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Drinking Midnight Wine by Simon R. Green
Simon R. Green lives in Bradford-on-Avon in real life, and I’ll wager a guess as to how Drinking Midnight Wine came to be written. I think Green has met some eccentric folks and seen some weird places in the time he has lived in that town, and so it occurred to him to make up magical explanations for them, and build a fantasy novel around them.
Green does a great job of creating engaging characters and vivid scenery.
May 27th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Simon R. Green | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Speak to the Devil by Dave Duncan
Speak to the Devil, the first novel in Dave Duncan‘s new The Brothers Magnus series, is set in Jorgary, a fictional country inserted smack in the middle of late 15th-century Europe. Aside from this new country, the second main divergence from the actual history is a form of magic called Speaking, which involves asking saints (or according to the Church, demons) for intercession.
Anton Magnus, a young and ambitious hussar in the Jorgarian army,
May 24th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3 | Dave Duncan | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Cup of the World by John Dickinson
John Dickinson’s The Cup of the World centers on Phaedra, daughter and only child of the Warden of Trant, an all-important land/fortress in a land with a long history of internal warfare. Her combination of looks, inheritance, and intelligence makes her the prime bridal catch, even one of the two princes is her suitor, but she rejects them all for two basic reasons: fear (of losing her independence and her life as her mother did, dying in childbirth) and love (of a strange man who comes to her in her dreams).
May 22nd, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | John Dickinson | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Devil in Green by Mark Chadbourn
The Devil in Green takes place shortly after the end of Always Forever, the final book in Mark Chadbourn‘s Age of Misrule trilogy, which described the return to our lands of legendary creatures and gods, so old and powerful that their memories became the basis for many of our myths. Now the final battles are (seemingly) over, and humanity slowly tries to come to terms with the realities of the new Dark Age,
May 19th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3 | Mark Chadbourn | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Artemis Fowl is a fast-paced blend of 21st century technology and ancient fairy magic, written by Irishman Eoin Colfer for young enthusiasts of science-fiction and fantasy. The plot is straightforward: Artemis, a 12-year-old genius and the son of the missing overlord of a criminal dynasty, concocts a scheme to acquire the little golden book of fairy lore and, using its secrets, hold a fairy hostage for an enormous ransom. The only thing is, Colfer’s fairies aren’t delicate little Tinkerbell-types;
May 15th, 2010. Rob Rhodes and Tim Scheidler´s rating: 3, 4 | Eoin Colfer | Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Power is the third and final book in The Secret Circle trilogy by L J Smith. In this story, the Circle are shattered by Faye’s revelations at a time when they need to be at their strongest. Black John is back, and Cassie is horrified when it is revealed why she feels such a strong connection with him. He has returned to claim the Master Tools and become the leader of the coven of twelve that he had such a hand in creating — which means that one member of the Circle must die…
May 10th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 3 | L.J. Smith | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Morpheus Road: The Light by D.J. MacHale
Morpheus Road: The Light by D.J. MacHale is the first book in a projected YA horror trilogy, focused on young Marshall Seaver, who is being haunted by his own artistic creation, a creepily menacing character he calls Gravedigger.
The story is a fast-paced read, though it gets off to a somewhat slow start as we’re introduced to the main character and his best friend Cooper. The two have one of those awkwardly painful adolescent friendships where one has leapt full-heartedly into the young adult world (Cooper) and the other is still staying safe on the outer edges of childhood (Marshall).
May 5th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | D.J. MacHale | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
Ten years. A long time to go without rain, but the citizens in Sydelle’s small country town are used to it by now. Until one ordinary day when Wayland North wanders into the sleepy community and brings rain with him.
Sydelle is drawn to the self-proclaimed wizard and when her town is raided the night after North’s arrival, she soon finds herself the wizard’s unwilling “assistant” and suddenly on the adventure of a lifetime. Even though Sydelle longed to leave her village, she questions why North,
April 30th, 2010. Guest´s rating: 3 | Alexandra Bracken | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Weathermonger by Peter Dickinson
Set in a vague idea of the future (or rather as the future may have looked to a writer in 1969) The Weathermonger opens with Geoffrey and Sally, two siblings left adrift on a rock in the sea by their community. Confused by a knock on the head, Geoffrey is informed by Sally that their uncle has been killed after being found working on a motorboat, and that the two of them have been left to be drowned when the tide comes in.
April 25th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Peter Dickinson | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Captive is the second book in the Secret Circle trilogy by L.J. Smith. In this book Faye tightens her hold around Cassie, blackmailing her over her love for Adam and forcing her to betray Diana. At the same time the Circle learns that a dark power is on the loose and killing, and Cassie begins to suspect that the crystal skull recovered from Black John’s articles is behind the deaths.
L.J. Smith has written a number of trilogies in the YA paranormal arena, and excels at the format.
April 23rd, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 3 | L.J. Smith | Young Adult | 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.