The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts

The Curse of the Mistwraith took me completely by surprise. Based on (obviously mistaken) assumptions, I expected something completely different — epic fantasy, yes, but nothing even close to the gorgeous prose and astounding depth I found in this novel. Read the rest.

The Ships of Merior by Janny Wurts

…If you enjoyed The Curse of the Mistwraith, there’s simply no reason or excuse not to read The Ships of Merior. The novel features all of the many strengths of its predecessor: meticulous plotting, strong characters, attention to the smallest details of world-building, and most notably Janny Wurts‘ gorgeous prose. Simply put, I can’t think of many fantasy authors who can rival the richness and subtlety of language that Janny Wurts deploys in her novels. Read the rest.

Warhost of Vastmark by Janny Wurts

…  The odd side-effect of this slow revelation of world-building details is that you simply want to read and learn more, even as the picture gradually resolves and the story progresses. These novels all have a solid and very satisfying ending, but at the same time they definitely leave the reader hungry for more… Warhost of Vastmark is at least as good as The Curse of the Mistwraith and The Ships of Merior. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite epic fantasies. Read the rest.

To Ride Hell’s Chasm by Janny Wurts

… It’s hard for me to express accurately how much I enjoyed and admire To Ride Hell’s Chasm. Standalone fantasies are already a rare beast in this time of endlessly meandering series. To read a story so meticulously crafted, contained in one cover, is a real pleasure. This novel is easily going on my all-time favorite list of fantasy novels. Read the rest.

Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente

The first thing that strikes you about Palimpsest is the gorgeous prose. Every sentence is crafted with the utmost care, resulting in a novel that almost reads like poetry. It simply begs to be read out loud. I’ve read many books that attempt this kind of lush prose, but Palimpsest is one of the most successful and most beautiful. Read the rest.

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

Under Heaven is the long-awaited new novel by master fantasist Guy Gavriel Kay — and let’s get the most important news out of the way: it was 100% worth the wait… Once again, Guy Gavriel Kay‘s work straddles the line between historical fiction and fantasy. It’s a testament to his talent that he can bring a historical period, especially one many people may know little about, to life in such vivid, believable fashion. Rest assured, there are definite fantasy elements here, but the novel has firm roots in the actual history, and reworks and remixes many elements from the actual Tang period… This is one of those novels that’s so good, you’ll occasionally close the book after finishing a chapter, just to enjoy and savor what you’ve read before moving on. While I admire everything Guy Gavriel Kay has written recently, his newest novel is easily my favorite novel by him since 1995′s The Lions of Al-Rassan. Expect to see Under Heaven on the short list for all the major awards next year, and do yourself a favor: pick up a copy. Read the rest.

Stories of Your Life: And Others by Ted Chiang

… because we’re talking about what’s considered by many to be one of the single best collections of short speculative fiction ever, I’d like to encourage you to save yourself some time, stop reading this review and just go buy the lovely new edition by Small Beer Press (which also includes the author’s fascinating notes about each of the stories and features a gorgeous new cover commissioned by Ted Chiang himself), but if you wish to continue reading, the rest of this entry will provide some more impressions of the book and the individual stories, some links to further reading about the author, and at the end, an entirely hypothetical description of his writing process that hopefully will not lead to cease-and-desist letters… Read the rest.

The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe

The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe is one of the best fantasy novels to appear in the last decade or so. The novel is split into two separate books, The Knight and The Wizard, but like Gene Wolfe’s classic BOOK OF THE NEW SUN, it’s really one big story split into separate volumes and best read back-to-back… The Wizard Knight hilariously funny at times and heartbreakingly sad at others. Parts of it read like a traditional story of knighthood and chivalry, and others like a meditation on the nature and role of deity. Gene Wolfe pulls from sources as diverse as Chretien de Troyes, Norse mythology and traditional high fantasy like J.R.R. Tolkien or E.R. Edison, and somehow it all makes sense and turns into a wonderful, deep, rewarding read… Read the rest.

Peril’s Gate by Janny Wurts

Peril’s Gate picks up right where Grand Conspiracy left off… because these characters and this world have by now, after five previous novels in the WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW series, acquired so much depth and so many layers, the wild chase in Peril’s Gate has much more impact than you’d expect and may just be the most dramatic chase scene I’ve ever encountered in any medium… There are other chapters and scenes in this book that are simply unforgettable, making Peril’s Gate one of the strongest installments in the series so far. You’ll find true heroism and heartbreaking sacrifice… all the pieces are now firmly in place in Peril’s Gate, resulting in a more rewarding novel that doesn’t let up in pace or intensity until you’ve turned the final page. Not only is this one of the strongest books in the series so far, it’s also one of the most memorable fantasy novels I’ve ever read… Read the rest.

Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg

Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg is the painfully intimate portrait of David Selig, a man who has been blessed (or cursed, as he might say) with the gift of telepathy… Getting such an intimate view into Selig’s mind is at times a painful experience: despite his pettiness, sexism and occasional racism, you can’t help but feel for him. The bitter irony of Dying Inside is that this man, who is able to read people’s thoughts, is so completely self-centered and small-minded that he is incapable of having a meaningful relationship with anyone… Robert Silverberg’s prose is gorgeous, perfectly reflecting his character’s thoughts and full of often inwardly directed irony… Dying Inside is an excellent novel, recommended both to science fiction fans and to people who usually don’t read the genre. This is one of those books you’re almost guaranteed to end up thinking about for a long time after turning the final page. Read the rest.

Brave New Worlds: Dystopian Stories edited by John Joseph Adams

…Brave New Worlds is as perfect an anthology as you could hope for… One of the great things about a broad anthology like this one, collecting 33 different stories that still all fall under the umbrella of dystopian SF, is that you get the chance to sample a large variety of styles and approaches. Classics and brand new stories, short vignettes and longer tales… Almost anything that could conceivably go wrong with our world goes wrong in one or more of these stories… There are a few stories in Brave New Worlds that will simply stay with you forever… It doesn’t happen very often that you find an anthology that’s perfectly executed from start to finish, but Brave New Worlds is exactly that. The stories in this collection are science fiction in the truest sense of the word, starting from an often painful sociological premise and extrapolating it to the most private and emotional aspects of our lives. The only reasons I can think of for not liking this book would be if you have an aversion to either dystopian SF or short fiction. If you don’t fall in either of those categories, you simply won’t find a finer anthology than Brave New Worlds. Read the rest.

Stormed Fortress by Janny Wurts

Stormed Fortress is the eighth novel in the WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW series by Janny Wurts, and the fifth and final novel in the Alliance of Light sub-arc. I’ve reviewed every novel in the series so far, and all of those reviews have been extremely positive, so by now it’s probably no secret that I’m a huge fan of these books and their author. That being said, Stormed Fortress is an outstanding novel even by the incredibly high standards of this series… I’m starting to get to the point where I will buy extra copies of The Curse of the Mistwraith, the first book in the WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW, to hand out to fantasy fans who haven’t discovered the series yet. It’s simply incomprehensible to me that more people aren’t reading these books. The latest book in the series, Initiate’s Trial, is coming out today, so if you are looking for an intellectually challenging but incredibly rewarding fantasy series to read, this is a great time to get started. Read the rest.

Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America by Robert Charles Wilson

Robert Charles Wilson’s novel Julian Comstock is set in a vastly changed 22^nd-century USA — after the end of the age of oil and atheism has resulted in disaster. Technology is mostly back to pre-20th century levels, and the population has been vastly reduced due to social upheaval and disease. Society has become fully class-based, divided into a Eupatridian aristocracy, middle-class lease-men, and indentured servants. The country — which now stretches across most of the North American continent — is involved in a lengthy and brutal war with the Dutch over control of the recently opened Northwest Passage.

In this setting we meet the novel’s extraordinary hero, Julian Comstock, the nephew of the dictatorial president Deklan Comstock. Julian is a free-thinker with a deep interest in the apostate Charles Darwin (whose heretical theories are anathema to the Dominion of Jesus Christ, one of the three branches of the government with the president and the senate). Julian is forced to flee his country hide-out with his friend Adam (the amazing narrator of the novel) and Sam Godwin, who is Julian’s mentor since his father died in battle — his father being Bryce Comstock, army commander and brother of the president, who was sent into a hopeless conflict by Deklan, fearing his brother’s growing popularity would endanger his own tyrannical rule. Read more »

How to Make Friends with Demons by Graham Joyce

….How to Make Friends with Demons is another great example of Graham Joyce‘s distinctive style. Narrator William Heaney is a more or less regular middle-aged man: boring government job, divorced with two kids, likes seventies music, has a drinking problem. Oh, and he believes that there are 1,567 varieties of demons that can possess anyone at any time. Someone else claims to have identified 4 additional demons, but Heaney thinks he’s just confusing demons with psychological conditions — and then labels excessive footnoting as a demon a few sentences later. Read the rest.

The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology by Gordon Van Gelder (ed.)

…   an excellent collection of 23 stories picked from the treasure trove of short fiction that’s been published in the eponymous magazine over the past 60 years. Editor Gordon Van Gelder — also the editor of the magazine since 1997 — has done an admirable job, picking stories that illustrate the diversity of both the genre and the magazine. As such, this is a great anthology for SF&F fans as well as newcomers looking for a taste… Read the rest.

Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy 3 by Kevin Brockmeier (ed.)

… Maybe the best compliment I can give Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy 3: prior to reading it, I’d only heard of 4 of the 20 authors, but after finishing it, more than half of them are firmly on my watch list. You won’t find dragons, elves or sexy vampires here, but if you’re interested in checking out some truly excellent stories that show how varied fantasy as a genre can be, give Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy 3 a try… Read the rest.

Fugitive Prince by Janny Wurts

Fugitive Prince is the fourth novel in THE WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW… Many familiar characters from earlier novels return, and several new and fascinating ones are introduced. This being the start of a new arc, the plot logically includes a bit more set-up than the previous 3 novels did, making the first half of this novel probably the weakest section of the series so far — which isn’t saying much, as it still sticks head and shoulders above almost everything else in the genre. However, in the style I’ve more or less come to expect by now, the midway point of the novel presents a tipping point, leading to a truly excellent, hard-to-put-down second half and an exciting finale that will leave you eager to get to the next book in the series… Fugitive Prince is another excellent installment in one of the best fantasy series out there… Read the rest.

Grand Conspiracy by Janny Wurts

It gets harder and harder to review each subsequent novel in Janny Wurts’ excellent epic fantasy series THE WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW without either repeating yourself or including spoilers for earlier volumes… So, to avoid spoilers and repetition, I’ll keep this review short and simple, and leave it at that: this is another great book in what’s quickly becoming one of my favorite fantasy series. Now all the WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW novels are available and in print again, and with the ninth book in its final stages of completion, you’re seriously missing out if you’re not reading what’s sure to become a classic of epic fantasy. Read the rest.

The Dervish House by Ian McDonald

… six narratives all take place in Istanbul, less than 20 years into the future. The city, historically a crossroads and now also the capital of the newest EU member nation, is where East meets West, old meets new, Christianity meets Islam, and Europe and Asia meet across the Bosphorus river that dissects the ancient city. Likewise, the lives of these six strangers will meet and interconnect in The Dervish House, a gorgeous new SF novel by Ian McDonald… it’s hard not to feel as if you’ve actually visited Istanbul after reading The Dervish House… spending some time with these six characters in the fascinating city of Istanbul was pure enjoyment. Look for The Dervish House on the shortlists of the major SF&F awards next year… Read the rest.

Tracato by Joel Shepherd

Tracato is the third installment in Joel Shepherd’s excellent A Trial of Blood and Steel fantasy quartet, and not only is it the best book in the series so far, it’s also one of the best new fantasy novels I’ve read all year… Joel Shepherd has taken his time to carefully and organically build up this highly complex political and religious setting to the point where now, finally, the tension is dialed up to the maximum: the history of the various countries and religions is known, the characters are in place, and everything is inexorably converging. The result is a textbook example of how to structure a fantasy series: this novel has a few scenes of such unbearable intensity that, at one point, I was gripping the book so hard I accidentally almost ripped it in two… you’ll find romance, conflict and betrayal ratcheted up to entirely new levels… Read the rest.

Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi

Paolo Bacigalupi burst onto the scene in a big way with his excellent SF novel The Windup Girl, which rightfully won both glowing reviews and major awards, and followed it up with a great YA novel, Ship Breaker. Both books are set in near-future dystopian settings in which the ruined environment plays a big role. Given all of this, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that Paolo Bacigalupi’s first collection of short stories, Pump Six and Other Stories, is 1) also excellent and 2) continues the thematic thread… these are mostly environment-focused dystopias, but like all great science fiction writers, Paolo Bacigalupi is more concerned with the human impact… The end result is an incredibly strong but quite dark collection of short science fiction stories spanning the author’s career… a stunningly good collection of short fiction by an author who’s fast on his way to becoming one of the premier names in SF… Read the rest.

Among Others by Jo Walton

… Aside from the genuine love for science fiction and fantasy that permeates every ounce of this novel, it also features a loving picture of an isolated, intelligent young woman finding her place in life, and a simple but solid present-day fantasy plot that slowly unfolds to reach a satisfying conclusion. The novel reads smoothly, is never boring, and is very hard to put down. Also, Jo Walton’s concept of “deniable magic” made me reconsider magic and its “causality” (for want of a better word) in a whole new way. Exactly how much of Among Others is autobiographical I don’t know, but if Jo Walton’s fascinating blog entries at Tor.com are an indication, there’s at least one quality she undoubtedly shares with Mori: her love for science fiction and fantasy… Mori and some friends find themselves heading towards the bookstore almost unwittingly. One person mentions that sunflowers are “heliotropes” — they automatically orient themselves towards the sun — and then says that Mori and her friends must be bibliotropes. Borrowing that wonderful word, I think it’s fair to say that Among Others by Jo Walton is a novel for bibliotropes. Read the rest.

The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

… Well, merciful Tehlu be praised, Patrick Rothfuss took his time, polishing and refining his manuscript until it stood up to his own standards. The result is The Wise Man’s Fear, a novel that for the most part fulfills the promise of The Name of the Wind. You’ll find the same sweeping prose, deft characterization, rousing adventure, emotional highs and lows, and just plain and simple gripping reading of the “I couldn’t put this book down even if my house caught fire around me” variety. Also, there’s much more of it, in terms of sheer length. Weighing in at about 1,000 pages, The Wise Man’s Fear is a heftier tale with a much broader scope… Patrick Rothfuss’s prose is still a pleasure to read. He does high comedy as expertly as heart-breaking tragedy… If the plotting is sometimes a bit transparent, with the timing and sequence of some events being so convenient that it flirts with improbability, it’s all easy to forgive because — and this is really all that matters, in the end — The Wise Man’s Fear is more sheer fun to read than most fantasy novels I’ve read since — well, since The Name of the Wind, come to think of it… Read the rest.

Traitor’s Knot by Janny Wurts

With every new book in the WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW series by Janny Wurts, it gets harder and harder to write a review without either including massive spoilers for previous volumes or simply repeating the praise already heaped on it in earlier reviews. There are only so many variations on “gorgeous prose,” “intricate world-building,” “deep characterization,” “the books are consistently excellent” and so on… As a middle book in a series, Traitor’s Knot is almost flawless: it advances the story significantly, reveals meaningful new details and hidden layers, contains a few unforgettable scenes, and has an ending that will have you screaming for the next book… you’re in for a wild ride that will push you past the boundaries of comfort… Having now read seven books in the WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW, I consider it one of my favorite fantasy series ever, and Traitor’s Knot is yet another brilliant part of it. If you’re not reading these books yet, you’re missing out on one of the most well-rounded fantasy epics ever. Read the rest.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

The Magicians by Lev Grossman is one of the most frequently reviewed fantasy novels of the last few years, which isn’t surprising because the author is a well known writer (and book reviewer) for TIME Magazine, and the book was very effectively hyped as “Harry Potter with college age students.” The end result of all of this is that lots of people who don’t regularly read fantasy have picked up this novel, and many of them had their expectations severely challenged. So, is The Magicians also worth the time for true-blooded, die-hard fantasy fans? In a word: yes… Lev Grossman is doing more than just telling a story here. Indirectly, he’s having a conversation with fantasy readers about what it’s like to be a fan of stories that involve magic and alternate realities… The Magicians is the perfect antithesis of an escapist novel: it pulls the curtain up, reveals that magic is real, and then makes it clear that even young, gifted people often don’t have it in them to use it wisely or even appreciate it. That it does this by actually using some of the most beloved young adult fantasy fiction as a starting point makes the experience of reading it even more disconcerting. It’s no wonder that this novel got some very extreme reviews from fantasy fans… Read the rest.

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

… If you loved The Magicians as much as I did, you’ll probably be pleased with The Magician King. Yes, the novelty has worn off a bit, but in exchange you get a story that’s actually more structured and more obviously working its way towards a solid finale than the first novel’s. It’s a proper adventure, really, although as you’d probably expect there are some false starts, detours and roundabouts along the way. You’ll also get answers to some of the questions that were left unanswered in The Magicians, but new questions pop up to take their place… the whole Harry Potter shtick is basically gone, Quentin has gained some welcome confidence, Julia is front and center. At the same time, it riffs on the same themes and ideas that made The Magicians so good, and it adds some layers to the story and the fantasy universe. Some of these don’t exactly line up for me yet, but maybe all will be explained in another sequel? There’d better be another book in this series, because dammit, I want more. Read the rest.

Feed by Mira Grant

Feed by Mira Grant is one of those books that proves it’s important to step out of your comfort zone once in a while. I’m not a big fan of zombie novels, to put it mildly. Usually I’d steer well clear of anything involving zombies. I decided to give Feed a chance as part of my attempt to read all the Hugo-nominated novels and shorter works this year. Boy, am I ever glad I did, because it proved to be one of the most captivating and entertaining novels I’ve read all year… It’s impossible to put down. There is, to put it simply, not a boring moment in this entire 500+ page novel. I tore through it in one 24 hour period, only taking breaks to eat and sleep. I laughed, I cried, I cheered for the characters… This may not be the most original or deeply literary novel I’ve read this year, but it’s definitely the most fun one. For sheer entertainment value, Feed scores a solid ten… Read the rest.

Reamde by Neal Stephenson

…after smacking his fans upside the head with the high-concept, far-future, parallel universe SF novel Anathem, Stephenson drastically changes direction again with Reamde, a huge but relatively straightforward contemporary techno-thriller. It’s hard to sum up a 1,000 page tome in a short review, so if you don’t feel like reading this rather long one, I’ll boil it down to three words: I loved it… I tore through this monster of a book in a couple of days, carrying its considerable weight around with me wherever I went. I even found myself dreaming about it because the level of intensity Stephenson maintains here is so impressive that even my subconsciousness apparently couldn’t let go of the characters. Reamde is a very rare and precious thing: a 1,000+ page novel in which every single page is purely entertaining and nothing is boring. It’s a techno-thriller that’s so quirky and fun that it really only could have come from the brain of Neal Stephenson. Read the rest.

Singer of Souls by Adam Stemple

Singer of Souls is simply a wonderful little fantasy novel. It’s especially impressive when you take into account that this is Adam Stemple‘s first adult novel (he previously collaborated with his mother, author Jane Yolen, on children’s music books).  Read the rest.

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton

….Tooth and Claw is expertly written in the Victorian style, including third person omniscient POV with the occasional authorial side-step (“Dear reader, at this point you are probably surprised by…” and so on). Aside from a strange fondness for run-on sentences, Jo Walton does a great job impersonating Jane Austen. She also paints a realistic dragon society (yes, I know), including religion, social values, and even some social upheaval on the horizon. After a few chapters, it somehow seemed normal to be reading Pride and Prejudice with dragons. To my surprise, I ended up enjoying Tooth and Claw tremendously. Read the rest.

Imager’s Challenge by L.E. Modesitt Jr

… Imager’s Challenge is an excellent second installment in the IMAGER PORTFOLIO. If you enjoyed Imager, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll like this novel too. Although calling it fast-paced would be a stretch, there’s definitely less exposition and more action in Imager’s Challenge, making this a more captivating read than the first book. It’s not very hard to make some predictions about where the story is heading, but I’m more than sufficiently intrigued to keep reading. Read the rest .

Jhegaala by Steven Brust

…. Vlad is one of the most fascinating and entertaining protagonists in current fantasy: a smart-ass, bon-vivant assassin who enjoys good food and wine and has a great sarcastic sense of humor. A good part of the fun of reading this series is following the constant wise-cracks between Vlad and his reptilian familiar Loiosh: “You’re  pretty smart for a mammal, boss.”  Read the rest.

Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber

Conjure Wife is 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. Read the rest.

Sasha by Joel Shepherd

… I thought Sasha was excellent, especially given that this is Joel Shepherd‘s first fantasy novel. It offers a huge fantasy world, a fascinating heroine, heart-pounding descriptions of both small-scale sword fights and full-on warfare, several characters that genuinely grow and change, and — maybe most importantly — the hint that this is just the start of what could become a great series. While I wouldn’t rank it quite as high as George R.R. Martin‘s A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, I think Sasha will go down very well with fans of that series. Read the rest.

Not Less Than Gods by Kage Baker

… As a long-time fan of Kage Baker, I was extremely pleased with Not Less Than Gods. If you’re in the market for an excellent SF series, I’d probably still recommend starting with In the Garden of Iden first, but Not Less Than Gods is a solid addition to the Company series and works surprisingly well as a standalone novel.  Read the rest.

Iorich by Steven Brust

… Iorich is a lovely addition to the VLAD TALTOS series… If you’re already a fan of the VLAD TALTOS series, you’ll have a blast with Iorich. And if you’re not familiar with the series yet, do yourself a favor and go find a copy of The Book of Jhereg right now. You won’t be disappointed. Read the rest.

The Master of Whitestorm by Janny Wurts

… This standalone novel is another excellent example of Janny Wurts‘ gorgeous prose style and entrancing story-telling. Initially an episodic story, consisting of a number of separate “missions” Korendir undertakes, the book gradually reveals an underlying thread that explains Korendir’s distinctive personality (think Lethal Weapon in a complex fantasy setting) and builds up to an impressive climax and a moving conclusion. The novel has several other aspects to admire, including a large, varied, and original fantasy world (which could easily contain more novels), a unique magic concept, and a beautiful romance… Read the rest.

The Best of Michael Moorcock by Michael Moorcock

The Best of Michael Moorcock is a collection of the legendary author’s best short fiction, containing several of his classic stories, as well as one previously unreleased story. The collection, lovingly edited by John Davey with Jeff and Ann VanderMeer, is nothing short of excellent. There are really no bad stories here, and some that are simply stunning. As someone who has read many of Michael Moorcock‘s novels but barely any of his shorter work, I was amazed at how well the author’s skill — so much better known for the long, sweeping epic — translates into the much more concentrated short form. Read the rest.

Diving into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

… At just under 250 pages, divided into short chapters, Diving into the Wreck is a fast and entertaining read that starts off as a deceptively straightforward story about shipwreck retrieval but quickly reveals additional psychological, political and ethical layers. This is one of those rare SF novels I’d recommend to people who usually don’t read the genre: it’s easily recognizable as science fiction, but it does much more with standard elements of the genre than you’d initially expect. Read the rest.

Haze by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

… Longtime readers of Modesitt will quickly recognize several themes and elements that frequently pop up in the author’s works: a cerebral main character, lovingly detailed world-building, focus on environmental issues. There are several direct and indirect references to current political and societal issues, but also hints of a galactic history spanning thousands of years. That Modesitt Jr. can pull all of this off without resorting to endless info-dumps speaks to his considerable skill as a writer. Haze is an excellent standalone SF novel, and one I wouldn’t hesitate recommending both to longtime Modesitt fans and to anyone who isn’t yet familiar with the author. Read the rest.

