The Newbury and Hobbes books have some charm to them, but it’s of a lesser sort.
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Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Rating: 3
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Demon Bound by Caitlin Kittredge
Demon Bound is the second book in Caitlin Kittredge’s Black London series. Kittredge fans will be happy to know that she has once again spun a fascinating yarn that is loaded with creative nuances and twists. Her dark imagination is a breath of dank, moldering, fetid air exhaled by something creeping out of the haunted crypt she calls a brain. She has a knack for unfolding compelling stories without too much backfill (backfill is something I personally find annoying).
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Nightchild is officially the third book in the CHRONICLES OF THE RAVEN trilogy by British fantasy author James Barclay, but it feels like a completely separate novel from Dawnthief and Nightchild, which were so strongly connected that they could have been published as one long story, with book 2 picking up right where book 1 left off. Nightchild, by contrast, starts 5 years after the end of the previous book,
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Skeleton Creek & Ghost in the Machine by Patrick Carman
In the Skeleton Creek duology, best friends Ryan McCray and Sarah Fincher team up to investigate the mysterious goings-on at an old mining dredge in their town. The story is told in Ryan’s journal, in which he records his thoughts and his correspondence with Sarah; and in Sarah’s films, creepy Blair Witch-style videos that are accessible on the Internet using passwords given in the text. Before I go any further, I should say that Skeleton Creek is not fantasy and is better categorized as mystery.
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All the Windwracked Stars by Elizabeth Bear
All the Windwracked Stars is the first book in the EDDA OF BURDENS trilogy by fantasy and SF author Elizabeth Bear. The novel is a very original blend of fantasy, science fiction, steampunk and mythology, and while it has some weaknesses, its originality sets it apart in a genre that’s all too often filled with cookie-cutter material.
Surprisingly, All the Windwracked Stars actually begins with Ragnarok, the final battle between the Children of the Light and the Tarnished.
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Stealing Death by Janet Lee Carey
Stealing Death by Janet Lee Carey is a book I really wanted to like. It has an unusual YA setting — a desert land of red sandstone and small villages; a great premise — a young boy (Kipp) who steals the sack Death uses to collect souls so no more have to die; an exciting, emotional beginning with all but one of Kipp’s family killed in a fire; and a pattern of inserting small folktales into the larger narrative.
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In Between is a novella by R.A. MacAvoy about Ewen Young, a Chinese-American painter who early in the story is held up by three gangsters — a threat to his uncle who apparently is behind on some gambling debts. Ewen is a fascinating character who seems to have some latent psychic powers… something that becomes more and more apparent as the story develops.
In Between is one of those novellas that feels and reads like a really tightly compressed novel (as opposed to,
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Bitter Night by Diana Pharaoh Francis
In Bitter Night, Diana Pharaoh Francis introduces an unusual urban-fantasy heroine. Max is a Shadowblade, a super-powered warrior bound to serve a witch and her coven. Enslaved against her will, Max has loathed Giselle, her witch, for decades. Yet she finds herself working alongside Giselle, and other unlikely allies, when the Guardians (gods) plan an attack on the human race and threaten to destroy any coven that won’t help them.
What I liked about Bitter Night: First of all,
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Year of the Horse by Justin Allen
Justin Allen’s Year of the Horse is one of the more original fantasy amalgamations I’ve come across — a mix of fantasy, historical western, and coming-of-age boys’ adventure tale peppered with some Devil and Daniel Webster / Washington Irving / Mark Twain / Zane Grey, and topped off by a heaping of multi-culturalism. Does it all work? Not in all places, but certainly often enough to keep the reader enjoyably engaged.
The story is told from the perspective of Yen-Tzu-lu (mostly known as Lu),
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The Ebb Tide by James P. Blaylock
19th-century London. A quiet evening among more or less renowned gentleman, including the gifted scientist-explorer Langdon St. Ives, at their favorite tavern is interrupted by word that a map to a missing mysterious device has been found. In no time, as chronicled by St. Ives’s cohort Jack Owlesby, the group sets off to claim the map and device, racing against the shadowy figure of St. Ives’s nemesis, Ignacio Narbondo (now known as Dr. Frosticos).
The first new tale of St. Ives in nearly two decades,
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Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch
This book made no sense to me at all. I was hoping for some explanations at the end but it…
Oh, Marion, you say "but dark" as if it were a bad thing! 😂
Hammer Studios is... reborn? I only ever read the "Kane" stories, which I found good but dark. It's a little…
Oh...and the men used the name "The Great Northern Expedition" to throw people off as to their actual destination, even…
Oh, it IS, Marion! It is!