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Lorna Freeman’s Borderlands series has seen its ups and downs for me. Shadows Past is cut from the same cloth; I just felt like it took a long time to tell next to no story, and then all the good parts were crammed into the end.
The main character, Rabbit, has been constantly changing throughout this series. His story is very interesting, between his upbringing in a wild and magical part of the world and his ties to the royalty of a nearby nation.
September 15th, 2010. John Hulet and Ruth Arnell´s rating: 2.5, 3.5 | Lorna Freeman | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Children of the Lost by David Whitley
The Children of the Lost is David Whitley’s follow-up to last year’s The Midnight Charter, which I reviewed as a weak three: strong in ideas but weaker in characterization and plotting. The Children of the Lost is a stronger book, though it also has its flaws. One thing I feel compelled to point out upfront, however, is that The Children of the Lost ends in a true cliffhanger of an ending,
September 9th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | David Whitley | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong
Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong is a fine addition to the Women of the Otherworld series. It relays the adventures of Savannah Levine, whom we met as a precocious orphan in earlier novels and who is now a grown woman. The mystery is strong, compelling, and reasonably twisted; the plot is well paced and packed with action; and the characters and their stories are, as always, strong. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel.
What’s not to like?
August 19th, 2010. Stephen B. Frank´s rating: 3.5 | Kelley Armstrong | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Last Page by Anthony Huso is an exciting debut novel that, despite some rough spots here and there, delivers thrills and originality in spades, and promises great things for the future.
Caliph Howl, the main character, is described on the book’s cover as Stonehold’s “reluctant High King,” but when The Last Page starts off, Caliph is actually still the crown prince and a student of holomorphy (blood-fueled magic) at the High College of Desdae.
August 17th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3.5 | Anthony Huso | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Fatal Circle by Linda Robertson
Persephone Alcmedi stirred up a whole cauldron of trouble when she killed an irate fairy at the end of Hallowed Circle. Now, the fairies want Seph dead, and Xerxadrea thinks there’s a traitor in the ranks of the witches. So, in order to protect Seph and her family, Menessos will name Seph his court witch so that it looks like she acted on his orders, thereby bringing the fairies’ wrath down on him instead. Meanwhile, Xerxadrea will use this as a pretext to exile Seph from the witches (also for Seph’s protection),
August 11th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Linda Robertson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Thresholds by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
In Thresholds, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, we meet Maya. Maya’s best friend Stephanie died of cancer during the school year, so her parents, both school teachers, accept new jobs in a new state to give her a new start. Then, the night before the school year starts, a fairy flies in through her bedroom window and decides that Maya makes an excellent pillow. Maya wakes in the morning to find a pile of fairy dust. Though most people don’t notice anything different about her,
August 3rd, 2010. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 3.5 | Nina Kiriki Hoffman | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Sympathy for the Devil edited by Tim Pratt
Please allow me to introduce Sympathy for the Devil, a fine new anthology filled entirely with short stories about the devil… who is, as we all know, a man of style and taste. However, you won’t just find the smooth-talking stealer of souls here. In addition to that famous version of His Grand Infernal Majesty, you’ll also find funny devils, monstrous devils, abstract devils and strangely realistic ones. Devils scary and not-so-scary, devils who are after children’s souls and others going after old men.
August 2nd, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3.5 | Charles De_Lint, Charles Stross, China Mieville, Elizabeth Bear, Holly Black, Jay Lake, Kage Baker, Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Scott Westerfeld, Stephen King, Tim (T.A.) Pratt | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Teutonic Order, under the sadistic Brother Semyon, once trained wolfbreed (werewolves) as holy war machines. But when the Order lost control of the wolfbreed, they changed focus. Now, a century after the events of Wolfbreed, the Order believes the werewolves are Satanic and are dedicated to exterminating them.
In Wolf’s Cross, a group of Order knights chases a werewolf onto Polish land. After a disastrous battle, the bloodied and tattered knights seek shelter at the castle of Polish leader Wojewoda Boleslaw.
August 2nd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | S. Andrew Swann | SFF Reviews | no comments |
One of the most entertaining novels I read in 2009 was Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker. Full of exciting cross-genre adventure (zombies, steampunk, post-apocalyptic retrofuturism), memorable characters and a cool twist on American history, Boneshaker was a blast to read. I couldn’t wait to see what else Cherie Priest’s CLOCKWORK CENTURY had to offer. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long thanks to Subterranean Press and their publication of Clementine.
July 19th, 2010. Robert Thompson and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5, 4 | Cherie Priest | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Seventh Swan by Nicholas Stuart Gray
I had a hard time getting into The Seventh Swan at first; I think Nicholas Stuart Gray‘s writing style was the culprit. He jumps between points-of-view constantly, so it’s hard to tell who’s thinking what. After I got used to that, though, I found The Seventh Swan moving.
Alasdair is the seventh swan-brother from the famous fairy tale, left with a swan’s wing instead of one of his arms because his sister was unable to finish that last shirt in time.
July 14th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Nicholas Stuart Gray | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…