Definitely Dead (2006) Charlaine Harris First things first, this book had me laughing out loud, and reading passages to Michael. That usually only happens for Steven Brust books, but in multiple places Charlaine Harris nailed the dialog, and forced me to keep interrupting Michael game so he could laugh with me. Additionally, for those of […]
Moon Called (2006) Patricia Briggs I have to say, Moon Called was a lot of fun to read. I had no expectations of the book at all (I bought it because I liked other books by Patricia Briggs), so everywhere the story went was a surprise. And a pleasant surprise at that. Also, this book […]
Blood Trail (1992) Tanya Huff Okay, I did have a very strong drink to celebrate the end of the semester, so that may have been part of the reason why I laughed out loud several times last night while reading this book. Or, it could be that the book was actually amusing. Your call. Vicki […]
Runaways Vol 3: The Good Die Young (2004) Brian K. Vaughan And finally, the conclusion of the story arc started in Pride and Joy. We finally learn why the Pride formed, and what they were trying to do. And the teens finally resolve the problem. We also learn who the mole was, and why the […]
Dead As A Doornail (2005) Charlaine Harris Dead As A Doornail is the fifth book in Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire series, and full of complications and murder and danger. Someone is killing the double-natured, and since Sookie’s brother Jason was bitten, he’s in the same danger as the rest. I really liked several different things […]
Raven’s Shadow (2004) Patricia Briggs Yes, I am gouging myself on new books. I’d been very good, about not bought myself any books for several months, so I figure I’m entitled to a small binge–especially when I can find books on sale. Seraph, a Traveler, a mage, and the last of her clan, is saved […]
Fool Moon (2001) Jim Butcher Nope. I wasn’t at the bookstore right when it opened this morning, to get the second book in the Harry Dresden Files. The store had been open for at least twenty minutes when I got there. Plus, it was on the way to the grocery store. Fool Moon is set […]
The Onion Girl (2001) Charles de Lint First things first, this is an excellent book. It’s the Jilly book that you always wanted, getting inside her head and learning why she’s the way she is. However, I have to admit that this is one Charles de Lint book that I just don’t like to read. […]
Moonlight & Vines (1999) Charles de Lint The third Charles de Lint short story collection, Moonlight & Vines returns again to Newford. Although it starts and ends with a Christie Riddell story, and there are plenty of appearances by the characters with whom we’ve become familiar, there are also new characters, some we’ll meet again, […]
The Ivory and the Horn (1995) Charles de Lint The Ivory and the Horn is the second short story collection by Charles de Lint, and like Dreams Underfoot, is set in Newford, the mythical North American city, where mythical beings reside. Reading these short stories makes me wish there there really was a Newford, so […]
Dreams Underfoot (1993) Charles de Lint I believe that Dreams Underfoot is the first Charles de Lint book I bought. I may have read one of his stories somewhere (Now that I look, I may have first read “The Moon Is Drowning as I Sleep” in Snow White, Blood Red, and from there been sucked […]
The Lord of Castle Black (2003) Steven Brust The second volume in the Viscount of Adrilankha series takes up where the first left off, even going back a bit to cover events that occurred towards the end of Paths of the Dead Zerika is now Empress in name, but has yet to become Empress in […]
The Paths of the Dead (2002) Steven Brust For me, Steven Brust books are like potato chips; I can’t read just one. And so, having recently finished all the Vlad Taltos book, The Phoenix Guards, and Five Hundred Years After, there was nothing to do but read The Viscount of Adrilankha. The Paths of the […]
Orca (1996) Steven Brust Set about a year after the events of Athyra, Vlad has wandered into Northport in search of a sorcerer who might be able to cure Sven, the Teckla boy who lost his mind during the events of Athyra. He finds one, however, her price is keeping her from being evicted from […]
The Golden Key (1996) Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, Kate Elliot At 889 pages, The Golden Key is a very long book. Admittedly, I have not had a lot of time for reading, but even so, more than a week for me to read a book is really slow. Part of the reason is that the […]
The Assassin’s Edge (2002) Juliet E. McKenna The fifth and final book of the Einarinn series, The Assassin’s Edge tells of how Ryshad, Livak, Temar, and others seek to finally make Kellarin secure against invaders from the Ice Islands. This is, far and away, the best book of the series. Juliet McKenna does a wonderful […]
For Camelot’s Honor (2005) Sarah Zettel In a burst of paranoia, I held of reading this book, for fear that it wouldn’t be as good as the previous in this series, In Camelot’s Shadow. Once again I was proven to be just that–paranoid. I was pleased to discover that Sarah Zettel did a good job […]
A Great and Terrible Beauty (2003) Libba Bray I picked this book up because the cover caught my eye. I think it’s the corset, which looks both authentic and terribly uncomfortable (or so says the eternal tomboy). Then I read the title and had to know more. Before the book starts, Libba Bray quotes part […]