Crossover by Joel Shepherd

Australian author Joel Shepherd came to my attention via his excellent current fantasy series, A TRIAL OF BLOOD AND STEEL, which I was so impressed by that I decided to check out his earlier novels… Crossover is an intelligent page-turner with a fascinating protagonist, a well-realized world and some of the most exciting action scenes I’ve read in years. While the concept of an artificial person with more human emotions and intelligence is nothing new, Joel Shepherd has given it a memorable new face with Cassandra Kresnov. I genuinely look forward to finding out how her story continues in Breakaway, the second novel in the series. Read the rest.

The Last Stormlord by Glenda Larke

Sometimes you find a fantasy novel that’s not extremely original, but is so much plain fun to read that you just can’t help but love it. The Last Stormlord by Glenda Larke is one of those books: despite using some recognizable fantasy templates, it’s a great story and a book I found extremely hard to put down… With its smooth storytelling style that should go over very well with fans of Brandon Sanderson, and an overall theme — water shortage and conservation — that’s acutely relevant in today’s world, The Last Stormlord is a tremendously entertaining read that’s easy to get sucked into… Read the rest.

The Sorcerer’s House by Gene Wolfe

… I wouldn’t call The Sorceror’s House a major novel in Gene Wolfe‘s impressive oeuvre, at least when compared to masterpieces like The Book of the New Sun or THE WIZARD KNIGHT, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a supremely elegant fantasy novel, with a memorable narrator and a Twin Peaks-like atmosphere of “everyone in this small town has a secret”. If you’re already a fan of the Wolfe, definitely pick up a copy of The Sorceror’s House… Read the rest.

Petrodor by Joel Shepherd

… Petrodor is an excellent continuation of the story started in Sasha. Both books are opening chapters that show separate glimpses of the build-up to a major conflict. Joel Shepherd has carefully built up this fantasy world’s complexity, with considerable focus on the nature of power, politics, and religion, while at the same time creating some fascinating, memorable characters. An intricate setting, interesting characters, and a solid plot arc that leads up to what promises to be a strong climax — what’s not to love? Tracato, book 3 in A Trial of Blood and Steel, is due out from Pyr in October 2010, and I, for one, can’t wait. Read the rest.

Bone and Jewel Creatures by Elizabeth Bear

… At just under 140 pages, Bone and Jewel Creatures packs a strong punch… There’s quite a lot more material packed into this short novella than you’d initially expect — and as with all the best novellas, you’ll be satisfied with the ending while at the same time hoping for future stories set in the same world… The story is told in gorgeous prose, frequently very lyrical and on a few occasions even surprisingly funny… Read the rest.

Wings of Fire edited by Jonathan Strahan & Marianne S. Jablon

I don’t like dragons… They’re just terribly overused… I confess to having to suppress a mental groan whenever I encounter them. For a long time, I actively avoided reading any fantasy novel with the word dragon in the title… I’m here to inform you that Wings of Fire, an anthology of short stories about dragons, is excellent. The line-up of authors is great… The variety of dragons included here is amazing (and likely to blow any reviewer’s silly preconceived notions about dragons being a “tired mainstay” right out of the water)… there’s something in Wings of Fire for everyone. It’s a good stepping stone for readers looking for new authors or series to read, and a worthy attempt to show how varied the concept of dragons has become… Read the rest.

Killswitch by Joel Shepherd

… Killswitch is another fine installment in the CASSANDRA KRESNOV series, this time even more action-packed and exciting than the previous two books — as hard as that may be to believe! There’s not a dull moment in this novel, and especially the action scenes involving both Sandy and Rhian are tremendously gripping and simply impossible to put down… Despite the rushed ending, this is a strong, intelligent and breathless military-flavored SF novel. If Joel Shepherd were to write another 10 novels in this series, I’d happily read them all. Read the rest.

Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword & Sorcery edited by Jonathan Strahan & Lou Anders

Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery is an excellent new anthology of original short fantasy fiction, featuring an impressive mixture of established genre masters and newer, highly talented authors. The book’s introduction, by editors Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan, does an excellent job defining the sword & sorcery sub-genre and placing it in its historical context… If you happen to have any friends who are under the impression that all fantasy is elfy-welfy, gauzy, long-winded fluff, this showcase of tight, gritty, hard-edged and occasionally very funny fantasy fiction is a great way to rectify their misapprehensions… Read the rest.

The Third Bear by Jeff Vandermeer

The Third Bear is an excellent collection of Jeff Vandermeer’s category-defying short fiction, filled with stories that are unique, mostly excellent, and often incredibly hard to describe. Asking someone who has read this book (say, a reviewer) what one of the stories is about could well get you a blank stare as a response, or a few mumbled words, or simply “you’ll have to read it for yourself.” Pinning these stories down in a few words is very hard, not to mention a bit unfair to both the stories and the new reader… Whatever box you try to put it in, The Third Bear is simply an excellent collection of short fiction that you’re guaranteed to think about long after you turn the final page… Read the rest.

Disciple of the Dog by R. Scott Bakker

Disciple of the Dog is R. Scott Bakker’s second non-fantasy novel (after 2008’s Neuropath). While most fantasy readers are probably still most familiar with the author for his Second Apocalypse series, venturing out of the fantasy genre for this noir-ish detective novel is an excellent idea because it’s an entertaining and unique read that will keep you fascinated to the very end. The novel’s two main attractions are its protagonist, Disciple (“Diss”) Manning, and its prose…While cynical, jaded private eyes aren’t anything new, R. Scott Bakker takes things to an entirely new level here. Let’s just say that if you don’t enjoy books with unlikable main characters, Disciple of the Dog isn’t for you… Thanks to Diss Manning’s dark but often funny tone, this book is simply a blast from start to finish. If you’re in the mood for a noir-ish detective novel with a fascinating, highly cynical main character, grab a copy of Disciple of the Dog. Read the rest.

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin

… Ursula K. Le Guin packs a lot of depth into this short, elegant novel. The contrast between the two opposing world views couldn’t be more clear, but there are also nuances within each culture… Much has been made of the parallels that can be drawn between the James Cameron movie Avatar and this novel, and it’s true that there are some notable plot similarities — which may also explain the timing of this re-release… the whole Noble Savage theme and stories of cruelty by colonizers to indigenous people were really nothing new even in the Seventies. Still, The Word for World is Forest is maybe the most famous example of this type of Romantic Primitivism in science fiction… These are themes that have been done many times, but rarely so succinctly and elegantly… Read the rest.

The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee

… Karin Lowachee’s prose is powerful and often uniquely styled… Also impressive is the way Karin Lowachee quickly and deftly adds depth to her characters. Within the first pages of their respective chapters, you’ll have a solid idea of who Sjenn and Jarrett are, and as the book progresses, they are placed in emotionally wrenching situations that add layer upon layer to their personalities. However, the emotion in this novel is often understated: certain scenes contain powerful but almost silent clashes of worldviews and personalities, and their true impact may not strike you initially and hit you long after reading them… this is actually the first book in a planned trilogy, but rest assured: the ending, while open, is extremely poignant and more than satisfying, so the novel works very well as a standalone. 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.

Speculative Horizons edited by Patrick St. Denis

Speculative Horizons is a lovely little anthology edited by book blogger Patrick St. Denis (of Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist fame). When the good people at Subterranean Press asked him whether he’d be interested in editing a short story collection, he understandably jumped on the idea (who wouldn’t?!), but asked that a portion of the proceeds be donated to breast cancer research. Not only is this an absolutely wonderful initiative, but it also means that you now have an excellent chance to buy a book and actually feel good about it. This 128 page anthology contains five short stories by authors whose names many people who are interested in speculative fiction will instantly recognize: Celia S. Friedman, Tobias Buckell, L.E. Modesitt Jr., Brian Ruckley and Hal Duncan. Each story has a brief introduction by its author, and the book closes with an afterword by editor Patrick St. Denis, giving the reader a fun glimpse into the writing process and the making of this anthology. On to the stories!… Read the rest.

Steampunk edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer

Steampunk is an anthology of, well, steampunk stories, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. If you hurry, you can still get to this first anthology before the second one, Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded, appears in mid November. Based on the quality of the stories in this collection, I heartily recommend checking it out, especially if you’ve been a bit bemused (or possibly amused) by all the people wearing odd Victorian costumes at SFF conventions nowadays, or if you have at best a vague idea of what steampunk exactly entails. If you’re one of those people who’s interested in, but not entirely sure about, the new hot subgenre du jour (like me, prior to reading Steampunk), this anthology is here to take you by the hand and give you a quick, entertaining education. And oh, it also contains some truly excellent short stories… Read the rest.

Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card

… Pathfinder is a fast-moving and entertaining story that’s simply hard to put down. Orson Scott Card gradually reveals more of his fantasy world, and a large part of the fun is the slow trickle of information that leads to a complete picture by the end of the book. The cast of characters is mostly engaging and easy to empathize with… Pathfinder is the kind of book that would have blown my mind when I was 13 or so, and as such, it’s a very successful YA novel that may just lead some younger readers to explore more SF and fantasy. As an adult reader, you’ll probably still have a great time with this book if you’re willing to suspend some disbelief and forgive some repetitiveness, but with its neat world-building and fast-paced, engaging plot, Pathfinder makes a great holiday gift if you want to steer your YA readers towards SF and fantasy. Read the rest.

Pirate Freedom by Gene Wolfe

…Pirate Freedom is another solid and intriguing novel by Gene Wolfe, and a book you’re guaranteed to think about for a long time after turning the final page — especially because the end provides a mind-bending twist, which admittedly is almost par for the course with this author. While Wolfe deftly uses his narrator to add several meaningful layers to the story, making this much more than just another pirate novel, it’s a technique I found admirable more than enjoyable. Still, despite occasionally feeling annoyed while I was reading the book, I kept going back to it, pondering the many subtleties and their implications that only hit me days after I finished reading. When weighed against the rest of Gene Wolfe’s works, I doubt many people will consider this one of his strongest novels, but nevertheless it’s still a unique, thought-provoking and elegantly written story. Recommended for Gene Wolfe fans (and pirate enthusiasts of course), but if you’re new to this author, try The Book of the New Sun or The Wizard Knight. Read the rest.

The Hammer by K.J. Parker

… The Hammer is simply a blast to read, expertly paced and full of surprising and occasionally funny twists. There’s an odd contrast between the almost cheerful tone of the story and the eventual, much darker revelation about the event that sets off the main plot. K.J. Parker has also mastered the art of showing characters rather than describing them: you learn everything you need to know just by observing their actions without needing the author to spell things out for you. Sounds simple, but it’s amazing how few authors pull it off... The Hammer is one of those novels that suggest there may be many more stories to be told about its world, and I for one would jump at the chance to read them… The Hammer: an entertaining but deceptively deep fantasy novel that should win K.J. Parker many new fans. Read the rest.

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

…  Midnight Riot, the first book in the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch — is simply a blast from start to finish. The novel is fast-paced and exciting from the get-go, and there’s barely any let-up in the action until you’ve turned the final page. It almost reads like a particularly exciting episode of a good detective TV series (just add magic), which makes perfect sense because Ben Aaronovitch has written extensively for TV… I was extremely surprised and very impressed. Even more promising are the hints that this is just the start of a larger story… Midnight Riot is an excellent novel: it reads like a breeze but has just enough substance to keep you coming back for more. If you’ve read my reviews in the past, you may know I’m not a huge urban fantasy fan, but this novel was so refreshing and fun that I’m eager to read more of Peter Grant’s adventures soon. Read the rest.

Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

…if you enjoyed Midnight Riot (or Rivers of London, as it’s called outside of the US), you’ll love Moon over Soho. The new novel does just about everything its predecessor did so well, but a little better and with enough new twists to make you wish the third book in the series was already on the shelves. One of the reasons Moon over Soho is an even more fun read than the first book is the fact that it doesn’t have to spend as much time setting things up for the reader… Ben Aaronovitch can kick the story into high gear right from the beginning… a realistic modern day police procedural (aside from all the magic, of course) populated by increasingly solid characters and written in the same consistently witty style as the first Peter Grant novel. It features a gripping mystery plot with some truly creepy, borderline horror elements and a few incredibly tense action scenes. Moon over Soho is one of the most entertaining books I’ve read in a long time, and really made me look forward to the next installment in the Peter Grant series. Check it out, even if (like me) you usually don’t enjoy urban fantasy. Read the rest.

