.

Eve of Destruction continues the story of Evangeline “Eve” Hollis and her adventures as a “Mark,” a sinner drafted into God’s demon-hunting army. Eve isn’t a typical Mark, and this becomes clearer in this volume as more Marks are introduced to the reader. In some ways, Eve has it easier than her colleagues; she still has a relationship with her family,

April 10th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | S.J. (Sylvia) Day | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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