Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Rating: 4

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The Dragon of Doom: An hour’s worth of delightful entertainment

The Dragon of Doom by Bruce Coville

When Moongobble the magician moves to town, Edward is eager to become his new apprentice. It turns out, though, that Moongobble isn’t much of a magician after all — every time he tries a spell, he ends up turning something into cheese. In fact, he’s about to lose his authority to practice magic if he can’t prove himself proficient by completing three difficult tasks. The first task is to steal some special acorns from the Dragon of Doom, so Moongobble and Edward set off with Urk,

Scholar: A new beginning in the IMAGER PORTFOLIO

Scholar by L.E. Modesitt Jr

In a pattern that’s by now familiar for L.E. Modesitt Jr., Scholar marks a new beginning in the IMAGER PORTFOLIO series. The book is set several hundred years before the events portrayed in the three “Rhentyll” novels Imager, Imager’s Challenge, and Imager’s Intrigue. Because of this, Scholar shares no characters with the earlier novels in the series and can be read separately.

November 15th, 2011. Stefan Raets and John Hulet´s rating: 4 | L.E. Modesitt_Jr | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Magic on the Line: A spine-tingling turning point

Magic on the Line by Devon Monk

I’ve got to hand it to Devon Monk: she scares the daylights out of me, in a really good way. Earlier this year she sent chills down my spine with the blood-and-steam magic of Dead Iron. The latest ALLIE BECKSTROM installment, Magic on the Line, is just as chilling, for at least three reasons:

One, something has gone terribly wrong with magic. Allie gets sick every time she tries to cast spells;

November 14th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Devon Monk | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Burning Soul: An autumnal book

The Burning Soul by John Connolly

The Burning Soul, by John Connolly, is an autumnal book, reminding us that winter is coming, a time when we will be more in darkness than light. Surprisingly, given the moody, atmospheric writing, the thriller aspect of the story is grounded in everyday reality, with few supernatural elements — in fact, only a few ghosts haunt this book, and one ghost is missing, its absence a shock.

Charlie Parker is a private investigator. He is a man whose wife and young daughter were taken from him by a serial killer,

Changing Planes: The perfect book to read in the airport

Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin

Airports are horrible places — the boring waits, the noisy rush, the germy stale air, the ugly utilitarian décor, the nasty food. That is, until Sita Dulip, while waiting for her delayed flight from Chicago to Denver and noticing that “the airport offers nothing to any human being except access to the interval between planes,” developed a technique to change planes inside the airport. She discovered that in the airport the traveler is uncomfortable, displaced, and already between planes and can therefore easily slip into other planes of existence while waiting for a flight.

Howl’s Moving Castle: A book that’s easy to love

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Howl’s Moving Castle is a book that is very easy to love. Diana Wynne Jones is a consistently entertaining author, and her prose seldom fails to be enticing and comfortable as settling into a favorite armchair, even when opening one of her books for the first time. What is perhaps even more impressive is that it’s generally very hard to discern any effort beneath the workings. Jones almost gives the impression that she writes at perfect ease, never agonizing but instead kicking back and letting the words flow in an uninterrupted,

Trance: Good mix of emotional impact, mystery, and derring-do

Trance by Kelly Meding

Kelly Meding, known for her DREG CITY urban fantasies, kicks off her new superhero-based series with Trance. The setting is the future of an alternate past and present. Metas (people with superpowers) were out in the open and known to all. The good guys were “Rangers” and the bad guys “Banes.” Then, during a violent showdown in a devastated Manhattan, all of the Metas lost their powers for reasons unknown. Public opinion had been souring on Metas anyway,

November 10th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Kelly Meding | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Bloodlines: Remarkably enjoyable spinoff

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

When I first picked Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy off the shelf back in March, I kind of figured it wasn’t going to go well. I’m not exactly the biggest vampire fan in the world. Imagine my surprise when five months later I find myself reading the start of the spinoff series, Bloodlines. VAMPIRE ACADEMY was full of action and romance and was a blast to read, which meant Bloodlines had a lot to live up to.

The Alloy of Law: Western setting adds a new twist to Mistborn

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

I loved Brandon Sanderson’s MISTBORN series, so I was excited to learn that he was publishing another novel set in the MISTBORN world. The Alloy of Law (2012) takes place a few hundred years after the events in the original trilogy. By this time, society is in the midst of an industrial revolution and is expanding into uncivilized frontier lands, making The Alloy of Law, I suppose, a Western Steampunk or Weird West tale.

Drink Deep: Another enjoyable installment of CHICAGOLAND VAMPIRES

Drink Deep by Chloe Neill

This review contains a big spoiler for the previous book, Hard Bitten. If you haven’t read Hard Bitten yet, hit “Page Up” now — and then get caught up on the CHICAGOLAND VAMPIRES as soon as possible, because these books are fun!

There’s a more somber tone this time around, though. It’s been a few months since Ethan Sullivan’s death. Merit and Cadogan House are recovering, but both heroine and house are still keenly aware of the Ethan-sized hole left behind.

November 8th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Chloe Neill | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Recent Discussion:

David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
Bill Capossere on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
We’re in total agreement David!
David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.