Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Rating: 5

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Bewitching Season: A perfectly bewitching YA book

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.

Tentacles: A real blast!

Tentacles by Roland Smith

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,

Beldan’s Fire: Final showdown

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,

Weetzie Bat: Dangerous Angels: Kaleidoscopes, pink cotton candy, psychedelic music

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,

Skin Hunger: A breathtaking, heart-aching story

Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey

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,

Ella Enchanted: One of the best YA heroines

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.

The Ships of Merior: No excuse not to read it

The Ships of Merior by Janny Wurts

The Ships of Merior is the first part of Arc 2 of THE WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW, the incomparable epic fantasy series by Janny Wurts. The novel was originally released in 1994, and has most recently been re-released by HarperCollins Voyager in a lovely mass market paperback edition, featuring brand new artwork by the author herself. This is the first US paperback edition of the novel in at least 7 years. Further novels in the series will be re-released in late 2009 and throughout 2010,

July 25th, 2009. Stefan Raets and Greg Hersom´s rating: 5 | Janny Wurts | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Lavondyss: Will stay in my mind forever

Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock

The wood sucks at the mind, it sucks out the dreams.

Many times I don’t like sequels because there’s nothing new to learn. Authors tend to give us all of their world-building in the first novel, so I’m often bored by a sequel. But Lavondyss blew my mind. It is, I have no doubt, one of the best fantasy novels ever written.

In Mythago Wood, Harry Keeton entered the forest with Steven and he’s been there for years.

The Curse of the Mistwraith: Astounding depth

The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts

The Curse of the Mistwraith took me completely by surprise. Based on (obviously mistaken) assumptions, I expected something completely different — epic fantasy, yes, but nothing even close to the gorgeous prose and astounding depth I found in this novel.

The plot of this story is hard to summarize, partly because there are so many twists and turns that it’s almost impossible not to run into spoiler territory very quickly. Two half-brothers, Arithon and Lysaer, are on opposite sides of a conflict that spans generations.

July 20th, 2009. Stefan Raets, Greg Hersom and John Hulet´s rating: 5 | Janny Wurts | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Sadar’s Keep: Continues an excellent story

Sadar’s Keep by Midori Snyder

Sadar’s Keep continues the story that began in New Moon.

Three of the four young queens had been found by the end of the first book, and the army that is slowly pulling together around these young woman is starting to find some unusual allies. Midori Snyder focuses the story around the preparations for battle at Sadar’s Keep between the army of the uprising, known as the New Moon, and the Oran military. Sadar’s Keep is also the site of the battle between the current Fire Queen Zorah and her queens 200 years earlier,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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