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The Pilgrims and Shadow by Will Elliott
The Pilgrims and Shadow by Will Elliott are the first two books of the PENDULUM TRILOGY. I read The Pilgrims while on a long trip last year, and so never wrote up a review (camping and hiking not being conducive to such activity). Which means this dual review will focus heavily detail-wise on Shadow while making reference to the first book based on some fuzzy recollection,
May 20th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Will Elliott | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Boy Who Lost Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente
The Boy Who Lost Fairyland is the fourth in the FAIRYLAND series by Catherynne M. Valente, the second in a row that has been somewhat of a disappointment to me, and the first whose strengths I thought were not enough to fully overcome its flaws.
Valente takes a bit of a risk here in book four, shifting focus from her primary protagonist, September and her friends, to a whole new cast of characters.
May 15th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Catherynne M. Valente | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Warring States by Aidan Harte
The Warring States is the second book in Aidan Harte’s THE WAVE trilogy, coming after last year’s Irenicon, to which I gave a three-star rating recently. Unfortunately, I’d describe The Warring States as a bit of a step backwards, mostly due to pacing issues.
You can take a look at my review of Irenicon for the detailed back-story.
May 14th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Aidan Harte | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris
I was greatly looking forward to Joanne M. Harris’ The Gospel of Loki, being a large fan of Norse mythology, anti-heroes, and subversive retellings of well-told tales. Especially if that retelling is going to be done by one known for his silvery tongue, biting wit, and clever mind. Really, if you’re going to have a first-person subversive anti-hero narrative, who would you pick over Loki as your main character? So admittedly, maybe there is a bit of overly high expectations going on here,
May 7th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Joanne Harris | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Shadow Master by Craig Cormick
My low rating of this book reflects my disappointment in the gap between this concept and the execution, especially in the world-building. I also must say that many people on Goodreads loved The Shadow Master by Craig Cormick. Perhaps I’m just not the right reader for this book.
At first glance the book appears to be set in an alternate 15th century Italy with two warring families. There are the star-crossed lovers, Lucia and Lorenzo; each one an orphan,
April 30th, 2015. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Craig Cormick | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Cadmian’s Choice by L.E. Modesitt Jr
Cadmian’s Choice is the fifth book in L.E. Modesitt Jr’s COREAN CHRONICLES and the second in the trilogy about Mykel and Dainyl. You don’t need to read the first trilogy in the COREAN CHRONICLES (Legacies, Darknesses, Scepters) before reading this one. In fact, I think it makes more sense to read this trilogy first since it focuses on events that occur generations before Legacies.
April 27th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | L.E. Modesitt_Jr | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Soldiers of Halla by D.J. MacHale
It’s been a few years since Bobby Pendragon first found out he was a Traveler. He’s been all over the territories of Halla, trying to thwart Saint Dane’s plans to throw all of Halla into chaos. Now the final battle is here. Can Bobby and his friends kill Saint Dane, or will all of Halla be forced to live in the terrible universe he has created?
The Soldiers of Halla, the final PENDRAGON book by D.J.
April 22nd, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | D.J. MacHale | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Raven Rise is the penultimate novel in D.J. MacHale’s PENDRAGON series. (Expect spoilers for previous PENDRAGON books in this review.) At the end of the last book, The Pilgrims of Rayne, Bobby destroyed the flume on Ibara, trapping himself and Saint Dane on that territory. Now Bobby can never go home, but at least Saint Dane will not be able to destroy the rest of Halla. Or so Bobby thinks.
April 17th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | D.J. MacHale | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
In Black Water, the fifth book in D.J. MacHale’s PENDRAGON series, the rules seem to be changing. All the things we thought we knew about how the flumes, the territories, the Travelers, and the acolytes work are different. Saint Dane, the villain, has brought that deadly poison he used on Cloral (in The Lost City of Faar) through the flume to use in the beautiful but dangerous territory of Eelong. Bobby Pendragon figures that if Saint Dane has broken the rules,
April 8th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | D.J. MacHale | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Hive Monkey by Gareth L. Powell
Hive Monkey is the second book in Gareth L. Powell’s ACK ACK MACAQUE series, originally dubbed a trilogy but now, apparently, fated to be a quartet. The eponymous monkey, who likes cigars, rum and flying a refurbished WWII Spitfire, plays a large role in this book, gleefully wreaking mayhem on the bad guys. His sidekicks, Victoria Valois, journalist-turned-airship-captain, K8, plucky girl hacker, and Paul, a hologram, also have roles to play as they battle the colonized drones of an evil hive-mind.
March 25th, 2015. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Gareth L. Powell | SFF Reviews | no 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,…