Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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The Phoenix and the Mirror: Historical fantasy about Vergil

The Phoenix and the Mirror by Avram Davidson

The Phoenix and the Mirror, written by Avram Davidson and published in 1966, is based on the medieval legend that the poet Vergil (The Aeneid) was a mage and sorcerer. Queen Cornelia of Carsus has taken hostage part of Vergil’s soul. This leaves him feeling like less than a full man — he’s unmotivated and impotent. Though some of his parts don’t work too well, Vergil’s brain still works fine, so he sets out to meet Cornelia’s demand: manufacture a virgin speculum so Cornelia can scry the whereabouts of her kidnapped daughter,

January 28th, 2011. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Avram Davidson | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

Arcane Circle: Contains Robertson’s best writing yet

Arcane Circle by Linda Robertson

Fatal Circle ended on a cliffhanger, with Menessos’ fate uncertain after a sacrifice he made during the battle with the fairies. In Arcane Circle, the fourth in Linda Robertson’s Circle series, we learn what has become of Menessos and see some of the battle’s repercussions in vampire politics. We also briefly revisit witch politics, as the lucusi react to a revered crone’s death, and encounter a new Homeland Security agency devoted specifically to dealing with the paranormal.

January 26th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Linda Robertson | SFF Reviews | no comments |

A Brush of Darkness: Fresh, mythic, fun

A Brush of Darkness by Allison Pang

It’s easiest to cross between worlds at liminal times of the day. Angels travel most easily at dawn, faeries at twilight, and demons at midnight. As for noon… well, you’ll just have to read and find out!

When supernatural beings (“OtherFolk”) want to pass between worlds without these limitations, they can bond with humans, called TouchStones, who help anchor them to the mortal world. Abby Sinclair is contracted as the TouchStone to Moira, a powerful faerie, but she’s keeping a secret: Moira has been missing for months.

January 25th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Allison Pang | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

Carousel Tides: A nice ride

Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee

My sister refers to this type of book as “Grandma died/disappeared and left you the family home and a whopping big mess in the basement/attic/surrounding landscape to clear up.” Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee is that kind of story, with a big helping of “you can run from your responsibilities in life, but you can’t hide.”

Carousel Tides is contemporary fantasy. I can’t call it “urban” since it takes place in a small town in coastal Maine,

Soldier of Sidon: Wolfe and Latro have aged very well

Soldier of Sidon by Gene Wolfe

Soldier of Sidon is the third book in Gene Wolfe’s Soldier series. Latro is a Roman mercenary who fought against the Greeks at Thermopylae. In spite of his battle prowess, he now wakes every morning with no memory of his past ever since receiving a blow to the head. Will Latro ever recover?

Gene Wolfe originally told Latro’s story in Soldier of the Mist and Soldier of Arete,

The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer

The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson

In The Diamond Age, anything, no matter how trivial, could be made from diamonds drawn from molecular feeds. This will be the era in which humanity masters nanotechnology. On the one hand, this is a time of plenty and technological progress, but it is also a time of great illiteracy as well. With the rise of universal access to the molecular feed, the governments and nations that we know today will lose their purpose and become supplanted by culture-based societies that have territory around the world.

Behemoth: A fun, smart series for all ages

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

Behemoth is Scott Westerfeld’s follow-up to Leviathan, the first book in a new steampunk series set in an alternative Europe on the edge of WWI with the Austro-Hungarians and Germans (“Clankers”) using steam-driven machines and the British and their allies (“Darwinists”) using genetic engineering. Leviathan was one of my best reads of 2009, and Behemoth would have been on my list for 2010 had I gotten around to reading it by the time I compiled my list.

Shadows Linger: Hard boiled fantasy

Shadows Linger by Glen Cook

“Hard science fiction” focuses on the science of the story, often at the cost of character and plot. “Hard-boiled fiction” often features a cynical, jaded protagonist steadily battling against the forces of evil, but making little overall progress. The Black Company books are often categorized as military or dark fantasy, but perhaps “hard fantasy” would be more accurate, as Glen Cook combines the hard-boiled voice with classic fantasy tropes that we might expect to see in a board game.

The setting could not be any more “sword and sorcery” if it tried.

January 16th, 2011. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Glen Cook | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

River of Gods: A complex, foreign, unique world

River of Gods by Ian McDonald

Ian McDonald’s River of Gods is a complex, multi-threaded tale that takes place in near-future India which has been split into somewhat warring states. There is a water shortage as the monsoon hasn’t come in three years, a rigid caste system is in place, and political and economic strife is tearing cities apart at the seams. While the rich get richer and designer babies are common among the elite, there is a gross gender imbalance where men outnumber women by two thirds.

The Hammer: Entertaining but deceptively deep

The Hammer by K.J. Parker

Gignomai met’Oc is the youngest son of a once-noble family that, decades ago, fell out of favor and was exiled from the Empire’s capital to a remote and comparably primitive colony established 70 years before the start of the novel. The met’Oc family is really twice isolated, as it lives on a plateau separate from the rest of the colony, with which it lives in an uneasy kind of not-quite-peace. While Gig’s older brothers Luso and Stheno have their own responsibilities around the house, Gig has enough free time to get into trouble,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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