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In The Extra, a near-future science fiction novel set in a dystopian version of Los Angeles, Val Margolian is the creator and most successful director of a new genre of action movies, in which crowds of real people are cast as extras and have to defend themselves against movie monsters. The action is real, and so are the deaths. Whoever manages to kill one of the monsters, and anyone who survives the shoot, gets a huge cash reward. Naturally, with rampant poverty in LA,
February 1st, 2010. Stefan Raets and Robert Thompson´s rating: 1.5 | Michael Shea | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Seven Rays by Jessica Bendinger
Beth Ray is beginning to realize she’s not just your average teenage girl. She’s seeing strange visions, and then there are the letters: shiny gold envelopes containing hints of a great destiny. Her mother tries to keep them from her, but the envelopes manage to find Beth wherever she goes.
And then a big hairy bloke shows up on a flying motorbike and takes her to a wizard school in Scotland… wait, wrong book.
What happens to Beth, instead, is that she undergoes laser eye surgery to try to correct her sight,
January 15th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 1.5 | Jessica Bendinger | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Magician’s Apprentice by Trudi Canavan
The Magician’s Apprentice is the stand-alone prequel to Trudi Canavan’s The Black Magician trilogy. It tells the story of young healer and magician apprentice Tessia who is caught up in the struggle between her native Kyralia and the Sachakan invaders who are trying to reestablish rule over their prior province.
I haven’t read the trilogy and am evaluating the book as the solo novel it is purported to be.
The first sentence of The Magician’s Apprentice reaches out and grabs your attention.
January 9th, 2010. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 1.5 | Trudi Canavan | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dressed to Slay by Harper Allen
I’ve got a theory. I think Dressed to Slay (2006) is actually a long-lost episode of Buffy. The Scooby Gang has been hit by another demonic curse. This time, instead of falling silent or bursting into song, they’ve all been turned into Cordelia, and I mean first-season Cordelia. (All but Giles, that is. He miraculously escapes the Cordelia curse, but picks up a Russian accent.)
The comparison breaks down pretty quickly, though, because if Joss Whedon had written Dressed to Slay,
January 5th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 1.5 | Harper Allen | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Jailbait Zombie by Mario Acevedo
I confess I sometimes wonder about writing bad reviews (not reviews that are bad, but reviews of bad books). With so much out there, is it better to point people to the good stuff or warn them of the not-so-good? The feeling is exacerbated when the book is one by a popular author, let alone, as in this case, part of a popular series. Obviously somebody (a lot of somebodies) likes these books, so who am I to say they’re wrong? Or to warn people off who may have,
December 24th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 1.5 | Mario Acevedo | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Mel is living his dream. He’s been plucked from his meager existence in his sleepy town and has been brought to the big city to study as an apprentice under a great Master painter. Once there however, Mel finds that life in the big city is not exactly what he pictured.
The head apprentice Groot has it out for him because he knows how much more talented Mel is, and Groot’s big-shot uncle also has Mel on his short list and will go to any lengths to fatten his own pockets and squash Mel like a bug.
November 25th, 2009. Guest´s rating: 1.5 | Mike Wilks | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Phoenix Endangered by Mercedes Lackey
I got through about three quarters of The Phoenix Endangered on audio. This was a sluggish and clunky second installment in The Enduring Flame trilogy. The writing was dull and not much happened to advance the plot. By the time a battle finally started, I couldn’t muster up enough interest to participate.
Even more than the last book, this one was full of two teenage boys brooding, bickering, whining, and being noble. Half of what they say is said “sulkily,”
September 28th, 2009. Kat Hooper´s rating: 1.5 | Mercedes Lackey | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Nobody’s Princess by Esther Friesner
Nobody’s Princess is the story of Helen of Troy as a young woman. Because the world knows who she is as an adult, but there is no record of her childhood, Esther Freisner presents us with a determined, independent woman who wants to learn how to fight like her older brothers and go on adventures and see the world.
The story kind of meanders along following Helen’s realization that she is beautiful and her decision that she wants to be more than just a pretty face.
July 21st, 2009. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 1.5 | Esther Friesner | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Finders Keepers by Linnea Sinclair
I enjoyed Ann Aguirre’s Grimspace so much that I thought I ought to start looking into this whole “romantic” sci-fi thing. It all seemed so right up my alley. And I’d seen Linnea Sinclair listed as an author of this type of work, and Finders Keepers sounded interesting.
Finders Keepers is undoubtedly a romance novel with spaceships and laser rifles (no lightsabers). No matter how you shake it,
November 19th, 2008. Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 1.5 | Linnea Sinclair | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
When I picked up Odalisque, it looked very promising. Fiona McIntosh creates an interesting harem setting (think Ottoman Empire) and some lively characters. Unfortunately, Odalisque doesn’t live up to its potential.
The characters are almost totally one-dimensional. All of the good guys are nice and humble while all of the bad guys are cruel and ambitious. Lazar, the main (and most likeable) character, is an amazing warrior, yet throughout the story he sits back, clenches his jaw,
May 9th, 2008. Kat Hooper´s rating: 1.5 | Fiona McIntosh | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
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.