Tiassa by Steven Brust

…Tiassa is a wonderful novel, but could be one of the worst places to start for a newcomer to the series, because anyone who isn’t familiar with several plot lines and characters from past books would miss most of what’s going on… Tiassa offers several separate stories told from multiple points of view, which pull together threads from the other books in the series while still delivering a coherent plot centered on a mysterious object: the silver tiassa… every section of the novel deals with a carefully constructed plot or scam that eventually turns out to be something completely different from what you (and most of the characters) thought it would be… Completing the puzzle, the shorter segments offer some revelations that should get Dragaera fans really excited, including a dizzying look through the eyes of Devera the Wanderer, and some things it would just be cruel to spoil, as much as I want to talk about them here… If you’re not reading the Dragaera novels yet, you’re missing out on some of the smartest and most entertaining fantasy around. Read the rest.

Sleight of Hand by Peter S. Beagle

Peter S. Beagle will probably always be best known for The Last Unicorn, the 1968 fantasy novel many consider his masterpiece, but the author has assembled a long and impressive bibliography since this perennial classic, including several excellent short story collections. The most recent of these is Sleight of Hand, recently released by Tachyon. If all you know of Peter S. Beagle is The Last Unicorn, this is as good an opportunity as any to jump in and explore the author’s shorter works. Sleight of Hand offers thirteen stories that stretch to the far corners of the fantasy field, from cute children’s tales to ghost and werewolf stories, from traditional, straightforward narratives to more challenging fiction, and from humor to the most painful emotions… Just like all the great authors working in the genre, Peter S. Beagle uses fantasy to examine the most straightforward, non-fantastical, human aspects of our lives. In Sleight of Hand, he offers thirteen excellent examples of why he’s one of the better fantasists working today. Read the rest.

The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011 edited by Kevin J. Anderson

The Nebula Awards are one of the great institutions in science fiction and fantasy. Each year since 1965, the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) have voted for the Best Novel, Novella, Novelette, and Short Story in SF and fantasy. Compiling a list of the nominees and winners for all those years would get you an excellent reading list and a comprehensive cross-view of the best that can be found in the genres. To make this task easier, every Nebula Award since the first one has had a corresponding book that collected some of the stories, ballots and related texts. The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011, edited by Kevin J. Anderson, is the first one of these to be released by Tor… Taking a look at the Table of Contents for this anthology, it’s hard not to feel that this book offers truly excellent value for your money: it contains every single nominated short story and novelette on the final 2010 ballot, as well as the winning novella in its entirety… The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011 offers a wonderful and generous sample of the best SFF has to offer. It’s a great snapshot of the genre, presented in a wonderful format and at a very reasonable price. I’m already looking forward to next year’s installment! Read the rest.

City of Ruins by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

One of 2009’s most pleasant surprises was Diving into the Wreck, a short but excellent SF novel by Kristine Kathryn Rusch about Boss, a specialist in the exploration of derelict spaceships… In City of Ruins, the excellent follow-up to Diving into the Wreck, Boss runs a much larger operation and has become more of a manager than an explorer… City of Ruins has just about everything that made Diving into the Wreck great, and a few extras. Returning again is the fascinating protagonist, who just goes by the name “Boss.” She’s an intensely private control freak with an empathy deficit that borders on the pathological… City of Ruins is an excellent novel that combines adventure and excitement with solid world-building and subtle narration. By the time you turn the final page, you’ll be very eager to find out where Kristine Kathryn Rusch is going to take this series next. Recommended — but make sure to read Diving into the Wreck first. Read the rest.

The Best of Stephen R. Donaldson by Stephen R. Donaldson

Stephen R. Donaldson will probably always be best known for his novels: the epic fantasy series THE CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT, the wonderful fantasy diptych MORDANT’S NEED, and — my personal favorite — the dark science fiction GAP CYCLE. However, Donaldson has also produced a number of great short stories and novellas throughout his career. So far, these could mainly be found in his two collections, Daughter of Regals and Other Tales (1984) and Reave the Just and Other Tales (1999), but thanks to the nice folks at Subterranean Press, you can now also get a solid sample of the author’s shorter works in The Best of Stephen R. Donaldson, a generous slab of fiction that includes the two title novellas from his previous collections and nine other stories. Aside from “Daughter of Regals,” which opens the collection, the stories are presented more or less in the order in which they were originally published, making this one of those books that seems to get better with every story… If you’re not familiar yet with the shorter works of this masterful author, The Best of Stephen R. Donaldson is a great way to get caught up. Read the rest.

Low Town by Daniel Polansky

… Low Town is a dark novel about cynical people in a grimy part of town. Its main characters are street hustlers, petty criminals, and corrupt cops. It’s set in a part of the city where actual law enforcement officers tread lightly and a rough sort of justice is usually enforced by whichever crime lord runs that particular area… Low Town is a strong, confident debut that should go down well with readers who enjoy their fantasy on the noir side. It’s a novel you can enjoy for its atmosphere as well as its story, full as it is of well-drawn scenes from the city’s underbelly. It’s also a tightly written book, which is something many people will appreciate in an age of novels with dramatis personae lists that take up several pages. Low Town delivers a fast, entertaining story in fewer pages than it takes some major epics to get out of the realm of basic exposition. I had a blast with Low Town, and I’m definitely keeping an eye out for whatever Daniel Polansky comes up with next. Read the rest.

Awakenings by Edward Lazellari

…Awakenings is an intriguing and inspired debut. It’s not perfect, but it’s more than good enough to have me eager to get my hands on the next book in this series. Edward Lazellari’s prose is confident, his characters are intriguing, and he knows how to pace the story in such a way that your attention stays focused, even with the frequent changes in perspective. He drops several hints about the broad setup of his fantasy universe, but mostly plays his cards close to the vest, leaving the reader curious about where this story will be going next. Grab a copy of Awakenings if you’re looking for a tight and thrilling contemporary fantasy that holds the promise of a dramatically widening scope in future novels. (Alternatively, grab it for the beautiful and mysterious cover illustration, which is yet another stellar job by Chris McGrath.) Read the rest.

The Highest Frontier by Joan Slonczewski

It’s been about a decade since Brain Plague, Joan Slonczewski’s last novel, came out, but I’d bet good money that more people instead remember the author for a novel that’s by now, unbelievably, already 25 years old — the wonderful and memorable A Door into Ocean, which won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Now, ten years after her last novel, Joan Slonczewski presents The Highest Frontier, another insightful exploration of hard SF concepts, married to a thrilling plot and filled with believable and fascinating characters.

The Highest Frontier is one of those novels that kicks into high gear right from the beginning, throwing a ton of new concepts and terms at the reader and then gradually filling in bits of information until you get your bearings. Just look at the very first chapter, with references to an anthrax-powered space elevator, an Earth-orbiting habitat called Frontera, an alien invasion by “ultraphytes,” an internet-like system called “Toynet,” the Unity and Centrist political parties, the “Cuban Kennedys,” robotic bodyguards, and so on. Because of this, the first few chapters are both wonderful and a bit bewildering, but fortunately Slonczewski is such a good storyteller that she easily captures the reader’s interest until everything starts to come together. Read more »

Necropolis by Michael Dempsey

Paul Donner, a New York police officer who was murdered in the early 21st century, finds himself brought back to life several decades later, in the wake of a viral attack that caused the “Shift.” Donner becomes part of the new underclass known as the “reborn”: reanimated corpses who gradually grow younger and who aren’t exactly appreciated by the living segment of New York’s population, trapped under the geodesic Blister that protects the rest of the world from the Shift virus. Lost in an unfamiliar future, Donner begins a quest for vengeance, uncovering secrets that are much larger than he initially expects. So begins Necropolis, the darkly entertaining “debut” novel by Michael Dempsey… Read more »

Planesrunner by Ian McDonald

I’m a pretty big fan of Ian McDonald, so when I learned that a brand new novel by the author was on the way, I got suitably excited. Then, when I found out that the new novel would be the start of a series, and that this series would deal with alternate dimensions and multiverse-type ideas (very different from his last few books), I got really excited. And then, when I discovered that the series would be a young adult series — well, it took me a while to come down from that one. So, here it is: Planesrunner, book one in Ian McDonald’s brand new EVERNESS series, which — based on this first novel — I hope will be a very long series of YA science fiction novels. Boy, this book was fun… Read the rest.

The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow by Cory Doctorow

When we meet Jimmy Yensid, the hero of Cory Doctorow‘s novella The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, he is aboard his giant mecha and hunting down a wumpus in the abandoned city of Detroit, until he comes under attack from a rival group of mechas. The resulting action scene is spectacular — and really made me want to dig out my ancient Mechwarrior games — but as you’d expect from Doctorow, there’s much more going on than meets the eye.

Jimmy is a transhuman boy, genetically engineered to be as close to immortal as you can get. The wumpuses are ravenous mechanical monsters who consume any non-organic matter they find and recycle it into arable soil. Meanwhile, Jimmy’s father is actually trying to preserve Detroit, the last standing city in the United States, as a historical artifact. Read more »

Seed by Rob Ziegler

About a century from now, when Rob Ziegler’s excellent debut novel Seed starts, climate change has caused a new Dust Bowl in the Corn Belt, resulting in major famine across the United States. Most of the surviving population leads a nomadic existence, migrating across the ravaged landscape in search of habitable, arable land. Decades of war, resource depletion and population decline have left the government practically powerless. Gangs and warlords rule the land.

The only thing staving off full-blown starvation is Satori, a hive-like living city that produces genetically engineered drought-tolerant seed. Its population is a mix of transhuman Designers, Advocate warriors and “landrace” Laborers. When one of Satori’s Designers leaves the fold and goes rogue, the desperate U.S. government sends the ex-military Secret Service Agent Sienna Doss to track her down. Read more »

Debris by Jo Anderton

Tanyana is a talented and celebrated architect. She’s one of the elite, someone who can control “pions,” allowing her to manipulate matter with a thought. She’s high up in the air, working on a towering statue, shaping the raw matter around her into art, when suddenly she finds herself under attack by strange, uncontrollable pions. When she regains consciousness after a horrible fall, it becomes clear that she has suffered more than just physical injuries: she’s lost the ability to see pions and can now only see “debris,” a sludgy byproduct of pion manipulation.

In an instant, Tanyana’s charmed life comes to a grinding halt. While unconscious and recovering from her injuries, a tribunal has already found her guilty of negligence. Against her will, she is fitted with a strange powersuit and assigned to a team of debris collectors. Before long, the once-proud architect finds herself reduced to poverty, trudging through the poorest parts of the city with her team to gather the filthy debris in a constant race to make quota. Gradually, she learns more about the true nature of her suit, the history of pions and debris, and the true cause of her fall. Read more »

Context by Cory Doctorow

When you consider the entirety of Cory Doctorow‘s creative output, it’s actually a bit surprising that the first title in his bio (on his own site) is “science fiction novelist.” After all, if you add up the amazing amount of blog posts, magazine articles, newspaper columns, speeches and various other non-fiction he produces, I’m pretty sure that they would add up to more words per calendar year than his fiction, and in terms of visibility it’s quite possible that more people have seen his name connected to a blog post or newspaper column than on the cover of a novel.

Adding some balance to Doctorow’s bibliography, Tachyon Publications just released Context, his second collection of essays after 2008′s Content. Fans of the author will know what to expect, and for readers who are only familiar with Doctorow’s novels, this book is a great place to start and get to know one of the 21st century’s most interesting and prolific minds. Read more »

Faith by John Love

Three hundred years ago, a strange and seemingly invincible alien ship visited the Sakhran Empire. Exactly what happened is unclear, because the events were only recorded in the Book of Srahr, a text only Sakhrans are allowed to read. After the ship left, the Sakhran Empire went into a slow but irreversible decline.

Three centuries later, the Sakhrans have been assimilated into the larger interstellar empire known as the Commonwealth, when suddenly the strange, immensely powerful ship returns. The Commonwealth dispatches an Outsider, one of only nine in its ultimate class of warships, to stop this inscrutable enemy.

