Hunting Ground, Audible Edition (2009) Patricia Briggs narrated by Holter Graham I feel so picky. I don’t dislike Holter Graham as a narrator, and I enjoy him slightly more than Loreli King, but 1) he still mispronounces the Marrock and 2) this is the book with the European wolves coming to the US, and I […]
Iron Kissed, Audio Version (2008) Patricia Briggs I almost skipped listening to this book, but instead I just skipped through the very distressing parts. This is a very good story, but a very difficult one. Publisher: Penguin Audio
By the Sword (1991) Mercedes Lackey It’s been decades since I last read this book. Partially because I haven’t been much in the mood for straight-up fantasy, partially because I didn’t have it as an ebook, and partially because I was afraid it wouldn’t live up to my memories of it. Kerowyn is the granddaughter […]
Cry Wolf, Audible Edition (2008) Patricia Briggs narrated by Holter Graham It makes me feel bad to admit it, but I much prefer Holter Graham as a narrator to Lorelei King. She just doesn’t have the range for male voices that other female narrators do, and the Mercy Thompson series has too many male characters […]
Dreams Underfoot (1993) Charles de Lint “Uncle Dobbin’s Parrot Fair,” Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Nov ‘87 “Stone Drum,” Triskell Press chapbook, 1989 “Timeskip,” Post Mortem: New Tales of Ghastly Horror, ed. Paul F. Olson & David B. Silva, St. Martin’s, 1989 “Freewheeling,” Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine Issue 6, ed. Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Pulphouse, 1990 […]
Blood Bound, Audio Edition (2007/2009) Patricia Briggs narrated by Lorelei King I don’t dislike Lorelei King as a narrator, she’s just not as good as other narrators. That’s not stopping me from wanting to work my way through this series however. The Marrok, the leader of the North American werewolves, insists that all of the […]
Rag and Bone (2016) KJ Charles (Rag and Bone) This is set after Flight of Magpies and continues the story started in A Queer Trade. Crispin Tredarloe is trying to learn the right way to be a practitioner, instead of a warlock, like he was trained. But it’s difficult unlearning everything he has been doing […]
Mort (1987) Terry Pratchett After the Librarian, and the Watch, DEATH is my favorite Discworld character. “What did you do for a living?” said the thin young man behind the desk. The figure opposite him shifted uneasily. I USHERED SOULS INTO THE NEXT WORLD. I WAS THE GRAVE OF ALL HOPE. I WAS THE ULTIMATE […]
Guards! Guards! (1989) Terry Pratchett I love Terry Pratchett, and I think I may love the Watch story arc best of all the Discworld stories. It was a five hundred mile journey and, surprisingly, quite uneventful. People who are rather more than six feet tall and nearly as broad across the shoulders often have uneventful […]
Moon Called, Audible Version (2006) Patricia Briggs narrated by Lorelei King I’m now listening my way through the Mercy Thompson (and most likely Alpha & Omega) books. As I’ve noted before, I don’t dislike Lorelei King’s narration. I think she does a very good job with Mercy. I just think she’s weaker than other narrators […]
Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson, Audio Version (2014) Patricia Briggs narrated by Alexander Cendese and Lorelei King Flailing around for something to listen to, I decided that I’d listen to the Patricia Briggs short story collection and then go from there. This collection has very few Mercy stories in, and several […]
Flight of Magpies (2014) K.J. Charles (A Charm of Magpies) The third book of the Charm of Magpies series finds Stephen and Lord Crane struggling to come to terms with Vaudrey’s desire to leave England and Stephen’s dedication to his job–a job that offers little remuneration but a lot of danger. Crane had promised he […]
Dark Queen (2018) Faith Hunter Wow. This is the culmination of several story arcs that have been going on for awhile, but especially the visit of the European Vampires to the US and their attempt to take over the US. A LOT happens here. And fair warning, multiple people die. But so many things are […]
Stiletto, Audible Edition (2016) Daniel O’Malley narrated by Moira Quirk Felicity Clements is a Pawn of the Checquy–a pawn who wants to become a Barghest. Odette Leliefeld is the great(s)-granddaughter of Ernst, lord and master of the Wetenschappelijk Broederschap van Natuurkundigen. She and her little brother have come to England with the Broederschap delegation to […]
Freaks & Other Family (2016) Lish McBride You Make Me Feel So Young Halfway Through the Wood This collection is two stories about the characters from Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, Sam and Ramon. Sam is now a necromancer. Ramon is now a were-bear. Luckily, Sam’s inheritance also included a house and money, so he’s able […]
A Case of Possession (2014) K.J. Charles (A Charm of Magpies) The second Charm of Magpies books finds Stephen and Crane the subject of blackmail. Crane, being an Earl, would be fine ignoring the blackmailer, but Stephen, being poor, could easily be arrested for their relationship. But then they suddenly have a much larger problem–giant […]
The Magpie Lord (2013) K.J. Charles (Charm of Magpies) One for sorrow Two for joy Three for a girl Four for a boy Five for silver Six for gold Seven for a secret never to be told Eight for a letter over the sea Nine for a lover as true as can be Lucien Vaudrey […]
A Queer Trade (2015) K.J. Charles (Rag & Bone) This is a short story I picked up because I liked another series of hers I read, and the idea of an historical fantasy was worth checking out. Crispin Tredarloe is a practitioner. He is also going to be in a great deal of trouble. His […]
