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Magic by the Book: Pales next to the books it’s a tribute to

Magic by the Book by Nina Bernstein

It’s hard not to appreciate a book whose author clearly intends it to be a literary homage to some all-time favorite young fantasy authors: E. Nesbit, Edward Eager, Mary Norton, etc. And whether the tribute is subtle in terms of theme or visuals or plot or more directly stated, as when one of the characters references a book by the above mentioned authors, it is always done without a sense of irony — there’s a sincere sense of love there.

Unfortunately,

Wind from a Foreign Sky: Decent ideas, poor execution

Wind from a Foreign Sky by Katya Reimann

Gaultry is a young, beautiful, spirited huntress, who has been raised by her great-aunt, a hedge-witch, on the border of Tielmaran. One day, the outer world cruelly ends her idyllic life, as a squadron of soldiers seeks to abduct her, and she finds herself a key figure in a prophecy that will bless or curse the entire realm.

Katya Reimann creates, for the most part, a well-imagined world with some fresh touches. However, the kindest thing I can say about her telling of the story is that,

February 9th, 2010. Rob Rhodes´s rating: 2 | Katya Reimann | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Snow White, Blood Red: A bit too much gross-out

Snow White, Blood Red edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Snow White, Blood Red was the first of Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling‘s adult fairy tale anthologies. The series later developed into a treasure trove of beauty, horror, humor, brightness, darkness, and above all, terrific writing. Here, though, many of the authors seem to have focused on the “adult” rather than on the “fairy tale,” on sex and gore rather than on the archetypal power of the tales.

Most of the stories in this collection are filled with visceral,

January 30th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | Charles De_Lint, Elizabeth A. Lynn, Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Elphame’s Choice: Rough (and Elphame’s supposed to have brown skin)

Elphame’s Choice by P.C. Cast

I think I’m just not meant to read P.C. Cast. Maybe I’m just anal-retentive; maybe I just have too much trouble shutting off the “mythology geek” section of my brain. I crack open a Cast novel, and instead of sinking into the story, I find myself thinking, “Celtic mythology doesn’t have centaurs,” or “Apollo would make a lousy Prince Charming,” or in this case, “Elphame’s a place name, darn it, not a character name! It means fairyland.” Elphame’s Choice is so called because its heroine is named Elphame,

January 26th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | P.C. Cast | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Minion: Too talky

Minion by L.A. Banks

In the interest of accuracy, let me note that the edition of Minion that I have is the “Special Huntress Edition.” This is a sort of “director’s cut” that contains scenes not in the original edition of the novel. I have not read the first version and do not know which scenes are new.

Minion tells the story of Damali, a young African-American woman, and her friends, who together make up a rap band and, secretly, a vampire-hunting team.

January 21st, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | L.A. Banks | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Numbers: Promising start, but disappointing in the end

Numbers by Rachel Ward

Numbers is a book that’s hard to categorize. It starts out as urban fantasy, then becomes more of an adventure novel, then seems to be a “teaching life lessons” story toward the end.

The heroine, Jem, has a supernatural “gift” that has caused her no end of grief. She sees numbers when she looks at people. As a little girl, she didn’t know what the numbers meant — not until her mother’s number turned out to be the day she overdosed on drugs.

The Crown Rose: Where’s the “ripping philosophical discourse”?

The Crown Rose by Fiona Avery

Fiona Avery’s The Crown Rose is a historical fantasy — it places real historical figures in a real historical setting but it includes fantastic elements (magic, sorcery, etc.). In this novel, we follow the story of Princess Isabelle, Queen Mother Blanche, King Louis, Prince Robert, and Prince Charles in 13th century France. The royals are protected and advised by the Order of the Rose, a mysterious trio of women with supernatural powers and unknown origins.

Ms Avery’s “good” characters are charming and her premise is interesting.

Persistence of Memory: Overly-byzantine supernatural bicker-fest

Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

I can’t deny that Persistence of Memory has an interesting premise. The protagonist, Erin, is a teenage girl who has been institutionalized most of her life due to multiple personalities and hallucinations. As the novel begins, Erin’s alternate personality, Shevaun, has been suppressed by drugs for about a year, and Erin is taking the first steps toward going to a regular high school and having a “normal” life. Right at this inopportune time, Shevaun reasserts herself and once again threatens to destroy Erin’s sanity,

The Frog Princess: Patchy and Forgettable

The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker

Writing a critical review for a book as harmless and fluffy as The Frog Princess makes me feel awful, almost like I’m unnecessarily picking on a little girl in the corner who is minding her own business and trying to quietly read her book. But the fact remains that although The Frog Princess is a diverting and easy-to-read story, it’s also rather patchy and forgettable. Quite simply: there are better books to be read to your kids, and plenty that include frogs and princesses.

One for Sorrow, Two for Joy: Nice idea, weakly and palely executed

One for Sorrow, Two for Joy by Clive Woodall

One for Sorrow, Two for Joy is one more in the vein of animal kingdom books, the classic one of course being Watership Down. Sorrow doesn’t approach the skill, majesty, or emotion of Watership Down but that’s hard to fault it for, as few books do. The problem is not that it doesn’t hold up well against a classic but that it doesn’t hold up well against your average book either.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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