The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis
I loved Bitter Seeds, the first volume of THE MILKWEED TRIPTYCH. Ian Tregillis is executing a brilliant spin on twentieth-century world history with this series. The Coldest War begins roughly twenty years after the events of Bitter Seeds, and the name is fitting. Not only is this the Cold War, but it’s also a very cold part of the lives of the protagonists. In fact,
February 1st, 2016. Sarah Chorn | Ian Tregillis | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dead Bolt is the second book in Juliet Blackwell’s HAUNTED HOME RENOVATION MYSTERIES. I liked the first book, If Walls Could Talk, well enough, but felt like it was too similar to Blackwell’s other paranormal cozy mystery series, WITCHCRAFT MYSTERIES. The best thing about both series is that the audiobook versions are read by the amazing Xe Sands and, I swear, I would probably be happy listening to Xe read the tax code.
November 9th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Juliet Blackwell | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
Warning: Contains some mild spoilers for the previous book, The Lost Hero.
First, a brief reminder of where this book stands among Rick Riordan‘s collection of YA novels: it is the second book in the HEROES OF OLYMPUS five-part series, which itself is the sequel series to the original PERCY JACKSON books. Suffice to say, if you’re unfamiliar with the stories published before this one, you’re likely to be hopelessly lost in understanding what’s happening here.
August 26th, 2015. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Rick Riordan | Children | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Royal Airs is the second book in Sharon Shinn’s ELEMENTAL BLESSINGS series. I loved the first book, Troubled Waters, which was a light romantic fantasy that told the story of Zoe Ardelay, a young woman who was brought to the royal court of Welce to be the fifth wife of its king. She discovered that she had power over the element of water and, using the personality traits that her water spirit gave her, she successfully navigated the dangers of the court and found true love.
December 31st, 2014. Kat Hooper and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2.5 | Sharon Shinn | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ok, first of all, what the hell is up with that cover? In what world is Moses Todd supposed to look like a refugee from a paranormal romance series airing on the CW? Not in mine, that’s for sure.
Alright, now that that’s off my chest we can continue. What we have here is the sequel/prequel to Alden Bell’s initial foray into the zombie apocalypse, The Reapers Are the Angels. This time around we follow former secondary characters Moses Todd and his brother in their rambles across a ravaged America prior to their meeting with Temple from the first book.
December 2nd, 2014. Terry Lago´s rating: 3.5 | Alden Bell | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Doctor and the Kid by Mike Resnick
The Doctor and the Kid is the second novel in Mike Resnick’s WEIRD WEST TALES. I haven’t read the first book, The Buntline Special, but I could follow the events and characters just fine. The Doctor and the Kid works well as a stand-alone, though I probably would have had more attachment to the characters and the events if I had read The Buntline Special first.
November 26th, 2014. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 4 | Mike Resnick | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
In his first book, Tome of the Undergates, Sam Sykes proved he was a versatile author. He wrote some intense, realistic battles and mixed them with some of the most peaceful, beautiful passages I’ve seen in such a violent book. Interspersed with all of this was some fantastic humor that I’ve come to associate with Sykes.
In Black Halo, he takes everything he proved himself capable of in Tome of the Undergates and perfects it.
October 8th, 2014. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 4 | Sam Sykes | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Stealing Magic by Marianne Malone
Stealing Magic is the second book in Marianne Malone’s SIXTY-EIGHT ROOMS adventure series for middle grade readers. The series has a fascinating premise — two 6th grade kids find a way to explore the Thorne Rooms in the Art Institute of Chicago and discover that they can use the rooms to get into the world of the time period the rooms depict. But Bill, Kelly, and I were disappointed because there was too little time spent actually exploring the fantasy worlds (which would be the fun part).
September 2nd, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Marianne Malone | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Shadow of the Soul by Sarah Pinborough
Warning: This review contains spoilers for the first book in the FORGOTTEN GODS trilogy, A Matter of Blood (reviewed here).
As The Shadow of the Soul by Sarah Pinborough opens, Cass Jones has been through six months of interviews, arrests, statements and the backlash from his discovery of rampant corruption among his fellow police officers (as set forth in the first book of the FORGOTTEN GODS trilogy,
June 23rd, 2014. Terry Weyna´s rating: 4 | Sarah Pinborough | Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Words of Radiance is book two in Brandon Sanderson’s huge STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE series, projected to be ten books. In fact, at 1100 pages, Words of Radiance is almost large enough to be its own series (at least once upon a time — I’m thinking say of Zelazny’s AMBER series, or Donaldson’s original COVENANT trilogy). With another eight thousand pages to go,
March 11th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Brandon Sanderson | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…