THE CHRONICLES OF SIRKARA by Laura Resnick

This series is also called THE SILERIAN TRILOGY and IN FIRE FORGED.

I enjoy running across books that haven’t received much attention. I also enjoy running across books that I enjoy a lot more than I expected to. When you smash both of those things together, you come up with THE CHRONICLES OF SIRKARA, a trilogy by Laura Resnick, which I read in about three days flat. Yep, that’s about a book a day. I should also note, I rarely read series books back-to-back. I’m not sure why. I usually take a little break between books in a series, probably to digest or something. I couldn’t do that with this series. I devoured them as fast as I could. That says something.

Epic fantasy is a genre I either love or hate. It’s easy to mess up epic fantasy, and it seems like a genre that’s hard to do right. I need a little background in my epic fantasy, some a... Read More

Disappearing Nightly by Laura Resnick

Funny fact: This book got lost in the mail on its way to me and took almost a month to arrive. I started wondering if it was a bad idea to order a book with "Disappearing" in the title! It turned up in the end, though, and I'm glad. Disappearing Nightly is a lot of fun. It was just what I needed after reading a couple of really dark novels.

Both the heroine and the plot are highly original in the urban fantasy subgenre. Esther is a struggling actress, not a hard-boiled vigilante. No vampires or werewolves appear in her story, either as antagonists or love interests. Esther is the understudy to pop star Golly Gee in "Sorcerer!", a musical that revolves around stage magic. One night Golly vanishes as planned — but doesn't reappear. Esther pokes around to find out what might have happened to Golly, and learns that magician's assistants are disappearing all over New Yor... Read More

Doppelgangster by Laura Resnick

Esther Diamond is between acting jobs. To make ends meet, she takes a job waiting tables at Bella Stella. Connor Lopez, the cop who may or may not be Esther's boyfriend, is concerned because Bella Stella is frequented by the Gambello crime family, but hey, a girl's gotta make a living!

Before long, though, Esther lands in deep trouble. One of Bella Stella's regulars, Chubby Charlie, sees a perfect double of himself and then is murdered right in front of her. She's traumatized by the event, the tabloids are painting her as mob-connected, Lopez doesn't believe her version of events, and she's starting to suspect that Charlie's double was created by magic. When other doubles start popping up, followed by more murders, it's up to Esther to find the killer, with the help of Max, her centuries-old wizard friend; Lucky, an aging wiseguy; and Max's new "familiar," Nelli, who may be a mystical creature but s... Read More

Out of Avalon: An Anthology of Old Magic and New Myths by Jennifer Roberson

Out of Avalon: An Anthology of Old Magic and New Myths is an anthology for everyone who loves re-takes on the Arthurian legends, and especially those readers who loved The Mists of Avalon and are seeking more of the same sort of retellings, laced with gender politics, religious issues, and romance.

As in all anthologies, some of the stories are to my taste, some aren't, and there is probably something for everyone. In my opinion, the stunner of the bunch is Rosemary Edghill's "Prince of Exiles." Set among bloodthirsty warlords rather than knights-n-ladies, it is narrated by Ator (Arthur)'s bitter illegitimate son, as he unfolds his intricate plan for revenge against his father. It's a darkly engrossing story until you get to the l... Read More