Previous SFF Author: Michael A. Stackpole
These are stand alone novels (not part of a series).
Land of Mist and Snow by Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald
Land of Mist and Snow is an alternate history of the Civil War, focusing on two ships that are controlled by elemental spirits, one ship fighting for the Union, and one for the Confederacy. Thu Union ship, Nicodemus, chases the Confederate Alecto across the Atlantic Ocean, trying to find the key to ending the Alecto’s demonic presence on the water. Key to this discovery are Lt. John Nevis, the Nicodemus’s gunnery officer,
July 15th, 2009. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 2.5 | Debra Doyle | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Urban fantasy is replete with different, sometimes catchy, permutations of a standard bunch of mythological/fantastic beings who happen to turn up in our world. In The Calling, David Mack tries something pretty original by bringing us (instead of vampires and werewolves) guardian angels and their evil counterparts.
Tom Nash is your everyman who happens to have a mystical gift: he hears people’s prayers. And through the prayers of a little girl, he is Called to New York City to help the angels of Heaven fight the demons of Hell.
July 14th, 2009. John Hulet´s rating: 4.5 | David Mack | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The novella The Duke in His Castle starts out like a conventional fairy tale but it soon spirals into a plotty story with unexpected twists. Admittedly, the book didn’t hook me at first, especially with its rude protagonist (not quite the initial sympathetic hero but some readers will grow fond of him) and the bare-bones setting (everything takes places in a castle) but Vera Nazarian turns things around as the enigma surrounding our main character slowly unfolds.
There are two key figures in the story and both have distinctive,
July 13th, 2009. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | Vera Nazarian | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia
Much praise has been attached to The Secret History of Moscow and I can understand why. Ekaterina Sedia weaves an enchanting story drawing from both Russian mythology and history. I’m not really familiar with Russian myth (or history for that matter) but that didn’t hindered me from appreciating this novel. I expect that readers more educated in those areas will appreciate all the allusions Sedia includes in The Secret History of Moscow.
However,
July 9th, 2009. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3.5 | Ekaterina Sedia | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Poison Ink by Christopher Golden
Poison Ink is the first YA novel that I’ve ever read by Christopher Golden, and from start to finish, I couldn’t be more impressed. As usual, the first thing that stands out is the author’s top-notch writing. Which in this case encompasses his ability to convincingly adopt the personality of a sixteen-year-old female high school student; faithfully capture domestic, social and high school life — including different cliques, lunch ladies, texting, flirting, and peer pressure — and a gift for witty banter:
“My Clever plan for world domination failed.”
“So what next,
July 8th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4.5 | Christopher Golden | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Seven Towers by Patricia C. Wrede
I was strangely dissatisfied by The Seven Towers but really couldn’t figure out what exactly was the problem until I sat down to write the review. I normally start with a plot summary, and I couldn’t figure out how to summarize the story. A lot of stuff happens, and a lot of characters run around and do a lot of things, but there is a fundamental disjointedness to the story that is exacerbated by the multiple points of view.
The Seven Towers is the story of one world’s attempt to defeat the Matholych,
July 5th, 2009. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 2.5 | Patricia C. Wrede | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
White Is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
White Is for Witching blends gothic horror, racial politics, and the older, bloodier sort of fairy tales into a deeply unsettling novel. The story opens with a passage intentionally reminiscent of “Snow White,” describing the mysterious imprisonment? disappearance? death? of the heroine, Miranda Silver. From there, we move backward in time, to the point when the events leading to Miranda’s fate began.
The story is told from several points of view, all of them seeing events from different perspectives,
June 30th, 2009. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Helen Oyeyemi | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Whether you’ve read the original J.M. Barrie play or novel, seen the Disney film, eaten the peanut butter, or been exposed to any of the other countless adaptations out there, most people are probably familiar with the tale of Peter Pan and Neverland, and because of this familiarity, readers should be able to immediately connect with Peter David’s Tigerheart which is an homage to, an original retelling, and a sequel to the classic bedtime story.
As an homage,
June 28th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 5 | Peter David | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Iron Ring by Lloyd Alexander
The trademark feature of Lloyd Alexander’s storytelling is to choose a cultural background and weave his own story into the already existing mythology; his most famous example of this is of course The Chronicles of Prydain, in which his own story and characters were melded with the myths and legends of Wales (as found in The Mabinogian). The Iron Ring gets a similar treatment, as worked into the story are elements of The Mahabharata and The Ramayana,
June 18th, 2009. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Lloyd Alexander | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien
Long before Bilbo Baggins left his hobbit hole, the Men and Elves of Middle Earth struggled valiantly against the Great Enemy, Morgoth (the fallen Valar and master of Sauron, the eventual “Lord of the Rings”). One man in particular, Húrin, brazenly defied Morgoth, who imprisoned him and laid a dire curse upon his children. First told — in a lesser form — in The Silmarillion, this tale chronicles their efforts, especially those of Húrin’s son, Túrin, to defy the curse — driven largely by the malicious dragon Glaurung — and,
June 14th, 2009. Rob Rhodes and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4, 5 | J.R.R. Tolkien | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Previous SFF Author: Michael A. Stackpole
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…