Fables Vol 10: The Good Prince (2008) Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Andrew Peopy

I’ve been reading Fables since 2005. And since then, I’ve pre-ordered the next in the series to get it the day it was released. Which tells you that this series is pretty fantastic.
For those who haven’t been playing along from the [...]

The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (2007) Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
I love short stories. Aside from collections by Charles de Lint, I best love anthologies by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling best. Their books are like comfort food, and I save them up for when I’m sick or feeling low.
In the same vein as The [...]

Serenity: Better Days Vol 3 (2008) Joss Whedon
And now I have to close yet another chapter of the Firefly/Serenity story.
I actually had to go back and reread the previous two, because I had forgotten some of the details, but that only drew me back further into a story and character that I enjoy. Only bad [...]

THUD (2005) Terry Pratchett
I’m not sure what it is about Terry Pratchett. I’ll see a new Discworld book, and think, yeah, he’s good, but I’m sure it can’t be as good as I remember, and so I’ll put off getting or reading the book for awhile, till several have backed up, then I’ll decided I’m [...]

Iron Kissed (2008) Patricia Briggs
I really like Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson series, so I’ve had Iron Kissed on pre-order since I found out it was available. I had to finish the book I was currently reading before I started this, but yesterday afternoon I picked it up and didn’t want to put it back down. [...]

Bangkok 8 (2003) John Burdett
Sonchai and his life-long friend and now partner in the Bangkok police force, Pichai, are following an American Marine through Bangkok, on the orders of the Colonel, the head of the police department in his sector. When the Marine is murdered and the woman he was with has disappeared, Sonchai–for now [...]

Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was (1984) Barry Hughart
I have a weakness for fantasy novels set in Asia–especially those set in ancient China. So when I saw Bridge of Birds on the shelf I immediately snatched it up.
A strange malady has struck the children of the village of Ku-fu. [...]

New Amsterdam (2007) Elizabeth Bear

Imagine North America where there was never a Revolutionary War against the British. Where England and France and Spain control North American colonies. France controls Canada and Louisiana. Spain controls the West Coast. And England still controls the original colonies.
It’s 1899. Magic and technology exist together. Despite the tensions between France [...]

Twilight Watch (2007) Sergei Lukyanenko
Translated by Andrew Bromfield

I tend to hoard books–when I buy a book I expect to be good, I’ll often wait several weeks before reading it, because it’s nice to have something I expected to be good in the line-up. But sometimes I’m looking forward to a book so much that I’ll [...]

Summers at Castle Auburn (2001) Sharon Shinn

I picked up Summers at Castle Auburn because I’d read another Sharon Shinn book and thoroughly enjoyed it. So when I came across Summers at Castle Auburn used I snatched it up, since I hadn’t seen it before.
Corie is the bastard daughter of a bastard lord. After her father [...]

Moonshine (2007) Rob Thurman

Moonshine is the sequel to Nightlife. Now that Cal and Niko have defeated the monsters who were trying to possess Cal, they have moved onto the more mundane task of simply living their lives–something they were never given the luxury to do when they were constantly on the run.
They’re currently working as [...]

What Angels Fear (2005) C.S. Harris

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is a somewhat dissolute young noble who returned from the Napoleonic wars far more bitter than when he left. A prickly relationship with his father and a willingness to fight duels have not helped his reputation, but he doesn’t much seem to care. However, when [...]

Day Watch (2006) Sergei Lukyanenko
Translated by Andrew Bromfield

The sequel to Night Watch, Day Watch contains another trio of stories about the Day and Night Watches in Moscow. The first story, Unauthorized Personnel Permitted is the story of Alisa Donnikova, a witch, and Other member of the Day watch we first came across in Night Watch. [...]

The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006) Scott Lynch

It’s somewhat difficult to classify The Lies of Locke Lamora. It’s definitely fantasy, but I haven’t come across a lot of fantasy like it. The closet comparison I can think of is Thieves’ World; the main characters are scoundrels and thieves, and no one is up to any [...]

Night Watch (2006) Sergei Lukyanenko
Translated by Andrew Bromfield

I picked up this book a month or two ago, even though I didn’t have time to read it, because I was afraid it would be one of those books that I never saw again if I didn’t get it then. Having read it, I am hoping that [...]

