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Riversend: Ambitious

Riversend by Sylvia Kelso

Speculative fiction sometimes gets a bad rap for being nothing but “escapism.” While there are certainly plenty of “just for fun” books in the genre, what people sometimes forget is that sci-fi and fantasy have often been a place where writers can experiment with unusual prose styles and tackle controversial themes that might not go over well in mainstream, “realistic” fiction. Sylvia Kelso’s Riversend is an ambitious novel, blending dense, lyrical prose with a thought-provoking look at gender roles and unconventional relationships, and it’s a good story to boot.

January 25th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Sylvia Kelso | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Decoy Princess: Slowly drew me in

The Decoy Princess by Dawn Cook

Princess Contessa of Constantinopolie has a pretty good life. She’s an expert shopper, has parents who love her and are good rulers, and is looking forward to her upcoming engagement to Prince Garett of Misdev. So what if a few pesky assassins try to get in her way? She’s been well trained to ward them off — she’s not worried.

Oh, but she should be. Prince Garett, not taking the advice of his father, arrives in Constantinopolie early, almost six full months before the formal engagement is announced.

January 14th, 2009. Guest´s rating: 4.5 | Dawn Cook | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Stepsister Scheme: Nicely sidesteps all the pitfalls

The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines

I’m always a bit wary of books that take fairy tales as source materials. Too often, I’ve found, they fall into a few typical traps. One is they become enslaved by the structure of one cute explanation/cute twist per each plot point of the original fairy tale, so that the twists themselves become predictable: beat one, two, twist, beat one, two, twist. Another is they become so enamored in the humor aspect of their humorous retelling that they lose sight of the telling aspect — so the plot is unoriginal and dull.

January 2nd, 2009. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Jim C. Hines | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Voices: Lots to think about

Voices by Ursula Le Guin

In this story of the Western Shore, we meet Memer, a 17 year old girl — a “siege-brat” — who lives in the occupied land of Ansul, a city of people who used to be peaceful, prosperous, and educated but who were overtaken 17 years ago by the illiterate Alds who consider all writing to be demonic. All of the Ansul literature, history, and other books were drowned… except for a small collection of books that has been saved and hidden in a secret room in the house of Galvamand and can only be accessed by the last two people in the Galva household — Sulter Galva (the Waylord) and Memer,

Blood Ties: Quite different

Blood Ties by Pamela Freeman

The first installment of Pamela Freeman‘s Castings trilogy may seem at first like a typical fantasy novel, with swords as everyone’s weapon of choice, horses as everyone’s mode of transportation, and copious amounts of ale and stew making up everyone’s diet. But it doesn’t take long before Blood Ties reveals itself to be quite different from the usual swords-and-sorcery realm: in its setting and atmosphere, in its plot and story-structure, and in its myriad of themes and ideas.

November 20th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Pamela Freeman | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Midnight Never Come: Glittering courts

Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan

Midnight Never Comeis the story of two courts, and of two courtiers who must uncover a deadly secret that threatens both mortal and faerie England. Lune is a disgraced lady of the faerie court, trying to win her way back into the good graces of the cruel Queen Invidiana. Michael Deven is a young gentleman of Elizabeth I’s retinue, working with Elizabeth’s spymaster Walsingham to sniff out a “hidden player” in English politics. Neither is quite prepared for what they discover.

Marie Brennan has a lovely,

September 21st, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Marie Brennan | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Crypt of the Moaning Diamond: Opera?

Crypt of the Moaning Diamond by Rosemary Jones

What happens when an writer who works for an opera company turns to writing fantasy? Does the story take on qualities of the epic? Do people take forever to die? Or does everyone just walk around singing loudly and wearing funny costumes? If these are questions you have asked yourself (or even if they aren’t) you ought to turn your attention to Crypt of the Moaning Diamond by Rosemary Jones. An opera writer and first time novelist, Jones has created a dungeon delving story both humorous and out of the ordinary set in the Forgotten Realms mythos.

The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure

The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure

I read and have read a lot of anthologies. They’re great for “in-between-books-reading” and are perfect when you just want a story that you can start and finish in one sitting. Anthologies are also a great source for sampling different writers.

Jason M Waltz did a great job of picking out the stories to use for The Return of the Sword. Except for only one or two stories (even the ones that weren’t particularly something to my personal taste) I found these to be very well and interestingly written.

Shadow Gate: This series is shaping up to be Elliott’s best work

Shadow Gate by Kate Elliott

Giant eagles and their reeves who patrol the skies as peacekeepers. Nine Guardians blessed by the Seven Gods to bring justice to the land of the Hundred who have mysteriously vanished. A Qin captain, his young bride and a company of soldiers forced into exile. A slave of twelve years who schemes to buy out his debt as well as his sister’s. An outlander — the youngest and least-favored of seven sons — who can see and hear ghosts goes on a quest in search of his uncle’s bones.

July 16th, 2008. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4.5 | Kate Elliott | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Wanderlust: I gobbled it up

Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre

So one of the problems I’ve been having recently, when it comes to returning to authors I’ve already read, is book blurbs that fill me with a sense of foreboding. The plots have been sounding so thin (and often matching). Not Wanderlust though. When I read the blurb for Wanderlust, I got excited.

Now that Sirantha Jax has exposed Farwan Corporation for what it really is, she’s kind of suffering a bit of a career dilemma… i.e.,

July 2nd, 2008. Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 4.5 | Ann Aguirre | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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