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The Search for the Red Dragon by James A. Owen
The previous Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica book, Here There Be Dragons, had a clean ending, but The Search for the Red Dragon introduces a new conflict that’s tied to the original adventure.
The strengths — and weaknesses — of the first book continue in The Search for the Red Dragon. The illustrations preceding each chapter are gorgeous, and James A. Owen‘s writing is plain,
November 30th, 2008. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | James A. Owen | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Mythic II edited by Mike Allen
Much like its predecessor Mythic, Mythic 2 feels compact and precise. Both the prose and poetry (and everything else in between) are easy to read and have a lyrical tonality. The anthology is even and consistent, with no sudden drops or spikes in the quality. Editor Mike Allen also continues the format of alternating between both mediums, which makes the book work.
For the most part, I found the poems to be decent and the fiction enjoyable.
November 18th, 2008. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | Catherynne M. Valente, Cherie Priest, Jo Walton | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Lord of the Silent Kingdom by Glen Cook
In my review of Glen Cook’s first book in the Instrumentalities of the Night series, I bemoaned the lack of a map. Somehow, my opinion managed to go unheard and/or unheeded and so I’ll start again by asking if it would be too much to include a map in a book that jumps among a slew of kingdoms, countries, islands, and petty territories.
As a long-time fan of “epic” fantasy, I consider myself pretty well-versed in how to handle sweeping geography,
November 14th, 2008. Bill Capossere, John Hulet and Robert Thompson´s rating: 3, 4 | Glen Cook | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt
Imagine a post-apocalyptic Dickensian world where the main character is a female Indiana Jones. This is the setting we find ourselves in when reading The Kingdom Beyond the Waves. Amelia Harsh is our protagonist; a swinging (as in ropes and vines) heroine who has been ostracized from all colleges but one, where she has been taken under the wing of an elderly professor who puts up with her larger-than-life adventures in the field and her frowned-upon theories of their ancient predecessors.
November 11th, 2008. Guest´s rating: 3 | Stephen Hunt | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings
I read Pawn of Prophecy as an adult, a few years ago. I had heard great things about it, so I was disappointed after reading it. The plot is typical “orphan boy saves the world” fantasy, the description is weak, the dialogue is often silly (humor is a focus, and much of the dialogue is funny — but it’s not realistic). The pace is rapid, however, and I flew through the book in one day.
The Belgariad would be just right for a teenager (so I give it 3 stars),
November 10th, 2008. Kat Hooper and Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | David Eddings | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks
In 2005, an enigmatic author by the name of John Twelve Hawks — a writer who supposedly lives ‘off the grid’ — delivered one of the most hyped novels of the year, the critically-acclaimed, New York Times Bestselling debut The Traveler. In that book, readers were introduced to a chillingly familiar world ‘inspired by the modern technology that monitors our lives,’ where Travelers — individuals who possess the ability to send their conscious energy (“Light”) to other realms where they gain insights into transforming the world — and Harlequins (sworn to protect the lives of Travelers) oppose their mortal enemies the Brethren (also known as the Tabula) and their quest for a virtual Panopticon — an invisible prison where the population would assume that they were being watched at all times and therefore would automatically follow the rules.
October 12th, 2008. Robert Thompson´s rating: 3 | John TwelveHawks | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Shadow Roads by Sean Russell
The Shadow Roads brings The Swans’ War to a somewhat satisfying close, but its many weaknesses lessen the impact it might have had. The strength is the backstory — the sense of myth surrounding the three children of Wyrr, Death walled away into his own world, stories of loss and transformation. When Sean Russell spends time in this area, whether in detail or just tangentially, it lends a sad sense of grandeur and depth to the work as a whole.
October 7th, 2008. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Sean Russell | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Thief’s Gamble by Juliet McKenna
The Thief’s Gamble is a difficult book to review. The difficulty arises primarily from the same thing that my lukewarm 3-star rating does: the uneven, jam-packed narrative and the periodic confusion that it caused. The narrative is really three-fold: (1) the main story, as seen through the eyes of Livak, a tough, lucky female thief who stumbles into a quest for artifacts that may somehow be linked to a lost race and new kind of magic; (2) near-simultaneous events occurring elsewhere, told from a third-person viewpoint but focusing on an irritating,
September 30th, 2008. Rob Rhodes´s rating: 3 | Juliet McKenna | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Midnight Over Sanctaphrax by Paul Stewart
Midnight Over Sanctaphrax falls into the middle of the first three books of the series. While Twig’s character is enlarged upon and other interesting ones added, the book falls too easily into the same episodic nature of the first book, where one peril follows closely upon another with none of them ever explored in enough depth so that they truly feel dangerous or suspenseful.
The nature of the basic plot, Twig searching for his lost crew after his skyship explodes and hurls them in different directions,
September 14th, 2008. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Paul Stewart | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Beyond the Deep Woods by Paul Stewart
Beyond the Deepwoods is the start to the long-running Edge Chronicles. This first book does what one would expect, introduces the world, the major characters, and the major conflicts, but it does so in such shallow fashion that one might be hard-pressed to consider reading on. I don’t know how the rest of the series goes, but I can say that the second novel, Stormchaser, improves in many ways upon the first.
Beyond the Deepwoods,
September 11th, 2008. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Paul Stewart | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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!
Sorry if I mislead you in this detail, Paul...the voyage by ship was only the first leg of the quintet's…