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Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik
(Contains slight spoilers for Empire of Ivory)
Victory of Eagles is the fifth instalment in Naomi Novik‘s TEMERAIRE series. I thought the previous four books had ups and downs but in general they are fun, fast reads. The fourth book, Empire of Ivory, had a very promising end, so I was rather looking forward to reading this. I guess Victory of Eagles mirrors the series as a whole in that it has its ups and downs but is generally enjoyable.
February 1st, 2015. Rob Weber´s rating: 2.5 | Naomi Novik | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi
The Immortals of Meluha, by Amish Tripathi, is the first of a trilogy set in ancient (about 1900 B.C.) India detailing the conflict between the Meluha empire (the Suryavanshi) and their sworn enemies , the Chandravanshis, who seem to have allied themselves with the horrid demon-like Nagas. What gives the hugely outnumbered Meluha hope is their vastly superior technology (including a special cocktail that greatly extends life) and the arrival of the prophesied “Neelkanth,” in the form of a young man named Shiva.
January 13th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Amish Tripathi | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dracula adapted and illustrated by John Green
Dracula is not a easy novel to abridge, especially when one is trying to compact it to the size of a graphic novel and at the same time aiming it at a middle-grade audience, and to be honest, I can’t say this version, adapted and illustrated by John Green, succeeds all that well.
One problem is that transitions are often awkward and abrupt. For instance, we cut from a panel telling us that Jonathan realizes “his only chance of escape was to scale the castle wall,” which sets the reader up for several expectations of what’s to follow: we expect to see Jonathan still in the castle trying to get out and we expect to see him climbing upward — the meaning of the word “scale.” But the next panel (a full page one) shows him already outside the castle and climbing down the cliff outside,
January 3rd, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Royal Airs is the second book in Sharon Shinn’s ELEMENTAL BLESSINGS series. I loved the first book, Troubled Waters, which was a light romantic fantasy that told the story of Zoe Ardelay, a young woman who was brought to the royal court of Welce to be the fifth wife of its king. She discovered that she had power over the element of water and, using the personality traits that her water spirit gave her, she successfully navigated the dangers of the court and found true love.
December 31st, 2014. Kat Hooper and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2.5 | Sharon Shinn | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Vacant is the fourth book in Alex Hughes’ MINDSPACE INVESTIGATIONS. I absolutely loved the first three books, Clean, Sharp, and Marked (read my reviews) and this has been my favorite series for the past couple of years. Marked was my favorite book of 2013. However, I didn’t like Vacant as well and I hope (and expect) that this is just a minor setback in the series.
December 26th, 2014. John Hulet´s rating: 2.5 | Alex Hughes | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
The Paper Magician, by Charlie N. Holmberg, has a nicely original premise and a unique heroic quest, but the overall impact is marred by a trite romance, a somewhat flat main character, and a sense that it all goes on a bit long.
In this world, magic users “bond” to a particular material — rubber, metal, plastic — and work with that material (and only that material) the rest of their lives. Ceony Twill has just graduated from magic college (thanks to an anonymous sponsor) and been assigned,
November 28th, 2014. Bill Capossere and Terry Weyna´s rating: 2.5, 3 | Charlie N. Holmberg | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Reserved for the Cat by Mercedes Lackey
Reserved for the Cat is the sixth stand-alone novel in Mercedes Lackey’s ELEMENTAL MASTERS series of fairytale retellings. As the title might suggest, Reserved for the Cat is a “Puss in Boots” story and it’s actually recognizable as such (unlike some of Lackey’s other retellings that go too far afield from their sources).
Ninette, our heroine, is an orphaned ballet dancer who has lots of talent but is fired from her gig with a famous Parisian ballet company after inadvertently evoking the jealousy of the company’s reigning diva.
November 25th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Mercedes Lackey | Audio | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Orca is the seventh book in Steven Brust’s VLAD TALTOS series. It’d be best to stop here if you haven’t read the previous books. We don’t want to spoil anything, do we?
Okay, so you should recall that Vlad Taltos, everyone’s favorite Jhereg assassin, is wanted by his organization because he betrayed them in order to save his wife from the executioner’s ax (or whatever implement the executioners in Dragaera use). Vlad has given up his territory and is on the run.
November 20th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Steven Brust | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Athyra is the sixth book in Steven Brust’s VLAD TALTOS series. If you haven’t read the previous books, you should probably skip this review until you’ve read Phoenix so that I don’t spoil its plot for you. I’m listening to Bernard Setaro Clark’s narration of the audio versions (Audible Studios) of VLAD TALTOS. Athyra is 8.5 hours long on audio, though I increased the playback speed, as I always do, so it was shorter than that for me.
November 19th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Steven Brust | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Iron Trial by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
I listened to The Iron Trial, by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare on audiobook, narrated by Paul Boehmer. It tells the story of Callum Hunt, or Cal, a boy who enrolls in a magical boarding school, makes friends, irritates teachers, and finds out he’s been marked from birth by the greatest enemy the magical world knows. Sounds familiar, right?
I read a lot of complaining reviews about this Middle Grade book, all accusing The Iron Trial of being a Harry Potter rip-off.
November 18th, 2014. Kate Lechler´s rating: 2.5 | Cassandra Clare, Holly Black | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Just saw you like Jack Vance. Me too. Surely he offends you somewhere though?
Words fail. I can't imagine what else might offend you. Great series, bizarre and ridiculous review. Especially the 'Nazi sympathizer'…
"Nor Iron Bars a Cage by Kage Harper" Freudian slip there. ;)
[…] (Fantasy Literature): In 1957, Hammer Studios in England came out with the first of their full-color horror creations, […]
I'm going to have to find these and read them.