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The Wayfarer Redemption (BattleAxe in the UK) by Sara Douglass
Note: Amanda, who reviews this novel, lives in the UK where this book is titled BattleAxe. In the US, the title is The Wayfarer Redemption.
A thousand years ago the people of Achar drove the Forbidden from their land in the War of the Axe. They pulled down huge swathes of woodland in their fear and now live by the Way of the Plough under the benign guidance of their deity Artor.
February 2nd, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 3 | Sara Douglass | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Blood Trail is the second in Tanya Huff’s Blood Books series featuring Vicki Nelson, private investigator, and Henry Fitzroy, vampire and illegitimate son of Henry VIII.
The novel opens with Vicki accepting an invitation to Henry’s place to talk about a possible new case. It’s been a few months since the events of Blood Price, and the flirtation between Vicki and Henry is ramped up a notch. Their new case involves a pack of werewolves living near London,
January 29th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 3 | Tanya Huff | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler
Jane True has always been an oddity in Rockabill, Maine, what with her scandalous (and missing) mother, her secret habit of swimming at night near the dangerous whirlpool called the Old Sow, and most of all, the tragic death of her childhood sweetheart in a drowning accident. Though some of Rockabill’s residents blame Jane for the tragedy, she has stayed in town to care for her ailing father. She works in a bookstore. It’s not an exciting life, but it’s the only life Jane knows.
Everything changes when,
January 27th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Nicole Peeler | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
A Time of Exile by Katharine Kerr
A Time of Exile, the first book in the second Deverry quartet, opens a number of years after the events in Daggerspell. Rhodry is getting older, but his Westfolk genes have given him long life and people are starting to mutter dweomer when they look at him. He stages his own death so that he is able to slip away from his life in Aberwyn. He meets Jill again when he heads into the lands of the Westfolk,
January 24th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 3 | Katharine Kerr | SFF Reviews | no comments |
I loved Black Ships, and I didn’t know if Jo Graham could top it. The answer, I am happy to report, is a great big YES!
Hand of Isis continues the story of some of the characters from Black Ships who have now been reincarnated as players in the Egyptian-Roman power struggle. You don’t need to read Black Ships first, but you’ll probably get more out of Hand of Isis if you do.
January 23rd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter and Ruth Arnell´s rating: 3, 5 | Jo Graham | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
I’ve just been to Venice and back, and I’m not even jetlagged…
In Nightwalker, Jocelynn Drake transported the reader to Egypt and London, and now, in Dayhunter, we’re headed for the canals. As the book begins, Mira and Danaus are summoned to appear before the vampire council in Venice. I loved following Mira to all her favorite haunts in the city; Drake does a great job of creating a tangible sense of place.
January 23rd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Jocelynn Drake | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Always Forever by Mark Chadbourn
Always Forever is the third novel in the AGE OF MISRULE trilogy by Mark Chadbourn, and at the start of this final installment, things definitely aren’t looking up. As Darkest Hour ends, the five Brothers and Sisters of Dragons are scattered and broken, and the dark god Balor is loose in the land again. If the five heroes can’t somehow stop Balor by the festival of Samhain, when he comes into his full powers,
January 17th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3 | Mark Chadbourn | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Darkest Hour by Mark Chadbourn
Darkest Hour is the second book in Mark Chadbourn‘s AGE OF MISRULE trilogy. As often is the case, the middle book in the trilogy is the darkest one, and if the title didn’t give it away, Darkest Hour is no exception. Thankfully, the novel contains enough excitement to make it a thrilling read that should please fans of the first book.
At the conclusion of World’s End,
January 12th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 3 | Mark Chadbourn | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Lord of Snow and Shadows by Sarah Ash
Lord of Snow and Shadows starts as Gavril, a young relatively carefree painter, learns that he has just inherited rule of the northern kingdom of Azhkendir after his father (whom Gavril never knew) was murdered. The inheritance has a darker side, however, as his father’s line also passes from son to son the Drakhaoul, a creature which lives in their blood and mind and gives them great power at great cost — the eventual transformation of their body and soul.
January 12th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Sarah Ash | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Stone of the Stars by Alison Baird
The Stone of the Stars is a fun, if imperfect, high fantasy with gently feminist overtones, a coming-of-age theme, and a slight hint of romance.
The beginning is… well, inauspicious. There’s a Prologue that has the feel of warmed-over Tolkien as seen through the lens of the “back in the good old days, everyone was a peaceful Goddess-worshipper” myth. Then, in chapter one, we meet our heroine, Ailia, in a scene that has “Mary Sue” written all over it,
January 10th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Alison Baird | 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.