John Love’s stunning debut novel Faith is the story of this confrontation. Read more »

Dreamsongs Volume 1 by George R.R. Martin (ed.)

Dreamsongs Volume 1 is the first of two collections of short-form fiction that Martin wrote before A Game of Thrones hit the shelves. I’d already read a good portion of this material in the original collections which I bought directly from the author when he was selling them (out of print at the time) on eBay and Amazon Auctions. Still, it was good to re-read them again, not in the least because the book also contains five short autobiographical introductions describing how Martin started writing, how he sold his first stories, and so on. Read the rest.

Imager by L.E. Modesitt Jr

…I usually enjoy this author’s work very much, and Imager was no exception, despite the fact that it’s so recognizably L. E. Modesitt Jr.’s work that it verges on the predictable. I’m actually sure that some Modesitt fans could predict the early part of this novel’s plot just by looking at the included map: hmmm… looks like a city with a bunch of artist studio’s, and in the center there’s something called “Imager’s Isle”… so maybe we have yet another artisan (see: The Magic of Recluce) who discovers he has some strange power and ends up in a magical training organization of some sort? … Read the rest.

The Book of Dreams edited by Nick Gevers

The Book of Dreams is a small but satisfying collection of short stories that are thematically, albeit loosely, connected by the theme of “dreams.” … At just under 120 pages, The Book of Dreams may be a bit short, but it contains some great stories that justify the price of admittance, especially the contributions by Lucius Shepard, Jay Lake and Kage Baker… Read the rest.

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

… Shades of Grey is a good novel that, if anything, felt unbalanced to me. The setting is fantastic, but the characters are flat. The novel is at times hilarious, but the humor feels out of place in the dystopian setting. The novel is unique and never boring, but juggling these contrasts makes it almost uncomfortable to read. Still, I definitely want to find out more about the origins of the Colortocracy and am genuinely looking forward to Painting by Numbers, the next novel in the trilogy… Read the rest.

The Edge of Reason: Rationalism vs. religion

… The Edge of Reason is set in the present day but successfully ties the history of various myths and religions into its background. At times, the “religion = bad” message is a bit heavy (and I can imagine some people taking offense to it), but at the same time, it manages to turn this fantasy novel into a sharp social commentary that, depending on your political views, may or may not make you nod in agreement. Regardless, the connection between religion and a Chtulhu-type invasion is quite original — and it’s not every day you encounter a fantasy novel in which rationalism is good and magic is evil… Read the rest.

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

… Ship Breaker is a well-written, gripping SF novel… While I enjoyed Ship Breaker, and would recommend it to mature YA readers, I can’t help but wonder if this story wouldn’t have worked better as a regular, non-YA novel. Some of the darker concepts, situated on the periphery of Nailer’s story, are only broadly hinted at rather than described outright, which left me feeling frustrated and wanting to read more… Ship Breaker is a good novel with a likable protagonist, a gripping story, and a vision of the future that’s sadly becoming more probable by the day. If the grim realism of the environmentally ruined future described in The Windup Girl didn’t bother you, and you’re in the mood for something in the same vein but at a slightly easier reading level, definitely check out Ship Breaker… Read the rest.

Breakaway by Joel Shepherd

Breakaway, the second Cassandra Kresnov novel … starts off with a bang, throwing us right into a spectacular action scene with fascinating new side character Ari Ruben, then slows down noticeably with a description of Sandy enjoying the waves during a surfing trip on a day off. This rhythm of alternating breathless action scenes with slower-paced descriptions of local color and daily life continues throughout Breakaway… While I found that Joel Shepherd handled this two-speed narrative less effectively in this novel than in Crossover, making Breakaway less of a compulsive page-turner than its predecessor, this is still an immensely entertaining read… Read the rest.

Metatropolis by John Scalzi (editor)

… due to environmental change and political upheaval, the idea of national government has been superseded by something akin to city states… Each of the five stories collected in Metatropolis explores the concept of what such a city or society might be like in interesting, different and (mostly) successful ways. If you’re not sold yet, the list of authors reads like a veritable All Star team of current, interesting SFF authors: Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, Karl Schroeder and John Scalzi… On one level, the anthology has an important and relevant message about the state of our present society and the direction we’re heading in. On another, it’s just a great read with some truly memorable stories. Read the rest.

Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer

Robert J. Sawyer is a very reliable writer. His books rarely blow you away, but they’re always thought provoking, well crafted and very readable — and Rollback is no exception…. the book turns into a surprisingly moving and humane story about how to deal with being young again when the love of your life is still elderly. It’s a well-told story, at times very emotional, at others funny, and realistic to the point of making you dislike the main character… At only about 300 pages, Rollback is a fast read, at times very moving, and always entertaining. If you’re not familiar yet with the works of Robert J. Sawyer, this is a great place to start. Read the rest.

Empress of Eternity by L.E. Modesitt Jr

It’s hard not to get excited whenever L.E. Modesitt Jr. releases a new standalone sci-fi novel. Despite being better known for his various fantasy series than his science fiction, some of his best work can be found in the latter genre. Novels like The Parafaith War, Archform: Beauty, Adiamante and Haze (just to name a few) are wonderful examples of this amazingly prolific author’s talent when it comes to science fiction… Empress of Eternity is an impressive but somewhat impersonal novel. Especially in the first half of the book, the focus is more on societies than on the people that inhabit them, and more on ideas than on feelings. Mere human relationships simply pale in significance next to the climate issues and the sheer scale of the future history L.E. Modesitt Jr. displays here. As a result, Empress of Eternity is stunning in ambition and scope, but unfortunately a bit too dry to be as enjoyable as some of the author’s past SF works. Read the rest.

Imager’s Intrigue by L.E. Modesitt Jr

Imager’s Intrigue, the third novel in L.E. Modesitt’s IMAGER PORTFOLIO fantasy series, starts a few years after the events of Imager’s Challenge… The first third of Imager’s Intrigue is extremely exciting and possibly the most enjoyable part of the series so far. By now, Rhenn has become a fascinating, well-rounded character, and his adventures in the city of L’Excelsis, dealing with an increase in drug overdoses due to a suspiciously stronger variety of elveweed, lead up to a stunning mid-novel climax. After this, the novel slows down considerably as the main intrigue, which again combines local Solidar politics with an international plot, quickly gets very intricate… Read the rest.

The Bird of the River by Kage Baker

… The Bird of the River is the last novel by Kage Baker, who passed away earlier this year… Part coming-of-age novel, part adventure story, part social commentary, part whodunit, The Bird of the River is a charming, enjoyable fantasy novel that’s definitely recommended to readers who liked the author’s previous fantasy novels. Reading it, it’s hard not to feel sad that this is Kage Baker’s last novel. I’m sure she had many more great stories to tell, and it’s heartbreaking that we’ll never get the chance to read them… Read the rest.

Sympathy for the Devil edited by Tim Pratt

Please allow me to introduce Sympathy for the Devil, a fine new anthology filled entirely with short stories about the devil… who is, as we all know, a man of style and taste. However, you won’t just find the smooth-talking stealer of souls here… Sympathy for the Devil, edited by Tim Pratt, offers up 35 very diverse short stories (and one piece of poetry) which all, without exception, deal with the devil in some form. If that sounds a bit one-tone for an anthology, well — it is. If ever there were an anthology to nibble at intermittently, reading a story here and there instead of reading the whole book cover to cover, this is definitely it. In that sense, it’s almost perfect as a nightstand book — the only problem being that some of the stories are positively terrifying, and if you happen to have a significant other sharing your bedroom, you might get funny looks when he or she spots your collection of devil stories by the bed… Read the rest.

The Last Page by Anthony Huso

… The Last Page is a very busy novel, filled with everything from zeppelins to blood magic, from steampunk-like technology to Cthulhu-esque beings from beyond. There’s a lot going on, and the amount of plot lines sometimes makes it feel as if the author just decided to throw everything and the kitchen sink into his debut: there’s a love story, a war story, the mystery of the book mentioned in the title, a lot of politics, a complex family history, various rivalries and power struggles, and a lot more. If the book at times seems a bit chaotic and overwhelming, stick with it, because Huso improbably manages to keep most of the balls in the air… Despite some weaknesses, The Last Page delivers enough originality and excitement to rank as a noteworthy debut. This is a good novel that with some more polish could have been excellent, but nonetheless promises a bright future for a new and original voice in fantasy. Read the rest.

Echo City by Tim Lebbon

Echo City is a vast and ancient city in the middle of a huge, deadly desert. Its inhabitants have been isolated for thousands upon thousands of years and have come to believe that the city is actually all of the world, because venturing out into the surrounding desert is certain death… A feeling of hopelessness and loss permeates the entire book, from the ancient city, resting on countless millennia of isolated history and mercilessly ruled by a corrupt theocracy, to most of its characters who are, almost without exception, defined by what they have lost rather than what they are. Echo City is a gritty and at times unpleasantly dark novel that might remind some readers, at least in atmosphere, of China Miéville’s BAS-LAG novels… There are many more differences than similarities, though, and Echo City is a unique and impressive fantasy setting. Tim Lebbon excels in his ability to make the city seem like a real place… Echo City is a memorable dark fantasy novel with an impressively rich setting that could well be developed further in a prequel… Read the rest.

Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded is the second steampunk anthology edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, following 2008’s first installment. It contains about twice as many stories as its predecessor, but unlike the first collection the quality is more uneven here, resulting in a less impressive but still fascinating anthology that should please fans of the genre. While the first anthology only contained one story I was less than happy with, there are at least four or five in Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded that I could have done without. There are also a few stories here that are at best marginally connected to steampunk, although that probably depends more on how you define steampunk. After all, there are probably as many definitions of steampunk as there are readers… If you’re new to the genre, I’d still recommend picking up the earlier Steampunk anthology first, but this second collection contains enough excellent stories to make it worth your time if you want to dig a little deeper. Read the rest.

The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

… The Broken Kingdoms is a great way to continue the story begun in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms: even though there’s a brand new protagonist and ten years have passed, this second novel feels like a completely natural continuation. The story effectively builds on the events of the first book, and the returning characters, who are sometimes almost unrecognizable because we now see them from Oree’s perspective, play important roles in the new plot without taking away from Oree’s development. Especially the background information about the Gods’ War adds a welcome new dimension to the back story of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms… As for the new narrator, Oree is an interesting character in her own right, but she doesn’t have the same pull as Yeine, who made the first novel such a pleasure to read. While The Broken Kingdoms is a fascinating story, it doesn’t have the same hook as Yeine being thrown into a complex court and a disputed succession… One thing missing again, unfortunately, is a more in-depth look at the greater fantasy world… In the end, The Broken Kingdoms is a healthy second helping of what made the first book good, but with a different narrator, some new godlings, and a few new twists. It’s hard to imagine that you wouldn’t enjoy this novel if you liked The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms… Read the rest.

Book of Secrets by Chris Roberson

…Chris Roberson is a great storyteller who expertly reveals the layers of his tale… Finch is an interesting main character: a hard-drinking, chain-smoking investigator with a shady past and a chip on his shoulder. As the reader learns more about his past, it becomes increasingly clear that Book of Secrets is as much about Finch coming to terms with himself as about the mystery and arcana of the main plot… Book of Secrets is an incredibly entertaining and rewarding read for most of the way. Chris Roberson doesn’t spell everything out for the reader, instead leaving some hints and references that, if you catch them, will have your head spinning. If you have any interest in secret history/conspiracy stories, definitely check out Book of Secrets. Read the rest.

The Spirit Eater by Rachel Aaron

… The Spirit Eater mostly has the same strengths and weaknesses as the prior two books in the series. On the one hand, it’s once again an entertaining, fast-moving and occasionally funny story. You won’t be bored, that’s for sure. Rachel Aaron gives the impression that she simply enjoys writing, and that enjoyment is contagious. Her prose has a fun, sly tone to it that’s genuinely enjoyable to read… On the other hand, the novel again plays fast and loose with plotting and has a few twists that are less than plausible. It’s often best not to take everything too seriously and just go along for the ride. Despite the darker edge of the story and the new world-building details, these books are still more about entertainment than depth, but if you’ve read and enjoyed the first two books, you should have no problem with this and will probably love The Spirit Eater, as it’s the best book of the bunch so far… Read the rest.