Fables: 1001 Night of Snowfall (2006) Bill Willingham

If you haven’t read Bill Willingham’s Fables series, then you have really been missing out. Fables tells of the characters–Fables–who have escaped the lands of fairy tales after they were drive out by the adversary, and are now living in New York, hiding their true nature from [...]

Swan Sister (2003) Ellen Datlow & Terri WIndling

I don’t think I’ve come across a short story collection put together by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling that I didn’t like, and Swan Sister is no exception to the rule.
The stories are fairy tales retold, by a variety of authors–many some of my favorites.
The collection opens [...]

The Privilege of the Sword (2006) Ellen Kushner

There are a handful of authors whose books I actively seek out, looking for crumbs of news of upcoming books: Sean Russell, Guy Gavriel Kay, Charles de Lint, and also Ellen Kushner. Well, July has been a good month for me; new Charles de Lint, and even more [...]

War for the Oaks (1987) Emma Bull

Wow. I’ve been bypassing this book for years. Initially, because wasn’t on the shelves. Then when the reprint came out, because the cover made it look like something I wouldn’t like.
Boy was I wrong.
And I shouldn’t have been, because I liked Freedom & Necessity, which she co-wrote with [...]

Past the Size of Dreaming (2001) Nina Kiriki Hoffman

The sequel to A Red Heart of Memories, Past the Size of Dreaming is superior to its predecessor. Which is impressive, because A Red Heart of Memories is very good.
Edmund and Matt and Suki are back at the House, and are gathering together Edmund and Suki’s old [...]

Mystic and Rider (2005) Sharon Shinn

I really liked this book. It’s a good, solid, and lovely fantasy.
Senneth is a mystic, leading a group through the country of Gillengarin upon the orders of King Baryn. In her group are two King’s Riders, sent along, but unsure of Senneth and where her loyalties lie.
First and foremost, [...]

Fables Vol 6: Homelands (2005) Bill Willingham

I broke one of my cardinal rules with Fables, which is don’t get involved in an ongoing series. Of course, I didn’t realize I was breaking my rules at the time, but I could have stopped earlier in the series, and waited. But I didn’t. Because the story is [...]

Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth (2006) Simon R. Green

To be honest, I was less than pleased with the last Nightside book, Paths Not Taken. The story was good, but I had a hard time accepting that John Taylor was really as cold-blooded as he came off. Luckily, Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth returns to the [...]

Brokedown Palace (1986) Steven Brust

I don’t know how long it’s been since I read Brokedown Palace, but it was long enough ago that I didn’t remember any of the story, and I don’t think I’d yet read many of his books other than the first couple Vlad Taltos books. Which meant that there were plenty [...]

Spirits in the Wires (2003) Charles de Lint

I’ve reviewed this book previously. This entry is simply to allow me to keep track of how many books I’ve read this year.
Rating: 9/10

Jack of Kinrowan (1995) Charles de Lint
Jack of Kinrowan is actually two books: Jack the Giant Killer and Drink Down the Moon.
In Jack the Giant Killer, the Seelie Laird of Kinrowan’s daughter has been stolen by the Unseelie Court, despite the fact that she was being escorted by the Gruagagh. And the Unseelie Court also [...]

Sethra Lavode (2004) Steven Brust

Sethra Lavode concludes The Viscount of Adrilankha trilogy. Morrolan is ensconced in Castle Black and learning Sorcery as well as more about Blackwand, Zerika is settled into Adrilankha and attempting to consolidate power and call a Meeting of Principalities to legitimize her reign, while Kana, who still retains a hold in [...]

Five Hundred Years After (1994) Steven Brust
If you have read the Vlad Taltos books, then you already know the outcome of Five Hundred Years After: Adron’s disaster, which lead to the Interregnum. But what we don’t know, is the story that leads up to Adron’s disaster. Why did Adron act in the manner he did? [...]

Issola (2001) Steven Brust
Issola, for reasons about which I am not quite clear, is one of my favorite Vlad books. I think it’s because I like Lady Teldra so much, but it could also be the fact that Vlad is back to spending time with with Morrolan and Aliera and Sethra Lavode.
Set after Orca, [...]

Dragon (1998) Steven Brust
I really like Dragon. It’s fun, it’s well-written, and I particularly like some of the observations that Vlad makes about life and war.
For the most part, Dragon takes place soon after Taltos, however, a few parts of the story take place after Yendi. And if you think that’s confusing, you’re right.
Vlad [...]