Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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A Crown of Swords: Someone stuck a stick in the spokes of The Wheel of Time

A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan

My reviews of The Wheel of Time novels are getting just as repetitive as the actual books. There’s really not much more to say. A Crown of Swords is another long slow installment in which there are too many detailed descriptions of clothing, references to spanking, concerns about bosoms, and people blushing. There are pages and pages which chronicle secondary characters’ extensive internal thoughts. But what bugs me most, though, are the constant depictions of people and places as if they have a corporate personality:

Men strutted arrogantly along the streets with often ragged vests and no shirts,


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The Mountain’s Call: A stinker

The Mountain’s Call by Caitlin Brennan

I really thought I would like Caitlin Brennan’s White Magic Trilogy, I really did! The Mountain’s Call started off so well, very Harry Potter-like with the herioine headed off to this mystical school where she was to learn about the White Horse Gods… but as it went on and on and on… it lost its thrill.

The plot, though intending to become more intense, only became more and more dull. The whole plot is culminating in this “Dance”


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Nightlife: Didn’t like the characters

Nightlife by Rob Thurman

Set in modern day with a sprinkling of different mythical/fantastic creatures, Nightlife introduces a boy who was born from a human and demon cross. Exactly why this has happened and what the consequences will be consumes the majority of the story.

The main character, Cal, is a cynical, self-absorbed, boring twit. I didn’t like him and his older brother is so noble and self-righteous that he is not believable. The idea for the story is fine, but I didn’t like any of the characters, so basically I didn’t like Nightlife.


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Longeye: Can’t recommend it

Longeye by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

Longeye is the sequel and conclusion to the enjoyable novel Duainfey.

Now that Becca has escaped from life as a sex-slave to Artificer Altimere, she must find a way to rebuild her life, learn to trust again, and help solve the mystery of what is happening to the land around her, as undead trees and strange monsters are starting to appear and take over Faliance. (Undead trees? That’s the big bad guy here?)

I usually am a big fan of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller,


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Beauty: We are divided on this one!

Beauty by Robin McKinley

I hate writing negative reviews, especially for books that are obviously both loved and respected. Beauty appeals to a lot of people, and you may well want to disregard my opinion and go with the majority. But for what it’s worth, I can’t quite bring myself to recommend Beauty for those of you out there who enjoy reading novels in the fairytale genre.

To McKinley’s credit, Beauty was written before the sudden demand in retold/fractured/fleshed-out fairytales.


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Warprize: Beware the heart with the arrow through it

Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan

Scenario: I’m in the library. It’s 5 minutes until closing. I’ve got to find a book fast. My library is a small neighborhood branch and there’s not a huge selection. There are plenty of fantasy books, but it’s hard to find one I haven’t read that’s not a sequel to something I haven’t read. I’m starting to panic as I’ve got only one minute left. I grab a book that has the little “fantasy” sticker on it (black unicorn with glowing horn dancing on a purple background) and it’s something I’ve never heard of before: Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan.


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Dead to Me: Too hokey

Dead to Me by Anton Strout

What is there to say about Anton Strout’s Dead to Me? Good things, I mean, since that is my quest these days…to begin my reviews with the positive rather than the negative. This isn’t proving to be easy and if I was a more paranoid person I’d wonder if Mr. Strout didn’t just write Dead to Me for the sole purpose of trying my (admittedly rather short) patience.

Well, I love the fact that Strout chooses to give his character the power of psychometry.


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Centaur Aisle: Apply this review to any Xanth novel

Centaur Aisle by Piers Anthony

Piers Anthony‘s Centaur Aisle is one of his many Xanth books — Xanth being the magical land these stories are set in, filled with dragons, ogres, and really bad puns. Often the puns provide clues to the riddles and plot twists and sometimes it takes a while until you have enough information to realise how certain puns will effect the story. Other times the puns form the basis of the flora and fauna of Xanth. For instance, a cocoa tree provides hot chocolate drinks.


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Into the Green: What a strange little book!

Into the Green by Charles de Lint

What a strange little book. That was the first thought that crossed my head after I closed Into the Green. It concerns the adventures of Angharad, a tinker-woman who is also ‘Summerborn’, which means that she has a mystical gift that connects her with the realm of Faerie, better known in this world as ‘the Green’. Traveling the three islands that make up her Celtic-flavoured world, Angharad’s mission in life is to awaken other potential Summerborns to their dormant gift and prevent the magic of the Green from leaking out of the world through her singing,


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Foundation: Lackey has written this book better

Foundation by Mercedes Lackey

Mercedes Lackey has written this book before. And she’s written it better before. Foundation follows the story of Mags, a plucky orphan who is rescued from an abusive situation as a slave in a mine by a Companion and brought to Haven to become a Herald. Substitute Talia for Mags, and Holder for mine, and you have just summed up Lackey’s first book, Arrows of the Queen. The problem is that Foundation isn’t nearly as good.


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Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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