Lily of the Nile  by Stephanie Dray

After the defeat and death of Cleopatra, her three youngest children were taken to Rome and paraded as spoils of war, then adopted into the household of the victorious emperor, Octavian. Of the three, the one who went on to make a mark on history was Cleopatra’s daughter, Cleopatra Selene. In Lily of the Nile, Stephanie Dray tells the story of Selene’s coming of age in Rome, with a magical element added. Read more »

To Marry Medusa by Theodore Sturgeon

Dan Gurlick is a pathetic human being, which is undoubtedly why nobody likes him. He has no identifiable positive personality traits, his motivations and desires are base, and he lacks the skills and knowledge to appropriately acquire the things he wants. Life suddenly changes for Gurlick when he accidentally ingests the spore of an alien hivemind named Medusa. Medusa has been all over the universe enfolding the collective minds of the species it finds. When Medusa becomes conscious on Earth, in Gurlick’s mind, it’s surprised to find that human brains are not connected. Perhaps humans have sensed Medusa’s plan and have protected themselves by disorganizing. The hivemind plans to use Gurlick’s limited brain to figure out how to put human minds back together so it can engulf them. To get Gurlick’s cooperation, Medusa promises to give him whatever his nasty heart desires. Read more »

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny

The scholar Brian Attebery in his book Strategies of Fantasy writes that works of science fantasy can be divided into two categories: the beautiful and the damned. No middle ground to be had, technology and the supernatural remain relative to the era, and combining them is disastrous to the point of comedy or successful to the point of being a mind-opening experience. Falling into the latter category, Lord of Light, unlike many of Zelazny’s other works of science fantasy, is a flawless blend of the archetypes of science fiction and the mythologies of Hinduism and Buddhism. The result is simply the peak of imaginative literature… everything propels Lord of Light into the highest ranks of science fantasy. Quite simply, it’s a masterpiece that anyone calling themselves a fan of speculative fiction must read… Read the rest.

The Outcast Blade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood

I have good news and bad news about The Outcast Blade, the second book in Jon Courtenay Grimwood’s ACTS OF THE ASSASSINI series. The good news is that the book is as captivating as its predecessor, The Fallen Blade. It’s a heady brew of magic, military strategy, politics, mystery, betrayal and love. Grimwood’s descriptions of Venice are grounded rather than lyrical, creating a living city that is gritty and fantastical, beautiful and frightening, breathing in history and breathing out magic… And now, for the bad news. The character of Tycho and his dilemma are so well developed that Grimwood has set the bar very, very high for himself… and now I have to wait for Book Three… Read the rest.

Chrysanthe by Yves Meynard

I’ve been trying to read Chrysanthe for two weeks now, and still haven’t hit the halfway point. It’s that experience where the bookmark never seems to move; whenever I sit down to read, I can’t get far before my mind starts to wander. With roughly three hundred pages left to go, I’ve decided to cut my losses. Read more »

Inside Job by Connie Willis

I have a goal of eventually reading all of the major SFF award winners, including novels, novellas, novelettes, and short stories, so that’s why I picked up Connie Willis’s Inside Job when I saw that it was available on audio. Inside Job won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 2006. Just a couple of months ago, by the way, Connie Willis received the SFWA Grand Master Award (January 2012). Inside Job is a story about Rob, a professional debunker of pseudoscience, and his new partner Kildy Ross, a beautiful and famous actress. They attend séances and visit faith healers, psychics, and palm readers, always figuring out how these hucksters are cheating the gullible and publishing their findings in their magazine, The Jaundiced Eye... Inside Job was a quick read and a fun and educational story with likable characters and a delightfully silly plot… Read the rest.

All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder, Vol.1 by Frank Miller (author) & Jim Lee (illustrator)

All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder, Vol. 1 is the re-telling of how the legendary Dynamic Duo came to be as only Frank Miller has the cahoonas to do it.

About a year before Alan Moore started exploring a realistic approach to superheroes in his famous WATCHMEN series, Frank Miller was delving into the twisted psyche that would drive a playboy millionaire to become a vigilante with his highly acclaimed The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One. Both not only heavily influenced the Christian Bale Batman movies, but changed the whole way Batman has been viewed ever since, and some other superheroes, too.

Jim Lee is one of the top comic book artists in the business today. When drawn by Mr. Lee, the larger-than-life characters that populate these worlds are bold and beautiful in the way we would expect Greek gods and goddess to be.

Jim Lee and Frank Miller together are a fanboy’s dream team.

Many people are familiar with Mr. Miller’s graphic novels that have been adapted into awesome movies, such as Sin City and 300, but almost any comic reader will tell you that Miller has also taken classic superheroes such as Batman, Wolverine, Daredevil and Elektra in daring directions which no one had taken them before and few have done since. Some may even view what he does as nothing short of sacrilege. True to form, that’s exactly what Miller does again here in All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder.

This story takes place sometime not long after the events of Batman: Year One. Not only are Bruce Wayne’s nighttime activities still a fairly new undertaking, but the Justice League of America is in its infancy, along with a few of DC Universe’s B-listers who are just now entering the scene. I can’t imagine that anyone doesn’t know the story of how Robin came to be the wise-cracking sidekick, but Miller’s adaptation is a much harsher version. Corrupt police charge Batman with kidnapping and Batman’s “training” of Robin would do the Spartans proud.

Judging from reader reviews, I don’t think this story was well received. The story arc seems to have ended abruptly with a cliffhanger and there’s no denying that Batman is an arrogant jerk. If anyone is sentimental about DC superheroes, fair warning: Superman acts like a boy scout, Wonder Woman an ultra-feminist bitch, and Green Lantern, in comparison to the Dark Knight, lacks the imagination worthy of his ring. Personally, I love All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder just as it is.

The classic archetypes just don’t cut it anymore. If you’re going to make an interesting story with universally known characters that have been around for seventy years, risk is a requirement. Anyone driven and obsessive enough to be one of the greatest superheroes —without any superpowers — and lead a double life to boot, would have to be borderline psychotic. It’s that human flaw that makes Batman such a popular character. There’s just something reassuring about a mysterious man patrolling the night who is mean enough to strike fear into the hearts of those we fear.

Frank Miller and Jim Lee breathe new life into whatever they work on. The only problem I have with this series is its sudden ending without a closure.

Ad Eternum by Elizabeth Bear

… Ad Eternum is the fourth book by Elizabeth Bear featuring Sebastien. One should first read New Amsterdam, The White City, and Seven for a Secret, after which this newest chapter is a treat. The tale and Ms. Bear’s writing are elegant and subtle. My only complaint, for lack of a better word, is that this chapter is so brief, and once again, I found myself wanting more… There is a definite artistic effect, though, created by the waiting period between books: the reader has the sense of years passing in the world of the story and returns to it eagerly wondering what changes have transpired — and who has died. I do hope we’ll see Sebastien and his acquaintances again… Read the rest.

The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison

The Worm Ouroboros is a love-it-or-hate-it book. Mannered in its language, weird in so many ways, and chock-full of larger than life characters acting in ways that most people just don’t get. If you have a problem with something written in an archaic style, then you probably won’t get much out of The Worm Ouroboros, but if you like that kind of thing I think the book repays reading and is definitely worth it. First off a caveat: it took me two reads of The Worm Ouroboros to appreciate it and a third to decide that I thought it was genius… If you want a larger than life adventure in exquisite prose then I think The Worm Ouroboros is great… Read the rest.

