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Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie
The Little Prince and Alice in Wonderland are sometimes considered “Children’s Literature,” but both stories speak to the human imagination so directly that they free themselves from the shackles of young age. In his latest novel, Luka and the Fire of Life, Salman Rushdie seeks to write a transcendently ageless, imaginative story about Luka, a boy who was born to turn back time.
Luka is an unusual child.
November 16th, 2010. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Salman Rushdie | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Priest-Kings of Gor by John Norman
I’m not sure why I’m still reading the Gor books. I guess it’s partly because Brilliance Audio has kindly sent them to me (they are nice productions), but it’s also largely because these books have been maligned for years as poorly written sexist-BDSM-erotica, so I can’t help but want to see for myself before dismissing them as such. After finishing book 3, Priest-Kings of Gor, here’s my take so far:
They are not poorly written.
November 16th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | John Norman | Audio | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Thirteen year old Rosemary returns home from gathering herbs to find her home burnt to the ground and her mother dead. Not willing to try her luck in a town or on an estate, she decides to disguise herself as a boy and travel to Sherwood Forest in order to find her father: Robin Hood. Rosemary has never met or even seen her father, who is already a famous hero in ballads across England. Unsure why he left her mother or even if he wants a daughter,
November 15th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Nancy Springer | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey
Cameron Dokey‘s contributions to the Once Upon a Time series are undoubtedly the finest, but her retelling of Cinderella is initially a little hit and miss. The series as a whole involves writers taking a recognizable fairytale and tweaking it a little into something that is still familiar but which provides a different point of view. This can involve changing the setting or the time period, removing all the magical elements that make up the original tale, or simply fleshing out the characterization.
November 13th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Cameron Dokey | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Keeper of the Grail by Michael P. Spradlin
Tristan of Saint Albans is an orphan foundling, raised by the monks and with no idea who his birth-parents are. Despite this, he’s happy enough living in the monastery, and is given a good education by the time a group of Templar Knights arrive on their way to the Holy Land. One of them, Sir Thomas, takes an interest in young Tristan, just as another, Sir Hugh, takes an immediate dislike. To Tristan’s astonishment, Sir Thomas offers him a job as his squire and by the next morning,
November 12th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Michael P. Spradlin | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Child of the Northern Spring by Persia Woolley
Child of the Northern Spring is not, strictly speaking, a retelling of the Arthurian legend. I discovered it on a used-bookstore shelf and didn’t realize that it was the first book in a trilogy, and that it only dealt with Guinevere’s early life, up until her marriage to Arthur.
Persia Woolley’s Guinevere isn’t the annoying, preachy character you might recall from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon,
November 5th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Persia Woolley | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Death’s Excellent Vacation by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner (eds)
Even paranormal creatures need to get away from it all sometimes. In Death’s Excellent Vacation, editors Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner present a collection of thirteen stories tied together by the theme of “vacation.”
The “headliners,” as evidenced by whose names are in big type above the title, are Harris, Katie MacAlister, and Jeaniene Frost. Each of these three authors contributes a vignette from one of her popular series: Sookie Stackhouse,
November 4th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden, Jeaniene Frost, Katie MacAlister, L.A. Banks, Lilith Saintcrow | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Spook Country by William Gibson
William Gibson’s Spook Country is set in the same universe as Pattern Recognition, but Hubertus Bigend aside, there is little here that recalls its predecessor. Spook Country is perhaps the weakest entry in Gibson’s Bigend trilogy.
Where Pattern Recognition was told from Cayce Pollard’s point of view, Spook Country is divided between three plotlines that only barely touch each other.
November 4th, 2010. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | William Gibson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Wolf Wing is the fourth and final book in the Claidi Journals, a quartet of books that follow a young heroine’s journey from slavery to freedom — and her untangling of the many mysteries and conspiracies around her — all in diary form. After many adventures in the first three books, Claidi is finally reunited with her beloved Argul, and together they plan their marriage and the return to Claidi’s previous home, the House, in order to release the slaves.
November 1st, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Tanith Lee | SFF Reviews | no comments |
I have to admit that I don’t normally seek out these types of books — not so much the paranormal romance genre, but the erotica aspect. Still, I’ll try anything once and after begin lent Angels’ Blood by a friend, I settled down for my first taste of what I knew would be a somewhat Mills+Boon-esque novel, at least with regard to the relationship between the protagonists. From the first page I knew that I was in for a heroine who would fail the Mary Sue litmus test: if the name Elena Deveraux wasn’t enough of a giveaway,
October 31st, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Nalini Singh | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.