Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Rating: 4

Click on stars to FIND REVIEWS BY RATING:
Recommended:
Not Recommended:

The Scent of Shadows: Cool idea

The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson

Vicki Pettersson has come up with a cool and original idea for the paranormal genre: an on-going battle between good and evil that corresponds to the signs of the zodiac.

I loved the way that Pettersson used comic books to keep the history of the conflict and she really did a fantastic job portraying kids in a comic book shop.

The main character in the Zodiac series is the only fly in the ointment. Joanna Archer just seems to be a bit inconsistent.

November 5th, 2007. John Hulet´s rating: 4 | Vicki Pettersson | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Already Dead: Right up my alley

Already Dead by Charlie Huston

Going in, I was super-confident that this series was going to be right up my alley and I wasn’t disappointed in the least. For starters, that same unflinching Tarantino-esque dialogue, urban vernacular and stylized violence that I loved so much from The Shotgun Rule were on display here in all of its explicit glory. Even better, there was a much more pronounced noir influence — Joe’s first-person narrative, crime / mystery subplots, a frequent use of flashbacks, Manhattan’s seedy underworld setting — running in the book and I absolutely love noir!

November 3rd, 2007. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Charlie Huston | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Sum of All Men: Original ideas

The Sum of All Men by David Farland

Gaborn Orden, the next King of Mystarria is headed to the kingdom of Heredon to ask the lovely Princess Iome for her hand in marriage. Castle Sylvarresta however is under attack by the evil Raj Ahten, the Runelord of all Runelords. With thousands of endowments taken from other men and women, he is truly a man among men, and he takes over Castle Sylvarresta without a single drop of blood being shed. Gaborn however can see through this ruthless man. Endowed with the Gift of the Earth and deemed to be the future King who will seek revenge upon Raj,

November 2nd, 2007. Guest´s rating: 4 | David Farland | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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”

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

We have reviewed 8462 fantasy, science fiction, and horror books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and films.

Subscribe to all posts:

Get notified about Giveaways:

Support FanLit

Want to help us defray the cost of domains, hosting, software, and postage for giveaways? Donate here:

You can support FanLit (for free) by using these links when you shop at Amazon:

US UK CANADA

Or, in the US, simply click the book covers we show. We receive referral fees for all purchases (not just books). This has no impact on the price and we can't see what you buy. This is how we pay for hosting and postage for our GIVEAWAYS. Thank you for your support!

SFF Deals

Recent Discussion:

Bill Capossere on Red Rabbit: Perfect blend of western adventure and wild magicApril 25, 2025
this sounds like a fun one
Paul Connelly on Red Rabbit: Perfect blend of western adventure and wild magicApril 25, 2025
These weird westerns are always interesting and have been popping up more in recent times (it seemed like there was…
Marion Deeds on Vazkor, Son of Vazkor: What’s become of the baby?April 18, 2025
Looking forward to reading the review.
Sandy Ferber on Vazkor, Son of Vazkor: What’s become of the baby?April 18, 2025
Always my pleasure, Marion! I'm almost finished with Book #3 now, and hope to be reporting on it very shortly....
Marion Deeds on Vazkor, Son of Vazkor: What’s become of the baby?April 17, 2025
After reading your review, I'm quite sure I never read this one, or Book Three for that matter. I loved…

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30