God’s War by Kameron Hurley

Some reviews are harder to write than others. Take God’s War, the first novel by Kameron Hurley, an author whose blog I’ve been reading with interest. The book had a long journey getting published and has now, finally, reached the shelves thanks to the awesome folks at Night Shade Books. I was excited to get my hands on this book, because it’s in a sub-genre (or maybe more accurately, the cross-section of a few sub-genres) I love, has a number of features I usually appreciate in books, and seems completely and in every way like a book that I should love unconditionally… but despite enjoying and admiring much of it, God’s War didn’t completely deliver on my expectations… In the end, if you like your SFF dark and edgy, you simply have to give God’s War a try. Kameron Hurley is a promising new author with a distinctive voice and a terrific (not to say terrifying) imagination. There’s not a shred of doubt in my mind that, as she continues to write and evolve, we’ll be treated to some amazing novels by her in the future. Even if this first novel didn’t click 100% for me, I’ll be first in line to read whatever she produces next. Read the rest.

Home Fires by Gene Wolfe

…Home Fires is a good novel, but falls far short of what Gene Wolfe is capable of at his best. Part of the problem is that the vast majority of the story is told from the perspective of Skip Grissom, and Skip happens to be the least interesting component of this tale… Home Fires has a complex and interesting plot that expands in scope as more details are revealed. As is usually the case with Gene Wolfe, he offers more hints than explicit descriptions of his characters and especially his novel’s setting… there’s a lot of emotion roiling under the apparent calmness of the narration… even a minor Gene Wolfe is still a major event. As usual, there’s a lot of food for discussion here, and enough hidden or implied material to fill a much larger novel than Home Fires’ relatively modest 300 pages. Despite not working 100% for me, it still had my head spinning several times and kept me considering and re-considering elements of the story for days. Wolfe’s most recent novels have all ranged from good to great, but I can’t help but hope that, with his next work, he’ll reach the truly mind-bending ranges of his older classics again. Read the rest.

The Silent Land by Graham Joyce

…As a big fan of Graham Joyce, I was very excited to get my hands on his newest novel The Silent Land. I found the book to be good but not nearly as great as I’ve come to expect from this author. The main problem with the novel is its structure: weighing in at about 270 pages, the novel consists of over 250 pages of occasionally repetitive and monotonous build-up… To be fair, there’s also a lot to love in The Silent Land. Graham Joyce’s prose is, as usual, perfectly lovely. As Jake and Zoe explore their surroundings, there are a few mysterious encounters that are genuinely thrilling and will take on new meaning as you progress through the novel. The descriptions of skiing on the abandoned snowy slopes of the French Pyrenées are gorgeous. The ending will make you reconsider the entire preceding story in a completely different light… The Silent Land’s main weakness is that it simply takes too long to get to the final revelation, and even though that revelation is very powerful, it doesn’t take away from the fact that everything that came before could have been tightened up significantly… Read the rest.

Haven by Joel Shepherd

Haven is the fourth and final book in Joel Shepherd’s excellent A Trial of Blood and Steel… If an excellent fantasy series that’s low on magic and high on morally ambiguous characters and complex politics in the vein of George R.R. Martin’s A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE sounds good to you, I highly recommend checking out series opener Sasha, because these books are almost criminally under-read… Tracato was definitely the high point for me, because it was such a near-constant onslaught of the most grueling personal decisions and thrilling battles… Haven just didn’t grab me from the start the same way Tracato did, but Tracato was one of the most intense fantasy novels I’ve read in years, so if Haven is maybe a little less excellent than its predecessor, it’s still a good conclusion to a great series and more than worth your time. A Trial of Blood and Steel is an amazing fantasy series that should have a much wider readership. Based on the strength of this series and his previous Cassandra Kresnov SF novels, I can’t wait to read whatever Joel Shepherd decides to write next. Read the rest.

Embedded by Dan Abnett

News coverage of military conflicts changed forever when journalists were allowed to travel along with combat units and report right from the front line, providing dramatic real life images of what life is like for soldiers and civilians in a war zone. Dan Abnett effectively takes this concept of the “embedded reporter” into futuristic territory with his new military science fiction novel, Embedded… Dan Abnett has written an almost surreal number of comics and Warhammer novels, so it should come as no surprise that he knows how to tell a story… the first half of Embedded, focusing on Lex before being embedded and his first experiences afterward, is truly excellent, and while the second half is too repetitive, it’s still well-written and action-packed. This is a novel that almost begs to be turned into a sci-fi action movie, and it also sets up very effectively for a possible future sequel. If you’re a fan of military SF, definitely check out Embedded by Dan Abnett. Read the rest.

Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold

Cryoburn is the long-awaited new novel in Lois McMaster Bujold’s excellent VORKOSIGAN SAGA, following 2002’s Diplomatic Immunity. If you’re not familiar with this series yet and are in the mood for some intelligent, character-driven and consistently entertaining SF, drop everything now and go find the first few books. Almost all of them are conveniently available in affordable omnibus editions from Baen. You can start with the Cordelia’s Honor omnibus if you want to read the series according to internal chronological order, or Young Miles if you want to start where Miles Vorkosigan, the series’ unforgettable hero, really gets into gear… In a nutshell, Cryoburn is a good installment in a great series. I doubt that many long-time fans of the VORKOSIGAN SAGA would consider this one of the best entries in the series, but expecting that would put the bar almost impossibly high… the VORKOSIGAN SAGA, which is easily one of the best SF series of the last few decades. Read the rest.

The Sacred Band by David Anthony Durham

The most pleasant surprise about The Other Lands, the previous book in the ACACIA trilogy by David Anthony Durham, was that it broadened the scope of the series tremendously. The Sacred Band doesn’t expand the series’ fantasy world to the same extent as The Other Lands did. Rather, it builds on what came before, reveals a few new and interesting details, and brings the various plot lines to a satisfying conclusion that, at the same time, leaves the door open for possible future stories set in this world… The Sacred Band is easily the strongest novel in the trilogy… Looking back, I feel that the ACACIA trilogy has steadily been getting better as it progressed… The Sacred Band delivers a worthy finale that more than makes up for some of the bumps along the way. If you enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy, this is practically a must-read. Read the rest.

Scholar by L.E. Modesitt Jr

In a pattern that’s by now familiar for L.E. Modesitt Jr., Scholar marks a new beginning in the IMAGER PORTFOLIO series. The book is set several hundred years before the events portrayed in the three “Rhentyll” novels Imager, Imager’s Challenge, and Imager’s Intrigue. Because of this, Scholar shares no characters with the earlier novels in the series and can be read separately. However, if you haven’t read the Rhentyll novels yet and are in the mood for some good, thoughtful fantasy, I still recommend reading them first, just so you can see the events of the new novel in the broader historical context L.E. Modesitt Jr. likes to build for his fantasy worlds… Read the rest.

The Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan

The Clockwork Rocket, which is the first volume in Greg Egan‘s brand new hard science fiction trilogy ORTHOGONAL, is a book with three different but equally important focal points. On the one hand, it’s the story of a young woman who also happens to be a very alien alien. On the other, it’s a novel about a planet — a very alien planet — on the cusp of tremendous social change. And, maybe most of all, it’s a book about a universe with, well, alien laws of physics. Greg Egan successfully weaves these three threads into one fascinating story, but be warned: if you don’t like your SF on the hard side, The Clockwork Rocket may be a tough ride for you. Hard as it may be, it’s worth sticking with it, though. Read more »

The Postmortal by Drew Magary

It’s 2019, and the cure for aging is here. By sheer accident, scientists have identified the gene that causes aging. After receiving “the cure,” people can still get the flu, or cancer, or get murdered or die in car accidents, but the actual, biological aging process is halted so their bodies can theoretically keep going forever. The Postmortal is the story of John Farrell, a young estate lawyer who receives the cure early on and witnesses its effects on society firsthand.

The Postmortal is one of those old-fashioned science fiction novels that takes current — or at least very near-future — society as a starting point, adds one big scientific breakthrough, and then extrapolates its effects. Read more »

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

The first thing you should know about Theft of Swords is that it’s not a fine dining experience. This book is not the literary equivalent of going to a fancy restaurant and getting one of those huge plates that are mostly empty except for a tiny stalk of asparagus artfully drizzled with a delicate sauce. Instead, it’s more like sitting down hungry and getting a big, tasty burger you can just grab and sink your teeth into. (Vegetarians, please substitute for the vegetarian equivalent of a big, tasty burger. I’ve been trying to think of one, and I can’t. A veggie burger just doesn’t feel the same.) In other words, this book is straightforward. It’s huge. It’s low on subtlety but high on enjoyment. It is (and I fully realize this is not proper Literary Theory terminology) juicy… Read the rest.

Chasing the Moon  by A. Lee Martinez

… Chasing the Moon is an unabashedly zany comedic fantasy that combines Douglas Adams-style humor and a protagonist who could be the sister of Bridget Jones with horror in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft. It reads like a Twilight Zone episode with unusually expensive special effects and a team of writers who were smoking suspicious substances. It’s hard to imagine the words “cheerful” and “apocalyptic” applying to the same novel, but Publishers Weekly’s cover blurb is 100% correct: Chasing the Moon is just that novel… If you’re in the mood for an early-Pratchett-style, somewhat goofy comedic fantasy that’s heavy on the laughs and light on depth, then Chasing the Moon by A. Lee Martinez is a great choice. As mentioned before, it’s a bit of a one-joke show, but that didn’t spoil the fun for me because, hey, the joke is a good one. Maybe the best compliment I can give this novel, though, is that I am planning to read everything else A. Lee Martinez has written. If you pick Chasing the Moon up at the right moment, you’ll have a blast with it. Read the rest.

Nightchild by James Barclay

… In Nightchild, James Barclay basically does everything he did in the first two books of the CHRONICLES OF THE RAVEN, but just a little bit better. The novel is more tightly written, the characters have by now acquired some depth, and the plot is less simplistic. While the hectic pace of the first two novels occasionally lent them a cartoon-like quality, Nightchild is more evenly paced, better crafted, and simply a more enjoyable read… Read the rest.

In Between by R.A. MacAvoy

… As a newcomer to the works of R.A. MacAvoy, I enjoyed In Between, mainly because of Ewen, who deserves a full novel, but also because of the subtle spirituality of the story. At about 100 pages, this is a quick, enjoyable read that hopefully will be the base for a full-length novel in the future. Read the rest.

All the Windwracked Stars by Elizabeth Bear

All the Windwracked Stars is the first book in the EDDA OF BURDENS trilogy by fantasy and SF author Elizabeth Bear. The novel is a very original blend of fantasy, science fiction, steampunk and mythology, and while it has some weaknesses, its originality sets it apart in a genre that’s all too often filled with cookie-cutter material… Read the rest.

World’s End by Mark Chadbourn

… World’s End served up enough excitement, mythological depth, and interesting characters to keep me reading to the end. I’m usually not a big reader of contemporary fantasy or dark fantasy, but I definitely look forward to reading the next book in the series, Darkest Hour. Read the rest.

Darkest Hour by Mark Chadbourn

Darkest Hour is the second book in Mark Chadbourn‘s AGE OF MISRULE trilogy. As often is the case, the middle book in the trilogy is the darkest one, and if the title didn’t give it away, Darkest Hour is no exception. Thankfully, the novel contains enough excitement to make it a thrilling read that should please fans of the first book… Read the rest.

Always Forever by Mark Chadbourn

… If you enjoyed World’s End and Darkest Hour, you’ll find much to like in this concluding volume of the AGE OF MISRULE trilogy. While one of the twists in the climactic ending was definitely telegraphed too strongly, the final 100 pages or so are an action-packed thrill ride that combines the strongest elements of the trilogy and lead to a worthy finale that places the entire story in a new perspective… Read the rest.

Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard

Servant of the Underworld by Writers of the Future winner Aliette de Bodard is an interesting and, especially for a debut, well-executed cross-genre novel that successfully combines several disparate elements into a smooth cohesive story… Thanks to a solid mystery plot and Aliette de Bodard‘s extensive research into pre-Conquest Meso-America, this novel should strike a chord with more than just fantasy readers… Read the rest.

The Devil in Green by Mark Chadbourn

The Devil in Green takes place shortly after the end of Always Forever, the final book in Mark Chadbourn‘s Age of Misrule trilogy, which described the return to our lands of legendary creatures and gods, so old and powerful that their memories became the basis for many of our myths. Now the final battles are (seemingly) over, and humanity slowly tries to come to terms with the realities of the new Dark Age…The Devil in Green, like the Age of Misrule trilogy, is an enjoyable and fun (if dark) read, once again filled with realistic, current, eternally bickering characters, interesting mythological and historical tidbits, and a gripping, edge-of-your-seat story… Read the rest.

Speak to the Devil by Dave Duncan

…Speak to the Devil starts off as an enjoyable courtly adventure. Anton is a fun main character: cocksure, witty and brashly likable. The story is so smoothly narrated that the pages practically turn themselves… Just grab some popcorn and enjoy the ride… Because of its hectic pace and entertaining characters, the first half of Speak to the Devil is an enjoyable (if shallow) read, but the story becomes increasingly improbable as the novel progresses… Despite some flaws, Speak to the Devil is a fun, breezy novel that should please fans of Dave Duncan, as well as readers who are in the mood for a light, fast-moving adventure. Read the rest.

The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

…  The Lost Gate is the opening volume in the MITHER MAGES, Orson Scott Card’s newest fantasy series… On the plus side, The Lost Gate has an interesting magical system… Even more interesting is the setup of the fictional universe, with the two worlds, connected in the past but now separated, influencing each other. The way Card explains the history of the various religions and fictional creatures on Earth by fitting them into his magic system is very nifty. Other positives include Orson Scott Card’s reliably easy-flowing, page-turning prose style. The dialogue is often fun and snappy, although there’s some juvenile humor and repetitive banter that I could have done without… despite an annoying main character and some iffy plot elements, this remains a fast and entertaining read with a level of depth that’s intriguing and promising for future books in the series… it’ll be interesting to see how Orson Scott Card develops this intriguing fantasy universe. Read the rest.

Shadow’s Son by Jon Sprunk

… In the increasingly popular sub-genre of assassin fantasy (yep, I’ve decided to name it — set aside a shelf, Barnes & Noble), Shadow’s Son is a competent, entertaining, but unfortunately predictable new entry. What Jon Sprunk does best is pacing: the story starts off with a bang and never slows down, providing steady doses of action and excitement throughout the novel… Still, it speaks to Jon Sprunk‘s promise as a new author that he put together such a smooth read in his debut, and I for one am very curious to see what he’ll come up with in the future… Read the rest.

The Spirit Rebellion by Rachel Aaron

… If Rachel Aaron occasionally plays fast and loose with improbable plot manipulations, and if her characters are still a bit on the thin side, it’s usually easy to forgive because The Spirit Rebellion is once again an engaging, fun fantasy romp… Despite the novel taking a decidedly dark turn towards the end, The Spirit Rebellion is for the most part another entertaining, action-packed and slightly silly novel that should get readers excited for the series closer The Spirit Eater, due out in November. Your enjoyment of these books will vary greatly depending on how you approach them: if you’re, say, a book reviewer always on the lookout for flaws and plot holes, you’ll probably end up muttering to yourself quite frequently. On the other hand, if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief, go along for the ride, and (most importantly) not take everything too seriously, you’re once again sure to have fun with Eli, Miranda and company. Read the rest.

The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron

… The Spirit Thief is in some ways an old-fashioned sword and sorcery novel that focuses on Eli Monpress, the roguish wizard thief who’s out for adventure, fame and personal gain with his companions. The tone of the novel is so light that it’s almost breezy… Despite the action-packed plot, there’s lots of unabashed silliness in this story… it’s that it’s hard to pin down its tone. After the first few pages, I felt like Rachel Aaron was going for very early Terry Pratchett, focusing on jokes at the expense of a serious plot. However, the plot takes form once the (true) villain takes the stage, and Eli’s world takes shape as an edge of darkness creeps in. If Rachel Aaron can expand the scope and impact of the series without sacrificing its sheer fun and readability, THE LEGEND OF ELI MONPRESS could prove to be a winner. As it is, The Spirit Thief is a light but charming and highly entertaining novel that definitely piqued my interest for the next book, The Spirit Rebellion, due out from Orbit in November 2010. If you’re traveling over the holidays and looking for something quick, light and fun to read on the plane, this fast-paced and cheerful little novel would be a great choice. Read the rest.

Farlander by Col Buchanan

…Col Buchanan’s debut Farlander, book one of the Heart of the World series, is a promising but somewhat uneven series opener. Some aspects of this novel are extremely well done, and others don’t work quite as well… World-building is one of Farlander’s biggest strengths… The world of Farlander is simply fascinating, and not nearly all of its details and secrets are fully explained yet in this first book, which may be the main reason readers will want to read further into the Heart of the World series. In terms of characters, Farlander is a mixed bag… The oddest aspect of Farlander is its uneven pacing… Farlander is a promising start to the Heart of the World series. Occasionally the final execution isn’t as polished as it could be, but its fascinating new fantasy world and occasional flashes of great writing indicate that you might want to keep an eye on where Col Buchanan is taking this story. Farlander isn’t an unqualified winner, but I’m still sufficiently intrigued to give the next book in the series a try. Read the rest.

The Fallen Blade by John Courtenay Grimwood

…. Jon Courtenay Grimwood offers a vividly realized fantasy setting with this not quite historically accurate but still surprisingly realistic version of “la Serenissima,” the Serene Republic of Venice. You’ll get many authentic looks at what life in this amazing city-state must have been like, from the perspectives of both the rich and the poor… the setting of The Fallen Blade is one of its real strengths. It’s unfortunate that Grimwood took this intriguing starting point and overloaded it with what seems like enough material for at least another novel or two… My experience with The Fallen Blade frequently swung from bewilderment to enjoyment and back, but one thing’s for sure: it’s never boring… Jon Courtenay Grimwood delivers with The Fallen Blade, book one in a series that promises to be a wild, improbable adventure in Renaissance Europe and possibly beyond. The novel is far from perfect and occasionally strays into full-on pulp territory, but there’s so much happening that it’s hard not to be entertained. Read the rest.

Vegas Knights by Matt Forbeck

…Vegas Knights is a fun, entertaining urban fantasy novel that starts off with a bang and rarely slows down. Matt Forbeck gives the reader a great feel for what it’s like to gamble and party in Vegas, and combines this with an exciting and action-packed plot. As someone who’s spent a good amount of time in the “City of Lost Wages,” I felt that Matt Forbeck recreated the atmosphere of the place very effectively, even while adding a few fictional casinos (and of course, well, magic) on the Strip. A large part of the first half of Vegas Knights is one long and excellent action scene that’s genuinely exciting and impossible to put down… Unfortunately things take a turn for the worse in the second half of Vegas Knights. The novel starts out as a fun, somewhat shallow but very entertaining magic-in-Vegas caper, but it turns just a bit too silly and frankly verging on the ridiculous towards the end… if you don’t take it too seriously, you’ll have a blast with this novel. Vegas Knights is far from perfect, especially towards the end, but it’s hard to imagine a more appropriate book to bring along and read by the pool if you’re planning a Vegas trip. Read the rest.

The Devil’s Diadem by Sara Douglass

The Devil’s Diadem, a new standalone novel by Australian author Sara Douglass, is set in a realistic but fictional version of early 12th century England… The Devil’s Diadem combines elements of historical fiction, fantasy and horror and offers a realistic look at what life must have been like in noble circles in 12th century England, especially when it comes to the role and position of women. These detailed glimpses of life at a medieval court were my favorite parts of the novel… The pace is sedate at first but eventually picks up a bit as the plot gets going… The authentic, historical feel of the novel combined with the surprising final twist were enough to flip the novel from “average” to “good” for me, but I’m not sure if everyone will stick around long enough to get the full story. Because of this, I’d mainly recommend The Devil’s Diadem to people who enjoy historical fantasy, Sara Douglass’ previous works (especially her trilogy THE CRUCIBLE, which it shares some characteristics with) or both. Read the rest.

The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer

… The first half of The Whitefire Crossing is excellent, entertaining adventure fantasy. The descriptions of the journey through the Whitefire mountains are fascinating… Unfortunately, The Whitefire Crossing loses steam in the second half, once the caravan arrives in Alathia. The tension and beauty of the mountain scenes disappear and are replaced by a more standard fantasy plot… If I could give star ratings to separate sections of novels, the first part of The Whitefire Crossing would get a solid 4 stars. The rest isn’t quite as good, but Courtney Schafer still shows that she can write a compelling and original fantasy story with original world-building, interesting characters, and surprisingly confident prose. The Whitefire Crossing is a fun fantasy adventure that’s incredibly polished for a first effort… there’s real promise here for many good stories to come. Read the rest.

In His Majesty’s Service by Naomi Novik

… I enjoyed meeting Temeraire and Laurence, but in retrospect I wish that I’d stopped reading at the end of His Majesty’s Dragon, and I am not planning to read any further books in this series. Still, I would recommend His Majesty’s Dragon to any fantasy fans who have an interest in the Napoleonic era, dragons, or (ideally) both.  Read the rest.

Noonshade by James Barclay

Noonshade is another wild action movie in the shape of a novel, full of adventure, battles and magic. What it lacks in depth, style, and originality, it makes up for in entertainment value and pace. If you enjoyed Dawnthief, there’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll enjoy Noonshade just as much. Read the rest.

Dawnthief by James Barclay

… Dawnthief is the literary equivalent of an entertaining action movie. You’re not going to, say, a Michael Bay movie for the deep characterization, multi-layered plot or artful cinematography. You want fast-paced action, fights, special effects, straightforward escapist fun. Dawnthief delivers all of those in spades. What it doesn’t deliver: well-rounded characters, an unpredictable plot, any semblance of depth…  most surprisingly of all, I’m actually looking forward to reading Noonshade. Read the rest.

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

… After more than 35 novels in the series, reading a new DISCWORLD novel feels like visiting an old friend. It’s pleasantly familiar, meets certain expectations, and doesn’t pose any challenges. It’s the literary equivalent of comfort food. Because of this, Unseen Academicals will probably please many fans, but as much as it pains me to say it, I’d consider it one of the weaker novels in an otherwise excellent series, and definitely a far cry from the brilliance of some of the earlier DISCWORLD books. Read the rest.

The Edge of Ruin by Melinda Snodgrass

… Unfortunately The Edge of Ruin is not quite as strong as the first novel in the EDGE series… The Edge of Ruin never gripped me like The Edge of Reason did… if you enjoyed The Edge of Reason, I still suggest picking up The Edge of Ruin. It’s not quite as impressive as the first novel, but if, like me, you were hooked by the start of the story, I’m sure you’ll want to know how it continues. It’s not an ideal sequel, but Richard Oort is still a fascinating protagonist, the concept for the novel is still quite original, and I’m still eager to see where Melinda Snodgrass will take the story in the next novel. Read the rest.

Stormlord Rising by Glenda Larke

Stormlord Rising, the second novel in Glenda Larke’s WATERGIVERS trilogy, starts right where The Last Stormlord left off… With almost every main character forced into a situation they don’t want be in right from the start, this novel is a darker and, unfortunately, less enjoyable story than its predecessor… Even if I occasionally groaned at some corny dialogue and predictable plot twists, it was exciting to revisit the Quartern in Stormlord Rising. The setting is still fascinating, and the theme of water conservation remains relevant. Despite a few slow spots and some repetition, the novel is otherwise fast-paced. We also learn more about the mysterious Watergivers and the history of the land, which, together with the novel’s action-packed plot, kept me interested enough to finish this second part of the WATERGIVERS trilogy and left me looking forward to finding out how the story ends in Stormlord’s Exile… Read the rest.

