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The three-part story of Fernanda “Fern” Capel that began in Prospero’s Children and continued in The Dragon Charmer comes to its conclusion in The Witch Queen. A young woman now, Fern has resigned herself to the presence of magic in her life and accepted (however reluctantly) that her Gift means that the life of a witch is the only one she can lead. In Prospero’s Children Fern time-traveled back to the City of Atlantis,
May 1st, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Jan Siegel | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Queen’s Bastard by C.E. Murphy
On paper, The Queen’s Bastard is right up my alley. Court intrigue plus magic plus sex? Where do I sign up? I’ve seen comparisons to the Kushiel series and it’s not hard to see why; it’s partly the intrigue/magic/sex combination and partly the prose, which is lush and has moments of exquisite beauty. It was the prose that hooked me from the first page.
Unfortunately, other factors “unhooked” me later in the book, and now I’m three-quarters of the way through The Queen’s Bastard and not really feeling the urge to go on.
April 29th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | C.E. Murphy | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Renegade’s Magic by Robin Hobb
Robin Hobb has just concluded her Soldier Son trilogy with the third book — Renegade’s Magic. There doesn’t seem to be much point in reviewing solely Renegade’s Magic, however, as anyone who has read the first two is likely to pick up the conclusion, so instead I’ll simply review the trilogy as a whole.
Of course, the first question one has to answer as a reviewer is would you recommend the book(s) to a reader.
April 29th, 2008. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Robin Hobb | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Shaman’s Crossing was slow and at times dry, but I thought it rewarded the patient reader and that the pace was mostly appropriate for the content and character. The same complaints about book one could also be leveled at Forest Mage, and here, unfortunately, I can’t quite defend the book as strongly.
Like Shaman’s Crossing, there isn’t a lot of “action” here. One expecting large battles, political upheaval or machinations, encounters with monsters,
April 29th, 2008. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Robin Hobb | SFF Reviews | no comments |
When reading fantasy books, I generally apply two arbitrary criteria that I have found useful in determining books I like. The first is I look for the willingness of the author to kill important characters — not secondary or briefly mentioned characters. I’ve always felt that to do so was brave and showed a willingness to push the story’s limits rather than following a predictable course. The second is actually from Aristotle’s Poetics. Summarized, Aristotle says the primary character must be believable. In essence, the character must be more human than superhuman.
April 26th, 2008. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 3 | Sharon Hinck | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dark Moon by Meredith Ann Pierce
Ever notice how the second parts of trilogies are often the weakest? This is not always the case, but it often happens in both books and movies, and it definitely occurs here. Dark Moon is the second part of The Firebringer trilogy, which began with the fascinating Birth of the Firebringer and ending with the explosive The Son of Summer Stars. But smack dab in the middle is Dark Moon,
April 25th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Meredith Ann Pierce | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ferren and the Angel by Richard Harland
Never before have I read a book with such epic proportions, such potential, and such originality — and yet was written so carelessly and simplistically. What promises to be a future-fantasy-adventure along the lines of Philip Pullman‘s amazing His Dark Materials trilogy, instead reads like sci-fi pulp fiction.
Ferren and the Angel is set in the year 3000AD, after a series of scientific discoveries and heavenly experiments that resulted in a full out war between Heaven and Earth.
April 10th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Richard Harland | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Arkadians by Lloyd Alexander
Lloyd Alexander follows his usual technique of incorporating various myths from around the world into his own original story (as he’s already done with The Chronicles of Prydain, The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen, and The Iron Ring) but this time it’s with a clever twist. Instead of taking aspects of myths to work into his own story, here Alexander traces several Greek myths back to their source, outlining the roots of these stories and exploring how they may have been changed over time into the myths as we know them today.
April 2nd, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Lloyd Alexander | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti
I really don’t know what sort of story this is. It’s an adventure, it’s a mystery, it’s a crime novel, and a romance kind of all throw into one. It’s a complex blend of genres all set in a different world where technology is far behind our modern times in many respects, but has been carefully enough thought out that it makes sense.
At the center of the story is a young woman who works as an Icarus — basically the equivalent of a bicycle messenger,
April 1st, 2008. John Hulet and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3, 3.5 | Dru Pagliassotti | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
In the Company of Ogres by A. Lee Martinez
When I read fantasy comedy, I compare it to Terry Pratchett. In many ways, In the Company of Ogres resembles many of Pratchett’s Discworld novels in the sense that a) it actually is quite funny and b) it makes fun of existing fantasy tropes and elements.
A. Lee Martinez, however, has his own distinguishable style which is evident in In the Company of Ogres. His writing style is quite functional and isn’t weighed down with flowery prose or detailed descriptions.
March 29th, 2008. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | A. Lee Martinez | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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…
The geography is confusing me--how does one get to a village in Tibet by ship? And even the northernmost part…
Oh, this sounds interesting!