Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Rating: 3.5

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Mainspring: So much potential

Mainspring by Jay Lake

Up till now, my exposure to Jay Lake has been limited to the author’s short fiction which either really worked for me or was underwhelming. Mainspring falls somewhere in the middle with the parts that I liked and disliked usually related to one another.

For instance, I loved the concept of Earth being part of a giant clockwork mechanism constructed by God, complete with colossal gears and springs. What I didn’t like so much was the haphazard manner in which this backdrop was described with certain aspects depicted in great detail while others were left frustratingly vague — like the Mainspring itself.

February 7th, 2008. Robert Thompson´s rating: 3.5 | Jay Lake | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Childe Morgan: Fills in the gaps

Childe Morgan by Katherine Kurtz

Katherine Kurtz’s first Deryni series introducing the land of Gwynneth and its young, just-made King Kelson and his advisor Alaric Morgan is a justifiably acclaimed fantasy classic. Since that first trilogy, Kurtz has given us several series of books dipping into Gwynneth’s far history as well as Kelson’s near future. While, as is true of just about any such multi-volume fantasy series, there have been some stumbles here and there, for the most part Kurtz has maintained the high level of quality set by that first trilogy,

February 3rd, 2008. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Katherine Kurtz | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Dragon Avenger: Fun, exciting, light

Dragon Avenger by E.E Knight

Dragon Avenger, the second installment in E.E. Knight’s Age of Fire, is a worthy addition to a good young adult series. This story’s protagonist is the sister of Auron, the main character of the first book (Dragon Champion). Using an easy-to-follow storyline, Knight incorporates characters and concepts from his first book into the second.

Wistala has to forge a path in a world that is prejudiced against dragons — just like her brother did.

February 1st, 2008. John Hulet´s rating: 3.5 | E.E. Knight | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Heart of Stone: Worthwhile fix

Heart of Stone of C.E. Murphy

C.E. Murphybegins Heart of Stone, the first of the Negotiator books, with our main character “Grit” being shadowed by a Gargoyle as she runs through Central Park. The Gargoyle, Alban, is a member of the few Old Races that are hidden in plain sight from the rest of humanity. His tragic history and how it compels him and leads him to eventually interact with Grit is the meat of the tale.

Murphy creates a plausible background and history for this story,

January 31st, 2008. John Hulet´s rating: 3.5 | C.E. Murphy | SFF Reviews | no comments |

New Spring: The Wheel starts to (creeaak) turn …

New Spring by Robert Jordan

With New Spring, Robert Jordan offers himself up to two major criticisms up front. One is for releasing a prequel when you haven’t finished the first series yet and the other is for trying to grab a quick book by just padding out an already published first story. With regard to the first, I think it’s pretty silly to complain about an author’s choice of subject — perhaps he became inspired with something in terms of the back story and is excited to write it,

January 26th, 2008. Bill Capossere and Rob Rhodes´s rating: 3.5 | Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Devil You Know: Fresh urban fantasy

The Devil You Know by Mike Carey

In a genre that has become over-saturated in recent years with second and third-rate carbon copies looking to feed off the successes of more popular series such as Laurell K. Hamilton’s ANITA BLAKE novels, The Devil You Know is quite a breath of fresh air. At a glance there may seem to be a lot of similarities: the contemporary setting where the paranormal has become a part of everyday life, the down-on-your-luck main character who narrates in a first-person perspective,

January 14th, 2008. Robert Thompson´s rating: 3.5 | Mike (M.R.) Carey | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Fragile Things: Gaiman short stories and poems

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

This collection comes with 31 short stories and poems as well as an introduction that’s as compelling as Smoke and Mirrors. Of all of Gaiman’s collections, I think this is by far the most superior as it features more of his later work and has a more polished style.

I’ve also read several of the stories here before in various anthologies but it was great to revisit them as I wasn’t the same reader I was several years ago. Reading them today,

Cold Fire: A strong potrayal of community

Cold Fire by Tamora Pierce

The Circle Opens quartet deals with the ongoing adventures of the four Winding Circle students as they themselves become the teachers to new (and even younger) apprentices. Sadly, one of the prerequisites of this teaching experience is that the four friends are separated, as became clear in Magic Steps, in which we learn from Sandry that Briar, Tris and Daja have left on far-flung journeys with their respective teachers in order to improve their own magical crafts. As such, the wonderful friendship that was the heart and soul of the previous quartet (Circle of Magic) is put on hiatus as the four make new friends,

Winterbirth: I think it will only get better

Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley

If your taste runs along the likes of George R.R. Martin — dark, gritty fantasy that reads like historical fiction — then Winterbirth, the first novel in Brian Ruckley’s The Godless World trilogy, is for you.

The gods got fed-up with their creation and left it to its own demise long ago and this world feels like just that. It’s a cold, dark, and violent, place that’s full of rugged highlands, foreboding forests, and misty,

December 6th, 2007. Greg Hersom and John Hulet´s rating: 3.5 | Brian Ruckley | SFF Reviews | no comments |

WorldWeavers: Gift of the Unmage & Spellspam

Gifts of the Unmage & Spellspam by Alma Alexander

Despite some rough spots, Alma Alexander’s Worldweavers series is an intriguing new entry in YA fantasy. At least based on the first two books in the series: Gift of the Unmage and Spellspam. The series is set in a world roughly akin and contemporaneous with our own, save that people can use magic and there are other “polities” such as dwarves, Alphiri and the Faele. Into this world a little over a decade ago is born with lots of fanfare and media coverage,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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