Homunculus by James P. Blaylock

… Homunculus is zany and completely over-the-top in the right kind of way… Blaylock’s bizarre but deadpan humor, in the absurdist British style (though Blaylock is American), was my favorite part of the novel… The final scene is a screwball melee as all the heroes and villains, and thousands of London’s citizens, turn out to witness the story’s climax… I listened to Audible Frontiers’ version of Homunculus which was narrated by Nigel Carrington who was a brilliant choice. There are a lot of similar characters in Homunculus, but Mr. Carrington made them distinguishable. He also hit exactly the right tone with the humor which ranged from deadpan to black comedy to zany farce. In fact, I would specifically recommend the audio version of Homunculus just because Nigel Carrington’s performance was a large factor in my enjoyment of the book. If you’re in the mood for a surreal British comedy in the vein of Monty Python or Fawlty Towers, James P. Blaylock’s Homunculus will fit the bill nicely… Read the rest.

The Folded World by Catherynne M. Valente

The Folded World is the second book of Catherynne Valente’s DIRGE FOR PRESTER JOHN series…. paragraph by paragraph the book is lyrical, funny or shocking, and sometimes all of the above. Valente understands that to make the surreal accessible it has to be grounded, and she gives us perfectly chosen details that do that. She also uses this book to play with the conventions of narrative… This is all very literary. You can choose to read this series as a literary treatise on the evolution of stories; a critique of imperialism; a commentary on the power and danger of belief systems. You can explore the power of feminism or discuss deconstructionism. Valente writes in as many layers as anyone would want, but first and foremost, the reader can just let go and be swept into a glorious tale of a strange and magical kingdom and the people who live there… Read the rest.

Viriconium Nights by M. John Harrison

… Viriconium Nights is the last book in M. John Harrison’s VIRICONIUM epic. It’s a collection of seven short stories set in and around the city… Each story stands alone but focuses on the city of Viriconium and particularly the bohemian residents of the Artists’ Quarter. All of Viriconium is decaying, but this part of the city feels especially bleak… Though there are recurring characters in the VIRICONIUM works, we never get to know any of them very well. The haunting, weird, incomprehensible city is the main character… A month from now, I probably won’t remember any of the plots in Viriconium Nights. But I will remember Viriconium... If you decide to read VIRICONIUM, I highly recommend the audio version produced by Neil Gaiman Presents… Read the rest.

Descent into Dust  by Jacqueline Lepore

Jacqueline Lepore’s Descent into Dust is an atmospheric Victorian pastiche complete with a forbidding mansion, an innocent child in danger, the shadow of madness, and vampires. Emma Andrews is a young and wealthy widow coming to the moors to visit her newly married half-sister and their cousins. Emma has always felt like an outsider. The specter of her mother’s madness and death haunt her. Soon after arriving at Dulwich Manor, Emma has a frightening encounter on the moors. The house, which has a strong Catholic history, has Latin aphorisms carved onto its walls, and most of them, when Emma translates them, add to her sense of foreboding. Emma distrusts her own senses, but she should not. The village and the prehistoric settlement on the hill beyond the house are the home to an ancient evil, and that evil has drawn a powerful vampire determined to waken it… Read the rest.

The Floating Gods (aka In Viriconium in the UK) by M. John Harrison

In this third volume of the VIRICONIUM omnibus, we visit the old artists’ quarter of Viriconium… This part of the city used to be vibrant and innovative, but it has been deteriorating as a psychological plague has been creeping in from the high city… The Floating Gods is funny, witty, and brilliantly written with sharp humorous insights into disagreeable human behavior. As the plague crept closer, I could feel the beloved city of Viriconium decaying — its fountains drying up and its gardens becoming unkempt and shabby. Like the previous book, A Storm of Wings, The Floating Gods is intensely atmospheric. This is a better book, though, because the atmosphere is balanced by humor and plot. This is my favorite VIRICONIUM book so far…. I’m still listening to the wonderful audiobook version of the entire VIRICONIUM saga… Read the rest.

Icefall by Matthew Kirby

… Matthew J. Kirby perfectly creates an unbearable tension… Every major character is complex… All of this great storytelling and characterization is enhanced even more by beautiful writing… I very nearly missed out on Icefall twice. I received an ARC last year, but was swamped and knew Bill was a Kirby fan and passed it along to him, and then after reading his stellar review, selfishly wished I’d held on to it! Then, recently, I checked it out from the library, but kept not getting around to it, until I got an overdue notice and decided to hurry up and read it before I took it back. I’m so very, very glad I did. Don’t make my mistake, people — don’t put off reading this book. Icefall is stunningly good. Read the rest.

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

Now that I’ve finished Who Fears Death, I don’t know what to make of it. This is Nnedi Okorafor’s first adult fantasy novel, although she has published several young adult fantasies. It is a strong, unflinching parable about tribal warfare and genocide in the Sudan. It is not a great fantasy book, and I don’t know if the ending works at all. And I don’t know if that matters… Okorafor is direct in her descriptions of weaponized rape, female circumcision, institutionalized inequality and codified violence… If you read Who Fears Death as a parable rather than a fully-realized fantasy novel, it is moving and thought-provoking. Can women really change their destinies in this part of Africa? Can their power stop the genocide? Can anything? It seems doubtful, but at the end of Who Fears Death, both the Okeke and the reader are left with a precious magical gift: hope. Read the rest.

Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates

Farewell to the Master is the short story that forms the premise of the popular 1951 (remade in 2008) science fiction movie The Day the Earth Stood Still, in which an alien and his robot visit Earth to warn humans that their atomic weapons and violent tendencies will not be tolerated by the rest of the galaxy. Earth can get in line with peaceful galactic ideology, or be destroyed.

Not surprisingly, Bates’ story, which was published before atomic weapons were developed, is hardly like the movie. Yes, there’s a humanoid alien and his robot who appear in Washington D.C. in a spaceship. Yes, a violent human being shoots the alien. But from there the stories diverge. There’s no threat of Earth’s destruction and Harry Bates never penned the famous phrase from the movie: “Klaatu barada nikto.” While the movie and the original story have different messages for humans, both are meant to knock us off the pedestal we’ve placed ourselves on. Read more »

Master of the House of Darts by Aliette de Bodard

Master of the House of Darts is the third novel in Aliette de Bodard‘s OBSIDIAN AND BLOOD series. The first novel, Servant of the Underworld, was one of my favourite reads of 2010 and its sequel Harbinger of the Storm was, if possible, even better. In between writing these novels, de Bodard has also made an impression with her short fiction. Her novelette The Jaguar House, In Shadow, set in her Xuya alternative history, was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula award, while The Shipmaker, set later in the same timeline, won the BSFA award for Best Short Fiction. Neither the Hugo nor the Nebula went her way, but I would be very surprised if she didn’t win one of those in the future. In other words, I was really looking forward to reading Master of the House of Darts… I enjoyed reading Master of the House of Darts as much as the previous two novels… Read the rest.

A Storm of Wings by M. John Harrison

… A Storm of Wings was published nine years after The Pastel City — and M. John Harrison’s writing style has evolved. In some ways it’s better — characterization is deeper and the imagery is more evocative. This world feels fragile and moribund… it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s just a warped perception. Or perhaps Viriconium is slipping from reality into a dream. Or into a different reality altogether. The story is strange, outlandish, and blurry. I like weird tales, but Harrison spends so much of his effort building an eerie atmosphere and a dreamy mood and not enough time with real action… However, I do love the city of Viriconium — a city that must have been absorbed with the highest levels of math and science until it fell… I can’t wait to find out more about Viriconium in the next book. I’m still listening to the audiobook version of the VIRICONIUM omnibus. Thanks to narrator Simon Vance, this is an excellent format for this epic. Read the rest.

Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human by Grant Morrison

Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human, by Grant Morrison, examines comic book superheroes from the early days up to the present. Part memoir, part history, part literary/artistic analysis, it’s both an outsider fan’s view (from Morrison’s early years) and an insider writer’s view (from his working days at several comic shops, including DC and Marvel). The result is, unsurprisingly, a mixed bag, but unfortunately by the end the mix is unbalanced toward the negative.

The first third or so of Supergods — the more historical aspect — is a relatively quick overview of how the superhero rose, lived, and crashed. While Morrison’s history is solid, several other books out there do a better job with the topic. One aspect of Morrison’s summary that improves on these other works, though, is his focus on the artwork, which offers up some truly eye-opening insights. Unfortunately, the impact of what should have been a major strength is marred by the lack of accompanying illustrations of most of the scenes he discusses. There is little more frustrating than having someone describe an artist’s work to you. I kept asking, “Would it really have killed the budget to show me the da-n panel itself?” (As a disclaimer, it is possible the art is yet to come or that the lack of it is not Morrison’s fault but due to rights issues.)

This section is also weakened somewhat by Morrison’s sometimes overly exuberant language, which came at times in a torrent of superlatives. This first became noticeable, then a bit wearying. I believe Morrison is sincere in his admiration for what he is describing, but the language loses its impact when it comes so often and is so constantly elevated. Along with the over-use of superlatives, at times I found his statements to be a bit too sweeping, or at least, I would have liked a bit more support of them rather than have to take them on faith. On the other hand, when he avoids the hyperbole, he can write some simply wonderful passages, as he does for instance when he discusses Captain Marvel’s trigger, “Shazam,” and how “everyone searches for his own magic word.” There were enough of those types of passages that, combined with his artistic insights, kept me happily reading through the book’s opening chapters, even if I winced now and then.

But when Morrison begins to offer up more memoir, when it becomes more fully his story, the book started to devolve for me. At that point, Supergods became unfocused, spending too much time on his drug use and ensuing visions involving aliens and multiple dimensions. There was too much time spent as well paying back others in the business, either for good or ill, and I began to distrust his criticism the more it seemed he was discussing friends and enemies rather than artists. I started to become impatient at the halfway point and by the latter third was admittedly skimming through, stopping off at what looked like interesting points. By then the book had pretty much veered off the rails for me. This isn’t to say there weren’t moments of insight in the latter half that were worth reading; it’s just that I felt I had to wade through too much to get to them. There’s a wholly enjoyable and fascinating, well-written 200 pages or so here. Unfortunately, though, the book comes in at nearly 500. I wouldn’t recommend buying Supergods, but I would recommend checking it out of your local library and reading the historical section that begins the book, more for the art criticism than the historical overview itself, which adds little to prior books on the same topic.

The Mastermind Plot by Angie Frazier

… The Mastermind Plot is the second in Angie Frazier’s SUZANNA SNOW mystery series for middle-grade readers, set just after the turn of the 20th century and starring a resourceful young female detective. The case this time involves a series of arson fires that may be a cover-up for something else. The mystery is twisty and suspenseful. This book is a little darker than The Midnight Tunnel; the stakes are higher in terms of potential bodily harm to characters, and long-hidden secrets about Zanna’s own family come to light… The characters in The Mastermind Plot are vividly drawn… The Mastermind Plot is a fun book. I read it in one sitting and would recommend it to young readers who like mysteries. Read the rest.

FanLit welcomes a new guest reviewer! Jesse Hudson lives in Poland and writes about travel, culture, and literature at his blog Speculiction.

Glasshouse by Charles Stross

So chock full of the social consequences of nano-science and memory editing is Charles Stross’s Glasshouse, I’m still trying to pick myself up from the floor. In a whirl, I can’t decide whether the ideas were expressed in cohesive enough fashion to produce a book I can praise or if I’ve simply been blinded by an imaginative eruption that is worthy enough in itself of admiration. Beyond a dumb-faced sense of wonder, I’m also wondering if anyone else could have a more defined view after riding Stross’s tilt-a-whirl of futuristic possibilities… No space opera lasers flashing or spaceships warping, Glasshouse is SF to the extreme but with a social agenda… Read the rest.

Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers

Tim Powers’s The Stress of Her Regard was one of my favorite random used-bookstore discoveries. After reading it ten years ago, I talked it up to all my friends. It was out of print at the time, so I constantly lent out my own copy until the time I didn’t get it back. When I got wind of Hide Me Among the Graves, a sequel of sorts, I was thrilled and hoped it would be one of my favorite books of the year. So how does it stack up? Well, to be honest, I didn’t like Hide Me Among the Graves quite as much as I did The Stress of Her Regard. I’m not sure if it’s Powers’s style that’s changed or if it’s me… While Hide Me Among the Graves doesn’t quite live up to the (admittedly stratospheric) hopes I had for it, I’d recommend it for anyone who is interested in “secret history” fantasy or Victorian London or the Pre-Raphaelite poets and artists. It sags some in the middle, but Powers’s clever mingling of real history with secret supernatural goings-on makes it well worth reading. Read the rest.

The Liminal People by Ayize Jama-Everett

If we could use our minds to make others see what we wanted them to see, rearrange people’s internal organs and dissolve their musculature, call animals to do our every bidding, or know others’ thoughts as intimately as our own, wouldn’t we rule the world? Or would we be so preoccupied with fighting with others like us that humans would be mere pawns, little worth toying with? Or, even worse, would we be so damaged by our powers that we would be dangerous to ourselves and others?

These are all questions posed by Ayize Jama-Everett’s short, powerful first novel, The Liminal People. Read more »

Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell

Secondhand Spirits is the first in the WITCHCRAFT MYSTERIES series by Juliet Blackwell. The series centers on Lily Ivory, a natural witch who has traveled the world looking for a place to belong, and finds it in the eccentric Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco. She owns a vintage clothing shop, and her magical abilities help her in her business by allowing her to sense something of the history of a garment and thereby match it with the right customer. In Secondhand Spirits, Lily purchases a hoard of clothing from an old woman, Frances Potts, and soon becomes embroiled in a mystery involving Mrs. Potts, a missing child, and the eerie legend of La Llorona. Lily risks her new-found acceptance and security by using her witchcraft to try to save the day. Read more »

By the Light of the Green Star by Lin Carter

By the Light of the Green Star continues the adventures of the crippled man from Earth who has taught his spirit to travel to an unknown planet where he inhabits healthy bodies and has exciting adventures… mindless entertainment is something that By the Light of the Green Star does quite well. This time we get to visit an ornate flying city, fight giant worms, ride huge birds of prey, drink from cup-sized acorns, and travel down the river on a canoe made from a gigantic curled up leaf… This is the third GREEN STAR novel (there are five in the series) and though the adventure is still fresh, there is much repetition in the narrative. I haven’t decided if I’ll read the next installment or not. If Wildside Press produces it on audio, I probably will… Read the rest.

Wide Open by Deborah Coates

Hallie Michaels, a soldier in Afghanistan, is sent home to Prairie City, South Dakota, for ten days of compassionate leave when her sister Dell dies in a car accident. Rumor has it Dell committed suicide, but Hallie doesn’t buy it. And since her own recent brush with death in the war, Hallie can see ghosts, including Dell’s. Hallie is determined to find out why Dell really died and enable her sister to find peace — and she’s only got ten days to do it. Read more »

Indigo Springs by A.M. Dellamonica

Indigo Springs is the first book in the INDIGO SPRINGS duology by A.M. Dellamonica. While there is a lot to enjoy in each, neither book really drove me to the finish and throughout the entire work there was a constant nagging issue I just couldn’t shake. I’m clearly the outlier in our stable of reviewers, however, so you might want to look over the rest of our reviews of Dellamonica’s work before taking my word on it… One of my personal gauges for how much I enjoy a book is how many sittings it takes me to finish, how many times I put a book down and how long it is before I pick it up again. I did put down Indigo Springs several times and it took me about two weeks to finish, a very long time for me. I was interested to see what happened to get Astrid to the point of being interrogated, but not all that driven to find out. There was enough here in terms of good writing that I’d pick up another book by Dellamonica. But it’s hard for me to heartily recommend either Indigo Springs as a standalone or an entryway into the duology. Read the rest.

