2010 | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

Before I Fall: Will be one of Kelly’s annual rereads

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

It could have been maudlin. It’s not.
It could have been preachy. It’s not.
What Before I Fall is, is awesome.

The protagonist, Samantha “Sam” Kingston, will alienate a lot of readers at first. She and her friends Lindsay, Elody, and Ally make up the ruling clique at their high school. Steeped in privilege, fawned over by other students and teachers alike, they torment classmates who are lower on the social ladder. Sam is uneasy about some of the bullying behavior,

The Folding Knife: Highly recommended to anyone who can read

The Folding Knife by K.J. Parker

The back cover blurb describes K.J. Parker’s The Folding Knife like this:

Basso the Magnificent. Basso the Great. Basso the Wise. The First Citizen of the Vesani public is an extraordinary man. He is ruthless, cunning, and above all, lucky. He brings wealth, power, and prestige to his people. But with power comes unwanted attention, and Basso must defend his nation and himself from threats foreign and domestic. In a lifetime of crucial decisions, he’s only ever made one mistake.

and Falling, Fly: My brain is buzzing

and Falling, Fly by Skyler White

When I finished and Falling, Fly, the first words out of my mouth were, “Wow, what a mindf*ck.” The cover art, while a beautiful example of its kind, seems to imply a fairly standard urban fantasy. and Falling, Fly is anything but.

Skyler White unfolds this story through the eyes of two main characters, Olivia and Dominic. Olivia lives in a world of sensual depravity; she believes she is a fallen angel and a vampire,

The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart: Probably better as music

The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu

The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart, according to the back flap, is the “basis for an album that [Mathias] Malzieu wrote.” I’d like to hear the album because I’m thinking his source material may have been better served in that medium. The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart isn’t a bad book, but even for a novella there isn’t much there and too much of it is either implied, assumed, or not earned;

The Sorcerer’s House: Beautifully otherworldly

The Sorcerer’s House by Gene Wolfe

The Sorcerer’s House is a beautifully subtle new novel by master fantasy and SF author Gene Wolfe. The novel’s protagonist is a recently released convict who, seemingly by complete coincidence, comes into possession of an abandoned house. As he moves in, he discovers that the house already has a few odd inhabitants…

A large part of the enjoyment of this novel is the process of discovery, as the protagonist slowly finds out more and more about the odd nature of the house and its inhabitants,

The Dream of Perpetual Motion: Wild, vivid, inaccessible, strange

The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer

FORMAT/INFO: The Dream of Perpetual Motion is 352 pages long divided over five parts, with each part divided into numbered segments. Also includes a Prologue, an Epilogue, and four Interludes. Narration alternates between the first-person and the third-person via the narrator of the book, Harold “Harry” Winslow. The Dream of Perpetual Motion is self-contained.

March 2, 2010 marks the North American Hardcover publication of The Dream of Perpetual Motion via St.

Alcestis: Some moments will break your heart

Alcestis by Katharine Beutner

The ancient Greeks held up Alcestis as a model of wifely devotion. Her husband, Admetus, was spared from death on the condition that someone else die in his place. When Admetus’ relatives and friends refused, Alcestis volunteered herself and made the journey to the underworld, but was later rescued by Heracles. In her debut novel, a poignant literary fantasy, Katharine Beutner fleshes out the figure of Alcestis, and gives her a backstory that helps explain her willingness to sacrifice herself.

Beutner’s Alcestis has always lived in the shadow of death,

Steamed: A Steampunk Romance

Steamed by Katie MacAlister

Steamed is the first novel in what promises to be a rollicking steampunk fantasy series as Katie MacAlister delivers her trademark humor and romance in a new world setting.

Jack Fletcher and his sister get sucked into an alternative reality and find themselves on a Aerocorps steamship captained by Octavia Pye. The novel’s premise is inventive and fun, as is the romantic interplay between Jack Fletcher and Octavia Pye. The zany steamship crew members form a great supporting cast. MacAlister always seems to have one side character who steals the show.

January 30th, 2010. Stephen B. Frank´s rating: 3.5 | Katie MacAlister | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Sleepless: Quite possibly Charlie Huston’s best book

Sleepless by Charlie Huston

CLASSIFICATION: Sleepless is a classic crime/mystery story set in a post-apocalyptic milieu afflicted by a unique illness. Think Dennis Lehane meets José Saramago’s Blindess and P. D. James’ The Children of Men meets Richard K. Morgan.

FORMAT/INFO: Sleepless is 368 pages long divided over thirty numbered chapters and an Epilogue. Narration is in the first-person via a sixty-year-old, ex-military freelance mercenary named Jasper,

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

Before I Fall: Will be one of Kelly’s annual rereads

The Folding Knife: Highly recommended to anyone who can read

and Falling, Fly: My brain is buzzing

The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart: Probably better as music

The Sorcerer’s House: Beautifully otherworldly

The Dream of Perpetual Motion: Wild, vivid, inaccessible, strange

Alcestis: Some moments will break your heart

Steamed: A Steampunk Romance

Sleepless: Quite possibly Charlie Huston’s best book

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