Next SFF Author: A.M. Stanley

Previous SFF Author: Michael A. Stackpole

Series: Stand-Alone

These are stand alone novels (not part of a series).

How to Make Friends with Demons: Beautiful

How to Make Friends with Demons by Graham Joyce

Reviewing Graham Joyce for fantasy readers can be tricky, because his novels are often firmly set in our contemporary reality, with only minor fantasy elements. In addition, those fantasy elements are often only visible to the narrator of the novel, creating the impression that they may be figments of the narrator’s imagination. Regardless of the fact that Graham Joyce has won a handful of British Fantasy Awards, you could label his books as magical realism,

Gwenhywfar: Didn’t meet expectations

Gwenhywfar: The White Spirit by Mercedes Lackey

I normally wait a day or two after reading a book to write the review. This gives me time to let the book settle, and for my opinions to solidify. I finished Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit by Mercedes Lackey over a week ago, and am still struggling with this review…

Gwenhwyfar is a retelling of the Arthurian legend, based on an ancient Welsh myth that says that Arthur actually had three separate wives named Gwenhwyfar.

Stealing Death: So much potential

Stealing Death by Janet Lee Carey

Stealing Death by Janet Lee Carey is a book I really wanted to like. It has an unusual YA setting — a desert land of red sandstone and small villages; a great premise — a young boy (Kipp) who steals the sack Death uses to collect souls so no more have to die; an exciting, emotional beginning with all but one of Kipp’s family killed in a fire; and a pattern of inserting small folktales into the larger narrative.

In Between: Art, meditation, Buddhism, martial arts, syndicated crime

In Between by R.A. MacAvoy

In Between is a novella by R.A. MacAvoy about Ewen Young, a Chinese-American painter who early in the story is held up by three gangsters — a threat to his uncle who apparently is behind on some gambling debts. Ewen is a fascinating character who seems to have some latent psychic powers… something that becomes more and more apparent as the story develops.

In Between is one of those novellas that feels and reads like a really tightly compressed novel (as opposed to,

Heart’s Blood: I was deeply moved by this novel

Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier

Sometimes a book comes along just when you need it. Heart’s Blood was like that for me. Between Juliet Marillier’s compelling tale-spinning and an underlying message about love and courage that I really needed to hear, it’s pretty safe to say I was moved deeply by this novel.

At its core, Heart’s Blood is a Beauty and the Beast story. Marillier mixes the classic fairy tale with some of the conventions of Gothic romance,

Conjure Wife: A great book to curl up with on Halloween!

Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber

Conjure Wifeis a 1943 horror novel by master fantasist Fritz Leiber, who is best known for his excellent FAFHRD AND THE GRAY MOUSER stories. While Conjure Wife is usually labeled as horror, the recently released trade paperback edition from Orb is marketed as “the classic of urban fantasy” — maybe to latch on to the recent surge in popularity of that sub-genre? Regardless of which genre it’s placed in, Conjure Wife is an excellent novel that definitely deserved a re-release.

Year of the Horse: Humorous mix of historical western and fantasy

Year of the Horse by Justin Allen

Justin Allen’s Year of the Horse is one of the more original fantasy amalgamations I’ve come across — a mix of fantasy, historical western, and coming-of-age boys’ adventure tale peppered with some Devil and Daniel Webster / Washington Irving / Mark Twain / Zane Grey, and topped off by a heaping of multi-culturalism. Does it all work? Not in all places, but certainly often enough to keep the reader enjoyably engaged.

The story is told from the perspective of Yen-Tzu-lu (mostly known as Lu),

Ash: A promising and creative debut

Ash by Malinda Lo

Malinda Lo combines several highly creative ideas in her debut novel, Ash. We all know the tale of Cinderella, but it’s never been told quite like this. Cinderella (here called Aisling, Ash for short) falls for a young woman instead of the prince. And the fairy who helps Ash break free of her stepmother is no rosy-cheeked godmother, but a coldly beautiful fairy lord right out of the older, darker legends of the fey folk, and he demands a steep price for his aid.

The Children’s Book: Dense, complex, ambitious, challenging

The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt

This is an immensely difficult book to review, simply because the vast majority of casual readers probably won’t automatically enjoy The Children’s Book. It is a dense, complex, ambitious, challenging novel that is not so much a story as it is a detailed portrait of a family, a community and an era. Stretching from 1895 to 1919 and set predominantly in the Kent countryside, A.S. Byatt‘s saga contains no central character or predominant plotline; instead it chronicles the historical,

The Vampire is Just Not That Into You: A fun YA parody

The Vampire Is Just Not That Into You by “Vlad Mezrich”

“Vlad Mezrich” is a pseudonym for a team of Scholastic writers who pooled their satirical talents to create this fun little book (David Levithan is the editor). The Vampire Is Just Not That Into You parodies dating guides, teen-magazine quizzes, and most of all, current tropes in vampire literature. Twilight gets the lion’s share of Vlad’s snark, but there are references to Anne Rice,

Next SFF Author: A.M. Stanley

Previous SFF Author: Michael A. Stackpole

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