The Pastel City by M. John Harrison

… The Pastel City, published in 1971, is the first part (only 158 pages) of M. John Harrison’s science fantasy epic VIRICONIUM which, according to sources, was inspired by Jack Vance’s DYING EARTH and the poetry of T.S. Eliot. Characterization and pacing are sometimes a bit weak, but the scenery in The Pastel City is grand, and I enjoyed the story… what saves the book from being simply another quest fantasy is the post-apocalyptic vision of an unknown advanced civilization which died out mysteriously, leaving samples of their devastating handiwork behind… Though I’m reviewing each book in the VIRICONIUM epic separately, I’m actually listening to the audiobook version of the omnibus edition. It’s recently been produced by Neil Gaiman Presents and is narrated by Simon Vance who is one of the absolute best in the business. This is a high-quality production and highly recommended for anyone who wants to read one of M. John Harrison’s best-loved works. Read the rest.

FanLit welcomes a new guest reviewer: Terry Lago. We think Terry has great taste and are pleased to feature some of his reviews.

Neverness by David Zindell

Neverness is a really enjoyable “big idea” science fiction novel that takes place millennia in our future on the planet Icefall, also called Neverness. It’s kind of Frank Herbert’s Dune meets Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur with high-level mathematics, posthumanism, and trippy metaphysics thrown in… Neverness is a great tale, bursting at the seams with crazy-awesome ideas that leave a lot of food for the imagination… Read the rest.

The Habitation of the Blessed  by Catherynne M. Valente

If, in The Habitation of the Blessed, Catherynne Valente had only invented the wild and amazing world of the fictional “three kingdoms” of Prester John, the mythical priest-king of the east, she would be a rock star. If she had created the kingdoms and used them to provide a critique of colonialism with prose that is by turns lyrical, concrete, incisive, lucid and funny, she’d be a queen of words. But to do that and create the powerful, dreamlike image of trees that bear books as fruit, you’d have to be a goddess, and that’s what Valente is: a prose goddess. The Habitation of the Blessed is the first book of a three-book series called A DIRGE FOR PRESTER JOHN. In my opinion, there are probably three writers on the North American continent who could do justice to the legend of Prester John: John Crowley, Margaret Atwood and Catherynne Valente, and Valente has tackled it head-on in this rich, phantasmagorical tale… Read the rest.

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk

Written by David Lindelof, Art by Leinil Francis Yu

A little background for newcomers or fanboys/girls who have been away for a while: Marvel comic’s ULTIMATE story arcs are a rebirth of the Marvel Universe for a new generation of readers and have storylines that fit better with the recent movie adaptations.

Bruce Banner is sentenced to death and executed by nuclear bomb. Soon after, three random disasters occur in remote places around the world that were not due to nature or terrorists. It doesn’t take S.H.I.E.L.D. long to determine the most likely cause is the Hulk. Nick Fury must find someone capable of hunting Hulk down and taking him out as quietly as possible; a super-human with no qualms about getting his hands dirty. Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and what he does best isn’t very nice. Marvel’s ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK is a six-issue storyline that pits primal rage against godlike fury.

ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK is so freaking awesome that I’m not sure I can do a proper review without rampant expletives. The story opens with Wolverine lying in blood-drenched snow, wondering why he can’t feel his legs. When the next panel reveals what happened a few moments before, my reaction was to hiss “holy $#!+”.

With the decades of complex history in the Marvel Universe, it’s a monumental undertaking to invent new stories while remaining true to who the characters are, even more so for A-listers like Hulk and Wolverine. Many make the attempt only to crash and burn.

The creative team behind ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK made a comic book exactly how it’s supposed to be done. The illustration carries as much weight as the words. The fonts and placement complement the ambiance. Point of view shifts from issue to issue. The sequence of events constantly changes from the present, to immediate past, to days prior, to a few minutes from now. It would be nearly impossible for this story to have the same impact in any other medium.

Mr. Lindelof’s writing is as good as it gets in comics. The dialog, which is often an overlooked factor that makes or breaks a comic, grants the individual characters their own unique voices. The reader would easily know who is saying what even if there were no speech balloons. If Mr. Yu’s artwork had any more life in it, you’d feel a pulse. He uses fine lines that detail down to the smallest fragment or blood spatter. Yu’s rendition of these popular superheroes is like a glimpse into their very souls.

The reader feels dangerously close — almost too close — to the onslaught that is super-beings doing battle. Every time that I pulled my eyes away from these comics, I half expected to find my house in ruins. There are even rumors that medical doctors are prescribing ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK to increase low testosterone levels.

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs

… The mystery is dark, disturbing, and suspenseful, and provides Anna and Charles with plenty of moments to shine both individually and as a team. The romantic plotline is refreshing, delving into territory that too few authors explore: not the courtship stage of a relationship, but the problems that fall under “for better or for worse.” They also have great banter that provides some needed levity to the story… Fair Game is tense and emotionally moving. I recommend it to urban fantasy fans. It definitely makes me want to go back and read more of ALPHA AND OMEGA and see what I’ve missed… Read the rest.

GIVEAWAY!  The publisher has provided  a giveaway copy of the urban fantasy anthology On the Prowl, which includes “Alpha and Omega,” the novella in which Charles and Anna first met. On the Prowl also features novellas by Eileen Wilks, Karen Chance, and Sunny. If you’d like to be in the drawing for this book, just leave us a comment. Check back in a week to see if you’ve won. US only, please!

The Crowfield Demon by Pat Walsh

In The Crowfield Curse, young William and his friends and allies righted a long-ago wrong at Crowfield Abbey and faced down the terrifying Unseelie King. But now another evil is rising at the abbey — one that has even the Unseelie King running scared.

The Crowfield Demon is even better and spookier than The Crowfield Curse. Read more »

Girl Genius: Agatha Awakens by Phil and Kaja Foglio

Have you ever tried and tried to like something because so many people, including those you trust, rave about it? Sushi maybe, or a kind of wine (or just wine in general), Judd Apatow movies, David Sedaris, etc.? But no matter how many times you give it a shot, it still seems like raw fish or bitter grape juice? (Actually, I like sushi; it’s the Apatow that feels like bitter raw fish to me.) That’s sort of how I feel about graphic stories (I suppose it’s telling I still can’t bring myself to call them graphic novels). I’ll pick one up based on a reference in Time or The New Yorker or because someone I trust told me how “great” it was, and my reaction is always the same: “Meh.” And that’s my best reaction. In general, I find them lacking in depth and richness and startlement factors, of language, plot, character, and the like. All of which is an admittedly long-winded way of saying maybe you should just ignore this review of the first GIRL GENIUS omnibus, because it seems I’m just not built for graphic stories… Read the rest.

Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine

Here is how you read Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti:

You open the book, and the first paragraph reminds you, a little, of Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, and then a gold and brass hand sprouts from the pages, grabs you by your collar, and drags you headfirst into the book.

