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Never wear your good shoes to Hell
In Cat’s Claw, Amber Benson picks up right where she left off in the tumultuous life of Calliope Reaper-Jones: office drone, wannabe fashionista, and daughter of Death himself. As the novel begins, Calliope learns that her maybe-boyfriend Daniel may not be as dead as he seems, Cerberus wants a favor in return for the hellhound puppy Calliope stole, and her parents have enlisted an eccentric “aura specialist” to train her in magic.
March 8th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Amber Benson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dead Matter is the third book in the Simon Canderous series by Anton Strout. Overall, it was entertaining, worth reading, and just missed being exceptional. One unexpected strength of Dead Matter is the plot, including the mystery. Too often, in fantasy billed as comedic, the plot or mystery suffers. Not so here. Anton Strout is an excellent story crafter, and his talent shines throughout. The setting is also strong: imagine Ghostbusters meets Dilbert.
February 26th, 2010. Stephen B. Frank´s rating: 3.5 | Anton Strout | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry
CLASSIFICATION: Like Patient Zero, The Dragon Factory is an exciting, action-packed techno-thriller in the vein of James Rollins’ SIGMA FORCE novels and 24. Instead of the Resident Evil/28 Days Later-like zombie/horror elements though, the book brought to mind 80s-era G.I. Joe and James Bond due to the villains and their outlandish ideas.
FORMAT/INFO: The Dragon Factory is 496 pages long divided over four titled Parts,
February 24th, 2010. Robert Thompson and Terry Weyna´s rating: 3.5 | Jonathan Maberry | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
In the world of Shades of Grey, Jasper Fforde‘s newest novel, your social standing is partly decided by your ability to perceive color: most people can only see one color, and some people are more color-sensitive, allowing them to see their color better than others. In this “Colortocracy,” the Greys — who can see no color at all — are the lowest class and little more than serfs, those who are most sensitive to their color become community leaders (or “precepts”),
February 23rd, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3.5 | Jasper Fforde | SFF Reviews | no comments |
METAtropolis edited by John Scalzi
It’s not a utopia. It’s just maybe something that sucks a little less.
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and it turns out that all those eco-freaks were right all along. We humans destroyed the planet and now we’ve got to live with the mess we’ve made. Many world governments, including the U.S., have been essentially dismantled and large, mostly independent and self-governing city-states have taken their place.
Under the direction of John Scalzi,
February 23rd, 2010. Kat Hooper and Stefan Raets´s rating: 3, 3.5 | Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, John Scalzi, Karl Schroeder, Tobias Buckell | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Brooklyn Knight by C.J. Henderson
Professor Piers Knight is the charming, handsome, and intelligent curator of the esteemed Brooklyn Museum. He has in possession the mysterious “Dream Stone” — an artifact that may hold the key to unraveling an ancient and dangerous mystery. But Knight is not the only person who is aware of its importance. With the help of his gorgeous assistant Bridget and his knowledge of magical items, Knight must protect the stone and solve the riddle in order to keep a global disaster from happening.
CJ Henderson‘s Brooklyn Knight proves to be a very entertaining read.
February 19th, 2010. Justin Blazier´s rating: 3.5 | C.J. Henderson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Blood Debt is the fifth and last book in the Blood Books series by Tanya Huff featuring Vicki Nelson, Henry Fitzroy and Mike Celluci. We pick up the tale as Henry finds himself haunted by a tormented ghost and realizes he needs Vicki’s help. It’s hard to review Blood Debt completely without spoiling the events at the end of Blood Pact, but I shall attempt it!
Although there is a ghost involved,
February 15th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 3.5 | Tanya Huff | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Arriman Canker (better known as Arriman the Awful, Loather of Light and Wizard of the North) is a dark wizard in search of an heir after a gypsy fortune teller prophesies the coming of another wizard to Darkington Hall. Arriman is excited about the prospect of a pupil in the dark arts, but it takes his long-suffering castle staff to point out to him that the only way to beget a child is to take a wife. The village of Todcaster is full of witches, and surely one of them would make a suitable bride.
February 8th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Eva Ibbotson | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
“And where does that leave us?” Jabari demanded.
To my surprise, a half smile tweaked one corner of her mouth as she looked from me to Jabari. “On hold.”
This bit of dialogue, taken from one of the final chapters of Dawnbreaker, sums up my experience with the Dark Days series a little too well.
There’s nothing wrong with Dawnbreaker. It’s a perfectly fine book.
February 3rd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Jocelynn Drake | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Mad With Wonder by Frank Beddor
Mad With Wonder is the second geo-graphic novel that chronicles Hatter Madigan’s 13-year search for Princess Alyss, who was lost on Earth after escaping through the Pool of Tears. This time around, Madigan’s quest takes him to America during the Civil War and finds the Milliner crossing paths with circus freaks, a group of outlaws, Mr. Van de Skülle, a child gifted with the power of healing, and a vampire as well as being imprisoned in an insane asylum.
The first Hatter M volume was nominated for an Eisner Award and won the 2009 Silver IPPY Award for Best Graphic Novel,
January 31st, 2010. Robert Thompson´s rating: 3.5 | Frank Beddor | Comics, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
As an old fan of '60s-era Marvel comics, I must say that this book looks FUN!
COMMENT Book #3 of this trilogy is very much a heist story, and I quite enjoyed it!
Pirate stories and heist stories... Do we ever get enough of them?
Very interesting, Ulrich! Thanks for clueing me in!
So happy to hear that you enjoyed this article, Spacewaves! It was something of a labor of love for me,…