The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Dark of Deep Below by Patrick Rothfuss (story) and Nate Taylor (art)
Author Patrick Rothfuss and artist Nate Taylor have teamed up again to bring us another picture book about the princess who lives in a marzipan castle and her stuffed teddy bear named Mr. Whiffle. You don’t need to have read the first book, The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed (reviewed by Justin) to enjoy their latest adventure.
November 15th, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Patrick Rothfuss | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone
Two Serpents Rise (2013) is the second book by Max Gladstone and is set in the same world as Three Parts Dead. I struggle to define the “genre” that this series fits into. There are elements of urban fantasy and steampunk, but none of that really fits. It doesn’t matter because the books are awesome and Gladstone has built something that really works.
Two Serpents Rise features Caleb Altemoc,
November 14th, 2013. John Hulet, Kat Hooper and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Max Gladstone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Subterranean Stratagem by Michael Pryor
I have to confess, Michael Pryor’s second installment of THE EXTRAORDINAIRES series, The Subterranean Stratagem, did not quite charm or engage me as much as its predecessor, The Extinction Gambit, did (or Pryor’s earlier THE LAWS OF MAGIC series). As this is the first of Pryor’s books not to do so, I’m going to consider this a minor blip and assume book three will regain his usual form.
November 13th, 2013. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Michael Pryor | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Osiris Curse by Paul Crilley
The Osiris Curse is the second book in Paul Crilley’s YA steampunk series TWEED AND NIGHTINGALE. While much of this fast-paced adventure seemed obviously borrowed from works like the Librarian movies, Doctor Who and even China Mieville’s book The Scar, the two protagonists are charming and the story moves along at a good clip. Crilley raises some moral questions that should make early-high-school aged readers think.
Sebastian Tweed and Octavia Nightingale are two young people who have been taken under the wing of Queen Victoria’s mysterious Ministry.
October 14th, 2013. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Paul Crilley | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Countdown City by Ben H. Winters
Countdown City (2013) is Ben H. Winters’s second book in the pre-apocalyptic trilogy that began with The Last Policeman. Hank Palace is no longer a cop in Concord, New Hampshire; police functions have been nationalized, but he still wants to help people and try to maintain order in the two and a half months that remain before Maia, a fifteen-kilometer-wide asteroid, hits the earth.
Hank’s old babysitter asks him to find her husband who disappeared a few days earlier.
October 10th, 2013. Marion Deeds, Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Ben H. Winters | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Codex Born is Jim Hines’ follow-up to last year’s Libriomancer, his breezy love letter to fantasy and science fiction readers and writers. While the sequel didn’t charm me as much as its precursor, its quick pace, likable characters, and frequent allusions to some of my favorite authors, along with Hine’s trademark darkness underlying a lightly comical surface, meant that on balance I found more to enjoy than to dislike.
The series is set in a world where certain people — libriomancers — have the ability to magically pull objects,
August 13th, 2013. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3, 3.5 | Jim C. Hines | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Thieves’ Quarry by D.B. Jackson
Thieves’ Quarry is D.B. Jackson’s solid follow up to his first historical fantasy, Thieftaker, set in pre-Revolutionary (barely) Boston. In it, Jackson raises the stakes from the very start, beginning with a bit of a bang, as his protagonist Ethan Kaille is wakened one morning by an astonishingly powerful pulse of magic in the city. Ethan’s foreboding centered on that mysterious pulse is soon borne out as he is called in by the Crown to investigate the deaths of all the men,
August 2nd, 2013. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | D.B. Jackson | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
A Discourse in Steel by Paul S. Kemp
A Discourse in Steel is the second novel in Paul S. Kemp’s EGIL AND NIX series about a couple of “retired” graverobbers who just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. I thought the first book, The Hammer and the Blade, was a fun story that didn’t quite meet the standards of Fritz Leiber’s LANKHMAR series which is an obvious influence. I was happy to give Egil and Nix another chance to charm me,
July 5th, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Paul S. Kemp | Audio | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Sharp is the second full novel in the MINDSPACE INVESTIGATION series and is a direct follow up to the first book Clean. Adam is still struggling from the after-effects of his over-extension of his abilities at the end of Clean and is having a hard time keeping up with the pace of his work while coping with the never-ending craving of addiction.
A new case comes up, a vicious murder, and Adam is tasked to determine if there is some psychic evidence that he can add to the investigation.
June 18th, 2013. John Hulet´s rating: 4.5 | Alex Hughes | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Reaper’s Legacy is the second book in Tim Lebbon’s young-adult paranormal adventure series TOXIC CITY. In London Eye, someone released a strange serum or toxin called Evolve into London, two years earlier, a day now called Doomsday. Millions died. The world has been told that the entire city is a poisoned wasteland, cut off from the rest of England, but within the city, the survivors are changing, mutating, developing paranormal abilities.
May 9th, 2013. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Tim Lebbon | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…