(At least, that’s what it feels like.) Read more »

Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley

… It’s been years since I read and reviewed Robin McKinley’s Beauty, her first rendition of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. Despite the book’s popularity, I wasn’t particularly moved by it, and ended my review saying that I was looking forward to experiencing her second retelling of the same story, seeing how an author would approach the same material the second time around. Well, it took me a while (though not as long as the twenty years between each book’s publication) but I’ve finally tracked down and read Rose Daughter. So how does it measure up with its predecessor? On the whole, I enjoyed it a lot more. The prose is more polished (insofar as I could recall Beauty) and the story itself more sophisticated in several ways, including an interesting variation on the Beast’s curse and a twist ending… Read the rest.

Perception by Kim Harrington

Perception is Kim Harrington’s second mystery starring Clarity “Clare” Fern, a young girl who comes from a family of psychics… The mystery is a really good one; Harrington scatters red herrings throughout the story, sending the reader’s brain off in many different directions, and when the solution is finally revealed, it makes perfect sense… I didn’t enjoy Perception quite as much as I did Clarity; to me there was a sense that Clare was driving events less than she did in the previous book, instead being moved along by events. This made Perception slightly less satisfying. That said, it’s an enjoyable light mystery for YA readers, and I hope Harrington writes more in this series… Read the rest.

When the Green Star Calls by Lin Carter

Wildside Press has recently been producing Lin Carter’s books in audio format and, since I read the first of his GREEN STAR series on my Kindle last year, I picked up the second book, When the Green Star Calls, on audio. These novels are short planetary SF adventures similar to the tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs… Overall, this was a nice performance and I will definitely be picking up some more of Wildside Press’s offerings at Audible. When the Green Star Calls ended, kind of annoyingly, on a cliffhanger, so I’ve already downloaded the next adventure: By the Light of the Green Star. Read the rest.

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal

… Shades of Milk and Honey is enjoyable for readers who are willing to appreciate it for what it is: a surface-level read, good for light entertainment, but not for deep thought. Fans of Regency manners and Jane Austen should check this book out. Kowal’s writing is charming and her research of the period is obvious and thorough. However, when looked at a bit closer, Shades of Milk and Honey is an average read. It lacks depth, the world and characters aren’t well rounded, and the nonsensical magic system seems dropped in on a whim. With the right expectations, it’s worth giving this book a shot. It’s a very quick read that just might surprise you. Read the rest.

Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon by Mark Hodder

Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon is the third and possibly final book in Mark Hodder’s steampunk/alternate history series starring Sir Richard Burton as the main protagonist, along with his good friend, the poet Algernon Swinburne. I was a fan of the first, The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack, but far less enamored of the second and messier one, The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man. Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon falls somewhere in between the two, though major pacing issues tip it over a bit too much to the negative side… Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon suffers, much as book two did, from trying to do a bit too much. I really liked the dual storyline and the major characters, but a more streamlined narrative; a clearer, cleaner plot; fewer characters; and about 75 fewer pages would have made this a much, much more enjoyable read. Read the rest.

Woken Furies by Richard K. Morgan

… Woken Furies is Richard K. Morgan’s third and latest TAKESHI KOVACS novel. Raw-edged violence, graphic sex, and bad attitudes continue to be a mainstay of this series. (Can you say awesome?) Altered Carbon is still my favorite but Woken Furies comes in as a very close second. Without risking a spoiler, I will say the conclusion of Woken Furies is the most satisfying of the three books… While Kovacs’ antisocial behavior, violent tendencies, and authority issues may make him self-destructive and a danger to society, they make one helluva a dark adventure for readers. Kovacs holds a special place in my jaded heart. Read the rest.

The City & The City by China Miéville

… In some ways Miéville has returned to his literary roots, the sundered London of King Rat. His artistic triumph here is not the vision of two cities interlaced across dimensions, clever and thought-provoking as it is. It’s his exploration of how quickly humans adapt, how willingly we learn to “unsee” and “unknow.” Clearly this can be read as a metaphor for the things we choose not to see in our own cities or our own lives, but Miéville also celebrates the elasticity of the human mind… Miéville manages to pull off a police procedural, and a surprisingly linear novel, that involves quantum theory. The City & the City succeeds on every level. Read the rest.

At The Edge of the Universe, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.

The Snow Child had me from the first page, specifically these two sentences:

She had imagined that in the Alaska wilderness silence would be peaceful, like snow falling at night, air filled with promise but no sound, but that was not what she found. Instead, when she swept the plank floor, the broom bristles scritched like some sharp-toothed shrew nibbling at her heart.

I loved the way Eowyn Ivey used alliteration and onomatopoeia here to reinforce the picture she described, and I was pretty sure from that moment that I would enjoy this book. And I did. I know I’ve found a good book when I find myself wanting to babble on about both the story and the mechanics of its telling.

The year is 1920. Mabel and Jack are a fiftyish couple who have moved to remote Alaska to get away from constant reminders of their childlessness and years-ago miscarriage. Mabel feels prissy and useless in this rugged land but isn’t quite sure how to change that. Jack feels that he “married up” and is ashamed that he can’t give Mabel a soft, easy life. Both are haunted by the lack of the children they wish they’d had. The Snow Child follows the evolution of these characters and of their marriage as they adjust to the harsh realities of their new home, befriend a rough-and-tumble neighbor family, and encounter the snow child of the title: a little girl who appears the morning after Jack and Mabel impulsively build a girl of snow.

The child, who calls herself Faina, is an enigma. Is she a supernatural being, a magical fairy-girl like the one from the “Snegurochka” tale Mabel’s father read to her long ago? Is she an ordinary flesh-and-blood orphan scratching out a solitary existence? Or is she a figment of Mabel’s imagination, conjured out of loneliness and cabin fever? Ivey feeds this ambiguity by writing dialogue differently when it involves Faina. These conversations are not set off in quotation marks the way the rest of the book’s conversations are. It helps one wonder whether Faina has the gift of speaking directly into people’s minds — or if she only exists in their minds in the first place. We do eventually get some answers about Faina’s nature, but later these seemingly definitive answers are called into question yet again.

The prose is skilled; one has the sense that every word in The Snow Child is carefully chosen, yet the book never seems overwritten. Ivey has a knack for using just the right word, not necessarily the prettiest word — they’re not always the same thing and she gets that. Ivey’s writing evokes both the stark setting and the moments of beauty to be found there, as well as the inner landscape of the characters. Here’s another sample that stood out to me, and seemed to perfectly describe the feeling of worrying about something and hoping that the worrying itself could somehow bring about a happy outcome:

It was a possibility she could not bear. She wound herself tightly, as if within her girdled ribs she could contain all possibilities, all futures and all deaths. Perhaps if she held herself just right. Maybe if she knew what would be or could be. Or if she wished with enough heart. If only she could believe.

The Snow Child is a moving fairy tale adaptation, and seems to tell us that no matter how we find our loved ones — whether by birth or marriage or friendship, or maybe by magic — we never know how long we will have with them. Life is uncertain; we might have more time than we expect, and we might have less. All we can do is make the best of it.

Pavane by Keith Roberts

Pavane, by Keith Roberts, is a beautiful collection of six connected stories written in an alternate England where Queen Elizabeth was assassinated and Philip II won the throne of England. The Protestant Reformation never occurred and Europe, as well as the New World, fell under the control of the Pope. Now it’s 1968 and because the Roman Catholic Church has held back technological advances from the people, the English still live in a feudal society complete with candlelight, castles, moats, monasteries, and much superstition, though the Church has allowed some steam-powered vehicles and the use of semaphore telegraph lines for communication. The Church has electricity, people know they have been repressed, and there are rumors of revolution. Read more »

Initiate’s Trial by Janny Wurts

Janny Wurts’s latest novel in the WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW, Initiate’s Trial, is another rock-solid installment in what has become one of my favorite series. Janny’s use of the English language, her ability to sculpt characters with concepts and characteristics that make them live and her continuing commitment to solid storytelling make her work some of the best ever. Initiate’s Trial is a perfect example of why her books are always worth the wait… This is epic high fantasy at its finest and immersing yourself in this world of beauty, magic and characters that are both real and painfully flawed is simply a joy. I can’t wait for the next book. Read the rest.

