Previous SFF Author: Frank Aubrey
Speculative fiction in audiobook format.
The Price of Spring by Daniel Abraham
I’ve been a big fan of Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet and The Price of Spring, its concluding volume, confirms my view that it is one of the more original and best-written fantasy epics in recent years.
If you haven’t read the third volume, An Autumn War, stop reading here as you’ll run into spoilers for that book.
As has been the pattern in the series, the story picks up years after the events of An Autumn War.
July 21st, 2009. Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Daniel Abraham | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Lev Grossman’s The Magicians attempts to take the unreal world of fantasy — magic, spellcasting, other worlds, fabulous beasts — and tie it much more tightly to the real world than is usually done. And (I think) the attempt as well is to tell a “realistic” novel which takes as its premise that magic exists and is being used (not quite the same thing as the first). I’d say he only partially succeeds, though he does so often enough that the book makes a worthy,
July 7th, 2009. Bill Capossere, Stefan Raets, Ryan Skardal, Kelly Lasiter and Terry Weyna | Lev Grossman | Audio | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
I’m impressed with Brandon Sanderson’s first fantasy trilogy. The entire story was carefully thought out, well-plotted, and well-paced. What impresses me most is that in this last installment, The Hero of Ages, there are plenty of wonderful surprises left. But these surprises aren’t little add-ons that Sanderson lately thought up and decided to throw in just to keep up the interest and excitement. These are major pieces of the puzzle that have purposely been left for the characters (and therefore the readers) to discover.
June 23rd, 2009. Kat Hooper and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5, 4 | Brandon Sanderson | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan
Crossroads of Twilight was maddening. I read it years ago and ended up giving up on The Wheel of Time after this book. I tried again in my preparation for reading Memory of Light, and I just couldn’t manage to do it again. So, as with Winter’s Heart, I cheated by reading many of the chapter summaries at Encyclopaedia WOT. I skimmed the chapters involving Perrin’s hunt for Faile because I remembered how slow,
May 21st, 2009. Kat Hooper´s rating: 0.5 | Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan
The first six chapters of Winter’s Heart follow Perrin and Faile after Faile is abducted by the Shaido Aiel. The next several chapters follow Elayne as she returns to Caemlyn and prepares to make a bid for her mother’s crown. These two storylines are incredibly dull and I confess that I skimmed over a lot of it and read the excellent cross-referenced chapter summaries at Encyclopaedia WOT. I read Winter’s Heart years ago and I just did not feel like once again sitting in on Elayne’s steward’s descriptions of the rats in the Caemlyn sewers or Perrin’s angst about Faile (good riddance,
May 1st, 2009. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews
I didn’t know how much I’d missed Ilona Andrews’ writing until I started reading Magic Strikes (2009). Part of it is the prose. It’s vivid, it has a great streak of humor running through it, and best of all, it’s smooth. The reader is never jolted out of the story by a grammar snafu or an awkward phrase.
Part of it is Andrews’ continued use of a wide variety of myths. Andrews is one of the few urban fantasy authors who seem to realize folklore is a huge sandbox.
May 1st, 2009. Kelly Lasiter, John Hulet, Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Ilona Andrews | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
I just finished Warbreaker, and the words that keep coming to mind are “That was so good!” This is the first Brandon Sanderson novel I’ve read, and it certainly won’t be the last. Warbreaker combines highly original world-building with an exciting plot that kept me on the edge of my seat.
The novel begins with the introduction of two major characters: Vivenna and Siri, princesses of the tiny kingdom of Idris. You may think you’ve seen these archetypes before — the stiff,
April 28th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter, Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4, 4.5, 5 | Brandon Sanderson | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan
The best thing I can say about The Path of Daggers is that it is significantly shorter than the last few novels have been — only 700 pages (mass market paperback) compared to the 900-1100 page novels that have preceded it. There is much less of the repetitive backstory. I guess Mr. Jordan finally realized that new readers aren’t jumping in at this point.
However, that’s not to say that there are 700 pages of plot here,
April 15th, 2009. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Knights of Dark Renown by David Gemmell
It’s been six years since the legendary Knights of the Gabala rode through a gate to hell in order to fight the evil that threatened the realm. They haven’t been heard from since. But they are desperately needed now because the King, once a noble man, has begun rounding up the nomad population in Holocaust style. People who oppose his actions are named traitors and the King’s new henchmen are very strong and very… undead. The king’s new policies have alienated a lot of people — mostly peasants.
April 13th, 2009. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | David Gemmell | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan
My reviews of The Wheel of Time novels are getting just as repetitive as the actual books. There’s really not much more to say. A Crown of Swords is another long slow installment in which there are too many detailed descriptions of clothing, references to spanking, concerns about bosoms, and people blushing. There are pages and pages which chronicle secondary characters’ extensive internal thoughts. But what bugs me most, though, are the constant depictions of people and places as if they have a corporate personality:
Men strutted arrogantly along the streets with often ragged vests and no shirts,
April 1st, 2009. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Previous SFF Author: Frank Aubrey
I think you'll enjoy it.
sounds fascinating--on my list!
Definitely a fun ride, even if a little outside my usual tastes. It'll be a great TV series if they…
I've been wondering about this book!
[…] (Fantasy Literature): In today’s Shocktober Double Feature we have two curious stories, courtesy of H. P. Lovecraft […]