Previous SFF Author: Meg Cabot
(1962- )
Rachel Caine is a pen name of Roxanne Longstreet Conrad, an American writer of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and horror novels. Conrad also publishes media tie-in novels as Julie Fortune. Rachel Caine has been writing and publishing novels and short stories since 1991. She is a former professional musician who has the distinction of having played with such musical legends as Henry Mancini, Peter Nero and John Williams. Read excerpts at Rachel Caine’s website.
Ill Wind is the first book in Rachel Caine’s urban fantasy series Weather Warden. The book stands well on its own and doesn’t have any of those nasty cliffhangers so often found in fantasy series, but it still keeps you interested in what happens in the next book.
Ill Wind starts in the middle of the action and I was impressed with the first chapter because Caine seamlessly juxtaposes the present with flashbacks and keeps readers on the edge of their seats.
Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | Rachel Caine | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Morganville Vampires (Glass Houses & The Dead Girl’s Dance) by Rachel Caine
I pretty much avoid sparkly vampire stories. I’ve never read Twilight, and have not seen the movies. I am only vaguely familiar with Anne Rice’s stuff. I have been “self-sheltered” from vampire fantasy fiction. But when I saw that Penguin Books was re-releasing Rachel Caine’s The Morganville Vampires in omnibus editions, I asked for a copy of the first one (Glass Houses and The Dead Girl’s Dance).
Justin Blazier´s rating: 3.5 | Rachel Caine | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Rachel Caine’s Working Stiff is technically a zombie novel, but it’s not your typical zombie novel. It’s not your typical urban fantasy, either. In fact, it might be more properly termed urban soft science fiction, as the zombifying agent is a nanotech drug rather than magic. But whatever you call it, it’s an excellent book that has me kicking myself for not having tried Caine’s novels before (I’d only read her short story “Death Warmed Over”).
Bryn Davis is one of the most relatable urban-fantasy heroines I’ve seen.
Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Rachel Caine | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Imagine a world in which the Library of Alexandria still existed, a world in which all of that accumulated knowledge and human history was still accessible to any literate person. That sounds pretty amazing, right? What most people might not take into account, however, is how drastically different that world would be from our own with the benefit of said knowledge and the attendant power given to its keepers. Ink and Bone, the first volume of a planned YA series by Rachel Caine,
Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Rachel Caine | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
Strange Brew by P.N. Elrod (ed)
The theme of Strange Brew is witchcraft. This anthology features nine well-known urban fantasy authors, each with their own spin on the theme. Some of these stories feature well-known characters. Others focus on characters who are secondary in the author’s series, or characters who are entirely new. Glancing at the table of contents and doing a little mental math, most of the stories are around 40 pages, give or take a few. (The longest is Karen Chance’s at just under 60.) As is always the case with anthologies,
Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Caitlin Kittredge, Charlaine Harris, Faith Hunter, Jim Butcher, Karen Chance, P.N. Elrod, Patricia Briggs, Rachel Caine | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dark Duets edited by Christopher Golden
Christopher Golden explains in his introduction to Dark Duets that writing is a solitary occupation right up until that moment an alchemical reaction takes place and a bolt of inspiration simultaneously strikes two writers who are friends. Golden has found that the results of collaboration are often fascinating and sometimes magical, as when Stephen King and Peter Straub teamed up to write The Talisman. Writing is an intimate,
Terry Weyna´s rating: 3 | Amber Benson, Carrie Ryan, Cassandra Clare, Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden, Gregory Frost, Holly Black, Joe R. Lansdale, Jonathan Maberry, Kevin J. Anderson, Rachel Caine, Rick Hautala, Robert Jackson Bennett, Sarah Rees Brennan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Tim Lebbon | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Previous SFF Author: Meg Cabot
Sounds fun!
I guess my benchmark is whether the feistiness and sarcasm are done well. After all, chocolate is ubiquitous in our…
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Aren't smart, feisty, sarcastic protagonists pretty much the default in genre fiction nowadays? From that baseline you move up to…
COMMENT My highest recommendation!