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]: 2010.01

Dark Oracle: A compelling heroine

Dark Oracle by Alayna Williams

For years, Tara Sheridan has been a hermit. She was once a criminal profiler, and a tarot-reading oracle destined for the all-female secret society Daughters of Delphi. After a series of traumas, she left these callings behind and retreated to a remote cabin in the woods. But when a brilliant scientist goes missing amid the ruins of his cutting-edge lab, leaving behind a young daughter, Tara reluctantly agrees to take the case.

This means dealing with the Daughters again, along with a former colleague who makes Tara uneasy.

June 29th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Alayna Williams | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Malice: Don’t buy it for the graphics

Malice by Chris Wooding

The children’s fantasy/sci fi novel Malice is set in two worlds: modern day London and Malice, an eponymous comic book whose chief villain, Tall Jake, takes kids into the dangerous world of the comic if the right ritual is performed. In an attempt to better convey this two-setting concept, Malice melds a graphic novel/comic with a young adult/middle grade novel, with mixed results for the author (Chris Wooding) and illustrator (Dan Chernett).

The graphic aspect of the novel is by far the poorer stepchild here.

Embers: Well-executed A-plot

Embers by Laura Bickle

In her debut novel, Laura Bickle introduces us to Anya Kalinczyk, a woman as troubled as her home city of Detroit. Like many of her sister urban-fantasy heroines, Anya has a tragic past and uses it as a reason to push people away. She works as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department and moonlights with a ghost-hunting team. Anya is a Lantern, which means she has the rare ability to consume ghosts and demons. She also has a familiar spirit, Sparky, a fire elemental who takes amphibian form but acts more like a large dog.

June 16th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Laura Bickle | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Infinity: Tedious and confusing

Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

I didn’t like Infinity. There were parts that I quite enjoyed, but the majority I found tedious and vaguely confusing.

By far the strongest part of the book is the character of Nick. His dialogue, both internal and towards other characters, is sarcastic and funny. He cares deeply about his mother. Like most teenage boys he wants to date girls, but doesn’t know where to start. He’s pretty realistic in the way he’s written, and I enjoyed the way Sherrilyn Kenyon represented him.

Red Hot Fury: Needs an iron

Red Hot Fury by Kasey MacKenzie

Look out, paranormal baddies; Marissa Holloway is on the job. Riss is a Fury, and her mission is to fight supernatural crime. Kasey MacKenzie bases her Furies on the ones from Greek mythology, but with a twist. In myth, there were three Furies: Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera. Here, these names represent not individual Furies, but classes of Furies. Riss is a Tisiphone. This means she wears red and deals mainly with homicides.

(Unfortunately, MacKenzie doesn’t do as much with this concept as one might hope.

June 8th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Kasey MacKenzie | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Shadow’s Son: Competent, entertaining, predictable

Shadow’s Son by Jon Sprunk

You could make an argument for establishing a new sub-genre called something like “assassin fantasy,” given the number of novels currently on the shelves with heroes in that grim and surprisingly popular profession. So when the cover of Shadow’s Son, Jon Sprunk‘s debut novel, shows a man wearing a hood and flashing a set of matching knives, it’s not hard to predict the main character’s occupation before even opening the book.

And yes, right in the opening scene,

June 7th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3 | Jon Sprunk | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Left Hand of God: A big mess, yet…

The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman

If Paul Hoffman’s The Left Hand of God were a movie, its audience would have lots of reasons to walk out well before the credits. It’s a big mess of a book with major flaws in nearly all aspects: plot, character, world building, and pace, to name a few. Yet somehow, and I have yet to figure out how, it kept me marching through it, and damn if I wasn’t a bit curious about what would happen in the sequel.

June 2nd, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Paul Hoffman | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Passage: One of those novels

The Passage by Justin Cronin

The Passage, by Justin Cronin, is one of “those” novels. What kind? Well, it’s one of those literary page-turners: a sleek, fast-paced, shoot-em-up, chase-em-down bestseller, destined for huge film success, that “sophisticated” readers don’t have to turn their nose up at. It’s one of those mainstream bestseller books that make use of a multitude of plot points and genre tropes lovingly claimed by fans of said genre, who will surely sniff “I was reading about army-spawned vampire-like genetic mutations wiping out the human race ages ago,” akin to those guys who only like a band when their fan base can fit into a camper van but who mock the new fans who flock to concert sites in the tens of thousands.

May 27th, 2010. Bill Capossere and Jason Golomb´s rating: 5 | Justin Cronin | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Speak to the Devil: Grab some popcorn

Speak to the Devil by Dave Duncan

Speak to the Devil, the first novel in Dave Duncan‘s new The Brothers Magnus series, is set in Jorgary, a fictional country inserted smack in the middle of late 15th-century Europe. Aside from this new country, the second main divergence from the actual history is a form of magic called Speaking, which involves asking saints (or according to the Church, demons) for intercession.

Anton Magnus, a young and ambitious hussar in the Jorgarian army,

May 24th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3 | Dave Duncan | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |

Wolfsangel: Fine heroic fantasy

Wolfsangel by M.D. Lachlan

M.D. Lachlan brings us a story from the North, where a Prince falls in love with a farmer’s daughter and goes to the far ends of the earth to rescue her from slavery. Vali is the Prince in question, a boy stolen by King Athun under the influence of prophecy. What begins as a straightforward tale of Viking politics and berserker raiding as Vali grows from boy to man becomes infinitely more rewarding — a novel dealing with secretive magic and an everlasting battle between the Gods Odin and Loki.

May 18th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 4 | M.D. Lachlan | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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