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]: 2014.01

Skraelings: Clashes in the Old Arctic: Has a winning charm

Skraelings: Clashes in the Old Arctic by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley

Skraelings: Clashes in the Old Arctic, by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, is a Middle Grade book that despite some problems has a winning charm to it.

Set in, well, the old Arctic, at a time when the Inuit were just entering a land, the story is both a coming-of-age tale and a clash of cultures narrative. The coming-of-age belongs to a young Inuit hunter named Kannujaq. The culture clash involves the new-to-this-land Inuit,

Talus and the Frozen King: The world’s first detective

Talus and the Frozen King by Graham Edwards

If Jean Auel and Arthur Conan Doyle had collaborated, the result might have been Talus, the bard detective at the center of Graham Edwards’ novel, Talus and the Frozen King. Set in northern Europe during the Neolithic period, Talus and his companion Watson, umm, I mean Bran, stumble across an island village mourning the sudden death of their king. It takes only a few pages for Talus to throw everything into chaos with his Quincy-like revelation (yes,

May 15th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Graham Edwards | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Unwrapped Sky: An evocative setting, but an off-putting sense of distance

Unwrapped Sky by Rjurik Davidson

Unwrapped Sky, the debut novel by Rjurik Davidson, has an evocative setting, an intriguing set-up, and an often lyrical and lovely prose style, but an off-putting distance between the reader and its characters/material works against these strengths, leaving more of a sense of “what could have been” than I would have preferred.

A clear denizen of the New Weird or Urban Weird, Unwrapped Sky introduces us to Caeli-Amur, an ancient city rising out of the dark ages brought about from the legendary God War and its ensuing Cataclysm,

May 8th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Rjurik Davidson | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Dreamwalker: Friedman’s first Young Adult offering

Dreamwalker by C.S. Friedman

I’m a big fan of C.S. Friedman, so I was eager to get my hands on her latest novel, Dreamwalker. This is Friedman’s first Young Adult offering and while it doesn’t match the level of elegance, intelligence, inventiveness, and beauty of her adult novels, it’s better than most of what’s available on the YA shelves.

Jesse Drake is a high school student who stands out only because of the fractal-like art she produces. Her art is inspired by her dreams in which she visits other worlds.

American Craftsmen: An exciting blend of genres

American Craftsmen by Tom Doyle

Tom Doyle is a very creative author and his blending of historical fiction and urban fantasy is a really nice combination. American Craftsmen is an exciting blend of two genres that kept me interested and excited for more.

The idea of magic having existed throughout history, just never openly exposed is a well used plotline, but Doyle is able to explain it in a new, interesting way that does not feel stale or repetitive.

In American Craftsmen we are shown a picture of the United States and how the pilgrims and other immigrants carried their magical talents into the new world and how they became incorporated into the governance and defense of the nation.

May 6th, 2014. John Hulet´s rating: 4 | Tom Doyle | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Lascar’s Dagger: Not bad, but nothing special

The Lascar’s Dagger by Glenda Larke

The Lascar’s Dagger is an interesting blend of political intrigue, religious debate and illustrations of how stereotyping is seldom a good idea. Glenda Larke writes at a fairly easy to consume level, neither demanding that the reader track complex plot elements nor boring the reader with nothing interesting to say. For the first book in a new series, it’s not bad, but I’m not dying to read the next book in the series either.

Saker is a rogue.

April 29th, 2014. John Hulet´s rating: 2 | Glenda Larke | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Sky Raiders: A new children’s fantasy series by Brandon Mull

Sky Raiders by Brandon Mull

Sky Raiders is the first book in Brandon Mull’s new FIVE KINGDOMS series for Middle Grade readers. It’s about a boy named Cole who takes his friends, including a girl he has a crush on, to a haunted house on Halloween Night. The occupants of the house lure the kids into the basement where they’re abducted, taken to another world called The Five Kingdoms, and sold into slavery.

As you might guess, Cole feels a little guilty about this.

Notes from the Internet Apocalypse: Amusing and thoughtful

Notes from the Internet Apocalypse by Wayne Gladstone

Humorist Wayne Gladstone takes on the American obsession with the internet in Notes from the Internet Apocalypse, an amusing but thoughtful look at what might happen to our culture if the world wide web went down for good.

Gladstone himself is the protagonist of his story. Since both his job and his free time activities depend on the internet, he has no idea what to do now that it’s gone. So he begins keeping a journal about how the world is handling the crisis.

The Winner’s Curse: Rutkoski won me over

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Marie Rutkoski is a good writer. I’ve known that from when I read The Cabinet of Wonders, the first book of her KRONOS CHRONICLES, a Middle Grade trilogy. While the subsequent books weren’t quite as good, I still enthusiastically recommended the series. And I can tell Rutkoski is still a good writer after reading her newest YA entry, The Winner’s Curse, because even though I had some large issues with the novel, issues that normally would have made me not recommend it,

The Mark of the Dragonfly: Enjoyable, misses chances to be better

The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson

The Mark of the Dragonfly, a Middle Grade novel by Jaleigh Johnson, starts off with a wonderfully evocative premise and setting: a world where at regular intervals over a particular region, “meteor storms” rain down artifacts from other worlds amidst a haze of poisonous green dust. After the impacts are over and the dust has settled, “scrappers” head out in a mad race to claim whatever odd (and usually broken) objects might be sold to traders.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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