The Rook, Audible Version (2012) Daniel O’Malley narrated by Susan Duerden Myfanwy Thomas awakens in a park, surrounded by bodies, with no idea who she is. I really do like this story a lot. It’s so dryly funny. The meeting with the people from accounting proved spectacularly uninteresting as Myfanwy learned how cheaply one could […]
The Red Heart of Jade (2006) Marjorie Liu Mirabelle Lee lost the love of her life as a teenager. Since then, she’s become the archeologist she had dreamed of becoming as a child, and is now in China helping uncover ancient mummies and artifacts. Dean Campbell lost the love of his life as a teenager–the […]
Shadow Touch (2006) Marjorie Liu Artur Loginov is an ex-Russian mobster with the gift (or curse) of psychometry–he gets impressions and information from touching objects. He works for Dirk & Steele, which fronts as a private investigation agency, but is far more than that. Elena Baxter works as a volunteer in hospitals, which gives her […]
Tiger Eye (2005) Marjorie Liu Dela Reese creates weapons–beautiful knives and swords–as well as other art, with her gift of metal working. While browsing a market in Beijing, a woman sells her a puzzle box–and almost immediately someone threatens her. Two thousand years ago Hari was made into a slave by the Magi–mostly used over […]
Swordspoint (1987) Ellen Kushner I have no idea what brings it on, but I’ve been in one of those moods where I read a few paragraphs of a book, decide I’m not in the mood for it, and try something else. As is typically, I have to resort to something I know I love, so […]
Cat o’ Nine Tales, Audible Version (2013) Faith Hunter narrated by Khristine Hvam This is the audio collection of the stories set in Jane Yellowrock’s world. It has many–but not all–of the stories in Blood in her Veins. “WeSa and the Lumber King” “The Early Years” “Cat Tats” “Kits” “Haints” “Signatures of the Dead” “First […]
Rivers of London:
Opal (2018) Maggie Stiefvater This is a short story set after the conclusion of the Raven Boys story, The Raven King. Although Adam and Ronan are in the story, it is all from the point of view of Opal, the dream creature that Ronan brought into the world with him. In dreams, Ronan was always […]
Sixth Watch (2015/2016) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield This text is mandatory reading for the forces of Light. —THE NIGHT WATCH This text is mandatory reading for the forces of Darkness. —THE DAY WATCH This is the final book of the Night Watch series. Definitely and irrevocably the final book of the series. It’s […]
New Watch, Audible Version (2012/2014) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield narrated by Paul Michael I don’t love this book as much as the previous, but I still love this series and spending time in this world. Nadia is now ten, and in training at the Night Watch. Sveta is still out of the Watch, […]
Burn Bright (2018) Patricia Briggs This is the fifth book in the Alpha & Omega series. Bran has not yet returned from helping to rescue Mercy from the vampires in Europe–he claimed he wanted to visit Samuel in Africa–leaving Charles in charge on Bran’s pack and the wildlings–the older werewolves and those on the edge […]
Last Watch, Audible Edition (2009/2010) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield narrated by Paul Michael The fourth book in the Watch series is another one I really enjoy. A Russian college student is murdered in Edinburgh Scotland, and because the young man’s father had links to the Watches, and they young man appears to have […]
Twilight Watch, Audible Version (2006/2007/2010) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield narrated by Paul Michael This might well be my favorite book of the series, partially because Anton and Svetka are happily married and that relationship is a strength, and partially because the events are so unexpected. Plus, of course, it’s a delight. “Svetka,” I […]
Day Watch, Audio Edition (1999/2006/2010) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield and narrated by Paul Michael The second book in the watch series. This is, as the title says, about the day watch. It’s very strange. I don’t enjoy reading the first story, but I quite like listening to it. The other stories I enjoy […]
Night Watch, Audio Version (1998/2006/2010) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield and narrated by Paul Michael Last year I re-read books one through five of the Night Watch series, but kept putting off reading the final book. So when I finished off the final (published) Jane Yellowrock book, I decided I should re-listen to Night […]
Cold Reign, Audio Edition (2017) Faith Hunter narrated by Khristine Hvam I’ve been working my way through the Jane Yellowrock audio books since 2014. It’s been lovely since it’s allowed me to keep the story and world current in my brain, so I didn’t feel the need to go back and re-read every time a […]
Rising Stars: Visitations (2002) J. Michael Straczynski Visitations is four short stories, the first two of which are the background of what the Specials were. Interestingly, the recurring character throughout the entire run is Dr Wells, the man who was supposed to watch the kids, but also report on them to the government. The first […]
From the Editorial Page of the Falchester Weekly Review (2016) Marie Brennan This short story is a series of scientific letters between Isabella Camherst and Benjamin Talbot in “The Falchester Weekly Review” about a supposed discovery made by Talbot. It’s a brief story, and silly, since it’s all the politeness of scientists accusing each other […]
Rising Stars: Voices of the Dead / Bright (2006) by Fiona Avery, