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Ghosts & Echoes by Lyn Benedict
I’ve never met a Lyn Benedict/Lane Robins book I didn’t like, but Ghosts & Echoes is the best of her work to date. There’s a ton of urban fantasy out there, ranging from the stellar to the egregious, but this is the kind of book I like to wave at people and say, “This is what urban fantasy can be.”
Sylvie “Shadows” Lightner is back in Miami, recovering from what she calls the “Chicago clusterf*ck” that took place in the previous novel,
May 16th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Lyn Benedict | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois
Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance is the best anthology I’ve ever read. These stories will be enjoyed by any SFF reader, but they’ll be ten times more fun if you’ve read Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth, because they are all written in honor of that fantastic work. Each tale is written in the style of Vance,
May 7th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Dan Simmons, Elizabeth Hand, Elizabeth Moon, Gardner Dozois, George R.R. Martin, Glen Cook, Jack Vance, Jeff VanderMeer, John C. Wright, Kage Baker, Liz Williams, Matthew Hughes, Mike Resnick, Neil Gaiman, Paula Volsky, Phyllis Eisenstein, Tad Williams, Tanith Lee, Walter Jon Williams | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is easily my favourite of the Harry Potter books. Harry is in his third year at Hogwarts, and the big news is the escape of dangerous and deadly wizard Sirius Black from Azkaban prison. Harry learns that, for some reason, Sirius is after him. To increase security at Hogwarts, Dumbledore has reluctantly allowed the Dementors — ghostly cloaked beings that suck the happiness from a person’s soul and eventually drive them mad — to guard the castle.
April 24th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest), Kelly Lasiter, Kat Hooper, Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | J.K. Rowling | Children | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Cugel’s Saga (aka The Skybreak Spatterlight) by Jack Vance
Cugel “the clever” is one of the scummiest, nastiest, lowliest rogues in all of fantasy literature. He’s got no morals and no respect for women, he’s often a coward, he’s not good looking, nor is he particularly good with a sword. In the words of one of Cugel’s acquaintances, “who could imagine such protean depravity?” The answer, apparently, is Jack Vance. And that’s why Cugel is one of my favorite “heroes” — because he belongs to Jack Vance.
April 23rd, 2010. Kat Hooper and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Jack Vance | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
It could have been maudlin. It’s not.
It could have been preachy. It’s not.
What Before I Fall is, is awesome.
The protagonist, Samantha “Sam” Kingston, will alienate a lot of readers at first. She and her friends Lindsay, Elody, and Ally make up the ruling clique at their high school. Steeped in privilege, fawned over by other students and teachers alike, they torment classmates who are lower on the social ladder. Sam is uneasy about some of the bullying behavior,
April 23rd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Lauren Oliver | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry has had a miserable summer. None of his friends have written to him and he wonders whether Hogwarts and the world of wizardry that he discovered the year before is just a dream. Four weeks before he is due to return to school he has a visit from Dobby the House Elf who warns him not to return to Hogwarts. And so we embark on another year at Hogwarts and another mystery — this time involving the Chamber of Secrets.
I enjoyed Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,
April 16th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest), Terry Weyna, Kat Hooper and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5, 4, 5 | J.K. Rowling | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Waking the Moon by Elizabeth Hand
I’m on either my third or fourth copy of Waking the Moon, I can’t remember which. I first read it eleven years ago, loaned it to everyone I thought might be remotely interested, sometimes didn’t get it back, and never felt quite right when I didn’t have it on my shelf. This is one of my Desert Island Books.
The plot revolves around Sweeney Cassidy, an insecure college freshman who goes wild in her first semester away from home.
April 13th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Elizabeth Hand | Mythopoeic Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
Under Heaven is the long-awaited new novel by master fantasist Guy Gavriel Kay — and let’s get the most important news out of the way: it was 100% worth the wait.
Fans of Guy Gavriel Kay know that his novels often take place in what appear to be fantasy versions of real countries: A Song for Arbonne is set in 13th century France, The Lions of Al-Rassan in Spain during the Moorish occupation,
April 12th, 2010. Stefan Raets, Rob Rhodes and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5, 5 | Guy Gavriel Kay | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
The Stones of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston
The Stones of Green Knowe completes Boston’s series, and aptly takes us right back to the beginning of Green Knowe: to its original construction in 1120 A.D. The very first of the Green Knowe children is Roger, the grandson of a Norman Earl, who is excited beyond words at the building of a two-storied stone house, complete with windows. Roger’s days are spent watching the flocks and exploring the construction site, with as much attention given to historical accuracy and detail as one would expect from Rosemary Sutcliffe.
April 11th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Lucy M. Boston | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
After the five-part Chronicles of Prydain came to a close, fans of the series requested more stories from Lloyd Alexander, and he obliged with this anthology. There are eight short stories in all, set in Alexander’s Welsh-inspired land of Prydain in the time before our favourite Assistant Pig-Keeper was born, and each one includes familiar characters or legendary circumstances from the original books. In particular, many of the tales pit the forces of light and life against the main antagonist of the saga: Arawn,
April 9th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Lloyd Alexander | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
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…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!