Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Blackwood Farm: Settings, language, atmosphere and imagery are second to none

Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice

In the ninth book in The Vampire Chronicles (though the books are self-contained and can be read out of order) we meet Tarquin “Quinn” Blackwood, a fledgling vampire with a serious problem. The book opens with a letter he has written to the famous Lestat, begging him for advice in how to deal with the continued presence of Goblin, a spirit that has dwelt with Quinn for his entire life but is now taking on frightening new characteristics and powers after Quinn’s conversion to vampirism.

March 6th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Anne Rice | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Karavans: No significant action for 350 pages

Karavans by Jennifer Roberson

Karavans is the story of a country that has been overrun by a foreign nation of savages, and as the people start to flee the country, Alisanos, the demonwood on the border of the country starts to come alive and take back parts of the land. The story follows several different characters as they deal with the disruptions to their lives caused by the invading Hecari and the awakening of Alisanos.

Jennifer Roberson is a talented writer who creates intriguing characters. Karavans is a beautifully written novel that evokes a visceral reaction from the reader at several different points.

March 5th, 2008. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 3 | Jennifer Roberson | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Dusk & Dawn: Dark and imaginative, tinged with horror

Dusk & Dawn by Tim Lebbon

For Tim Lebbon, multiple award-winning (Bram Stoker, Tombstone, Shocker, British Fantasy) author of numerous horror/supernatural-themed novels and short stories, the Dusk and Dawn duology marks the writer’s first attempt at a fully realized fantasy world with mixed results.

Before we get into the positives and negatives of the novels, it must be noted that Dawn is a direct sequel to Dusk, so it’s necessary to have read the one before the other,

February 26th, 2008. Robert Thompson and Greg Hersom´s rating: 3, 3.5 | Tim Lebbon | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Tangle Box: Sure to be a hit with fans

The Tangle Box by Terry Brooks

“Trust Not the Cat…”

As the fourth book in the Landover series, Terry Brooks’s somewhat comedic-fantasy series (especially when compared to the serious Shannara saga), The Tangle Box continues Ben Holiday’s adventures as king of a fairytale kingdom that he purchased in a shopping catalogue. Having successfully ruled Landover for several years, Ben is delighted when his sylph-wife Willow informs him that she is expecting their first child. However, the celebration is short-lived when the charlatan Horris Kew returns from exile in Ben’s world to the Landover,

February 26th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Terry Brooks | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Elves of Cintra: Mostly rewarding

The Elves of Cintra by Terry Brooks

This is the second book in the Genesis of Shannara trilogy, a series that holds the interesting position of being both a prequel (to the extensive Shannara series) and a sequel (to The Word and The Void trilogy). Though there have been little clues strewn about various Terry Brooks’ books that hinted at a connection between the epic fantasy of the former and the urban fantasy of the latter, it was with more than a little excitement that I picked up Armageddon’s Children,

February 26th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher and Robert Thompson´s rating: 3 | Terry Brooks | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Acacia: Challenges us with an uncomfortable warp of the familiar

Acacia by David Anthony Durham

David Anthony Durham‘s Acacia has some of elements of epic fantasy we’ve all seen before: a large empire, a resentful race, a king’s children scattered and forced to grow into previously hidden strengths, a near-ritualized style of sword fighting, political intrigue, large battle scenes, and a few others. But anyone thinking to write off Acacia as simply another cookie-cutter fantasy would be missing a highly rewarding read — for Durham gives us these familiar set-ups only to repeatedly yank them out from under our feet.

February 20th, 2008. Bill Capossere, Kevin Wei and Stefan Raets´s rating: 2.5, 3, 4 | David Anthony Durham | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Scar Night: Doesn’t quite meet its potential

Scar Night by Alan Campbell

Alan Campbell’s Scar Night is the first book in a proposed trilogy (Deepgate Codex) and it’s a decent and intriguing start, though one hopes that succeeding books do a much better job of realizing the potential in the backstory than Scar Night itself does.

The strengths of the book mostly lie in its background. One is the underlying mythos: a millennia-ago war in heaven, a god who waits in the abyss below a major city as they feed him their dead (along with the dead’s souls) so he can create another army to storm heaven,

February 19th, 2008. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Alan Campbell | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Sword of Maiden’s Tears: Pamela Dean meets a slasher movie

The Sword of Maiden’s Tears by Rosemary Edghill

I’ve become a bit of a Rosemary Edghill fan lately, so I opened the cover of this foray into urban fantasy with anticipation. It takes place in New York in the eighties (take note of the clothing styles for a nostalgic chuckle). Thrust into the teeming streets of New York City is elfin lord Melior — and of course, as an out-of-towner, he gets mugged almost instantly. The mugger steals his magic sword and leaves him bruised and shaken. Melior is taken in by a young grad student,

February 16th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Rosemary Edghill | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Mister B. Gone: Not what I was expecting

Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker

Thanks to the movies Hellraiser, Lord of Illusions, and Candyman, I was introduced to Clive Barker, but it was his writing that made me a hardcore fan. Imajica, Weaveworld, Books of Blood, The Great and Secret Show, Everville: all personal favorites of mine and great examples of Mr. Barker’s wild imagination and unique talents. Unfortunately, it’s been a while since I last read a Clive Barker book,

Merrick: More Louis! Less David!

Merrick by Anne Rice

I was looking forward to the story of Merrick, a distant biracial cousin of the famous Mayfair Witches, who practices voudoun. I was looking forward to Louis’s quest for the ghost of Claudia — but then I’ve always liked Louis.

In this book, in fact, a lot of interesting things happen to Louis — the Claudia thing, a new love, and a complete change of heart about how much vampiric power he wants. (I’ll try not to commit a spoiler by telling any more details than that.) In other words,

February 5th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Anne Rice | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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