3.5 | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

Rating: 3.5

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The Darwin Elevator: It’s not dumb

The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough

Karin Kross just posted an excellent piece on Tor.com about “dumb” action movies, nominally a review of Pacific Rim (which I haven’t seen) but with broader application to anything we tend to label as “dumb”:

Respectfully, I would like to disagree. Or at least, insist that we stop using the word dumb. Simple? Sure. Uncomplicated? Absolutely. Spectacular, in the truest sense of the word? Hell yes. But none of these things are dumb.

The rest of the article is worth reading for SFF readers,

July 30th, 2013. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3.5 | Jason M. Hough | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Extinction Point: A zombie-free apocalypse

Extinction Point by Paul Antony Jones

Emily Baxter is a news reporter for a large paper in New York City. Emily loves being in the city, surrounded by people, and finds the hustle and bustle to be comforting. Then, one morning she is sitting in a cafe writing her next article when the red rain begins. Within a few hours, everything Emily loves about the city is gone. Everyone is dead, and not only is she now totally alone, but the Earth is changing. The plague brought on by the red rain is all-consuming.

The Crystal Shard: An ambitious novel

The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore

The Crystal Shard, although technically preceded by THE DARK ELF TRILOGY according to the new reading order, was actually Salvatore’s first Drizzt novel and in fact his first novel, period. The Crystal Shard does have a lot of the usual first-novel bugs (mechanics sometimes don’t work out the way they should, dialogue is frequently hamfisted), but it also has something that I feel began to fade out of THE LEGEND OF DRIZZT after a while: ambition.

July 24th, 2013. Tim Scheidler´s rating: 3.5 | R.A. Salvatore | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Ethan of Athos: Amusing side story

Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold

Athos is a planet of men. No women are allowed — they are evil and they ruin good men. Since there isn’t a lot of immigration to Athos (their advertising campaigns just don’t seem to be very effective), they need to create baby boys to keep the population from dying out. Dr Ethan Urquhart is one of the men who’s responsible for using stock ovarian cultures to create and incubate male babies in uterine replicators. When the ovarian cultures begin to give out, Ethan orders new stock,

14: Entertaining until the end

14 by Peter Clines

Nate Tucker needs a new place to live and it needs to be cheap. When a co-worker recommends a place that’s inexpensive and close to work, Nate thinks it’s too good to be true. That’s because it is. After Nate moves in, he starts to notice some weird stuff going on — glowing mutant cockroaches, the light in his kitchen that turns into a black light no matter what kind of bulb he inserts, the elevator that never works, all the padlocks on apartment 14. There’s a lot of strangeness going on in Nate’s new home,

A Discourse in Steel: E&N aren’t the next F&GM, but they are still entertaining

A Discourse in Steel by Paul S. Kemp

A Discourse in Steel is the second novel in Paul S. Kemp’s EGIL AND NIX series about a couple of “retired” graverobbers who just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. I thought the first book, The Hammer and the Blade, was a fun story that didn’t quite meet the standards of Fritz Leiber’s LANKHMAR series which is an obvious influence. I was happy to give Egil and Nix another chance to charm me,

Trapped: Lots of action and intrigue

Trapped by Kevin Hearne

It’s been a long 12 years, but finally Atticus O’Sullivan is finished training his druid apprentice, Granuaile. Atticus and Granuaile faked their deaths and have been living in a trailer under the names Sterling Silver and Betty Baker, hoping they can get the training done before the gods find out they’re not really dead. (Kevin Hearne doesn’t tell us much about what happened during those 12 years, but he did write a novella, Two Ravens and One Crow, about an adventure that Atticus and the Morrigan had at about the halfway mark.

Two Ravens and One Crow: An IRON DRUID novella that fans shouldn’t miss

Two Ravens and One Crow by Kevin Hearne

You could think of Two Ravens and One Crow as book 4½ in Kevin Hearne’s IRON DRUID CHRONICLES series. It’s a novella that takes place halfway between book 4, Tricked, and book 5, Trapped. I don’t always read these “extra” stories, but I think fans of THE IRON DRUID CHRONICLES will want to read this one because 12 years passes between Tricked and Trapped —Atticus is training Granuaile to be a druid during this time —and readers will want to see get a glimpse of what was happening all those years.

June 20th, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Kevin Hearne | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Tricked: Oberon and Granuaile are back

Tricked by Kevin Hearne

Atticus O’Sullivan, the 2000 year old druid who looks like he’s 22, has just pissed off a bunch of Old Norse gods (for details, read Hammered) and now he must go into hiding. It’s a good time for that because what he really wants to do is spend the next 12 years training his gorgeous and smart apprentice, Granuaile. Fortunately his werewolf lawyer can fix up some new identities, but first he has to fake his own death so the gods will stop hunting him,

Requiem: Moves the story along but in weaker fashion

Requiem by Ken Scholes

Requiem is the fourth book in Ken Scholes PSALMS OF ISAAK series, which while having a few minor issues throughout has mostly been a fresh mix of fantasy and science fiction, filled with intriguing characters and exploring complex issues involving the intersection of religion, technology, and society. Requiem continues that exploration, though in weaker fashion than the prior three novels.

By now, the plot has grown extremely complicated, so I’m not going to offer up much of a plot recap,

June 18th, 2013. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Ken Scholes | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Bill Capossere on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
We’re in total agreement David!
David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.
Sandy Ferber on The Druid Stone: Ugony and the EcstasyJune 30, 2025
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
Paul Connelly on The Druid Stone: Ugony and the EcstasyJune 30, 2025
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…

Rating: 3.5

The Darwin Elevator: It’s not dumb

Extinction Point: A zombie-free apocalypse

The Crystal Shard: An ambitious novel

Ethan of Athos: Amusing side story

14: Entertaining until the end

A Discourse in Steel: E&N aren’t the next F&GM, but they are still entertaining

Trapped: Lots of action and intrigue

Two Ravens and One Crow: An IRON DRUID novella that fans shouldn’t miss

Tricked: Oberon and Granuaile are back

Requiem: Moves the story along but in weaker fashion

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