Previous SFF Author: John Wyndham
Fantasy Literature for Young Adults (over the age of 12).
The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales is another thematic fantasy anthology by the trio of Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling, and Charles Vess. Coyote Road features twenty-six pieces of fiction and poetry. Each story is preceded by art by Vess and ends with a short bio and afterword from the author. In the Introduction, Windling gives us an extensive account of trickster tales around the world.
October 3rd, 2008. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3.5 | Charles De_Lint, Delia Sherman, Ellen Datlow, Holly Black, Jeffrey Ford, Kelly Link, Terri Windling | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar
Lonely Werewolf Girl is a thick, intimidating tome but when you actually start reading, it goes down smoothly. What stands out most in this novel is Martin Millar’s writing style. Not only does he use simple language and set a quick pace, but his chapters are very short and most of them end on just the right beat. Millar doesn’t spend much time describing unnecessary details, instead focusing on the motivations, action, and dialog of the characters. Millar is someone who manages to break the “show don’t tell”
October 1st, 2008. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3.5 | Martin Millar | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A beautiful fairytale for the YA reader, Chalice is a very loose reinterpretation of a Beauty and the Beast story. Mirasol is a beekeeper who is forced to become the Chalice for her demesne after the previous Chalice and Master are killed in an accident. Her role is to bind her abused land back together and to the new Master, a Priest of Fire, a being who isn’t quite human and can burn both the land and human flesh with the barest touch.
September 18th, 2008. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 3.5 | Robin McKinley | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Rose and the Beast: Nine Fairy Tales by Francesca Lia Block
The Rose and the Beast: Nine Fairy Tales was my first look into the writing of Francesca Lia Block, and I was immediately captivated by both her style and tone and her unsurpassable use of imagery, and her ability to make old fairytales into new, darker and profound creations. It is gradually becoming clear in the general world of literature that fairytales in their original form were not at all intended for children,
September 10th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Francesca Lia Block | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Predator’s Gold by Philip Reeve
We Will Unleash a Storm that will Scour the Earth.
It had been a while since I’d read Philip Reeve’s first installment in the Hungry City quartet, and so my memories of the events that happened in Mortal Engines were a little hazy. However, nothing could make me forget the imaginative post-apocalyptic world that Reeve had created, in which massive Traction-Cities trundled across the wastelands according to the laws of Municipal Darwinism; eating any smaller city that crossed their paths.
September 5th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Philip Reeve | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Crypt of the Moaning Diamond by Rosemary Jones
What happens when an writer who works for an opera company turns to writing fantasy? Does the story take on qualities of the epic? Do people take forever to die? Or does everyone just walk around singing loudly and wearing funny costumes? If these are questions you have asked yourself (or even if they aren’t) you ought to turn your attention to Crypt of the Moaning Diamond by Rosemary Jones. An opera writer and first time novelist, Jones has created a dungeon delving story both humorous and out of the ordinary set in the Forgotten Realms mythos.
August 15th, 2008. John Ottinger (guest)´s rating: 4.5 | Bruce R. Cordell, Jaleigh Johnson, Rosemary Jones | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
It’s ironic that feminist writer Tamora Pierce’s only male character, the self-named Briar Moss, is one of her best characters. Amongst the rest of the mainly female cast, his charisma, street smarts and ongoing inner conflict between his younger, wilder instincts, and his older, more civilized self, makes him one of the most lovable and well-rounded characters in the Circle of Magic series.
The first four books gathered together four magical protégées: aristocratic Sandry, moody bookworm Tris, stoic Daja, and street-rat Briar,
August 12th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Tamora Pierce | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Society of S by Susan Hubbard
A current Professor of English at the University of Central Florida who has received teaching awards from Syracuse University, Cornell University, UCF, and the South Atlantic Administrators of Departments of English, not to mention many other educational accolades and achievements, Susan Hubbard is also an author of two critically acclaimed short story collections (Walking On Ice, Blue Money) and two chick-lit novels (Lisa Marie’s Guide for the Perplexed,
August 11th, 2008. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Susan Hubbard | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
In the years beyond the 30th century, after life as we know it is destroyed in the Sixty Minutes War, the world is divided into three: the Static communities, who live in farms and buildings firmly stationed on the earth, the aviators, who travel the Bird Roads in the sky, and the Traction Cities, the giant cities on engineered wheels who live by the Municipal Darwinism — the big cities devour the little cities for their resources. And the biggest Traction City of them all is London,
August 5th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Philip Reeve | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Sterkarm Kiss by Susan Price
The novel that preceded this, The Sterkarm Handshake was an explosive, riveting and nail-biting story based around the concept of the cultural clash that would follow 21st century time travelers attempting to exploit the riches and opportunities that the past had to offer. The corporation FUP had completed a Time Tube that would transport employees into the past of a different dimension, in order to explore the possibilities that the unspoilt land offered. Only one thing stood in their way; the fierce and treacherous Sterkarms who were not prepared to stop their feuding and troublemaking just because a bunch of “Elves”
August 5th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Susan Price | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Previous SFF Author: John Wyndham
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.