At the Queen’s Command by Michael A. Stackpole

… At the Queen’s Command is essentially a fantasy twist on the colonial side of the Seven Years’ War and the first stirrings of the Revolutionary War, with future books in the CROWN COLONIES series probably focusing more on the American Revolution… The first half of At the Queen’s Command is a pleasure to read… If we could rate parts of novels, the first half of this one would get four stars. Unfortunately, At the Queen’s Command takes a turn for the worse in its second half… Still, despite some issues, At the Queen’s Command is an entertaining novel. Even though my opinion of the book dropped considerably as it progressed, I am still interested in finding out how the story continues in Of Limited Loyalty, the second book in the CROWN COLONIES series… Regardless, if you enjoy historical fantasy in the vein of Naomi Novik and are willing to forgive the usage of some stock characters, definitely give At the Queen’s Command a chance. Read the rest.

The World House by Guy Adams

… The World House takes too long to get to the point… When everything finally starts to come together towards the end of the novel, The World House suddenly gets quite interesting. The final revelation of what’s really going on is actually nothing short of great. Unfortunately, before you get to that point, Guy Adams spends about a quarter of The World House setting up the various characters, and most of the rest of the book putting them through their paces in the house, leaving too little time to wrap things up. Even though the separate story-lines are well-written and never boring, and it eventually turns out that, yes, everything did have a point and a connection, what comes before that point may be so frustrating for some readers that they don’t even make it to the eventual pay-off. Still, if the plot summary of this novel strikes your interest and you don’t mind taking not one but several long and winding roads to reach a satisfying conclusion, you may want to check out The World House. Read the rest.

The Shadow Men by Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon

The Shadow Men is the fourth book in Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon’s THE HIDDEN CITIES series. If (like me) you’re not familiar with the previous books, it may be good to know that all four books can be read as standalone novels that share a common premise but (as far as I know) no major characters or plot elements. In the series’ fantasy universe, cities have something like a soul or consciousness, which is incarnated in a human “Oracle” who helps the inhabitants and the city itself. The previous three novels (Mind the Gap, The Map of Moments and The Chamber of Ten) were set in London, New Orleans and Venice respectively, and The Shadow Men takes place in Boston… The Shadow Men is smoothly written and fast-paced. It starts off with a massive hook and then relentlessly pulls the reader along.  The story rarely if ever slows down until it reaches the end, so if all you’re looking for is an action-packed urban fantasy novel, The Shadow Men will certainly deliver for you. If you’re looking for more, though, you may end up disappointed… Read the rest.

Empire State by Adam Christopher

Angry Robot is one of those publishers you just have to keep an eye on, because they come out with some unique, surprising fiction. Their books tend to defy genre conventions and often are impossible to classify. To mess with our heads even more, they then stick weird little filing instructions on them, such as “File Under: Fantasy [ Aztec Mystery | Locked Room | Human Sacrifice | The Dead Walk! ]” for Aliette de Bodard’s Servant of the Underworld, or “[The Mob & Magic | Ancient Secrets | Zombie Wizardry | Bet Your Life]” for Matt Forbeck’s Vegas Knights.

So when Angry Robot announced Adam Christopher’s Empire State and mentioned a Prohibition-era parallel universe in the book description, deftly combining two topics I dearly love, I couldn’t wait to get my copy. (And if you’re wondering, this one says: “File Under: Science Fiction [ Pocket Universe | Heroes or Villains | Speak Easy | Loyalties Divided ]”.) Unfortunately, Empire State didn’t entirely live up to my expectations, but there’s still a lot to love about this intriguing debut novel. Read more »

By the Mountain Bound by Elizabeth Bear

….. If you enjoyed All the Windwracked Stars and are curious about how it all started, definitely check out By the Mountain Bound. It contains some powerful scenes, tons of beautiful, poetic prose, and a highly original fantasy universe. However, while I have the utmost respect for Elizabeth Bear‘s talent, I simply didn’t enjoy By the Mountain Bound as much as I wanted to. Read the rest.

Steward of Song by Adam Stemple

Steward of Song is the sequel to Singer of Souls, an excellent and original urban fantasy novel by Adam Stemple. I enjoyed the first novel very much, but unfortunately wasn’t as impressed with this sequel. Singer of Souls had a great narrative curve, building up the plot and the tension very carefully, from a slow start to a gradual exposition to an explosive climax. I simply couldn’t put it down. Steward of Song maintains more or less the same pace all through the story, making this a less compulsive read. Read the rest.

The Queen of Sinister by Mark Chadbourn

… The Queen of Sinister feels completely separate from The Devil in Green: it’s set in the same world, but features all new characters and at least for now is unconnected to the first novel (although the author’s afterword hints that everything will be pulled together in the trilogy’s final novel, The Hounds of Avalon). Unfortunately the novel’s brand new set of characters just isn’t as interesting… The first two chapters of the novel are actually some of the most powerful and emotionally gripping in the series so far, but after this promising start, The Queen of Sinister falls flat… Here’s hoping that Mark Chadbourn will regain command of his formula and pull it all together convincingly in the trilogy’s final volume, The Hounds of Avalon. Read the rest.

Entangled by Graham Hancock

In the acknowledgments for his novel Entangled, Graham Hancock doesn’t just thank his family and his editor, but also “Ayahuasca,” the “visionary brew” used by Amazonian shamans to make out-of-body journeys into the realm of spirits. He also explains that the novel’s premise, characters, and plot resulted from visions brought to him by Ayahuasca. Given that information, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Entangled is — and I am choosing my words carefully here — a seriously weird book… despite its problems, Entangled is still an action-packed and often entertaining novel with a highly original concept. After all, it’s not every day you find a story in which the two protagonists live 26,000 years apart but still influence each other. Graham Hancock has obviously done a tremendous amount of research and invested a lot of time and effort in creating this story. Unfortunately, after the 20th or so mini-chapter ending on a cliffhanger, I genuinely had to fight the urge to launch Entangled across the room. Still, if you’re interested in shamanism, time travel or prehistoric fiction, or if you have anything by Carlos Castaneda on your bookshelves, Entangled might be right up your alley. Read the rest.

The Sentinel Mage by Emily Gee

… The Sentinel Mage reads quickly, and because Emily Gee knows how to tell a story, it reads smoothly too. The pages practically turn themselves, as they say. Unfortunately that’s about the only positive aspect of the book, because the story is so unoriginal and predictable that anyone who reads enough fantasy will probably have encountered at least one or two of its elements before. A prince with forbidden magic in his blood; a princess forced to marry an older noble; a young farmboy forced to flee his home… It almost feels like painting-by-numbers fantasy, which is unfortunate because Emily Gee’s story-telling skills are great and could have been applied to a much more interesting tale… If you’re in the mood for a light, fun fantasy novel and don’t mind some predictability and lack of originality, The Sentinel Mage by Emily Gee might be worth a try. Unfortunately, even though light popcorn fantasy can be fun at times, this popcorn is just a bit too bland and stale to be enjoyable. Read the rest.

Green by Jay Lake

… As a novel, Green is a mixed bag. There’s much to like here, and it isn’t hard to see why some readers raved about this book… Unfortunately a strong main character and lovely prose weren’t enough to make this novel work for me… I truly enjoyed the first 150 pages or so, but after a strong start, Green completely fell apart, to the point where I strongly considered giving up on it several times. If not for Jay Lake’s beautiful prose and some lingering curiosity about Green’s fate, I probably would have ditched this novel long before the end… In the end, it’s hard not to have mixed feelings about Green. Parts of the novel are excellent, while others are so poorly executed that it almost makes you forget about the good bits. Unfortunately, most of the better parts come early on, and the poor ones later, so by the time you reach the end of the novel you’re left with a bad taste in your mouth. I had high hopes for this novel, based on Jay Lake’s excellent short stories, but after turning the final page, I felt mostly disappointed that Green didn’t deliver on its early promise. Read the rest.

Roil by Trent Jamieson

… I’m often intrigued by the books Angry Robot puts out, because they frequently seem to straddle two or more genres. They’re hard to classify, and that alone often makes them interesting. Trent Jamieson’s Roil is another great example of this, as it combines elements of fantasy, science fiction, steampunk and horror, all wrapped in what, based on the blurb, looks like a pulse-raising apocalyptic adventure story. I had high hopes for this one, but even though Roil has some positive aspects, I came away mostly disappointed… Roil’s main strength is its inventive worldbuilding, but this is often overshadowed by its tendency towards the over-dramatic and its unsuccessful start that fails to build empathy for the characters and understanding of the novel’s setting. I tried very hard to like this book, but even after two readings, it just didn’t work for me. Read the rest.

The Extra by Michael Shea

…  At just under 300 pages, The Extra is thankfully a fast read, filled with battles, action scenes and snappy dialogue. It seems almost tailor-made to be turned into a movie, and as a matter of act, if your taste runs to action movies, The Extra may be right up your alley: it’s just as entertaining as a Michael Bay movie, and has about the same literary value… Read the rest.

The Swordbearer by Glen Cook

The Swordbearer is an early standalone novel by Glen Cook, originally published in 1982 and re-released by Nightshade Books in 2009. If you’re a fan of Glen Cook, whose CHRONICLES OF THE BLACK COMPANY are classics of the genre, this would probably be an interesting read, as you’ll be able to see some of the author’s themes and quirks taking shape. However, taken on its own, The Swordbearer isn’t anywhere near as good as some of Glen Cook‘s other works… Read the rest.

Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov

Shadow Prowler… pulls out every fantasy cliché in the book: elves, dwarves, orcs, ogres, goblins, guilds of thieves and assassins, and an evil overlord (the “Nameless One” ) who is about to awaken and take over the land with an army of evil beasties. Shadow Harold (yes, that’s his name) is a master thief who, against his will, gets involved in rescuing the world from said Nameless One. To do so, he must retrieve a magical doohickey from someplace dark and scary in, yes, the Desolate Lands. If you wanted to play a drinking game, taking a shot whenever Shadow Prowler matches up with entries in The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones, you’d be under the table in no time… Read the rest.

The Questing Road by Lyn McConchie

New Zealand author Lyn McConchie has written several novels with Andre Norton in that author’s WITCH WORLD and BEAST MASTER universes, so I was surprised that The Questing Road, though officially McConchie’s first solo fantasy novel, actually reads much like a debut novel. While there are a few moments of charm and sparkle, the characters are so flat, and the writing so uneven, that I would have easily believed this to be someone’s first attempt at a novel… I couldn’t get over The Questing Road’s weaknesses and had trouble staying motivated enough to finish the novel. When the ending turned out to be as uninspired as the rest of the novel, I found myself wishing I’d given up earlier. Read the rest.

The Hounds of Avalon by Mark Chadbourn

… If you absolutely loved the previous books in the AGE OF MISRULE and DARK AGE trilogies and are dying to find out how the story continues, The Hounds of Avalon will probably be right up your alley. If, like me, you weren’t falling over yourself to get to this book, especially after the comparative let-down of The Queen of Sinister, you’ll probably be even more disappointed in The Hounds of Avalon… while I could recognize The Hounds of Avalon’s qualities and see why some readers might gobble this one up, I finally realized that I just didn’t have any interest in finding out where the story was going. After having read about a third of the novel, I pronounced the Eight Deadly Words and decided to move on to something else. Read the rest.

Sword of Fire and Sea by Erin Hoffman

…For many reasons, I rarely give up on fantasy debuts, especially ones by authors from my hometown San Diego, but Sword of Fire and Sea by Erin Hoffman just didn’t have what it takes to keep me reading past the midway point — and even making it that far was a struggle… Erin Hoffman is a video game designer as well as an author, and it’s hard not to feel that this world and story would maybe have worked better as the template for an elaborate RPG. There are heroes and villains, lots of action, an interesting magic system and an intriguing fantasy universe. All this material obviously took a lot of thought and imagination, and it would be fun to explore it in an interactive format… but as a novel it unfortunately doesn’t work. I genuinely wanted to like this novel, so I kept going back to it to give it another try, but in the end Sword of Fire and Sea is one of the very few books I just couldn’t find the motivation to finish. Read the rest.