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Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland
I’ve been having some difficulty reviewing Diana Rowland’s Mark of the Demon. Not because I didn’t like it; on the contrary, I thought it was fantastic. The problem is, every time I start to think about it, my brain goes on a tirade. Mark of the Demon leaves me frustrated with the urban fantasy genre as a whole, because it is everything UF can be. And inevitably, when I try to think about what I love about Mark of the Demon,
August 16th, 2010. Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 5 | Diana Rowland | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Infernal Devices by Philip Reeve
It has been sixteen years since the events of Predator’s Gold, and the Traction City of Anchorage has been peacefully settled on the Dead Continent for years, undisturbed by the war that rages throughout the rest of the world between the adherents of Municipal Darwinism and a terrorist faction of the Anti-Tractionist League.
Okay, if you haven’t read the previous two books in THE HUNGRY CITY CHRONICLES, then you probably didn’t understand a word of that sentence.
August 4th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Philip Reeve | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
The Faery Reel is an indispensable tome for anyone who has a mania for faeries. Aside from the short stories in this anthology, the comprehensive introduction of Terri Windling on the fey and the illustrations by Charles Vess are worth the price of admission in themselves. Moreover, the last few pages feature a Further Reading section on the topic of faeries. The typography of the book is appropriate to the faery theme and makes the text quite readable.
August 4th, 2010. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 5 | Delia Sherman, Ellen Datlow, Gregory Frost, Holly Black, Jeffrey Ford, Terri Windling | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard
Johannes Cabal the Detective is the second book about the eponymous necromancer. I read the first book, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, at the beginning of this year, and was enormously enamoured with the bitingly sarcastic gentleman in question. In fact, it has remained my number one read of 2010 despite fierce competition from other titles, and so I was almost nervous about picking up this second novel about Johannes Cabal in case it did not live up to the first.
August 1st, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 5 | Jonathan L. Howard | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
A good friend of mine who has excellent taste recommended The Traitor to me. I had heard of Michael Cisco, mostly through people like Jeff Vandermeer and Jeffrey Ford saying nice things about his work, but until now I hadn’t read any of his novels. With strong recommendations from three people who opinions I rate highly I expected quite a lot, and I have to admit I wasn’t disappointed.
The Traitor is written as a first person narrative by Nophtha,
July 13th, 2010. Guest´s rating: 5 | Michael Cisco | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Black Heart, Ivory Bones edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Black Heart, Ivory Bones is the sixth and final entry in Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s series of fairy tale anthologies. Of the six, I’ve read four, and each has its own particular flavor, its own unique mood. While all of the books contain a mix of light and darkness, in this volume there seems to be more of a balance: “all that’s best of dark and bright,” if you will. The mood that Black Heart,
July 10th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Charles De_Lint, Delia Sherman, Ellen Datlow, Esther Friesner, Jane Yolen, Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke, Tanith Lee, Terri Windling | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Very Best of Charles de Lint by Charles de Lint
With a title like The Very Best of Charles de Lint, I had high hopes, and I have to say that they were met. Yes, this is the best of Charles de Lint’s fantasy. Chosen in consultation with his readers on Facebook and on his website, de Lint has culled down decades of writing to create a special volume with beautiful cover art by Charles Vess that highlights the reason why de Lint is considered one of the founding fathers of urban fantasy.
July 7th, 2010. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 5 | Charles De_Lint | Short Fiction, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
To be something abnormal meant that you were to serve the normal. And if you refused, they hated you… and often the normal hated you even when you did serve them.
In Nnedi Okorafor’s post-apocalyptic Sudan, there are two predominant ethnic factions: the light-skinned Nuru and the dark-skinned Okeke. Who Fears Death takes place amid a genocide that the Nuru commit against the Okeke, a campaign that (like genocides in our own time) includes both murder and rape.
July 2nd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter and Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Nnedi Okorafor | Audio, Stand-Alone, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed by Patrick Rothfuss
The Princess and her teddy bear, Mr.Whiffle, live in a marzipan castle and spend their days in various childhood adventures such as fighting pirates, squashing stuffed toy rebellions, and hiding from monsters under the bed. Patrick Rothfuss’s simple and cheery writing style and Nate Taylor’s beautifully comic artwork, full of clean lines and plenty of little details to look for, add to the childish atmosphere.
But The Adventures of the Princess and Mr.
June 28th, 2010. Justin Blazier´s rating: 5 | Patrick Rothfuss | Comics, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Coraline’s family has just moved into a new flat. Her parents are always busy with their own work and Coraline (please don’t call her Caroline) has no friends or siblings to play with. She spends her time exploring her new apartment complex and the surrounding grounds. She’s got some eccentric neighbors: two little old ladies who love to reminisce about their time on the stage and an old man who trains mice to sing and dance.
But what’s really strange is the extra door in Coraline’s flat.
June 23rd, 2010. Kat Hooper, Rebecca Fisher and Ryan Skardal´s rating: 5 | Neil Gaiman | BSFA Award, Children, Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.