Shadow’s Edge by Brent Weeks

I read Brent Weeks’s debut novel The Way of Shadows some time ago. It was not a brilliant book but it kept me entertained enough to try the second part in the NIGHT ANGEL trilogy, Shadow’s Edge. On the whole I liked Shadow’s Edge much better than The Way of Shadows. With the wider scope of the story, it is a much more satisfying read, though it still has a number of annoying flaws… Where The Way of Shadows leaned heavily on the action scenes, the pace in this book slows down just a little to allow a bit more worldbuilding to slip into the story. Personally, I feel Shadow’s Edge is a bit more balanced and a much better read than previous novel. In fact, for a middle book it has a surprisingly satisfying end… Overall, Shadow’s Edge shows significant improvement over the first book. After The Way of Shadows I doubted I would continue this series. Now, I look forward to the final part in the NIGHT ANGEL trilogy, Beyond the Shadows. Read the rest.

CYGNET by Patricia McKillip

Two Patricia McKillip books in a single volume, what could be better? As two of her earliest works, the CYGNET duology (composed of The Sorceress and the Cygnet and The Cygnet and the Firebird) make for more challenging reads than her later offerings. McKillip is renowned for her complex writing techniques. It’s obvious to those who are familiar with her distinctive poetic-prose that she’s still getting the hang of it here, and sometimes the density of it threatens to overwhelm her story… But once you’ve got the gist of it (or even if you don’t) it all adds up to a unique reading experience. McKillip’s fantasy novels are special because they veer away from the usual “epic fantasy” tropes, and are simply interested in telling a relatively straightforward story in an unusual way… her work is filled with enough imaginative invention to make other authors green with envy… Read the rest.

GIRL GENIUS: Agatha Awakens by Phil & Kaja Foglio

“Adventure! Romance! MAD SCIENCE!”… I only read one graphic novel and that’s GIRL GENIUS by Phil & Kaja Foglio. I love this comic and I must not be the only one —it’s won the Hugo Award three times (and lots of other awards, too). Therefore, I was thrilled to see that Tor is releasing hardback omnibus versions of GIRL GENIUS because this comic is a work of art that deserves to be beautifully bound and displayed on coffee tables everywhere… If you’re already a fan of GIRL GENIUS, you will be more than pleased with this omnibus. I rarely buy hardback books these days since I have two e-readers, but even though I’ve already read this story online, I love being able to hold it in my hands so I can examine the intricate gorgeous art. I’ve read this comic in several formats, but Tor’s hardback omnibus is the very best way to experience GIRL GENIUS… Read the rest.

Touchstone by Melanie Rawn

Melanie Rawn’s Touchstone is the first book in her planned GLASS THORNS trilogy. Touchstone is sort of The Commitments meets Dragon Realm. In Rawn’s world, the major form of entertainment is a sort of theatrical performance which makes use of magic to convey a more full sensory and emotional experience. The performing groups are made up of members, each of which plays a specific role (a glisker, a tregetour, etc.) and if they are good enough they get to Trials (a judged performance at the Court), and then they can go out on Circuit and move up in the world… I didn’t care much about the characters, wasn’t grabbed by the style, was disappointed by the performance art, and had seen the plot before. As one might guess, this all made the novel a true struggle to finish… Had it not been a review book, I’m sure I would have stopped and in fact, this was the first review book in a long, long time that I seriously considered giving a Did Not Finish. Not recommended. Read the rest.

Dream Castles: The Early Jack Vance Volume Two by Jack Vance

Jack Vance is my favorite author, so another collection of Vance’s works by Subterranean Press is a welcome treat! Dream Castles: The Early Jack Vance Volume Two, edited and lovingly introduced by Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan, collects ten of Vance’s works… Each of these stories feels very much like Jack Vance — clever and competent protagonists, bizarre alien races, sparse and witty dialogue, a lofty but frugal writing style. I enjoyed most of them for this reason. If you’re new to Jack Vance, Dream Castles isn’t a bad place to start, but it isn’t the best place either. These stories are entertaining, but they hardly begin to reach the heights that Vance can attain. It’s like starting off for the top of the mountain and deciding to stop halfway up. This isn’t Jack Vance’s best work, but even so, mediocre Vance is something to be admired. Fans who don’t own these stories in another collection will definitely want to read these… Read the rest.

ARABESK: Pashazade, Effendi and Felaheen
In this review, I’m going to write about the willing suspension of disbelief. Perhaps more precisely, I’m writing about the intersection of world-building and the willing suspension of disbelief. Enter Jon Courtenay Grimwood and the ARABESK trilogy: Pashazade, Effendi and Felaheen. In Grimwood’s world, the Ottoman Empire never collapsed. Woodrow Wilson brokered peace between London and Berlin in 1915, World War II never happened, and the major world powers seem to be Germany, France, the USA and the Empire. This alternate timeline stretches a few decades beyond current time, but in terms of fashion and technology, there’s nothing the science fiction reader won’t recognize. It’s the social, political and economic things that are different, and the murder of an impoverished but highly socially connected woman, who has made an enemy of one of the world powers, and introduced a complete stranger she claims is the secret son of the Emir of Tunis, strikes every single social, political and economic chord… Read the rest.

Light by M. John Harrison

… When I read over my summary of Light, I think this sounds like an awesome book. I picked it up because I’ve wanted to read M. John Harrison for years. Then Neil Gaiman got into the audiobook business and started a new line called Neil Gaiman Presents in which he works with authors, narrators, and Audible.com to produce some of his favorite works in audio format. Light is one of his very first offerings so, naturally, I jumped. While I did admire Harrison’s characterization and writing style, and Julian Elfer’s narration was spot-on (I hope Gaiman uses him again), I did not like Light as much as I thought I would… I admire Harrison’s vivid writing style, there are some cool cyberpunk elements and this was a terrific audio production. My issues with Light are due to my own personal reading preferences. I recommend Light to readers who aren’t so small-minded that they insist on liking some of the characters. Meanwhile, I’ll be trying a different novel by M. John Harrison, including another produced by Neil Gaiman Presents. Read the rest.

Of Limited Loyalty  by Michael A. Stackpole

Of Limited Loyalty is Michael Stackpole’s second book in the CROWN COLONIES series, set in an alternate version of our world where magic exists and dragons and other creatures are real, but politics and other social conditions evolved much as they did in reality… In Of Limited Loyalty our main characters, Prince Vlad and Owen Strake, are tasked to support a mission to investigate settlements that lie outside the chartered areas of the Crown Colonies. Colonel Ian Rathfield, a recent hero in the war with Tharyngaria, has been sent personally by the Queen to look into the area known as Pottsylvania and possible rogue magic that has been used there… There were a lot of things that I really liked about Of Limited Loyalty, but I became frustrated with Owen’s deliberate ignorance and the way he nobly blamed himself for everything. Also, the pace was sluggish. Some books take time to process, or move slowly enough that it’s difficult to just sit and read. I found Of Limited Loyalty to be that way even though it was seldom dry. Stackpole left things open for another book in the series and there are many storylines that could grow greatly in the next book. I hope the pace picks up… Read the rest.

