Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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The Spirit Thief: Fast-paced and cheerful debut

The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron

In the opening scene of The Spirit Thief (2010), Rachel Aaron’s charming debut novel, the notorious thief Eli Monpress is trying to escape from the royal dungeon of Mellinor. Since he’s not just a thief but also a wizard, he does this by quite literally trying to charm the dungeon’s door into opening: not by casting a spell on it, but rather by persuading, cajoling and wheedling it into letting him through, explaining that it really would be much better off without those annoying nails keeping it together (which results in the memorable line “Indecision is the bane of all hardwoods.”).

Sparks: The salamander is an irresistible bright spot

Sparks by Laura Bickle

In Sparks, Laura Bickle’s follow-up to Embers, Anya Kalinczyk faces another baffling case of magic and mysterious fires. The Detroit Fire Department is confounded by what seem to be instances of spontaneous human combustion. Meanwhile, huckster guru Hope Solomon is amassing wealth and power on the backs of Detroit’s desperate. Anya and her friends are in grave danger when Anya discovers a link between Hope and the fires.

Hope Solomon is incredibly creepy. She espouses a blend of the popular “law of attraction” and “pay it forward” philosophies,

September 29th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Laura Bickle | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Day by Day Armageddon: Not as scary as sentient squirrels

Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne

Day by Day Armageddon is a fictional journal of an unnamed Navy pilot depicting the daily events of the zombie apocalypse. The journal begins with a new year’s resolution, describes newscasts about a virus outbreak in china, then continues to describe each day as things around the world get progressively worse, leading to the eventual total collapse of modern society.

J.L. Bourne has not brought anything new to the table as far as zombie lore goes. He sticks to the fundamentals laid out by George A.

Looking for Jake: Experimental story collection by Miéville

Looking for Jake by China Miéville

Looking for Jake is a collection of short stories by China Miéville, who has emerged as one of the most highly acclaimed fantasy authors of the 21st century. In Looking for Jake, Miéville freely explores whatever ideas take his fancy, without the burden of smoothing everything into a sensible narrative.

Not surprisingly, many of the stories in Looking for Jake therefore have a sort of experimental flavor. For example,

Out of the Dark: Cool idea falls short of expectations

Out of the Dark by David Weber

CLASSIFICATION: For the most part, Out of the Dark is a military science fiction novel set on contemporary Earth, but the book also contains some historical fiction and cyber warfare in the prologue and beginning chapters.

FORMAT/INFO: Out of the Dark is 384 pages long divided over thirty-nine Roman numbered chapters, and a Prologue and Epilogue. Narration is in the third persion via many different perspectives, both humans and Shongairi. Main characters include Thikair, the Shongairi Fleet Commander;

The Bookman: A wonderfully clever world

The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar

Lavie Tidhar’s new novel The Bookman is an alternate history of Victorian England that focuses on the authors of the era, as well as many of their fictional creations. For some, this clever premise may strongly recall Alan Moore’s graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Is that a problem? Most will argue not since, like Moore, Tidhar has a great deal of fun stirring up trouble in the Victorian Era and then setting his poets and canonical characters on the trail of a mysterious villain.

Dreadnought: Pleasure and disappointment

Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

CLASSIFICATION: The CLOCKWORK CENTURY series is set in an alternate history America, circa 1880, flavored with steampunk, western, intrigue, and horror.

FORMAT/INFO: Dreadnought is 400 pages long divided over twenty-two numbered chapters. Narration is in the third-person, exclusively via the nurse, Mercy Lynch. Dreadnought is self-contained, but loosely connected to Boneshaker and Clementine, the first two volumes in the Clockwork Century series. September 28, 2010 marks the North American Trade Paperback publication of Dreadnought via Tor.

September 17th, 2010. Robert Thompson and Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Cherie Priest | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Un Lun Dun: YA urban fantasy from one our best writers

Un Lun Dun by China Miéville

China Miéville has become known for his genre-defying work, but to some extent many of his novels embrace a specific genre. As much as Iron Council is a western and The City & The City is a police procedural, Un Lun Dun is a young adult urban fantasy. Of course, with Miéville, these sorts of distinctions are usually just amusing starting points before readers revel in genre twists and unusual monsters.

The Capture: Enjoyable and suspenseful

The Capture by Kathryn Lasky

In anticipation of the upcoming movie based on Kathryn Lasky’s Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, Scholastic has re-released the first book in the series, The Capture. Being an owl fan, I of course had to give it a try! Lasky is clearly following in Richard Adams’ footsteps here, what with her invented owl words and the mixture of animal behavior and very human social commentary. The Capture is less intense than Watership Down in terms of both reading level and violence level,

Chosen: Doesn’t stand out

Chosen by Jeanne C. Stein

I read the first ANNA STRONG novel, The Becoming, some time ago and didn’t like it. Because of this, I haven’t kept up with the series. When I received a review copy of Chosen, however, I was curious. Now that I’ve read it, I will say that Chosen is superior to The Becoming, but that this series will probably never be one of my favorites.

Anna Strong is approaching the first anniversary of her transformation into a vampire.

September 1st, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Jeanne C. Stein | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Recent Discussion:

David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
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.