Agents of Light and Darkness (2003) Simon R. Green >In the second Nightside book, John Taylor, back working in the Nightside, but still living in the Real World, is hired to find the Unholy Grail, so that it can be returned to the Vatican. I really liked this book. We learn a little more about […]
The Queen of the South (2002) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Andrew Hurley If you’d like to know the power of Arturo Perez-Reverte’s writing, pick up this book, read a few pages, then put the book down and try to forget the story. A couple of months ago I picked up a book, thought it looked […]
The Innkeeper’s Song (1993) Peter S. Beagle I read The Innkeeper’s Song several years ago–probably soon after it was published, and I picked it up solely on the strength of its cover. I’m a sucker for fantasy books with strong females, and the three women on the cover–especially Lal on the left–look strong. Well, I […]
The Sandman Vol 10: The Wake (1996) Neil Gaiman The final book in The Sandman collection, volume 10, The Wake tells of the funeral of Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, and of how Dream rebuilds his realm, and meets the rest of his family. I particularly like seeing how Matthew comes to terms with Dream’s […]
Cryptonomicon (2000) Neal Stephenson It’s been awhile since I’d read Cryptonomicon, although it came out more recently than I remembered. For some reason I thought it came out in 1997. Memory is funny like that. It is a hard book to categorize. It’s part history, part fiction, part mystery, and very technical. As I read […]
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1999) John Berendt I read this book several years ago, after listening to the abridged version as an audio book. I was looking for something that I could read a little bit of and put down, so this seemed a good choice. Author John Berendt traveled to […]
Rising Stars: Visitations (2002) J. Michael Straczynski Published between Power and Fire and Ash, Visitations gives some background stories. The first story, Rising Starts, is a quick history of what caused the specials, an excerpt of Dr Wells’ diary, and the Supreme Court opinion on how the specials were to be treated as children. Plus […]
Anansi Boys (2005) Neil Gaiman All summer I went back and forth over whether I was going to get Neil Gaiman’s new book Anansi Boys in hardback, or wait until it came out in paperback. On one hand, I greatly prefer paperback books–they’re smaller and lighter. On the other hand, I really didn’t want to […]
The Sandman Vol 5: A Game of You (1992) Neil Gaiman Barbie, who we first met in The Doll’s House, has moved to New York City after her break-up with Ken. She hasn’t dreamed for two years, when she was pulled into the dream vortex created by Rose Walker, but Barbie’s Dreamworld is not content […]
Shakespeare’s Counselor (2001) Charlaine Harris My complaint about this book is that it was too engrossing. I laid down just to read a couple of chapters, and two hours later I found myself two-thirds of the way into the book, and not going to sleep early as I’d planned. Here I felt bad and wanted […]
Shadows of Myth (2005) Rachel Lee A woman awakens amidst carnage, with no memory of what has happened or who she is. Elsewhere, in her father’s inn Sara remembers her lost mother as she helps to prepare for the fall harvest, despite the fact that the harvest was bad and winter seems to have came […]
Fables Vol 2: Animal Farm (2003) Bill Willingham Fables who can’t pass as human live on “The Farm”, where they are hidden from the mundanes. Every year Snow White, the assistant mayor of Fabletown, visits “The Farm” to see how things are going. This year she takes her sister, Rose Red, partially as part of […]
The Firebird’s Vengeance (2004) Sarah Zettel The Firebird’s Vengeance is Sarah Zettel’s third book Isavalta book, set soon after the events of A Sorcerer’s Treason. Bridget Lederle is contacted by the Vixen, who warns Bridget that the Firebird is coming to take revenge upon Isavalta and Hung-Tse. She also poses an enigmatic question about Bridget’s […]
The Blue Girl (2004) Charles de Lint I love Charles de Lint. There is nothing he has written that I have read that I have not liked, and most of what he writes I absolutely love. Yet for some reason I was hesitant to read this book. Probably because the main characters are high school […]
The Iron Tower Trilogy: The Dark Tide (1984), Shadows of Doom (1984), The Darkest Day (1984) Dennis McKiernan The Iron Tower Trilogy tells the tale of the Winter War, Mordru’s final attempt to gain control of Mithgar and bring Gryphon back into the world. The story is told from the point of view of Tipperton […]
The Eye of the Hunter (1992) Dennis L. McKiernan If I remember correctly, this is the second Dennis McKiernan book I read–and the first novel. (The first book was the short story collection Tales of Mithgar.) In The Eye of the Hunter, the Lastborn Firstborns Gwilly and Faeril, join with Riatha and Aravan to fulfill […]
The Fencing Master (1988) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Margaret Jull Costa (1998) I initially didn’t realize that this books were originally in Spanish, and was a little unsure when I realized they were translated, but then decided that it shouldn’t make a difference, and so happily read the book. The Fencing Master is set in […]
Voyage of the Fox Rider (1993) Dennis McKiernan Dennis McKiernan is another author I appreciate for his ability to write duologies and single book fantasies. Of course as the Mithgar books all have the same setting, and contain recurring characters, I suppose that gives him the luxury of being able to continue in a known […]