Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Rating: 4

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The Nixie’s Song: A new trilogy in the Spiderwick world

The Nixie’s Song by Holly Black

After the five-part The Spiderwick Chronicles ended with a promise that there would be more to follow in the Spiderwick world, it was only a matter of time before there was another installment in the series. Now we pick up in the first book of a proposed trilogy that features a new set of children (two step-siblings) and a different location (the mangrove swamps of Florida as opposed to the old world charm of New England), but with plenty of new faerie lore incorporated into the story.

Shaman’s Crossing: Slow start, builds nicely

Shaman’s Crossing by Robin Hobb

The first thing to say is that while I’m giving Shaman’s Crossing four stars, I’d actually recommend not reading it until you’ve got Forest Mage in hand. It isn’t because Shaman’s Crossing ends on a cliffhanger (it stands fine on its own), but because it’s a very slow set-up to what is to come and I think disappointment in the pace will be assuaged if one can move smoothly from the set-up book to the (I assume) more quickly moving sequel.

October 29th, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Robin Hobb | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Wolf Tower: Personal and interactive

The Wolf Tower by Tanith Lee

The Wolf Tower (also published as The Law of the Wolf Tower) is the first of a quartet of books concerning the young woman Claidi’s series of adventures in a fantasy realm, as told and recorded by her in her journal. Her story begins in the House where she works as a slave to the spoilt Lady Jade Leaf, which Claidi recounts in the book that she’s stolen from her mistress’s stationary chest. She’s not entirely sure what made her do such a dangerous thing,

The Ships of Air: Promising improvement

The Ships of Air by Martha Wells

The Ships of Air, the second book in The Fall of Ile-Rien, builds upon the strengths of the first while also improving several of the first book’s flaws. As in The Wizard Hunters, the main character’s depth and likeability is a major strength. Tremaine is a complex character, displaying a variety of emotions and pursuing a variety of actions, some of them not so clearly understood by those around her or even herself.

October 21st, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Martha Wells | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Wizard’s Dilemma: One of the stronger in a strong series

The Wizard’s Dilemma by Diane Duane

The Wizard’s Dilemma continues the story of Nita and Kit, young wizards at work. If you haven’t read the others, you should. Though one could get through this and the others without prior knowledge, lack of background knowledge robs the reader of the full impact of the story.

The Wizard’s Dilemma is a darker, more personal book than the previous ones, which is made quickly clear when Nita’s mother is diagnosed with cancer. As one might expect,

Blood and Iron: Creativity and Imagination

Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear

Elizabeth Bear may have given her novel a rather generic title, but within the covers of the book is a story of intrigue, politics, family relations, romance, mystery and magic, as well as one of the best depictions of Faerie I’ve read in a long time. If you love fantasy, but are sick of boring Tolkien knock-offs, then Blood and Iron should fix you up nicely. Reminiscent of several other original fantasists, (Patricia McKillip and Jan Siegel spring to mind) this is an interesting take on the world of Faerie and its relationship to our own world.

October 16th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Elizabeth Bear | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Gifts: Le Guin’s usual mastery of story and style

Gifts by Ursula Le Guin

There are lots of reasons to like a good Le Guin novel — her spare prose, her sharpness of description, her ease of storytelling, but in simple terms, when Le Guin writes well (nearly always), it boils down to the fact that reading becomes bare unadorned pleasure. Pleasure at its purest and simplest. And that is the gift of this book.

The backstory is pretty simple — families living in the Uplands have hereditary magical abilities or “gifts” (one type to a family) that can and usually are employed to harm: gifts of “unmaking”

The Tombs of Atuan: Strong second book

The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin

The Tombs of Atuan is the second book in the Earthsea series that began with A Wizard of Earthsea. Wizard is a true classic, and it wouldn’t be much criticism to say Atuan doesn’t match it. It’s true, but The Tombs of Atuan is still well worth the read, quite strong in its own right.

The Tombs of Atuan is a near complete shift of character,

The House of Storms: Not as strong as first book

The House of Storms by Ian R. MacLeod

The House of Storms takes place roughly a century or so and in the same world as MacLeod’s The Light Ages. Though it could therefore be called a sequel, one needn’t have read The Light Ages to jump into The House of Storms, as the characters and the culture aren’t quite the same. The House of Storms is not as strong as the first book,

September 29th, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Ian R. MacLeod | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Prince Caspian: Tinged with melancholy and loss

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

Prince Caspian is the direct sequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This novel was published second, but technically comes chronologically fourth in the Narnia series. In The Lion, the four Pevensie children become kings and queen of the magical Narnian realm and reign for many years, but when they return home they find themselves back in their child bodies, on the exact same day that they stepped into the wardrobe many years ago. A year later, the children are waiting at the station for their train to take them back to boarding school when they feel a strange pulling at them — and all of a sudden they are back in Narnia!

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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