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The Crystal City by Orson Scott Card
The Crystal City is the (maybe) final novel in Orson Scott Card’s TALES OF ALVIN MAKER. This series started off strongly with Seventh Son and Red Prophet, but it bogged down during books three and four (Prentice Alvin and Alvin Journeyman) and I was ready to give up. However, since I had already downloaded the audio version of the sixth book,
November 7th, 2012. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Orson Scott Card | Audio | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Son by Lois Lowry is the fourth and final book in THE GIVER series. I’ve had serious problems with previous installments in this series, and unfortunately this book does little to nothing to resolve those problems. My main issues have been that there is no source or explanation given for the mystical gifts that very few of the people possess, and that there is no explanation for the evil force that pervaded Forest in the last book.
Son starts back in the first community in the series.
September 28th, 2012. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 2 | Lois Lowry | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Shima Isles are on the brink of ruin. The empire practically runs on chi, a substance extracted from the bloodlotus plant which fuels its engines but also poisons its soil, kills its animals, and keeps its people addicted with its opium-like qualities. The wars of conquest against the barbarous gaijin are stalled. The citizens live in poverty and pollution while the young, murderous shogun Yoritomo and his court live in luxury.
As Stormdancer starts off, there’s been a recent sighting of an arashitora or “thunder tiger,” a near-mystical creature previously thought extinct.
September 27th, 2012. Stefan Raets´s rating: 2 | Jay Kristoff | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Insurgent is the follow-up to Veronica Roth’s Divergent and serves as the middle book in her planned dystopian DIVERGENT trilogy. I gave Divergent a middling review, noting its fast pace but finding some issues with plausibility and depth of character. I wish I could say Insurgent showed some improvement, but I actually found myself less impressed with the sequel. It is possible that the book suffered in my reading it so soon after Divergent and so I was responding to the cumulative flaws between both books rather than simply to Insurgent’s problems.
August 13th, 2012. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2 | Veronica Roth | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Further: Beyond the Threshold by Chris Roberson
Some premises are so great that authors can’t resist trying them out again. In Further: Beyond the Threshold, Chris Roberson tries his hand at Charlton Heston waking up from cryogenic sleep in the distant future. Well, actually, our hero is Captain Ramachandra Jason Stone, who left earth in the 22nd century to journey to Alpha Centauri B. He wakes up over ten thousand years later, when Further begins.
Roberson is aware of the connections between his work and his predecessors,
August 6th, 2012. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 2 | Chris Roberson | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Was 2011 a bad year for the horror novel? I’ve yet to read any of the nominees for the 2012 Bram Stoker Award for best novel except Flesh Eaters by Joe McKinney, the winner, and I find myself puzzled. Was this really the best the year had to offer? It’s a competent enough zombie novel, but nothing special.
Flesh Eaters tells the story of the loss of Houston, Texas, to a close series of tropical storms,
June 4th, 2012. Terry Weyna´s rating: 2 | Joe McKinney | Horror | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Forest King: Woodlark’s Shadow by Dan Mishkin (author) & Tom Mandrake (illustrator)
Justin’s family has moved to the town where his dad grew up, and they now live in a house on the edge of an ancient forest. Justin knows something evil is lurking in the forest but faces ridicule from his friends and disbelief from the adults. When his friends get hurt by a strange creature playing in the forest, Justin knows that he has to act to save everyone he cares about from danger.
Woodlark’s Shadow (2006),
May 25th, 2012. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 2 | Dan Mishkin | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Against the Light by Dave Duncan
The forces of the Earth Mother are being oppressed by the Hierarchy, which is guided by the light, in Dave Duncan’s Against the Light. The Children of the Mother are being hunted down and taken into custody where they are tortured by dungeon masters that recall the Spanish Inquisition. Sadly, as Rollo Woodbridge finds out, the Hierarchy has many weapons in addition to surprise in their arsenal. Against such determined zealots, how can Children of the Mother survive?
May 23rd, 2012. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 2 | Dave Duncan | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Goddess Interrupted by Aimée Carter
I read Aimée Carter’s The Goddess Test last year and was disappointed in it, but saw enough potential in Carter that I was curious about the sequel, Goddess Interrupted. As it turns out, it’s better than The Goddess Test in one major way, but has problems of its own. Overall, they come out about equal and I’m giving them the same star rating.
The biggest problem with The Goddess Test was its bowdlerization of the Greek gods.
April 26th, 2012. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | Aimée Carter | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Magic Time by Marc Scott Zicree & Barbara Hambly
Magic Time is the first book of a fantasy trilogy helmed by Marc Scott Zicree. This book is co-written with Barbara Hambly. Each of the subsequent books in the series is written with a different writer. Magic Time was published in 2001, and it is not aging well.
I had a difficult time getting through Magic Time. It narrowly missed achieving Did Not Finish status.
March 29th, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2 | Barbara Hambly, Marc Scott Zicree, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, Robert Charles Wilson | 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.