Rating: 3.5

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Clean: An SF mystery

Clean by Alex Hughes

Clean is the first installment in the MINDSPACE INVESTIGATIONS series by Alex Hughes. It’s sort of a mix of police procedural, mystery, urban fantasy and science fiction.

Set sometime in a distance future, humans have become wary of artificial intelligence and the telepathic abilities of the people who saved humanity from the sentient computers during an event now known as the Tech Wars. Some people still have internet interfaces implanted in their brains, but most of their fellow humans regard them with disdain and are ready to revert to pre-internet forms of technology.

September 28th, 2012. John Hulet´s rating: 3.5 | Alex Hughes | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Unspoken: YA Gothic romance

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan is a twist on a classic Gothic romance, like Jane Eyre. Complete with a mysterious mansion on a hill, a desperate love triangle, mysterious goings-on and troubled characters, Unspoken throws a twist into the formula by reversing the genders of the main characters, setting it in a modern setting, and adding a sense of humor.

Kami lives in Sorry-in-the-Vale, a small English town that lives in the shadow of the Lynburn mansion.

Eric: Pratchett’s retelling of Faust

Eric by Terry Pratchett

Up to this point I’ve always enjoyed Terry Pratchett’s DISCWORLD books, and Faust Eric was no exception in that regard. It was a fun read. Still, I’m not as big of a fan of the Rincewind books as I am of some of the other DISCWORLD books centered around his other characters. Nothing against the cowardly, inept wizard Rincewind, I mean, Lord knows I’d probably react to the dangers of Discworld the same way he does,

September 25th, 2012. Steven Harbin´s rating: 3.5 | Terry Pratchett | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Lions of Al-Rassan: Political intrigue, romance, poetry, passion

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

In the turbulent region that used to be the stable empire of Al-Rassan, petty kings vie for power. Each of these rulers is ambitions and clever, but none of them has been able to acquire his position without the help of others — crafty advisors, brave army commanders, brilliantly inventive doctors, devoted wives and children — and sometimes the same people who have served them well are the same ones who may later cause their downfall.

The Lions of Al-Rassan is the story of a few of these people,

AMULET: The Cloud Searchers & The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi

The Cloud Searchers & The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi

I just read The Cloud Searchers and The Last Council, books three and four in Kazu Kibuishi’s graphic novel series AMULET. AMULET, published by Scholastic, is aimed at young adult readers, but adults will find plenty to enjoy in this series.

Emily and her brother Navin lost their father in a terrifying car accident. Their mother moved them to a house she inherited from her grandfather Silas,

A Guile of Dragons: A good beginning

A Guile of Dragons by James Enge

I just finished James Enge’s epic fantasy A Guile of Dragons, the first book in the TOURNAMENT OF SHADOWS series. This was an enjoyable read. Enge plays with traditional tropes, dragons, dwarves, wizards and heroes, but he puts a refreshing spin on the classic images. There may be dragons and unicorns (yes, there is a unicorn) but they’re not exactly what you’re used to.

In the land of Laent, Morlock syr Theorn was raised by the dwarves,

September 13th, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | James Enge | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Last Guardian: A final trip on the merry-go-round with Artemis

The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer

The ARTEMIS FOWL series in general has always been amusing, but after the first couple installments it rather lost the feel of being the breath of fresh air it seemed when the first novel rolled around. Eoin Colfer is never less than witty, and his premise and characters remain lively, but there has been an increasing sense that the series and the protagonists have been treading water a bit. Artemis’s world is like a slightly daring sitcom: at the end of each adventure there’s one token change that seems impactful,

Rising Tides: Still a genuinely entertaining series

Rising Tides by Taylor Anderson

“You have quite a crew, Captain Reddy.”
“Yes, I do.”

If you’ve been enjoying Taylor Anderson’s DESTROYERMEN series, there’s no reason to stop now. Rising Tides (2011) is another quality installment in which we do a lot of sailing, have some fun and laughs, and barely survive some frightening events — exactly what we were expecting.

Captain Reddy and his original crew of Destroyermen, of which less than 100 survive, are different men than those who entered the storm so many months ago.

The Dragonet Prophecy: Kind of like ASOIAF for kids

Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland

The Dragonet Prophecy is the first in the new series WINGS OF FIRE, by Tui T. Sutherland. It’s set in a world where dragons are the dominant species; humans are present but are called “scavengers” and seen as an occasionally dangerous nuisance. The prophecy concerns five young dragons who, it is foretold, will end a long and ruinous war. The five are hidden away and raised by a small rebel underground.

Sutherland quickly takes this plot in a couple of unexpected directions that hooked me right away.

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate: The weird one

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate by Michael Moorcock

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate is the Elric book that’s been cited to me as “coming from left field” or “the weird one,” which considering it’s Elric is saying something (the next book is actually called The Weird of the White Wolf, for an amusing bit of trivia, although Weird in that context is used archaically to mean “fate”). It’s not that The Sailor on the Seas of Fate is bad necessarily,

August 29th, 2012. Tim Scheidler and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Michael Moorcock | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |

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