Return: An Innkeeper’s World Story by Peter S. Beagle
Return: An Innkeeper’s World Story was my first Peter S. Beagle read, but it certainly won’t be my last. I’ve just put his The Innkeeper’s Song on my TBR list.
Return is a slim novella (only 104 pages) which tells the story of Soukyan’s return to that place where he was raised and from which he’s been running for years. He’s ready to put an end to those who’ve been hunting him,
September 22nd, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Peter S. Beagle | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Plain Kate is the orphaned daughter of a master woodcarver, and a skilled woodcarver herself. She lives in the town of Samilae, whose inhabitants are a superstitious lot; when the crops fail or disease strikes, they cast around for someone to blame. A Roamer (Rom), perhaps. A person with a deformity. Or, maybe, someone with a skill they think is uncanny. An enigmatic stranger arrives in Samilae with a terrible plan, and vulnerable Kate is just the right person to serve as the linchpin in it. He frames her for witchcraft,
September 4th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Erin Bow | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
China Mieville’s Kraken is a rollicking head-spinning comic novel set in an alternate London where gods and cults and magic are so interwoven into the daily fabric that there is an entire squad in the London police to deal with those elements, and it is that squad which is called in to investigate when the eponymous Kraken is stolen from the Natural History Museum.
They’re not alone in their desire to find out what happened to the giant squid, however, which also happens to be considered a god by many.
August 20th, 2010. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | China Mieville | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee
Karin Lowachee, who has written three highly acclaimed SF novels, released her first fantasy novel, The Gaslight Dogs, in April 2010 — and it’s another good one. The novel has two memorable main characters, Sjennonirk (or Sjenn for short) and Jarrett, as well as several well-drawn side characters. Sjenn is the young spiritwalker of her Anwi (think: Inuit) tribe, who finds herself taken captive by the Ciracusan army and transported from the frozen north to the gaslit city of Nev Anyan.
August 16th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 4 | Karin Lowachee | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Questing Road by Lyn McConchie
New Zealand author Lyn McConchie has written several novels with Andre Norton in that author’s WITCH WORLD and BEAST MASTER universes, so I was surprised that The Questing Road, though officially McConchie’s first solo fantasy novel, actually reads much like a debut novel. While there are a few moments of charm and sparkle, the characters are so flat, and the writing so uneven, that I would have easily believed this to be someone’s first attempt at a novel.
August 3rd, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 1 | Lyn McConchie | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker by Syrie James
Syrie James, author of two straight historical novels, dips her toes into the paranormal pool with Dracula, My Love. Using Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula as a framework, James tells the story from the point of view of Mina Harker, and adds a twist: What if Mina wasn’t just ensorcelled by Dracula, but truly loved him?
I figured this would be a hard sell for me.
July 30th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Syrie James | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Alchemist and The Executioness by Paolo Bacigalupi & Tobias Buckell
The Alchemist and The Executioness caught my eye as soon as it went up at Audible. (Both novellas are now available in print from Subterranean Press.) Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell offering linked fantasy novellas that take place in a shared world? Bacigalupi’s story read by Jonathan Davis? What could be more promising? (It turns out that had I been familiar with Katherine Kellgren,
July 30th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Paolo Bacigalupi, Tobias Buckell | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Bird of the River by Kage Baker
Eliss is a teenage girl living an itinerant life with her drug-addicted mother and young brother. Her mother, formerly a successful diver, now has trouble keeping a job because her drug habit has damaged her lungs, but she’s given a chance on the Bird of the River, a huge raft-like boat that travels and trades up and down the river on year-long journeys. Eliss shows some talent as a look-out, spotting blockages and snags upriver, and even her young brother Alder, who is half Yendri and has experienced discrimination before,
July 26th, 2010. Stefan Raets and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Kage Baker | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Third Bear by Jeff Vandermeer
The Third Bear is an excellent collection of Jeff VanderMeer’s category-defying short fiction, filled with stories that are unique, mostly excellent, and often incredibly hard to describe. Asking someone who has read this book (say, a reviewer) what one of the stories is about could well get you a blank stare as a response, or a few mumbled words, or simply “you’ll have to read it for yourself.” Pinning these stories down in a few words is very hard,
July 22nd, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 4 | Jeff VanderMeer | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
Necdet, a troubled young man, is witness to what looks like a botched suicide bombing on a crowded city tram; afterwards, he starts seeing djinn and other supernatural creatures. Can, a nine year old boy with an amazing robotic toy — and a heart condition that confines him to a silent world — accidentally becomes involved in the intrigue. Ayse, a gallery owner, is contracted to find a mysterious and elusive relic, while her boyfriend Adnan, a successful trader, works on his own scheme to become rich.
July 8th, 2010. Stefan Raets and Ryan Skardal | Ian McDonald | BSFA Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
convinced me!
Ahhh… another person that doesn’t understand what fiction is. Also another person that lies as much as this Kat Hooper…
Bob… it’s explained in the book Bob… it’s a FICTIONAL STORY Bob.., You know what fiction is, don’t you Bob?…
Oh… my… god… This reviewer is a complete and total idiot that quite clearly simply hates John Ringo. Did she…
Wow, sounds terrific. Adding it to my list.