Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Black Wings: I loved meeting Madeline Black

Black Wings by Christina Henry

“Besides, look at you. I’m supposed to believe you’re an Agent of death? You’re covered in flour.”

“I was in the middle of making a pear tart dotted with gorgonzola. You’re an unscheduled call.”

That’s on page 3 of Black Wings, and that’s when I knew I was going to enjoy the heck out of Christina Henry’s voice.

The flour-covered Agent is Madeline Black, whose job it is to collect the souls of the newly dead and escort them to the Door that leads to the afterlife.

November 22nd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Christina Henry | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Geist: So much to appreciate!

Geist by Philippa Ballantine

Sometimes you read a book and enjoy it while reading, only to find it falls apart when you think about it later. The inverse happened to me with Philippa Ballantine’s Geist. I enjoyed it, and then the more I thought about it, the more I found to appreciate.

Geist is a secondary-world fantasy, set on the continent of Arkaym. The residents of Arkaym fear the geists, powerful otherworldly spirits that can enter the physical realm and possess people.

November 16th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Philippa (Pip) Ballantine | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |

The Ring of Solomon: Bartimaeus is back!

The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud

Fans of Jonathan Stroud’s fantastic Bartimaeus Trilogy, which began with The Amulet of Samarkand and ended with Ptolemy’s Gate, will be happy to know that the title character — the wise-cracking fourth-level djinn who has long-standing issues with authority — is back and funny as ever in The Ring of Solomon.

Rather than continue the story of the first trilogy,

The Stainless Steel Rat’s Revenge: Definitely a series to read on audio!

The Stainless Steel Rat’s Revenge by Harry Harrison

Listen to the beginning of The Stainless Steel Rat’s Revenge here.

Warning: Don’t read this review if you haven’t read the first Stainless Steel Rat novel.

Several nights ago I was in a bad mood. I had asked my husband to pick up M&M’s while he was at the grocery store because my daughter needed them for a school party the next morning. Due to a bad cell phone connection, he came home with the wrong thing and I didn’t discover this until 11 pm,

Trio of Sorcery: Lackey back at the top of her game

Trio of Sorcery by Mercedes Lackey

[Ruth and her sister Sarah (one of our regular guest reviewers) both read Trio of Sorcery and finished within nine minutes of each other. This review consists of their email conversation about Trio of Sorcery. We edited it for clarity and removed their sisterly in-jokes.]

RUTH: I have to admit that when I got this ARC in the mail and turned it over to read the back cover, I squealed like a fan girl when I saw that there was a new Diana Tregarde story (the first in almost 20 years),

Enchanted Ivy: Delivers on all accounts

Enchanted Ivy by Sara Beth Durst

One problem I often have with contemporary fantasy is its tendency to ignore the magic of the world around us in its longing for something Other. Enchanted Ivy avoids this problem by striking a nice balance. There’s certainly a great deal of otherworldly magic, as evidenced by the dragons and faeries and talking gargoyles and cute were-tiger boys. Yet I got a real sense that all this magic was inspired by the feelings the campus of Princeton genuinely evoked in Durst.

The Book of Dreams: I’m going to miss Kirth Gersen

The Book of Dreams by Jack Vance

The Book of Dreams is the final book of Jack Vance’s The Demon Princes saga. Kirth Gersen must find and eliminate his last elusive enemy: Howard Alan Treesong. As usual, he has the help of his reluctant banker and there’s a new Innocent Pretty Young Female to attend to, also.

The Book of Dreams is reminiscent of The Palace of Love (the third Demon Princes novel),

October 31st, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Jack Vance | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Majix: Funny and heartwarming YA

Majix by Douglas Rees

Majix: Notes from a Serious Teen Witch is charming in both senses of the word. Told from the point-of-view of a fourteen-year-old Wiccan, Majix is a funny and heartwarming story about family, friends, and finding oneself. It isn’t quite a fantasy novel, though there’s arguably a little magical realism in it. For the most part, the “magic” is really psychology. I think believers and skeptics could enjoy this book equally.

It’s a little annoying at first. Kestrel “never call me Susan” Murphy comes off as something of a brat,

Tracato: One of the best new fantasies I’ve read all year

Tracato by Joel Shepherd

Tracato is the third installment in Joel Shepherd’s excellent A Trial of Blood and Steel fantasy quartet, and not only is it the best book in the series so far, it’s also one of the best new fantasy novels I’ve read all year.

The continent of Rhodia, shared by a fractured human civilization and the non-human serrin, finally begins to inch towards full-scale war. The northern Verenthane countries, with their conflicted and somewhat reluctant goeren-yai allies, are marching south to reclaim the Saalshen Bacosh.

October 26th, 2010. Stefan Raets´s rating: 4.5 | Joel Shepherd | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Stainless Steel Rat: Tons of fun!

The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison

Listen to the beginning of The Stainless Steel Rat here.

At a certain stage, the realization strikes through that one must either live outside of society’s bonds or die of absolute boredom. There is no future or freedom in the circumscribed life and the only other life is complete rejection of the rules. There is no longer room for the soldier of fortune or the gentleman adventurer who can live both within and outside of society.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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