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

Descent into Dust: Atmospheric Victorian pastiche

Descent into Dust by Jacqueline Lepore

Jacqueline Lepore’s Descent into Dust is an atmospheric Victorian pastiche complete with a forbidding mansion, an innocent child in danger, the shadow of madness, and vampires. Emma Andrews is a young and wealthy widow coming to the moors to visit her newly married half-sister and their cousins. Emma has always felt like an outsider. The specter of her mother’s madness and death haunt her. Soon after arriving at Dulwich Manor, Emma has a frightening encounter on the moors. The house,

March 21st, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Jacqueline Lepore | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Crowfield Curse: This book has it all

The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh

Once in a while, a book comes along that surprises you. I picked The Crowfield Curse up on a whim, being attracted to its stark cover art and intriguing title, and it turns out to have been the best book-related choice I’ve made in months. A rich, unsettling atmosphere, imaginative use of old folktales and legends, a sweet, likeable protagonist, a fascinating central conceit — this book has it all.

After the death of his family in a fire, fourteen year old William Paynel goes to live at Crowfield Abbey.

Lady Lazarus: Elegant and elegiac

Lady Lazarus by Michele Lang

Lady Lazarus by Michele Lang is a historical fantasy set just before the beginning of World War II, in a slightly skewed version of our world. What makes it skewed is that in this alternate history, magic exists and plays a major role in world events. For example, Hitler’s werewolves are literal here.

Perhaps Lang’s most controversial decision is that Hitler is in league with, and sometimes possessed by, a demon. Some readers may see this as a cop-out.

January 24th, 2012. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Michele Lang | SFF Reviews | no comments |

A Book of Tongues: A strong talent is at work here

A Book of Tongues by Gemma Files

A western horror story full of gay gunslingers and the Pinkerton men they seduce – sometimes you can understand why people ask writers where they get their ideas, because Gemma Files sure has a humdinger of one with this first novel. Throw in some Mayan mythology and a lot of magic, and you’ve got a plot that comes at you so fast and furiously that you have to put the book down just to catch your breath.

A Book of Tongues is Volume One of the HEXSLINGER Series,

The Legions of Fire: Kept me reading, though barely

The Legions of Fire by David Drake

The Legions of Fire by David Drake is a mixed bag of a novel. In one sense, it’s literally so, as Drake combines historical and fantasy genres along with Greek and Norse mythology — that’s (mostly) the good mix. The not-so-great mix was in my response to the novel and its characters, which really was all over the map in terms of engagement and enjoyment. The book kept me going, though the end was a bit of a struggle,

September 20th, 2011. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | David Drake | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Spirit Lens: Berg gives us a hero who is a true courtier

The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg

Courtiers are figures of contempt and fun in most fiction. They are craven lickspittles and influence peddlers, usually without honor. In The Spirit Lens, Carol Berg gives us a hero who is a true courtier. He is diplomatic, disciplined, strategic and loyal to his king at all costs — and the costs are great.

The Spirit Lens is the first book in the Collegia Magica series. Portier de Savin-Duplais is the librarian at the Camarilla Magica.

August 5th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Carol Berg | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

The Hidden Boy: Charming children’s story

The Hidden Boy by Jon Berkeley

Bea Flint’s family has won “the adventure of a lifetime” for seven people, so they grab Phoebe from next door, and Gabby, the clockwork girl who’s always lived in their house, and board the submarine bus for Bell Hoot. But while the bus is under water, Bea’s brother Theo disappears with a “pop.” When Bea and Phoebe set out to find Theo, they discover that Bell Hoot is not a normal vacation destination, that Bea’s family is not quite normal either, and what “the adventure of a lifetime” really means.

The Native Star: Steampunk, Western fantasy, historical romance

The Native Star by M.K. Hobson

The Native Staris a fantasy set in a West that never quite was: the West of tall tales, dime novels, and cheesy patent-medicine ads. M.K. Hobson realizes this mood perfectly, peoples the setting with memorable characters, and spins a compelling and well-thought-out plot.

When we first meet the heroine, Emily Edwards, she’s preparing a love spell to ensnare a local lumberman. The new patent-magic companies have cut into Emily’s business as a witch, and she can see no other way but marriage to keep herself and her father afloat.

July 23rd, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | M.K. Hobson | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

A Devil in the Details: Demonically delicious

A Devil in the Details by K.A. Stewart

A Devil in the Details introduces us to the wry and wiry Jesse James Dawson, a 21st century Midwestern samurai who saves souls in the best tradition of The Seven Samurai. If you sold your soul to the devil, or one of his demonic henchmen, who you gonna call? JJD, of course, or one of his fellow demon-fighting champions. His wife, Mira, a practicing Wiccan white witch, owns a shop in Westport, a trendy Kansas City district of specialty shops and bars.

May 27th, 2011. Guest´s rating: 4 | K.A. Stewart | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Mind Games: Major points for originality

Mind Games by Carolyn Crane

Justine Jones is a hypochondriac whose mental health is quickly spiraling downward. She’s convinced she has vein star syndrome, the condition that killed her mother. Then she meets the mysterious Packard, who recruits her into his team of Disillusionists. Disillusionists are essentially psychic vigilantes, attacking criminals by zapping their own psychological problems into the bad guy’s energy field. When the criminal has been reduced to a gibbering mass of anxiety, so Packard’s theory goes, he or she can start building a new life as a better person.

May 23rd, 2011. Kelly Lasiter and Sarah Chorn´s rating: 3 | Carolyn Crane | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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