1 | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

Naked Empire: Sad decline

Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind

The Sword of Truth, though a bit derivative, started off well and, while it has had its stops and starts, it has generally been well-worth reading.

Sadly, Naked Empire fails even the minimal standard of “if it’s in a series, you’ve gotta read it if only to know what happens.” So little of import happens here, and it’s so painful to get to what little does, that it simply isn’t worth it. The book is preachy, talkative, dogmatic, repetitive, one-sided, and simplistic,

January 25th, 2008. Bill Capossere´s rating: 1 | Terry Goodkind | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Redemption of Althalus

The Redemption of Althalus by David & Leigh Eddings

The Redemption of Althalus was almost as bad as Domes of Fire. I read it because I thought that maybe David & Leigh Eddings got better. Unfortunately, it was more of the same. That’s the end of my review. Otherwise, I’ll just be repeating myself.

ANGUS BICKERTON practises law in a small town in Eastern Ontario. He lives with his wife, their two youngest children, and their black lab in a 160 year-old stone home,

Incubus Dreams: Yuck! Typical for the most recent books

Incubus Dreams by Laurell K. Hamilton

LKH has continued down the path that she has chosen for this series: the characters just get trashier with each book and all of the redeeming features that made them respectable are disappearing.

The sad part is that it is such a flawed perspective on people. Some people are actually able to resist being corrupted by outside influences and that is totally absent from this series where everyone is so caught up in a need for sex and power that they will totally debase themselves to get it.

November 11th, 2007. John Hulet´s rating: 1 | Laurell K. Hamilton | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Door in the Hedge: Nothing exceptional

The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley

Despite an interesting title and a beguiling title page, I honestly found nothing exceptional about Robin McKinley’s collection of four fairytales. Whether her stories are original or retold, they are rather dull, predictable, and written with long-winded language that makes for sluggish reading. All are centered on the interactions between this world and that of Faerieland — or to be more specific, the interactions between young princesses and the inhabitants of Faerieland. None of these girls are individuals, instead they are cast straight from the princess stereotype and all the stories end on a slightly sickly-sweet note with each dilemma that the girls’

October 12th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 1 | Robin McKinley | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Druid’s Sword: Ugh!

Druid’s Sword by Sara Douglass

I’ve been following this series for years, reading each new book avidly as the storyline and the relationships became deeper, richer, more complicated. I couldn’t wait to see what sort of denouement Sara Douglass had in store for The Troy Game.
I was particularly interested in what would become of Cornelia/Caela/Noah and her troubled bond with Brutus. I would have been satisfied with either of two possible endings:

(a) A redeemed Brutus asks Cornelia for forgiveness, and she forgives him.

(b) Brutus asks Cornelia for forgiveness,

October 2nd, 2007. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 1 | Sara Douglass | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Witches of Eileanan: Disappointing

The Witches of Eileanan by Kate Forsyth

I wanted to like The Witches of Eileanan. I’m always looking for something to read and this is a pretty long series. Unfortunately, although I tried valiantly, I couldn’t even finish it. Usually, for books that I can’t make it through, I give a DNF (did not finish) rating. However, there were a couple of things here that were at least refreshing, which is why the one star.

For starters there was the accent. Now, generally stories with a Celtic bent in general drive me bonkers.

June 20th, 2007. Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 1 | Kate Forsyth | SFF Reviews | 11 comments |

The Killing Dance: LKH really blows it on this one

The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton

I enjoyed ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER up to this point, but Laurell K. Hamilton really blows it on this one. Anita has turned into a hypocrite and any claim she had to integrity was shredded within the first 3 chapters of the next book. Hamilton has destroyed her main character — Anita is turning into a nasty tramp. We are talking about a complete reversal of the sharp-edged but relatively moral person she started out as. What a shame.

I should admit that The Killing Dance must have been well conceived and written because it really affected me — I was utterly devastated.

June 10th, 2007. John Hulet´s rating: 1 | Laurell K. Hamilton | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Rating: 1

Naked Empire: Sad decline

The Redemption of Althalus

Incubus Dreams: Yuck! Typical for the most recent books

The Door in the Hedge: Nothing exceptional

Druid’s Sword: Ugh!

The Witches of Eileanan: Disappointing

The Killing Dance: LKH really blows it on this one

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