The Waters Rising by Sheri S. Tepper

It pains me to DNF this book. Sheri Tepper is one of my favorite authors. Her novel The Family Tree is one of my all time favorite books. But I can’t make myself continue reading The Waters Rising. I have tried for over a month to read this book, and the same thing happens every time — I find my attention wandering after about five minutes. I think this can be attributed to three different things. First, if you’re going to set a story on future Earth, you’re bounded by Earth’s physics and geography… Second, and more importantly, I don’t care about any of the characters… Third, it bugs me when authors attempt to create tension by withholding information, because then it is confusing… I think the most damning element is that I haven’t mentioned a single character by name. Wanna know why? Because I can’t remember a single character’s name… Read the rest.

Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep

The atmosphere of Spider’s Bite might be described as “Southern-fried noir.” The setting is Ashland, an Appalachian city where magic is openly known and a ruthless magical mobster has her fingers in every pie. Most of the cops are corrupt. The hair is big and the food is gloriously unhealthy. Gin Blanco is an assassin… Her profession makes her an unlikely heroine, but her tough, snarky voice and her surprisingly strong sense of ethics are likely to win you over in spite of yourself… There are a few twists that aren’t too hard to guess, but Gin’s engaging voice, gutsiness, and resourcefulness keep the pages turning. When I finished Spider’s Bite, my first thought was, “What a fun book!” I will definitely check out the rest of the Elemental Assassin series. Read the rest.

While you are reading this, I am probably lying on a beach somewhere with a book and a glass of sangria! Because I have no idea what the Internet will be doing while I’m away, I am presenting you with a top ten list of author blogs you really should add to your Google Reader for their combination of articles and information about the books they’re writing. No doubt there are plenty more than these 10 to highlight, so feel free to add any that you particularly love to the comments section!

1) Mark Charan Newton

2) Sam Sykes

3) Brandon Sanderson

4) Kate Elliott

5) Jim C Hines

6) Mark Chadbourn

7) Jeff VanderMeer

8) China Mieville

9) Christopher Fowler

10) Maggie Stiefvater

Short and sweet this week! I will see you next Wednesday with a resumed World Wide Wednesday – look after the Internet for me…

Chosen by Jeanne C. Stein

I read the first ANNA STRONG novel, The Becoming, some time ago and didn’t like it. Because of this, I haven’t kept up with the series. When I received a review copy of Chosen, however, I was curious. Now that I’ve read it, I will say that Chosen is superior to The Becoming, but that this series will probably never be one of my favorites…The sex may pose a problem to some readers, not because it’s there but because of the way it’s handled. The frequency of the sex scenes is consistent with an erotic novel, but the style of these scenes is not… Chosen held my attention and had some high points, but my experience was marred by the rocky early chapters in which there’s simply too much sex, too often. The series has improved but still doesn’t really stand out in the overcrowded vampire field. Read the rest.

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

I read The Farseer Saga years ago and have since considered it one of my favorite fantasy epics. It’s one (along with The Lord of the Rings and Memory, Sorrow and Thorn) that I often suggest to new fantasy readers. But after more than a decade of reading deeper and further into fantasy literature, I’ve often wondered how well this saga would now appeal to my more mature (I hope) palate. When Tantor Audio recently released The Farseer Saga on audio, I was overjoyed and considered this to be my sign that it’s time to re-visit the six duchies… Read the rest.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Here we go, folks: The Way of Kings, at over 1000 pages, is the first volume of Brandon Sanderson’s projected ten-book series, THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE. At one book per year, we probably won’t see the end of this series before 2020, especially given that Sanderson is first planning to finish up Robert Jordan’s WHEEL OF TIME. So, if you’re looking for a new series to read, this one has some advantages and disadvantages: on the plus side, there will be a lot of reading material coming your way; on the other hand, it’ll take quite some time for all of it to get here. Luckily, The Way of Kings is a very promising start to the series. Unlike what seems to be most of the fantasy audience, I haven’t been a huge fan of all of Brandon Sanderson’s work so far, but The Way of Kings is easily his best work to date… Read the rest.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

… Sanderson has come to be known as the “cool magic system” guy, based on his earlier books… a cool magic system can really only hold up a short story (maybe a long one), not a full-length novel or series. To keep your readers with you for that long, you need to be good at two basic components: character and plot/pacing. Sanderson showed in the Mistborn trilogy and Warbreaker, and to a lesser extent, Elantris, that he can handle both with ease, and the same holds true in The Way of Kings, even if it does have its flaws… The Way of Kings is well worth reading due to its strong characterization and plotting… you’ll care about what happens to many of these characters and find yourself alternately thrilled, moved, or compelled to keep turning pages… Highly recommended. Read the rest.

Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan

Having enjoyed Dianne Sylvan’s nonfiction in the past, I was thrilled to see she had an urban fantasy coming out. I wasn’t sure if Queen of Shadows would live up to the high expectations I’d set up in my head, but I was definitely curious to find out. My expectations were met and then some. Queen of Shadows is my favorite book of 2010 so far… If paranormal romance and urban fantasy exist on a continuum, Queen of Shadows is more toward the PNR end of that spectrum. If you just don’t like vampire romance at all, it probably won’t convert you. But if you do like vampire romance, but often find yourself disappointed in it and are looking for a book that reminds you why you liked vampire romance in the first place, you could not do better than Queen of Shadows. Moving, well-written, suspenseful, and sensual, this is a novel you won’t want to miss. Read the rest.

To Live Forever by Jack Vance

… One thing I love about Jack Vance is that he writes about things that fascinate me. As Gavin is trying to figure out how he can contribute something creative and meaningful to society, and thereby push himself ahead of everyone else, he tackles the field of psychology. I found it great fun to read Vance’s ideas about the future of my field… You don’t have to be a psychologist to love To Live Forever. This is a fun, fast-paced, and clever science fiction novel, but it isn’t at all “gadgetty,” so it will probably appeal even to those who think they don’t like scifi. It’s also, as is common for Jack Vance, part humorously scathing social commentary. Read the rest.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins has certainly been one of the most anticipated titles this year, bringing to a close the trilogy that began with The Hunger Games and continued with Catching Fire. The Hunger Games was a captivating, compelling read — one of my favorite reads that year — and Catching Fire was close to it in quality; though different in pace and tone, it maintained a strong sense of character and character growth. So does Collins manage to recapture the fire in Mockingjay? To be honest, it’s a bit mixed… Read the rest.