Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Rating: 4

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Kull, Exile of Atlantis: Foundational reading for the sword & sorcery fan

Kull: Exile of Atlantis by Robert E. Howard

* If you’re not — or not looking to become — a reader of sword-and-sorcery or fantasy tales, then you can probably skip the rest of this review and move on… unless you might acquire a taste for stories of a philosophical barbarian-king, whose axe or sword slays on-comers as easily as you might mosquitoes… *

OK, now that they’re gone: this intriguing compilation probably merits 3-1/2 stars, but I’ll give one of the genre’s cornerstones the benefit of the doubt. Be warned,

October 6th, 2008. Rob Rhodes and Steven Harbin´s rating: 4 | Robert E. Howard | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

A Giant Problem: Characters have improved

A Giant Problem by Holly Black

In A Giant Problem, the second book of the sequel/spin-off to the original The Spiderwick Chronicles, we meet up again with our two protagonists: stepsiblings Nick (surly and portly) and Laurie (dreamy and cunning), who are getting along reasonably well in the wake of their discoveries in the previous book The Nixie’s Song.

Having allied themselves with the half-blind and near-senile Noseeum Jack (this book’s version of wise-but-dotty Aunt Lucinda) the two are learning all they can about the awakening giants that are threatening their parents’

Nights of Sin: A trip through the darker avenues of magic

Nights of Sin by Matthew Cook

First, a confession: I haven’t actually read Blood Magic, the novel that precedes Nights of Sin. However, kudos to Matthew Cook for never letting me get lost. Everything I needed to know was provided to me, and in a way that flowed naturally with the story rather than feeling infodumpy.

Nights of Sin begins with a harrowing description of Kirin, the heroine, attempting to shepherd her lover, Lia,

September 23rd, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Matthew Cook | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Belgariad: Sometimes fun is enough

THE BELGARIAD by David Eddings

Back before David Eddings became a shampoo-rinse-repeat sort of author, churning out the same old storylines and character types, there was the original Belgariad series, which remains by far his best work.

The premise is an old stand-by — farmboy discovers he’s not who he thought he was and, along with a band of helpers, goes on a quest to stop the world’s destruction/domination by the evil one. But Eddings manages to breathe a lot of life into the archetypical plot. His characters are gradually revealed throughout the series to have hidden layers of complexity,

September 3rd, 2008. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | David Eddings | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Before They are Hanged: Expect more of the same

Before They are Hanged

Before They are Hanged (2007) begins just where The Blade Itself left off and continues the stories of Logen, West, Jezal, Ferro, Bayaz, Glokta, and company. Expect more of the same in this novel: brutal fighting, sickening torture, nasty politics, ruthless characters, and barbarian grammar.

This recipe mostly works — the plot is interesting, the pace is fast, there’s a bit of humor, and the characters are well-developed and continue to grow. I certainly enjoyed the story. There were a few things,

September 1st, 2008. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The DragonLance Chronicles: Who can forget?

THE DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Dragons of Autumn Twilight, a classic work of high fantasy, marks the beginning of a remarkable 6-book tale (the Chronicles Trilogy, followed by the even more magnificent Legends Trilogy), which greatly increased the interest in the Dungeons & Dragons game throughout the 1980’s. It certainly does contain more than a few stock fantasy elements (e.g. dragons, elves, dwarves, an unlikely group of friends somehow being chosen to stop the conquest of Evil…). However, the straightforward, simple way in which the tale is told and,

August 12th, 2008. Rob Rhodes´s rating: 4 | Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Street Magic: Pierce’s imagination is on full blast

Street Magic by Tamora Pierce

It’s ironic that feminist writer Tamora Pierce’s only male character, the self-named Briar Moss, is one of her best characters. Amongst the rest of the mainly female cast, his charisma, street smarts and ongoing inner conflict between his younger, wilder instincts, and his older, more civilized self, makes him one of the most lovable and well-rounded characters in the Circle of Magic series.

The first four books gathered together four magical protégées: aristocratic Sandry, moody bookworm Tris, stoic Daja, and street-rat Briar,

The Society of S: Wonderful storytelling

The Society of S by Susan Hubbard

A current Professor of English at the University of Central Florida who has received teaching awards from Syracuse University, Cornell University, UCF, and the South Atlantic Administrators of Departments of English, not to mention many other educational accolades and achievements, Susan Hubbard is also an author of two critically acclaimed short story collections (Walking On Ice, Blue Money) and two chick-lit novels (Lisa Marie’s Guide for the Perplexed,

Through a Brazen Mirror: A bittersweet gem of fantasy

Through a Brazen Mirror by Delia Sherman

Through a Brazen Mirror is the sort of book that deserves a wider audience than it’s gotten so far. The author is a lesbian, and the book contains a gay character. Since mainstream publishers are still a little squeamish about such things, this book gets the label “Queer Fantasy” slapped on it, gets published by a small press, and the upshot of it is that most straight readers have never heard of the darn thing. And that’s a shame. This isn’t just a good “gay book,”

Plague of Spells: Like playing D&D

Plague of Spells by Bruce R. Cordell

Building on the success of his last novel, Stardeep (see my review above) Bruce R. Cordell continues the story of Raidon Kane, the monk with the Cerulean sign, in Plague of Spells. Cordell uses this novel as an opportunity to introduce fans of the Forgotten Realms to a novelized form of the spellplague. This terrifying event occurred after the goddess Mystra was murdered and rendered many wizards without powers, changed the landscape of Toril dramatically,

June 19th, 2008. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 4 | Bruce R. Cordell | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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