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The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
I had intended to simply glance at the first page of The Angel’s Game and then set it aside to finish other books I was reading, but the first paragraph ensnared me:
A writer never forgets the first time he accepted a few coins or a word of praise in exchange for a story. He will never forget the sweet poison of vanity in his blood, and the belief that, if he succeeds in not letting anyone discover his lack of talent,
January 20th, 2011. Terry Weyna´s rating: 5 | Carlos Ruiz Zafón | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Heroes is another story set in the same world as Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy. Veteran readers will be happy to be reacquainted with several characters from earlier books: the wizard Bayaz; the dishonored warrior Bremer dan Gorst; Finree dan Brock, Union Commander Marshal Kroy’s ambitious daughter; Black Dow, the ruthless leader of the Northmen. But if you haven’t read any of Abercrombie’s books yet, don’t worry — you don’t need to have read them in order to fully enjoy The Heroes.
January 19th, 2011. John Hulet, Justin Blazier, Greg Hersom and Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3, 5 | Joe Abercrombie | Audio | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
Behemoth is Scott Westerfeld’s follow-up to Leviathan, the first book in a new steampunk series set in an alternative Europe on the edge of WWI with the Austro-Hungarians and Germans (“Clankers”) using steam-driven machines and the British and their allies (“Darwinists”) using genetic engineering. Leviathan was one of my best reads of 2009, and Behemoth would have been on my list for 2010 had I gotten around to reading it by the time I compiled my list.
January 17th, 2011. Bill Capossere, Rebecca Fisher and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4, 4.5, 5 | Scott Westerfeld | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Kiss of Death by Marcus Sedgwick
Though generically named, The Kiss of Death is a fantastically original and exciting novel, full of blood, danger, thrills, mystery, and legions of the undead. It is sequel of sorts to My Swordhand Is Singing, in that it features Peter and his father’s sword from the previous book, though here the attention turns to two new protagonists. Perhaps it’s better described as a companion piece to its predecessor, as although it’s not necessary to have read My Swordhand is Singing,
January 13th, 2011. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Marcus Sedgwick | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Evil for Evil is the second book in K.J. Parker’s Engineer Trilogy and it is probably one of the strongest “middle books” I’ve read. Evil for Evil hits the road running and not once does the plot slow down or ease up. Parker’s writing is, as always, rich, detailed, evocative and dry. The theme is the same: the importance, and ultimately destructiveness, of love as well as the importance of creation and desire. While these themes may seem rather mundane and arbitrary,
January 9th, 2011. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 5 | K.J. Parker | SFF Reviews | no comments |
I had heard the buzz surrounding Kristin Cashore’s Graceling and my curiosity was piqued. Sitting down to read, I hoped that it hadn’t been over-hyped, but was pleasantly surprised to find myself reading a fast-paced, intriguing fantasy novel with a wonderfully real and sympathetic female protagonist — which is rarer than you might think.
The world in which Katsa lives has amidst its population people known as Gracelings: individuals with extraordinary, but rather arbitrary talents. Identified by their mismatched eyes,
January 2nd, 2011. Rebecca Fisher, Bill Capossere and Terry Weyna´s rating: 4.5, 5 | Kristin Cashore | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith
Well, I do have to thank the Twilight phenomena for one thing at least, and that’s that the collected trilogies of Lisa Jane Smith have been pulled out of the Simon and Schuster publishing vault, given brand spanking new covers, and re-released for both a new reading audience, and old-time fans who are ready to fill in the gaps on their bookshelves.
Out of all Smith’s body of work, it was The Forbidden Game that I was least familiar with.
December 31st, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | L.J. Smith | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Travelers’ Rest is short and sweet. (Much like myself except the sweetness of Travelers’ Rest is Morlock Ambrose’s dispersion of justice, and the sweetness of me is, well I’m just freakin’ adorable). Also, Travelers’ Rest is a free e-book from Pyr in honor of The Wolf Age, the latest MORLOCK AMBROSE novel, being their 100th book. Just in time for Christmas too. So a sincere thank you to Pyr is in order.
December 30th, 2010. Greg Hersom´s rating: 5 | James Enge | Free!, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Many-Colored Land by Julian May
The Many-Colored Land, a classic (1981) science fantasy novel by Julian May, wasn’t too high on my TBR list until I noticed that Blackstone Audio released it last month and I remembered that Thomas Wagner recommended it. I like science fantasy, so I gave it shot, and I sure am glad I did. I loved every moment of The Many-Colored Land and my only disappointment is that the rest of The Saga of Pliocene Exile is not available on audio.
December 24th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Julian May | Audio | SFF Reviews | 12 comments |
City of Ruin by Mark Charan Newton
I loved Nights of Villjamur. It’s one of the rare books I actually allotted five out of five stars, so City of Ruin was both highly anticipated and had quite a few expectations to live up to. It’s always hard for me to read a book I anticipate as much as I anticipated this one because the fear that it will fail miserably to live up to the hype seems to be doubled.
Nights of Villjamur was dark,
December 18th, 2010. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 5 | Mark Charan Newton | SFF Reviews | no comments |
thanks for this really well-written review. You've definitely piqued my interest in this, particularly in how you highlight the still…
Thanks for the kind words, Ira! Much appreciated!
Fine review
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…