The City of Ice by K.M. McKinley
I was going to start out this review of K.M. McKinley’s The City of Ice (2016) by saying that I could pretty much cut and paste the first paragraph of my review of its predecessor The Iron Ship, since it matched exactly what I’d say about The City of Ice. But then I realized why say I could when I actually can do that.
January 11th, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | K.M. McKinley | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan
The god Thor has lost his hammer again, but this time it’s even worse: the giant Thrym has gotten hold of it and has hidden it away where no one else can reach it. If the hammer isn’t returned to Thor quickly, enemies of Asgard will take advantage of their weakness and attack, triggering Ragnarok, the battle at the end of the world, and bringing massive death and destruction in the Nine Worlds.
Loki the trickster, who has been chained up by the other gods as punishment for his misdeeds,
October 25th, 2016. Tadiana Jones and Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Rick Riordan | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Of Sand and Malice Made by Bradley P. Beaulieu
Of Sand and Malice Made is a prequel to Bradley P. Beaulieu‘s 2015 novel Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, introducing the teenaged main character, Çeda, along with her best friend Emre, and aspects of the desert city of Sharakhai they call home. Çeda is a pit fighter, and Beaulieu writes her training and fight scenes well, conveying action and Çeda’s thoughts during the fights in brisk prose. The primary impetus for the plot is that a demon-like creature called an “erekh,”
September 15th, 2016. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Bradley P. Beaulieu | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Empty Ones by Robert Brockway
The Empty Ones (2016) is suspenseful, scary, action-packed and occasionally gross. This is the second book in Robert Brockway’s THE VICIOUS CIRCUIT series, following 2015’s The Unnoticeables. The Empty Ones crackles with tension, and I found that several of the questions that plagued me at the end of Book One are answered here. By the end of this one, I am even more worried about young stuntwoman Kaitlyn than I was before.
August 30th, 2016. Marion Deeds and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Robert Brockway | Horror | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Imprudence is the second book in Gail Carriger’s CUSTARD PROTOCOL series, a spin-off of her popular PARASOL PROTECTORATE books and related to her wonderful young adult FINISHING SCHOOL series. I didn’t love the first CUSTARD PROTOCOL book, Prudence. I thought the plot was silly, the humor was too often forced, and the romance was dull. However, I loved the audiobook narration by the amazingly talented Moira Quirk,
August 29th, 2016. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Gail Carriger | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
The Obelisk Gate is the second in N.K. Jemisin’s BROKEN EARTH trilogy and the follow-up to her Hugo Award-winning The Fifth Season; expectations were understandably high for this installment, which promises to shed a little more light on The Stillness and the qualities that make its geology and its people so unique. The Obelisk Gate is compulsively readable, filled with characters and circumstances that will transfix the reader’s attention,
August 26th, 2016. Jana Nyman and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | N.K. Jemisin | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Devil’s Evidence by Simon Kurt Unsworth
The Devil’s Evidence (2016) is Simon Kurt Unsworth’s follow up to last year’s horror novel, The Devil’s Detective. In this book, Thomas Fool, the Devil’s Information Man, is sent to Heaven to try to solve a mystery, and soon he is trying to stop a war.
Since the purpose of Hell is to promote human suffering, it isn’t surprising that Fool suffered terrible losses in the first book,
August 15th, 2016. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Simon Kurt Unsworth | Horror | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Before I begin my review of Chuck Wendig’s Life Debt, book two of the STAR WARS: AFTERMATH trilogy, I want to talk about myself for a minute. I like STAR WARS. I loved the original three movies. I didn’t like The Phantom Menace, surfed away from Attack of the Clones about two-thirds of the way through, and never saw Revenge of the Sith. Remember that I’m the person who couldn’t figure out why commenters on various sites kept talking about the European Union as part of the Star Wars cycle because I didn’t know that “EU” meant “Extended Universe.” I’m not a capital-F Fan.
July 18th, 2016. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Chuck Wendig | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
I think Genevieve Valentine has invented a new subgenre: the fashionpunk political thriller. So far both books in THE PERSONA SEQUENCE, Persona (2015) and Icon (2016), fit into this fashion-forward category, where appearance is everything… or at least, so it appears.
… In this light they looked like ghosts or witches, something powerful and untouchable and lovely, even in pencil skirts and jeans and sequin tops and Kipa’s sensible cardigan with the top button of her blouse left undone.
July 12th, 2016. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Genevieve Valentine | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Beastly Bones by William Ritter
Beastly Bones (2015) is the second book in William Ritter’s YA fantasy series JACKABY. R.F. Jackaby is a paranormal detective in the style of Sherlock Holmes, in 1892 New England, and Abigail Rook is his able assistant. Like the immortal Dr. Watson, Abigail is our story-teller, but in Beastly Bones she gets a chance to practice her first love, paleontology, when an intact fossilized skeleton of an unknown creature is found in nearby Gad’s Valley.
July 6th, 2016. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | William Ritter | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 5 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,…