Author: Charles Tan (GUEST)

The Duke in His Castle: Slow build-up, big pay-off

The Duke in His Castle

The novella The Duke in His Castle starts out like a conventional fairy tale but it soon spirals into a plotty story with unexpected twists. Admittedly, the book didn’t hook me at first, especially with its rude protagonist (not quite the initial sympathetic hero but some readers will grow fond of him) and the bare-bones setting (everything takes places in a castle) but Vera Nazarian turns things around as the enigma surrounding our main character slowly unfolds.

There are two key figures in the story and both have distinctive,

The Secret History of Moscow: Russian mythology makes an enchanting story

The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia

Much praise has been attached to The Secret History of Moscow and I can understand why. Ekaterina Sedia weaves an enchanting story drawing from both Russian mythology and history. I’m not really familiar with Russian myth (or history for that matter) but that didn’t hindered me from appreciating this novel. I expect that readers more educated in those areas will appreciate all the allusions Sedia includes in The Secret History of Moscow.

However,

The Vampire Chronicles: Vampires and gumshoes

THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES Vol 1: BloodList, LifeBlood, BloodCircle by P.N. Elrod

The Vampire Chronicles compiles the first three books in P.N. Elrod’s series featuring Jack Fleming who, in case you haven’t deduced by the title, is a vampire.

What makes this series different from most other recent vampire novels is that Elrod combines an old familiar trope with something familiar but not usually associated with vampires: noir detectives. Her characters are believably of the gumshoe type and include those hopeful yet gray sensibilities that were products of that era.

July 6th, 2009. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | P.N. Elrod | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Hart & Boot & Other Stories: By Tim Pratt

Hart & Boot & Other Stories by Tim Pratt

Tim Pratt’s second short story collection, Hart & Boot & Other Stories, features 13 stories that tackle various concepts and genres. While most of the stories still retain that mythology-inspired influence that is undeniably Pratt, they tend to have more closure compared to the stories in the previous collection. They’re nonetheless quick and easy reads, however, and anyone can get immersed in Pratt’s writing style.

Somehow, Tim Pratt manages to write stories called “Romanticore” and “Lachrymose and the Golden Egg” yet end up with a serious,

Cartomancy: Fun middle book ends in a cliffhanger

Cartomancy by Michael A. Stackpole

It’s not uncommon for the second book in a fantasy trilogy to suffer the middle-book syndrome — a transition novel that doesn’t live up to the quality of the preceding volume but is essential in appreciating the third. Thankfully, that isn’t the case with Cartomancy, the sequel to A Secret Atlas.

In fact, Cartomancy is more exciting because Michael Stackpole planted the seeds in the first novel and what you get here is all the action and excitement.

June 17th, 2009. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | Michael A. Stackpole | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Best American Fantasy: Literary and adventurous fantasy stories

Best American Fantasy by Jeff VanderMeer (ed.)

The first thing that stands out is that if I merely stuck to looking for fantasy stories from the usual sources, I probably wouldn’t have come across many of the short stories in this anthology. And that I think is the strength of Best American Fantasy — that it reprints stories some genre readers were never aware of. That’s not to say this doesn’t have its fair share of “expected” stories but for the most part, it’s been a real treat.

Ill Wind: Not brain food, just a guilty pleasure

Ill Wind by Rachel Caine

Ill Wind is the first book in Rachel Caine’s urban fantasy series Weather Warden. The book stands well on its own and doesn’t have any of those nasty cliffhangers so often found in fantasy series, but it still keeps you interested in what happens in the next book.

Ill Wind starts in the middle of the action and I was impressed with the first chapter because Caine seamlessly juxtaposes the present with flashbacks and keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

June 11th, 2009. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | Rachel Caine | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Little Gods: An elegant collection by Tim Pratt

Little Gods by Tim Pratt

A friend of mine simply adores Tim Pratt and so my curiosity was piqued when I saw this short story collection in the bookstore. Little Gods isn’t thick by any means (at under 300 pages) but it does include 14 short stories.

First off, I really, really love the book design. Second, the book has an introduction by Michaela Rossner, and then an afterword in which Tim Pratt talks about his stories. As for the stories themselves, the adjective that best describes them is “elegant.” Whether Pratt’s stories are very,

Trial of Flowers: Leaves sophisticated readers wanting more

Trial of Flowers by Jay Lake

Despite having read two Jay Lake novels (Rocket Science and Mainspring), they didn’t prepare me for Trial of Flowers. This is an entirely different animal; Right from the outset you’re hit with stylistic language, a complex tapestry of characters and plot, and most importantly, a flat-out weirdness and originality that tends to be missing from most mainstream fantasy novels.

Lake juggles several characters, each with their own level of depravity, yet these are the characters you’re rooting for and sympathizing with. The setting — the City Imperishable — is quite distinct with its unconventionality: factions of boxed dwarfs,

Dreams of the Compass Rose: Unique format

Dreams of the Compass Rose by Vera Nazarian

Vera Nazarianemploys a fairly traditional and even romantic method of narration, but what makes Dreams of the Compass Rose unique is its format. It’s reminiscent of mosaic novels or even the high fantasy equivalent of Jack Vance‘s Tales of the Dying Earth as each chapter stands well on its own and explores a facet of the various characters. I like the Tales of the Dying Earth comparison, as a minor character in the previous story might take center stage in the next.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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