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]: 2009

White Is for Witching: Haunting and poetic

White Is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

White Is for Witching blends gothic horror, racial politics, and the older, bloodier sort of fairy tales into a deeply unsettling novel. The story opens with a passage intentionally reminiscent of “Snow White,” describing the mysterious imprisonment? disappearance? death? of the heroine, Miranda Silver. From there, we move backward in time, to the point when the events leading to Miranda’s fate began.

The story is told from several points of view, all of them seeing events from different perspectives,

The Forestwife Trilogy: Underdeveloped

THE FORESTWIFE TRILOGY by Theresa Tomlinson

Theresa Tomlinson’s Forestwife is a good kids’ book. For the most part, it kept me interested, but there were many “cheesy” sections that ended way too “neatly” for me. There was also no recognizable “bad guy” which makes a plotline sort of boring and unrecognizable.

The nice thing about The Forestwife was that it was not your typical Robbin Hood/Maid Marian novel. Marian was more of a hero herself in this version, making it an empowering book for young girls,

Jasmyn: An excellent grown-up fairy tale

Jasmyn by Alex Bell

“You have never heard a story quite like this one.”

Start a book with a sentence like this, and you’ve given yourself a tall order to fill. However, Alex Bell doesn’t disappoint. Jasmyn is something special indeed, putting me under its spell in a way that only a few books a year ever do.

Our heroine, Jasmyn, is devastated when her beloved husband Liam dies suddenly, just a year after their marriage. Then, at his funeral,

Heroes of the Valley: A quick, enjoyable, often funny YA read

Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud

In the long ago history of Jonathan Stroud’s YA fantasy Heroes of the Valley, the great hero Svein gathered the other 11 heroes of the Valley to fight the Battle of the Rock against the ravening inhuman Trows who had long terrorized the Valley residents, snatching babies and killing women and children at night — the only time the Trow came out. At the end of the battle, the heroes were all dead but the Trow were driven utterly out of the valley and into the heights.

Norse Code: Greg van Eekhout’s debut is impressive!

Norse Code by Greg van Eekhout

Stop. Look closely. Look beyond the typically stylish urban fantasy cover (the one with the nicely built young woman holding her weapon of choice with an air of defiant competence). Look beyond the title that’s both serious and punny. Inside, through pages inked with the shadows of ravens, you’ll watch the long-foretold cataclysm of Ragnarok as it rolls in a relentless wave from the dry, gray plains of Hel to… the dry, black asphalt of a California parking lot. And if you’re partial to Norse mythology or urban tales driven by fascinating characters and laser-crisp writing,

May 21st, 2009. Rob Rhodes and Greg Hersom´s rating: 3, 4 | Greg Van_Eekhout | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Salt and Silver: What happens when the Hell portal vanishes

Salt and Silver by Anna Katherine

Blurbs for Salt and Silver use the word “romp” often enough that I was expecting something in the vein of paranormal chick lit. I was surprised, then, by the dark places Salt and Silver goes, and Anna Katherine‘s ability to both scare the daylights out of me and break my heart.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised, given that the whole story is about going to, well, Hell.

Our heroine is Allie,

May 17th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Anna Katherine | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Monster: Engrossing and funny paranormal fantasy

Monster by A. Lee Martinez

In this humorous paranormal fantasy, a young human by the name of Monster works for a subsidiary of the local animal control services. This agency locates and captures cryptobiologicals: “things that go bump in the night.” Aptly named Monster hunts and captures trolls, unicorns, yetis, dragons and all sorts of animals with his employee, a sixth dimension paper gnome.

Monster’s life is thrown upside down when he meets Judy, a seemingly normal human woman, a bit down on her luck, but otherwise just as incapable of seeing the creepy-crawlies Monster captures as anyone else.

The City & The City: Utter genius

The City & The City by China Miéville

It’s impossible to discuss China Miéville’s The City & The City without discussing its premise. I don’t consider this much of a spoiler, as the reader is pretty fully confronted with the premise about 20-30 pages in, but it is led into with hints here and there so before hitting the premise, I’ll offer a very short summation and recommendation in the next two paragraphs, followed by the full discussion which includes the premise.

Despite the title’s promise of more urban New Weird fantasy along the lines of Perdido Street Station,

Warbreaker: Sequel, please!

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

I just finished Warbreaker, and the words that keep coming to mind are “That was so good!” This is the first Brandon Sanderson novel I’ve read, and it certainly won’t be the last. Warbreaker combines highly original world-building with an exciting plot that kept me on the edge of my seat.

The novel begins with the introduction of two major characters: Vivenna and Siri, princesses of the tiny kingdom of Idris. You may think you’ve seen these archetypes before — the stiff,

The Mystery of Grace: Different opinions

The Mystery of Grace by Charles de Lint

The Mystery of Grace tells the story of Altagracia — known as Grace — Quintero, a tattooed, rockabilly mechanic who finds her greatest joy in customizing old cars and building hot rods, and John Burns, a graphic design artist. Both of these characters have unfinished business that they need to deal with before they can move on with their lives. But, they meet and fall in love two weeks too late for it to be a happy ending.

It’s difficult to give a good summary without giving away some fairly significant plot details,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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