Rating: 3.5

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Cyndere’s Midnight: Dark but hopeful

Cyndere’s Midnight by Jeffrey Overstreet

Jeffrey Overstreet‘s previous novel, Auralia’s Colors, took us to a sublimely well-imagined land and introduced a cast of imaginative characters. In Cyndere’s Midnight, the story begins where Auralia’s Colors left off. Overstreet adds a few more characters and moves the plot several huge steps forward.

Cal-Raven continues to grow in his magic as a stoneshaper and as a leader of fallen House Abascar. The remnants of his people are living with him in abject poverty as they attempt to survive the continued predations of the Beastmen of House Cent Regnus.

July 8th, 2010. John Hulet´s rating: 3.5 | Jeffrey Overstreet | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Template: Piques the readers curiosity and sense of wonder

Template by Matthew Hughes

Template opens with an exciting scene as the protagonist, Conn, a skilled swordsman, successfully defends himself from three opponents. You’d think this would turn into another action/adventure SF novel but Template instead drifts into mystery and philosophy as our protagonist suddenly finds himself with various choices when he previously had none.

Conn is likable enough at the start although later on we discover that his paradigms are alien. This becomes a recurring theme as Matthew Hughes presents planets and races with varying ethics,

July 6th, 2010. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3.5 | Matthew Hughes | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Dark Visions: If you like Edward, you’ll love Gabriel

Dark Visions by L.J. Smith

“If You’ve Got Darkness in Your Nature, You Might as Well Enjoy It…”

One of the beneficial side effects of the sudden surge in paranormal teen romance is that Lisa Jane Smith’s novels have been republished. They were essential reading material in my adolescence and getting the chance to reread them in my twenty-something-hood has been lots of fun. Supernatural creatures, love triangles, empowered heroines, a solid story, and clear narrative with just a hint of purple prose are the staple ingredients in any L.J.

Return of the Crimson Guard: Better than Night of Knives

Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian C. Esslemont

Return of the Crimson Guard is the second of Ian C. Esslemont’s books set in the world he helped create with Steven Erikson, whose longer-established Malazan Empire series has been going for years (the tenth and final book is due out in January).

Esslemont’s first Malazan book, Night of Knives, took place a bit back in the pre-history of Erikson’s series, set on the night that the old emperor Kallenvad and his companion Dancer ascended into the realm of Shadow and Laseen became empress.

June 24th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Ian C. Esslemont | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Embers: Well-executed A-plot

Embers by Laura Bickle

In her debut novel, Laura Bickle introduces us to Anya Kalinczyk, a woman as troubled as her home city of Detroit. Like many of her sister urban-fantasy heroines, Anya has a tragic past and uses it as a reason to push people away. She works as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department and moonlights with a ghost-hunting team. Anya is a Lantern, which means she has the rare ability to consume ghosts and demons. She also has a familiar spirit, Sparky, a fire elemental who takes amphibian form but acts more like a large dog.

June 16th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Laura Bickle | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Tale of the Thunderbolt: The story is still exciting and action-packed

Tale of the Thunderbolt by E.E. Knight

Tale of the Thunderbolt is the third installment in the VAMPIRE EARTH series. Each book has so far followed the story of David Valentine, post-apocalyptic warrior extraordinaire. In this third volume, Southern Command has sent David on a mission to bring back a secret weapon that lays hidden somewhere on the Haitian side of Hispaniola. David has been undercover for over a year in preparation for this mission, and has done things for the sake of humanity that he dares not speak of.

Breakaway: Immensely entertaining

Breakaway by Joel Shepherd

Breakaway, the second Cassandra Kresnov novel by Australian SF and fantasy author Joel Shepherd, picks up soon after the ending of series opener Crossover. Sandy, a highly advanced artificial human with military training, is now attached to a squad of SWAT agents, while also helping the government of Callay review its network security. Despite the sensitive nature of this work, and her ongoing integration into Callay society, many political and religious factions still take issue with her presence.

May 24th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3.5 | Joel Shepherd | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Moonlight and Vines: What is real?

Moonlight and Vines by Charles de Lint

Moonlight and Vines is a well-written collection of stories, set in a modern city, intended to give the reader a sense of wonder, and make us believe that there is magic afoot, even in our most run-down urban slums.

Charles de Lint is wonderful at treading that line between fantasy and realism, where we wonder right along with the characters, “what is real?” That is his biggest talent; his biggest flaw is trying too hard to insert a moral into each of these stories.

The Sea of Trolls: Solid story lacks some spark

The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer

While it was a nice breath of fresh air to see a book that incorporated the Norse mythology involving Odin, Thor, Ragnarok, etc., something relatively rare in all the fantasy out there, it seemed The Sea of Trolls as a whole lacked a spirit or spark to make it stand out.

The story follows just-started apprentice bard Jack as he and his little sister Lucy are taken prisoner by raiding Northmen (basically Vikings). The Sea of Trolls opens with Jack starting his apprenticeship,

Year of the Unicorn: Strong introspective heroine

Year of the Unicorn by Andre Norton

Year of the Unicorn, third in Andre Norton’s Witch World saga, is a departure from the first two novels. It’s the story of Gillan, a girl with no family and an unknown heritage who has grown up in an abbey in High Hallack, far from the places we visited with Simon and Jaelithe in the first two Witch World novels. Gillan feels stifled in the abbey and longs for something more. She also feels the stirrings of a strange power within her.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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