Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Bleak History: Bright future

Bleak History by John Shirley

In the not-too-far-off future New York, John Shirley has created a world that’s not too different from our own. Except that in Bleak History, the spirit world (The Hidden) has become a force that manifests itself through various “gifted individuals,” giving them special abilities.

Gabriel Bleak, an ex-Army Ranger now turned bounty hunter, is one of these. Ever since leaving the Army, Gabe has been under the watchful eye of a shadowy government agency that tries to use this hidden world and its gifted people in its anti-terrorism agenda.

November 4th, 2009. Justin Blazier´s rating: 4 | John Shirley | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Deep Water: Pamela Freeman’s trilogy is unique

Deep Water by Pamela Freeman

Deep Water is the second book in Pamela Freeman’s The Castings trilogy and though it suffers just a tad from middle book syndrome, this is a great continuation from the last book Blood Ties, enriching the world and developing the characters, as well as setting things up nicely for the final installment.

The Eleven Domains were conquered thousands of years ago by Acton’s people, who marched across the northern mountains and massacred the dark-haired people (now called “Travelers”

October 31st, 2009. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Pamela Freeman | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Me and my Shadow: Frenetic, funny, vastly entertaining!

Me and my Shadow by Katie MacAlister

Me and My Shadow is the third book in Katie MacAllister’s Silver Dragon series, which is set in the same world as her Guardian series. In fact, many Guardian characters (including Aisling and Drake) reappear in her Silver Dragon series. My personal favorite carryover character is Jim, the demonic Newfoundland. His inappropriate and ribald comments had me laughing aloud frequently.

The story itself is about May, a shadow-walking doppelganger who is the offspring of Cyrene,

October 30th, 2009. Stephen B. Frank´s rating: 4 | Katie MacAlister | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Queen of Song and Souls: A moving set-up novel

Queen of Song and Souls by C.L. Wilson

Queen of Song and Souls, the much-anticipated fourth book in C.L. Wilson’s Tairen Soul series, continues the story of Rain and Ellysetta’s quest to complete their bond and defeat the sinister Mages of Eld. In this volume, they attempt to enlist allies in their war against Eld.

First, this means a return to Celieria City. We learn more about the consequences of the weave Ellie inadvertently spun at the end of Lord of the Fading Lands;

October 28th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | C.L. Wilson | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Sasha: GRRM fan? Try Joel Shepherd!

Sasha by Joel Shepherd

Sasha is the first volume in A TRIAL OF BLOOD AND STEEL, a projected 4-book fantasy series by Australian author Joel Shepherd, who previously also published a science fiction trilogy called the CASSANDRA KRESNOV series. His novels have been available in Australia for several years, and are now being released in the US thanks to Pyr, with Petrodor, the next volume in A TRIAL OF BLOOD AND STEEL,

October 28th, 2009. Stefan Raets´s rating: 4 | Joel Shepherd | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Tainted: Gutsy

Tainted by Julie Kenner

The premise of Tainted is this: A young woman, Lily, is killed while carrying out vengeance against a rapist who attacked her sister. Lily is sure she’s going to hell for all the things she did in her short life, but instead she comes back from the dead…in someone else’s body. Her mission: to hunt demons for God. Her reward, if she succeeds, is redemption.

At first, I was reminded of a couple of other urban fantasy series. The wrong-body plotline and the theme of sisterly love reminded me a bit of Vicki Petterson’

October 27th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Julie Kenner | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Conjure Wife: A great book to curl up with on Halloween!

Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber

Conjure Wifeis a 1943 horror novel by master fantasist Fritz Leiber, who is best known for his excellent FAFHRD AND THE GRAY MOUSER stories. While Conjure Wife is usually labeled as horror, the recently released trade paperback edition from Orb is marketed as “the classic of urban fantasy” — maybe to latch on to the recent surge in popularity of that sub-genre? Regardless of which genre it’s placed in, Conjure Wife is an excellent novel that definitely deserved a re-release.

Jhegaala: Vlad is one of the most entertaining protagonists

Jhegaala by Steven Brust

Jhegaala is the 11th novel in the excellent VLAD TALTOS series by Steven Brust. In case you’re not familiar with the series, Vlad Taltos is a human assassin living in the Dragaeran empire. Dragaerans are human-like, but live for 1000 years or more and have a complex society divided into 17 Great Houses which all bear some resemblance to a real or mythical animal. So we have the Houses of the Orca and the Hawk, but also the Houses of the Dzur,

October 21st, 2009. Stefan Raets´s rating: 4 | Steven Brust | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Agents of Light and Darkness: Better than Nightside #1

Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green

Agents of Light and Darkness, the second book in Simon R. Green‘s Nightside, once again follows the almost always abstruse John Taylor, the private detective who is really good at finding things. In Something From the Nightside we learned that John is a former Nightside badass who developed a conscious during his time away from the Nightside and returned to help someone in need. Agents of Light and Darkness follows a similar premise,

The Sleeping God: Not your standard Sword & Sorcery

The Sleeping God by Violette Malan

The Sleeping God is the story of Dhulyn Wolfshead and Parno Lionsmane, Mercenary Brothers who share a Partnership that cannot be broken, even in death. This first novel in the Dhulyn and Parno series focuses on the Marked, people born with special powers to Find, or Heal, or Mend. Dhulyn is one of the rarest of the Marked, a Seer. However, her gift is sporadic and can be as much a curse as a blessing. When a vision sends her and her partner into a burning building to rescue children trapped on the second floor,

October 17th, 2009. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 4 | Violette Malan | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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