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“James Antioch Morgan,” the king of the dead said, and when he sang out James’ name, it sounded like music. “You will be called to make a choice. Make the right one.”
James’ eyes glittered in the darkness. “Which is the right one?”
“The one that hurts,” Cernunnos said.
No one walked away unscathed from the events of Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception. James bears physical scars, along with a persistent torch for Deirdre, who only sees him as a friend.
October 6th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Maggie Stiefvater | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
I’m having a hard time reviewing Lips Touch: Three Times. Intelligent language seems to be failing me. I don’t want to write a review so much as I want to jump up and down and squeal like a crazed fangirl. Lips Touch is chocolate in book form. It’s dark, it’s rich, it’s delicious, and it’s precisely to my taste.
Lips Touch is a collection of three stories; the common theme,
September 23rd, 2009. Kelly Lasiter and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Laini Taylor | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Alchemaster’s Apprentice by Walter Moers
First, my hearty thanks to the translator. I saw Walter Moers’s previous novel, The City of Dreaming Books, in the Berlin Airport in German. As a German linguist, I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to translate prose like this. Simply amazing.
Walter Moerstakes us back into the world of Zamonia, but this time to a completely different city and with all-new characters. You don’t really need to have read previous books because he provides enough background as the story flows.
September 19th, 2009. John Hulet´s rating: 5 | Walter Moers | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Lilly is one of a litter of werewolf children being raised by the Knights of the Teutonic Order in 13th century Prusa (later Prussia). The wolfbreed, as they are called, are subjected to horrifying abuses and trained to become brutal weapons of war. Their purpose: to help the Order massacre Prussia’s remaining pagan strongholds.
A theological debate rages between the Order and the Church regarding the nature of the wolfbreed. Are they simply animals, soulless but trainable and possibly useful? Or, are they minions of Satan?
August 31st, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | S. Andrew Swann | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle
Persephone and Penelope Leland are excited to start their first season as eligible women in London. At least Penelope is. Persephone is nervous, and besides, she’d much rather continue her studies in magic with their governess Ally.
The twin girls are witches — as is their governess — and in addition to their book and finishing training, Ally helps them to learn magic and how to use it responsibly. Things go horribly wrong however when Ally comes up missing a few short days before their coming out.
August 22nd, 2009. Guest´s rating: 5 | Marissa Doyle | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
When I picked up Tentacles by Roland Smith, I had no idea it was a sequel (the first book being Cryptid Hunters). But I quickly discovered that it didn’t matter. Not only is there a list of dramatis personae at the beginning of the book, but Roland Smith is very deft at refreshing plot details without info-dumping the events of the previous book on unsuspecting readers.
In Tentacles,
August 19th, 2009. Beth Johnson Sonderby (guest)´s rating: 5 | Roland Smith | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Beldan’s Fire by Midori Snyder
Beldan’s Fire is the final showdown between the new Queens’ Quarter and the Fire Queen Zorah, and the plot races along to its conclusion. Midori Snyder doesn’t pull any punches as she wraps up the story, and it does not end the way you probably think it will.
She balances beautiful, lyrical writing with gritty characters from the urban underbelly. The characters continue to develop, and are still flawed human beings doing what they have to do, which I think is what makes them interesting,
August 13th, 2009. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 5 | Midori Snyder | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Weetzie Bat: Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block
Francesca Lia Block writes strange but intoxicating tales; stories that are surreal and yet oddly comforting. To classify her books are nearly impossible. The format is that of fairytales, in which her protagonists face a series of challenges, and learn a valuable life lesson by book’s end. Yet her genre is that of magic realism, in which she fills the city of Los Angeles (and in one case, New York) with all sorts of weird and wonderful occurrences, such as wishes granted by genies,
August 12th, 2009. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Francesca Lia Block | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Skin Hunger is two stories in one. Told in alternating chapters, Skin Hunger follows the story of Sadima, a farm girl who can speak to animals. Her mother died when the magician hired to heal her instead stole the family’s few valuables and left her to die as she gave birth to Sadima. Seeking to find someone who can understand her abilities, she runs away to the distant city Limòri and starts keeping house for two budding magicians. The second story concerns Hahp,
July 31st, 2009. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 5 | Kathleen Duey | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Retold fairytales, in which the characters and plots of traditional stories are explored in more depth, or told from an unexpected point-of-view, are a dime a dozen these days. But one stands out from the rest, and that is Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted, which takes the story of Cinderella and not only provides impetus for many of the nonsensical elements of the original tale, but builds a rich imaginary world around it and makes the titular character one of the best heroines to ever appear in YA novel.
July 29th, 2009. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Gail Carson Levine | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…