The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel

Jean M. Auel‘s Earth’s Children is one of those series that people often say you should stop reading after the first book. I’m generally too curious about the sequel to follow that advice, so naturally I’ve read all six. Most of them are entertaining at some level but none of them are anywhere near as good as the first book. After the huge success of The Clan of The Cave Bear (1980), Auel produced two sequels relatively quickly, followed by three more which took her significantly longer to write. Apart from my recent reread of the first book and reading the recently published sixth novel The Land of Painted Caves, it has been many years since I’ve read the others. I thought it would be interesting to see how the second novel, The Valley of Horses, held up under a reread. Read more »

Poltergeist by Kat Richardson

… Kat Richardson is confident in this second outing. The supporting characters are developed and have just enough time and space in the story. Harper’s experiments in the Grey are interesting. Structurally, the plot has a couple of cracks that bothered me… Balancing these problems, the descriptions of Seattle are fresh, concrete and witty. In the first book, I worried that Harper had no non-magical friends. In Poltergeist, with the bookstore owner and the restaurant family, we begin to see Harper’s network of friends from before she became a Greywalker. The story is very dark, and Harper’s pet ferret, Chaos, provides a bundle of warmth, energy and humor to break up the bleakness… I was very satisfied with Poltergeist and will be looking for the next book in this series. Read the rest.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush, Hush would be better as a horror novel. It’s the story of Nora, who is sexually harassed in school while her teacher stands by and allows it to happen. Then she learns that several supernatural beings are trying to kill her. There’s no one she can trust, not even her best friend. Becca Fitzpatrick sets all of this against a gloomy, rainy Maine backdrop. Spooky stuff, right? The problem is, it’s not intended primarily as horror but as paranormal romance — and Nora’s love interest, Patch, is both her harasser and one of the people with designs on her life… Fitzpatrick does create a genuinely spooky atmosphere and the plot gave me some real scares, which is something a lot of these YA paranormals have been unable to do. I just wish the love interest wasn’t as scary as the antagonist — or that Fitzpatrick had gone all-out horror and actually made him an antagonist. Read the rest.

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

…I don’t read many YA paranormal romances; they’re just not my thing because they focus on teenage relationships — something I’m glad to be done with. So, I’ll admit right off that I only read Bree Despain’s The Dark Divine because I had a free copy of the audiobook, we needed a review for this website, and the plot sounded different enough from the others I’ve read that I thought I might like this one… I did find some of the elements of The Dark Divine to be refreshing… Though Grace’s situation is a little different than most of her fellow YA protagonists’, this wasn’t enough to set The Dark Divine apart from the rest of its class… It’s all been done so many times before and, frankly, I just thought it was dull… Though the faith and redemption theme is intriguing, I was mostly bored by The Dark Divine, so I’m not going to find out where Bree Despain is going with it. Mostly this series seems like just another angsty teenage paranormal romance. Read the rest.

The Secrets of the Cave by Phillipa Bowers

The loveliest image in Phillipa Bowers’s The Secrets of the Cave is the form of a woman, carved into the rock of the cave by the flow of the spring waters. At her feet, the pure water gathers in a pool lined with pink and red crystals. The water looks blood-red because of those crystals. The Lady in the cave is never described but frequently evoked in this book, which follows a young woman in England from 1930 until the end of World War II… Secrets of the Cave did not satisfy me but there are some beautiful moments. Bowers heads each chapter with a bit of herbal lore that is quite charming. The secret of the cave is delightful, and I do like the idea of a bloodline extending back a thousand years to protect that secret. Unfortunately, the book squanders opportunities. It is predictable. Supposedly about magic and history, it skimps on both. Read the rest.

The Crack in Space by Philip K. Dick

… The Crack in Space is fun, but not up to par with the best PKD offers. I don’t know if Dick really imagined that in 2080 American race relations wouldn’t have progressed beyond 1960s levels, but this really makes the novel feel more dated than his other works do. Also, the way that Americans dealt with the parallel universe was so simplistic and naïve that this was hard to swallow, but yet it’s so typical of PKD. Fans, who are used to his frenzied plots and other little writing quirks, are likely to just chuckle and let it go. In the end, though, there’s a beautiful ironic message. As Americans are dealing with race warfare, PKD shows us that, really, we’re all human after all. Brilliance Audio, who is gradually producing all of Philip K. Dick’s novels in audio format, did another wonderful job with this one. Eric Dawe performs it superbly. Read the rest.

The Measure of the Magic by Terry Brooks

… The Measure of the Magic is a direct sequel to Bearers of the Black Staff… Despite this book being set in Shannara’s prehistory, I still feel as though Brooks isn’t doing enough to explore it… The past and future of this world still don’t successfully merge, and since a prequel’s strength lies in exploring the origins of the past, it’s a strange oversight that Brooks skips so many aspects of his established mythology. Having gone from what was a basic Tolkien retread in his very first book The Sword of Shannara, only to find his own voice and write some exceptionally good stories of his own in Running with the Demon and THE HERITAGE OF SHANNARA, Brooks has looped back around and is now copying himself. Many of the subplots involving Elven politics, an assassin tracking our heroes, or the Elfstones as a magical McGuffin have been used countless times in his other books. The idea of a “midquel” breaching the gap between past and present was a great opportunity to stake out new ground, but at this point the same story is just being told over and over again. It’s a pleasant, diverting read, but it’s really nowhere near as good as it could be. Read the rest.

At The Edge of the Universe, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.

Like many others reviewing The Night Circus, it was the hype that first drew my attention. Talk all over the internet, a huge display case in the local bookshop, rumours of a movie deal mere months after it had been published – I thought I may as well give in to the inevitable and read it.

In my opinion, every good book requires three things: 1) rich, vivid world-building, 2) a story that captivates the reader, and 3) interesting, three-dimensional characters with equally interesting, complex relationships. Naturally, this is something of a generalization, and obviously not every good book is going to contain all these qualities to the same degree. Some may be missing one of these aspects entirely, but can make up for it on the strength of the other two. Others can utilize all three factors, but only adequately, or manage to capture one so brilliantly that nothing else is necessary. And so on.

But for the purposes of this review, let’s pretend that this three-pronged approach to storytelling is an infallible method of crafting a decent novel – in which case Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus excels in one area, is pretty good in the other, but stumbles on the third.

The draw-card of The Night Circus is (naturally) the circus itself. The Cirque des Reves, or “the Circus of Dreams,” is a gloriously imaginative creation and a dream-like experience to both readers and characters. Beautifully designed and described in prose that only occasionally turns a shade of purple, this is a circus that arrives unexpectedly in the night, consists of dozens of tents in the shapes of pyramids, is entirely monochromatic in colour, and opens only once the sun goes down. Visitors enter through the gate and are free to wander the circular paths to discover the secrets that the tents hold. Every impression is captured: the sights, the smells, the sounds – Morgenstern has crafted a fully immersive reading experience.

Within this setting of a magical circus is the story itself, though it always feels secondary to the world that Morgenstern has created in which to *tell* that story.

The stage magician Hector Bowen (who uses the ironic stage name Prospero, though he’s about as far from Shakespeare’s devoted father and wise magician as you can imagine) returns backstage from a performance to find that his hitherto unknown daughter has just been delivered to his door, her mother’s suicide note pinned to her jacket. His initial reaction to her is not promising, but his interest is raised when she displays telekinetic powers.

Enter Alexander H, an old friend/foe of Hector, who is usually referred to as the man in the grey suit. He proposes a wager, and judging from their conversation, this is neither the first nor the last time that the two men have played such a game. The exact reason behind the wager is unclear, but it seems to have something to do with each man trying to prove the superiority of their magic and teaching methods. The competitors in this game are to be their own protégées: for Hector, it is his daughter Celia, for Alexander, it is Marko, a young boy he plucks out of an orphanage. Neither child knows the rules, they don’t know how to win or when they’ll win, and they don’t even know who their opponent is. Readers who are feeling generous could call this a metaphor for life; others may think it’s just an easy excuse to create the plot.

