Click on stars to FIND REVIEWS BY RATING:
Recommended: 
Not Recommended: 
Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold
Fantasy comes in all forms. Epic fantasy. Dark fantasy. Contemporary fantasy. Historical fantasy. Erotic fantasy. Then there’s The Sharing Knife series by award-winning author Lois McMaster Bujold (THE VORKOSIGAN SAGA, The Spirit Ring, the FIVE GODS novels), which is an altogether different kind of fantasy…
In a familiar world that recalls The Last of the Mohicans, there are two peoples — Lakewalkers and farmers — who are ignorant of each other’s ways.
June 16th, 2010. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Lois McMaster Bujold | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Mother Aegypt and Other Stories by Kage Baker
When Kage Baker died from cancer earlier this year, I was regretful that I had never gotten around to reading any of her work. I had always heard good things about her writing, both from friends and from other writers, and had seen she had been nominated for a number of writing awards I value. I always intended to get around to it, but we all know what our reading piles are like and I never did. Wanting to read her work,
June 15th, 2010. Guest´s rating: 4 | Kage Baker | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
In the first few pages of Soulstring, I was worried that I was reading another book about a spoiled princess who was going to do nothing but complain about how hard she suffered in her privileged life. But by page thirteen, I was deeply engrossed in the story of a young woman who is hated by her parents for the sin of being the firstborn and a girl. Soulstring is a high fantasy story about a young woman who has to discover a way to reclaim the magical power that has been taken from her by her father,
June 13th, 2010. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 4 | Midori Snyder | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers
I thought I was sick unto death of vampire novels until I read this one. The Stress of Her Regard reminds me of Anne Rice at her best, some years ago, except with more action and less description of the carpeting.
The story centers around the nephelim, Lilith’s brood. Seductive, serpentine, and deadly, they are succubi and vampires, draining blood and vitality from their hosts even as they inspire them to creativity. One of these beings attaches itself to Byron and Shelley’s circle of expatriate poets,
June 12th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Tim Powers | Mythopoeic Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Kid vs. Squid by Greg van Eekhout
Kid vs. Squid, by Greg van Eekhout, is definitely a children’s fantasy. It comes in at a slim sub-200 pages (with pretty good-sized print) and doesn’t take much time with detailed description, rich character development, or intricate plotting. That isn’t a complaint; it’s just to say that Kid vs. Squid knows who its audience is, and while it won’t dumb things down or talk down to its readers, it also won’t stretch them.
June 7th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Greg Van_Eekhout | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS by Rick Riordan
Rick Riordan’s five-book series takes the world of Greek mythology, complete with gods, monsters, titans, Mt. Olympus, heroes, etc. and weaves it into the modern world under the premise that as the gods are manifestations of Western culture and move as the culture moves. And so when Athens was the pinnacle, Mt. Olympus was in Greece, but now that the seat of Western power has moved to America, Mr. Olympus is on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. We all move through a sea of mythical creatures but we don’t see any of them thanks to the cloak of the Mist,
June 6th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Rick Riordan | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Leviathan Wept: And Other Stories by Daniel Abraham
Leviathan Wept is a collection of short fiction by Daniel Abraham, author of The Long Price Quartet, one of my favorite fantasy epics of the past several years. I’ll admit up front that I’m not usually gung ho about story collections. I find they tend to be uneven just as part of their nature (i.e., it’s hard to get a collection of all excellent stories) and I just have a personal preference for the depth and richness of the novelistic form versus the short form.
June 4th, 2010. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Daniel Abraham | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Knights of the Sea by Paul Marlowe
I was first drawn to Knights of the Sea by the hilarious cover art. Now, having read the book, I can say two things: First, the art is accurate! Every element of the cover design — wolf, capsized boat, ghostly damsel, and lemon — is present in the plot. Second, the book is just as funny as the cover, and in a very good way.
In the previous The Wellborn Conspiracy book, Sporeville, Elliott Graven made a powerful enemy in the dastardly Professor Strange.
June 4th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Paul Marlowe | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit
Like most children’s fantasy adventures, The Enchanted Castle begins with several displaced children, removed from their usual situation due to unfortunate events, and finding their independence in new surroundings. In this case, Gerald, Jimmy and Kathleen find themselves staying at Kathleen’s school over the summer holidays in the care of her French teacher. But adventure is on the way, as soon they find a secret path into a beautiful garden where a young princess lies asleep in the centre of a hedge maze.
June 4th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Edith Nesbit | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Summer Country by James A. Hetley
First, a caveat. Don’t let the pretty cover art fool you. The Summer Country is not a “pretty” book. It’s really more horror than fantasy, full of violence and truly twisted characters. That said, I enjoyed The Summer Country. It stands out, with a few others, as a novel that presents a distinctive and original way of looking at the Otherworld, the faerie realm.
James A Hetley‘s “Summer Country” is ruled by those of the Old Blood,
June 3rd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | James A. Hetley | SFF Reviews | no comments |
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…
Gentlemen, I concur! (Forgive me for jumping into your convo)
The cover is amazing. I love how the graphic novel (and the review!) hewed close to the theme of "good…
I've thought about picking that one up. The artwork looks perfect.