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Max Frei’s The Stranger is an interesting novel to say the least. For starters, I almost gave up on the book at three different times. Why? Well for one, it took a long while before the book started making sense to me, especially the setting, the story and the novel’s direction. It took even longer for me to get used to The Stranger’s peculiar brand of humor, not to mention the author’s liberal use of exclamation points. And finally,
May 19th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4.5 | Max Frei | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas
The Adamantine Palace is classic fantasy with all the major ingredients: magic, dragons, knights, castles and all the trimmings. There is, however, one missing element: the hero. Stephen Deas writes a really interesting, very complex first novel, kicking off the Memory of Flames series, but I can’t figure out who the hero is.
The point of view in The Adamantine Palace switches among five major characters. At times Deas takes us behind the eyes of a few other characters,
May 16th, 2009. John Hulet and Robert Thompson´s rating: 3.5, 4.5 | Stephen Deas | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The 13th Reality by James Dashner
The 13th Reality, the first volume of The Journey of Curious Letters by James Dashner, was a complete delight.
Tick (short for Atticus) is your ultimate unlikely hero. He has a birthmark on his neck that he hates so much that he wears a scarf year-round. The school bullies call it the “barf scarf” and when we meet him, he is in the midst of being bullied. That very day, he receives the first in a series of curious letters,
May 16th, 2009. Tia Nevitt (guest)´s rating: 4.5 | James Dashner | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In this humorous paranormal fantasy, a young human by the name of Monster works for a subsidiary of the local animal control services. This agency locates and captures cryptobiologicals: “things that go bump in the night.” Aptly named Monster hunts and captures trolls, unicorns, yetis, dragons and all sorts of animals with his employee, a sixth dimension paper gnome.
Monster’s life is thrown upside down when he meets Judy, a seemingly normal human woman, a bit down on her luck, but otherwise just as incapable of seeing the creepy-crawlies Monster captures as anyone else.
May 15th, 2009. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 4.5 | A. Lee Martinez | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
I just finished Warbreaker, and the words that keep coming to mind are “That was so good!” This is the first Brandon Sanderson novel I’ve read, and it certainly won’t be the last. Warbreaker combines highly original world-building with an exciting plot that kept me on the edge of my seat.
The novel begins with the introduction of two major characters: Vivenna and Siri, princesses of the tiny kingdom of Idris. You may think you’ve seen these archetypes before — the stiff,
April 28th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter, Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4, 4.5, 5 | Brandon Sanderson | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The Singer of All Songs by Kate Constable
In the world of Tremaris, there are nine types of magic. Ninth is the power of tongue, the ability to speak in all languages. Eighth is the power of beasts, commanding all animals at will. Seventh is the power of seeming, which creates illusions in the mind. Sixth is the power of wind, which commands weather. Fifth is the power of iron, commanding all that belongs to the earth excepting anything living, fire, wind and water.
April 27th, 2009. Skye Walker´s rating: 4.5 | Kate Constable | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Lamentation is a promising start to a new fantasy (or at least semi-fantasy) series, which is a bit ironic as its own start is a bit bumpy. The story begins with a bang — literally. We’re witness to the utter destruction of an entire city — screams, flames, toppling buildings, searing winds, etc. Many novels would end with the scene, but Ken Scholes chooses to make it the starting point of the plot, an original beginning which I liked a lot.
Unfortunately,
April 7th, 2009. Bill Capossere and Terry Weyna´s rating: 4, 4.5 | Ken Scholes | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Cross Elizabeth Hand with Fire and Hemlock, and you might end up with something like Freda Warrington’s Elfland. This is the kind of big, sweeping modern faerie tale that you don’t see often on the adult shelves anymore. There’s been some beautiful work done in YA recently, but in the adult realm, the trend has been away from novels like this. And that’s a shame. Elfland is complex, rich, sensual, beautifully written, and sometimes heartbreaking.
April 7th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5, 5 | Freda Warrington | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Fantasy Medley edited by Yanni Kuznia
FORMAT/INFO: A Fantasy Medley is 136 pages long divided over four short stories and is published by Subterranean Press in two editions: A fully clothbound hardcover limited to 3000 copies and a numbered hardcover limited to 200 copies and signed by the authors and editor. Dust jacket by Kristy Doherty.
ANALYSIS:
1) “Zen and the Art of Vampirism” by Kelley Armstrong. “Zen and the Art of Vampirism” is an urban fantasy tale with all of the usual trimmings including a female protagonist,
March 28th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4.5 | C.E. Murphy, Kate Elliott, Kelley Armstrong, Robin Hobb | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Robin McKinley sure knows how to use the English language. We are in her spell from the beginning. Deerskin commences with Lissar’s nurse telling her a fairy tale — but the fairy tale is the story of how Lissar’s larger-than-life parents met. She is told from the very cradle what paragons her mother and father are, and yet she herself is ignored by them. McKinley seduces us with the the magical kingdom’s rarefied beauty and glamour — and also the coldness and rot at its core.
February 7th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Robin McKinley | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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Oh thank you for the recipes! Such a variety - this is going to be fun.
COMMENT Hey, they seem to have added one while I wasn't looking! https://www.valancourtbooks.com/john-blackburn.html
Always my pleasure, Becky! And as I said, there are 19 Blackburn titles currently available on the Valancourt site....
Oh my goodness! I read "A Scent of New-Mown Hay" some time around 1970. It made a huge impression on…