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The City & The City: Utter genius

The City & The City by China Miéville

It’s impossible to discuss China Miéville’s The City & The City without discussing its premise. I don’t consider this much of a spoiler, as the reader is pretty fully confronted with the premise about 20-30 pages in, but it is led into with hints here and there so before hitting the premise, I’ll offer a very short summation and recommendation in the next two paragraphs, followed by the full discussion which includes the premise.

Despite the title’s promise of more urban New Weird fantasy along the lines of Perdido Street Station,

Hawkspar: Three things about a Holly Lisle novel

Hawkspar by Holly Lisle

This story is about a slave, and her fight for freedom. She is a member of the Tonk race. Rather than a nation, the Tonk are spread throughout the world. It turns out that there are quite a few Tonk among not only Hawkspar’s fellow slaves, but among the Oracles themselves. And one of them has cooked up a plot. Once the slave — who, through most of the story, doesn’t remember her name — takes on the Eyes, she becomes Hawkspar, and she immediately sets her predecessor’s plans into motion.

May 6th, 2009. Tia Nevitt (guest)´s rating: 4 | Holly Lisle | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Warbreaker: Sequel, please!

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

I just finished Warbreaker, and the words that keep coming to mind are “That was so good!” This is the first Brandon Sanderson novel I’ve read, and it certainly won’t be the last. Warbreaker combines highly original world-building with an exciting plot that kept me on the edge of my seat.

The novel begins with the introduction of two major characters: Vivenna and Siri, princesses of the tiny kingdom of Idris. You may think you’ve seen these archetypes before — the stiff,

The Shape-Changer’s Wife: A beautiful fairytale romance

The Shape-Changer’s Wife by Sharon Shinn

Aubrey is a young wizard, apprenticed to Glynrenden, the most powerful shape-changer in the land. Aubrey wants to learn all of his magical secrets, but instead discovers a mystery surrounding the shape-changer’s wife, Lilith, which may change everything Aubrey has ever known.

The Shape-Changer’s Wife is a beautiful fairytale romance, with a haunting, slightly creepy undertone. Glynrenden is a menacing character, and Shinn does a wonderful job of eliciting a sense of dread during his interactions with the other characters.

The Betrayal: Pati Nagle’s prose is a treat!

The Betrayal by Pati Nagle

The Betrayal tells the story of a conflict between the aelven (elves, of course) and their exiled kin, the alben, who were outcast from aelven society in the distant past when they became afflicted with vampiric urges. I’m a little sick of vampires in general, but Pati Nagle‘s take on them is original, and it makes sense. The magic of the aelven is based on exchange of khi, or energy, and the alben’s blood drinking is a logical corruption of that.

April 20th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Pati Nagle | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Lord of the Fading Lands: Entertaining romantic fantasy

Lord of the Fading Lands by C.L. Wilson

Lord of the Fading Lands has me thinking about genres, and the distinctions between them, and the places where they blur. Specifically, is the Tairen Soul series romance-with-fantasy or fantasy-with-romance? I’m going to have to come down on the side of romance-with-fantasy, though there’s a great big fantasy plot in this book alongside the love story.

The central characters are Rain, a shapeshifting Fey king with a thousand years’ worth of traumatic past; and Ellysetta, a young woman of humble background who is unappreciated in her home city but who turns out to be exceptionally powerful.

April 16th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | C.L. Wilson | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Knights of Dark Renown: Doesn’t leave us wallowing in darkness

Knights of Dark Renown by David Gemmell

It’s been six years since the legendary Knights of the Gabala rode through a gate to hell in order to fight the evil that threatened the realm. They haven’t been heard from since. But they are desperately needed now because the King, once a noble man, has begun rounding up the nomad population in Holocaust style. People who oppose his actions are named traitors and the King’s new henchmen are very strong and very… undead. The king’s new policies have alienated a lot of people — mostly peasants.

Once Dead, Twice Shy: Kim Harrison does YA

Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison

Madison Avery is dead, but that won’t stop her from trying to live a normal life for a high school girl. At Prom, Madison’s willful ways lead to her physical death at the hands of a handsome dark angel. The fact that her strong will gives her a chance to survive beyond death seems only fair. But now she has to figure out how to exist and what the rules are.

Kim Harrison’s Once Dead, Twice Shy is a well-written entry in the ever-growing and ever-popular young adult urban fantasy genre.

Stalking Tender Prey

Stalking Tender Prey by Storm Constantine

Stalking Tender Prey draws on the legend of the Grigori, or Watchers. The Grigori are said to be angels whose over-entanglement with mortals led to their Fall. The central character in Stalking Tender Prey, Peverel Othman, is a Grigori who takes up residence in the small English hamlet of Little Moor, with life-changing results for the townspeople. His arrival precipitates an awakening of sorts, and a loss of inhibitions.

At first, what this means is sex. This is where some readers may be put off.

April 8th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Storm Constantine | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Lamentation: A rich story, beautifully told

Lamentation by Ken Scholes

Lamentation is a promising start to a new fantasy (or at least semi-fantasy) series, which is a bit ironic as its own start is a bit bumpy. The story begins with a bang — literally. We’re witness to the utter destruction of an entire city — screams, flames, toppling buildings, searing winds, etc. Many novels would end with the scene, but Ken Scholes chooses to make it the starting point of the plot, an original beginning which I liked a lot.

Unfortunately,

April 7th, 2009. Bill Capossere and Terry Weyna´s rating: 4, 4.5 | Ken Scholes | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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