Only one thing is clear: the Night Circus is the venue. As each child grows into adulthood, each one goes through a traumatizing learning regime under their guardians, who control practically every aspect of their lives. By the time the circus opens, the two are fairly evenly matched: Celia has natural talent but little discipline, while Marko is rigorously pedantic, but lacks Celia’s raw power. The competition begins, and the beauty and magic of the circus grows with each move they make, gradually drawing closer to one another as they construct the sideshows and attractions that surround them.

Divided into five parts of varying lengths, the narrative leaps back and forth in time between the 1880s and the 1890s, and is told entirely in present-tense, the immediacy of which can get a little tiring after a while. Furthermore, certain segments address the reader directly, recounting the various experiences that one might expect in the Night Circus: “You are amongst the crowd, of course. Your curiosity got the better of you, as curiosity is wont to do. You stand in the fading light, the scarf around your neck pulled up against the chilly evening breeze, waiting to see for yourself exactly what kind of circus only opens once the sun sets.”

But a question hangs over the proceedings: when does the contest end? How is the winner decided? And what consequences await the loser? This brings us to the third quality of any decent story: the characters, who make up the heart of almost every novel – and here’s where The Night Circus fails.

Celia and Marko are two of the blandest, most uninteresting protagonists imaginable – and that’s a pretty astonishing feat given the richness of their surroundings and the dangers of the competition that they’re embroiled in. Any other character in the story, from the circus patrons to the performers, are more interesting than these two. As a result, their relationships suffer as well. The reader is given absolutely no reason to invest in the wishy-washy love story, for the two barely interact before we’re lead to believe that they can’t live without each other.

Other relationships, which contained the potential for conflict that could have been riveting, fall flat as well. Though Morgenstern gets some mileage out of Celia and Hector’s strained father/daughter bond, there is nothing on the Marko/Alexander front, and neither child seems particularly phased by the years of neglect and abuse they suffered. Marko starts a relationship with a young tarot reader called Isobel; she later joins the circus in order to spy on Celia for Marko’s benefit, but her thoughts and feelings concerning this matter (and the heartless way in which Marko treats her) is never really explored.

A past competitor is revealed to be working in the circus, fully aware of the new contest, but no insight is given on this potentially fascinating perspective either. We never learn the reason for the rivalry between Hector and Alexander, nor the background to their animosity. A boy called Bailey becomes captivated by the circus and has an important part to play in its fate; yet his obsession with the Night Circus feels perfunctory, more a plot-device than a character trait, and his involvement in the denouement feels more of a deus ex machina than an organic choice driven out of real passion for the circus.

It all seems a dreadful waste. No one in the book feels like a real human being – they’re all as distant and insubstantial as the circus itself. It’s a pity; as their personalities and relationships could have held the necessary grit and realism to ground the dreamy circus atmosphere. A story that relies almost entirely on a mysterious competition that no one can fully understand *needed* strong characters to carry it – otherwise, nothing is at stake. Without characters to invest in, it’s difficult to care about the resolution.

I enjoyed reading The Night Circus. I liked the central conceit and for the most part I liked the execution. But I never found it riveting. I could put the book down for breaks and not feel an urgent need to return to it. Reading it was like eating candy floss: sweet and tasty while it lasted, but dissolving almost instantaneously. Apparently the rights to the books have already been sold to Hollywood, in which case movie-goers are in for a visual feast when the story is adapted for the big screen. Until then, I just wish that the characters were worthy of the fantastical setting and the intriguing plot – which would have been all the more rewarding had the players in it not been so superficial.

Five stars for the world-building, three stars for the plot, and one star for the characters.

The Fetch by Chris Humphreys

Nordic runes became a big fortune-telling and New Age self-exploration tool in the 1970s and 80s. Like Tarot cards and other things, the runes became commercialized and sanitized, slanted toward the positive and not-scary. In The Fetch, Book One of Chris Humphreys’s YA fantasy trilogy THE RUNESTONE SAGA, the runes are ancient and wise, filled with darkness and blood. To embrace them is to embrace great power, and the darker side of power: sacrifice… Humphreys tells the story in simple workmanlike prose, filled with clear descriptions… I found The Fetch to be an enjoyable, convincing read. Read the rest.

Shadow OPS: Control Point by Myke Cole

Myke Cole’s initial installment in the SHADOW OPS series is an interesting read. The urban fantasy market is heavily populated with pretty, sassy heroines who are in love with this vampire or that werewolf. In Control Point, Cole takes a completely different approach to adding magic to the world we live in.

Oscar Britton is a conflicted man. His childhood was difficult, and in the Army he seems to have found a place that makes sense for him. Oscar is a junior Officer working with a Special Operations group that supports magically-gifted government agents in their efforts to track down and bring into custody other gifted individuals who are not following the laws about how magic is to be controlled and used. This is a high stress, high risk assignment that demands a lot of Oscar, in terms of both his physical prowess and his mental toughness. Read more »

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

Set in prehistoric times, Jean M. Auel‘s EARTH’S CHILDREN series deals with the possible interaction between Neanderthals and our own species, among other things. They are renowned for their meticulously researched descriptions of prehistoric life as well as notorious for their sexual content and the Mary-Sue-like development of the main character. I’ve read the entire series and although I thought the books were entertaining, I do think the literary quality takes a nosedive after the first novel. The Clan of the Cave Bear is quite an interesting book, however, and the 2011 release of the sixth and final book in the series, The Land of Painted Caves, prompted a reread. Read more »

Dracula: The Undead by Ian Holt and Dacre Stoker

Have you ever read a book that is so bad that it loops back around to being good? Well, Dracula the Un-Dead isn’t one of those books. It’s just plain bad. But it nearly provides one of those “so bad it’s good” reading experiences, creating a sense of bile fascination in the reader over the fact that someone could clearly enjoy a source material enough to write a sequel, but apparently hate it so much that they would write it… well, like this. Read more »

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

… In the author’s afterward to Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card explains that this was the novel he had always intended to write and that Ender’s Game, its more famous and popular prequel, was just an introduction. I’m sure that’s why, as much as I loved Ender’s Game as a thrilling action-packed YA adventure, I liked Speaker for the Dead even more. This is a more mature, thoughtful, and far-reaching story… Though this is a meaty and thought-provoking work, Speaker for the Dead is populated with characters you can love, hate, or otherwise relate to, and Card holds it all together with a heart-wrenching story about loneliness, bullying, abuse, hate, jealousy, adultery, incest, companionship, guilt, forgiveness, redemption, love, and death. There’s a lot going on here… Read the rest.

Greywalker by Marion Deeds

This is not a traditional review of Kat Richardson’s Greywalker. I’m going to talk instead about the technique Richardson uses to introduce her paranormal world and her main character’s magical power. Richardson’s premise is that abutting our dimension is a transitional dimension known as the Grey. Some creatures live in the Grey; some come through it from other places. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts and ghouls move about freely in it, and can shift easily from the Grey to here. Most (not all) urban fantasies start with a character who is already magical. Harry Dresden is a wizard; October Daye is half faerie. Richardson’s first book is an origin story. It’s the tale of how Harper Blaine became a Greywalker… Richardson lays out a textbook-caliber example of one way to introduce your magical character and the cast of supporting roles you will need later on. Greywalker is a great opening to a refreshing series. Read the rest.