Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Rating: 3.5

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Set the Seas on Fire: Appealing historical fantasy

Set the Seas on Fire by Chris Roberson

Author of many short stories and novels, the three-time World Fantasy Award-nominated and two-time John W. Campbell Award-nominated Chris Roberson is also a co-founder of the writers’ collective Clockwork Storybook and owner/operator of the indie publisher MonkeyBrain Books (Michael Moorcock, Alan Moore, Jeff VanderMeer). Set the Seas On Fire is part of the Bonaventure-Carmody universe which includes the books Cybermancy, Incorporated (2001-Clockwork), Here,

CROSSROADS: Richly detailed and realistically heterogeneous worlds

THE CROSSROADS TRILOGY by Kate Elliott

Kate Elliott’s CROSSROADS TRILOGY, the first 3 books in a multi-book series, is a great example of how good epic fantasy can be in so many ways: its world-building is richly detailed and realistically heterogeneous; it has a multitude of characters spanning a wide spectrum of human nature and behavior, most of them nicely individualized; its depiction of war is grimly and painfully realistic; the plot contains some pleasantly surprising turns along the way; its fantastic elements don’t overwhelm the plot and are interesting in their own right;

September 7th, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Kate Elliott | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Dreamsongs 1: Great collection for exploring pre-ASOIAF Martin

Dreamsongs Volume 1 by George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin has become relatively famous in fantasy circles over the last decade or so, but he had already been writing for about 25 years before his excellent A Song of Ice and FIre fantasy epic began. Dreamsongs Volume 1 is the first of two collections of short-form fiction that Martin wrote before A Game of Thrones hit the shelves. I’d already read a good portion of this material in the original collections which I bought directly from the author when he was selling them (out of print at the time) on eBay and Amazon Auctions.

Betraying Season: Lacks the charm of Bewitching Season

Betraying Season by Marissa Doyle

Penelope Leland is off on an adventure of her own. Eager to get away from her newly married, not to mention disgustingly happy twin Persephone, Pen ships off to Ireland with her former governess Ally to continue her studies in magic in the hopes of getting to the same level as her sister.

But things never seem to go according to plan, and Pen soon finds herself more alone than she could have thought possible, Ally is expecting a baby and is dreadfully sick all the time,

Bloody Right: Best of The Brytewood Trilogy

Bloody Right by Georgia Evans

My guess was right — Bloody Right, in fact! This is the best book in the The Brytewood Trilogy.

This time, the remaining Nazi vampires have been assigned to assassinate Winston Churchill at a party on an estate near Brytewood. The assorted pixies, dragons, elves, sprites, and humans of the village must stop them before they can do the dastardly deed.

The leading lady and man in this installment are Mary LaPrioux, a schoolteacher evacuated from Guernsey,

August 28th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Georgia Evans | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Servant: Better-than-average traditional epic fantasy

Servant by John D. Brown

Editor’s Note: This review is for the original version of Servant which was, back in 2009, titled Servant of a Dark God.

CLASSIFICATION: Servant of a Dark God is a mostly traditional epic fantasy novel in the vein of David Farland, Greg Keyes, and James Clemens, with elements of Brandon Sanderson, David Keck, and Kate Elliott.

August 21st, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 3.5 | John D. Brown | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Night Runner: Good book for teenage boys

Night Runner by Max Turner

Thanks to Stephenie Meyer, teen fiction and vampires is on fire and the past couple of years has seen an explosion of new series riding the popularity wave. One of the newest entries in this subgenre is Max Turner’s debut which was originally released in Canada last year.

Not quite 300 pages long, Night Runner is a nonstop, high-speed adventure / mystery / thriller starring 15-year-old Zack Thompson who discovers that he’s — what else — a vampire!

Amazon Ink: A fun book

Amazon Ink by Lori Devoti

Mel has a lot on her mind. She’s raising a teenage daughter, living in a renovated High School, has her mother and her grandmother living with her, and just got two dead Amazon girls left on her doorstep. Determined to find the murderer of her tribeswomen, and answer her own questions about her past, Mel has to summon the courage to face the tribe she left behind.

People seem to keep getting in her way however, particularly men. One is a very talented, secretive, and sexy tattoo artist she just hired to work in her shop.

July 18th, 2009. Guest´s rating: 3.5 | Lori Devoti | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Secret History of Moscow: Russian mythology makes an enchanting story

The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia

Much praise has been attached to The Secret History of Moscow and I can understand why. Ekaterina Sedia weaves an enchanting story drawing from both Russian mythology and history. I’m not really familiar with Russian myth (or history for that matter) but that didn’t hindered me from appreciating this novel. I expect that readers more educated in those areas will appreciate all the allusions Sedia includes in The Secret History of Moscow.

However,

Heroes Adrift: Not as funny as it wants to be

Heroes Adrift by Moira J. Moore

When I first picked up Heroes Adrift and read the back, I felt a sudden pang of ‘uh oh’. Okay, I don’t read Moira J Moore’s work for the extremely complex plots. I read her work because it’s entertaining and funny, because I like the characters, and because her occasional bouts of dry irreverence for our genre just tickle me pink. But she always manages to hold her own enough in the plot department that it works with what she’s doing.

July 7th, 2009. Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 3.5 | Moira J. Moore | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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