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The Spider, the tenth book in Jennifer Estep’s ELEMENTAL ASSASSIN series is actually a prequel in which we learn about Gin’s life and training before she became the infamous assassin, The Spider. Readers who haven’t been following the series could read The Spider with no problem, but they’d be missing a lot of the Easter Eggs that Estep leaves for her fans.
The story starts when adult Gin (the one we know and maybe love) is talking to her boyfriend Owen at The Pork Pit.
October 30th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Jennifer Estep | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Stop here if you’re planning to read Jennifer Estep’s ELEMENTAL ASSASSIN series and haven’t read books one through five yet. This review is for book six, By a Thread, and will contain spoilers for the earlier books.
In the previous book, Spider’s Revenge, Gin Blanco (as the title implies) took care of Mab Monroe, her nemesis and the crime boss of Ashland Tennessee. At this point, Estep’s fans have got to be wondering “now what’s Gin gonna do?” It seems like her life is set;
October 27th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Jennifer Estep | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
I stumbled on Janissaries, the first book in Chris Kennedy’s THEOGONY series, as a recommendation by Amazon after some other books that I have purchased. The description is kind of up my alley because I like the idea of the Earth fighting to preserve itself from an alien race. So, I dropped a couple of bucks and picked up this self-published story. It gets good reviews at Amazon.
Chris Kennedy has a story that he wants to tell about how the history of the earth is tied into different alien races having impacted us and left traces of them.
October 8th, 2014. John Hulet´s rating: 2 | Chris Kennedy | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Pharos the Egyptian by Guy Boothby
Once upon a time, when the British Empire was at its zenith, adventure fiction and fantastical writings began to deal with the idea that London — and tacitly, all Britain — was under threat by some ancient, terrifying force (frequently from a place where Britain had established a colony). There was an immense fascination with the occult versus the modern, the venerable old kingdoms versus the new British Empire, and most of all, the diabolical arcane opponent versus the plucky, civilized Englishman. It’s a trend that gave us such well-known works as Bram Stoker’s Dracula or Henry Rider Haggard‘s She,
October 7th, 2014. Tim Scheidler´s rating: 2 | Guy Boothby | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks
The State of the Art is a collection of short fiction written by Iain Banks between 1984 and 1987. Surprisingly, it is the only such collection the author has published. Given Banks’ fifteen mainstream novels and twelve science fiction novels, one would expect a much larger output of short stories and novellas. The following is a brief summary of the eight stories (most of which are science fiction stories, three which are CULTURE related).
“Road of Skulls” — Not a story in any conventional sense,
October 7th, 2014. Jesse Hudson´s rating: 2 | Iain M. Banks | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris
I read The Wood Beyond the World largely because I enjoyed the author’s The Well at the World’s End so much. I was disappointed in it, though. It doesn’t have the depth of the slightly later book (they were published two years apart), and the story itself is not as satisfying, nor is the main character as strong.
Golden Walter is what I call a spoiled protagonist. He ends up with benefits that he doesn’t earn.
October 3rd, 2014. Mike Reeves-McMillan´s rating: 2 | William Morris | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Islands of Rage & Hope by John Ringo
How is it possible to remain interested in the somewhat plodding description of how mankind slowly tries to save itself after a zombie apocalypse? The first book in the BLACK TIDE RISING series, Under a Graveyard Sky, had the novelty of describing how the world was falling apart and the small, at times very painful steps that were taken to keep some hope alive. The second book, To Sail a Darkling Sea,
September 19th, 2014. John Hulet´s rating: 2 | John Ringo | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Secret of the Key by Marianne Malone
The Secret of the Key appears to be the final book in Marianne Malone’s SIXTY-EIGHT ROOMS adventures. This children’s series has been a bit of a disappointment for me and the only reason I have continued with it is that I requested a review copy of the audiobook edition of this final book and so I felt obligated to read it. As three of us have previously mentioned, the premise is fabulous, but the execution falls short.
September 17th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Marianne Malone | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The interesting thing about Pamela Sargent’s EARTHSEED series is that it doesn’t really seem to matter overly much what order you read the books in. There is a sizeable gap between each book, and Farseed, just like Seed Seeker, does a good job at recapping what has happened in the previous book so people new to the series might not find themselves unfamiliar with what is happening.
That being said, the blurb on the cover says that this series might be the next HUNGER GAMES,
September 4th, 2014. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 2 | Pamela Sargent | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
The latest entry in Terry Pratchett’s sprawling DISCWORLD series, Raising Steam, is an example of what I call the “innovation” series-within-the-series. Just like there are sets of books that focus on specific characters and areas of the Discworld, there’s an increasingly large set of books that take on specific technological innovations entering the fabric of Discworld society.
We’ve seen this as far back as 1990’s Moving Pictures (in which the movie industry hit the Discworld) and 1994’s Soul Music (rock and roll,
September 3rd, 2014. Stefan Raets´s rating: 2 | Terry Pratchett | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
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,…
It's hardly a private conversation, Becky. You're welcome to add your 2 cents anytime!
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…