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Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
Red Seas Under Red Skies is Scott Lynch’s follow-up to his debut fantasy The Lies of Locke Lamora, and the second in the planned Gentlemen Bastard sequence. The first book asked the question: what would happen if all the guys from Ocean 11 were teleported into the usual fantasy setting? Red Seas Under Red Skies asks: what would Brad Pitt and George Clooney do if the rest of Oceans 11 were killed off in movie one?
August 30th, 2007. Bill Capossere, Greg Hersom, Marion Deeds and Skye Walker´s rating: 3.5, 4, 5 | Scott Lynch | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman
There is only one way to do magic, and that is to expend life force to power it. Witches spend their own life force, and die young. Magisters have discovered how to spend the life force of another, and are nearly immortal, burning through consort after consort, while keeping the source of their magic a tightly guarded secret. No woman has ever become a Magister because they are unwilling to sacrifice others. No woman until Kamala, steeled by a life of child prostitution, secretly becomes a Magister.
August 24th, 2007. Ruth Arnell and John Hulet´s rating: 3.5, 4 | C.S. Friedman | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The House of Power by Patrick Carman
The House of Power is the first installment in Patrick Carman’s ATHERTON trilogy. As such, it is expected that there be some ‘setting up’ for the next book. These expectations are surpassed, as there is little else but setting up for most of this book.
Halfway through The House of Power all that was still happening was the suggestion of more problems, and it seemed that I would have to read the rest of the trilogy to get any answers at all.
August 14th, 2007. Skye Walker´s rating: 3.5 | Patrick Carman | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Anselm Audley begins a somewhat non-traditional fantasy series set in what was one of the most creative environments I have read recently. The main character of Heresy, Cathan, is very typical for most fantasy in that he has powers he doesn’t know about, is the son of a nobleman, and gets caught up in a major struggle that will affect the world. Cliché…
The bad guys are a group of fanatical priests who are trying to control the whole world and make the worship of their God the only acceptable form of religion.
August 9th, 2007. John Hulet´s rating: 3.5 | Anselm Audley | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Summoner by Gail Z. Martin
The Summoner is the first book that I have read by Gail Martin, but I was happily impressed with this first installment of The Chronicles of the Necromancer. I didn’t love it, and there seemed to be some rough patches throughout the book, but on the whole it was interesting.
Central to this story is a lust for power and what happens as a result. The main character, Martris “Tris” Drayke, is not very unique,
July 21st, 2007. John Hulet´s rating: 3.5 | Gail Z. Martin | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Spellsinger & The Hour of the Gate by Alan Dean Foster
… Well, perhaps not Tolkien, but I had the urge for alliteration in the title. Spellsinger is a fantasy series quite unlike any other. While the anthropomorphisation of animals is certain not a new thing, Alan Dean Foster has done something out of the ordinary with it here. To give you some idea, if you can imagine the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters in a fantasy setting, then you’ll have some idea of what to expect.
July 21st, 2007. Guest´s rating: 3.5 | Alan Dean Foster | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
There’s good news, middling news, and bad news in the final Harry Potter installment, a book that replicates in many ways the unevenness of the series as a whole. First the good news. The main character, which has always been the book’s strength, continues in that vein through most of the book. Harry’s oh-so-realistic ongoing grief at his parents’ deaths, his sometimes-bends-but-never-breaks bond with Hermione and Ron, his coming-of-age process through idol-worship then respect then disillusionment then adult understanding with Dumbledore,
July 21st, 2007. Bill Capossere and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | J.K. Rowling | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Wit’ch Fire was a genuine impulse buy. I had read no reviews nor received recommendations — I was simply in the bookshop, liked the cover and plot synopsis on the reverse, and listened to my gut. Foolhardy, perhaps, but sometimes fortune favours the bold. This time, it did.
Wit’ch Fire is the first of a series of five books by James Clemens, also known to mystery and adventure fans as James Rollins and to others as the former veterinary surgeon Jim Czajkowski — his real name.
July 14th, 2007. Guest´s rating: 3.5 | James Clemens | SFF Reviews | no comments |
I am a soldier, and Rabbit, the main character of Lorna Freeman’s Covenants, is a joke.
Freeman is just all over the place with Rabbit — he’s willing to tangle with someone one minute, and the next minute he’s hiding under his blankets because he’s afraid? The premise of Covenants is very interesting and I enjoyed the plot, but it bugged me that Rabbit acted like a scared kid half of the time and a foul-mouthed tough guy the rest.
June 24th, 2007. John Hulet´s rating: 3.5 | Lorna Freeman | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Doppelganger (Warrior) by Marie Brennan
I picked up Doppelganger (Warrior) because Marie Brennan is a graduate student at Indiana University where I also went to grad school, so I felt a connection there. (How she’s managing to write novels while in grad school, I’ll never know!) Overall, Doppelganger is a good debut.
At first the story follows the separate lives of Mirage, a kick-butt warrior who has recently graduated from warrior school and makes her living by being commissioned for various dangerous tasks,
June 21st, 2007. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Marie Brennan | SFF Reviews | no comments |
so you're saying I should read it? :)
As a native New Yorker, I love the idea of the city being filled with canals and no skyscrapers! And…
How did I miss this? Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
I guess that is true, Marion. And when it comes to "You Only Live Twice," I saw the movie TWICE…
You managed to work in your two loves; vintage fiction and films!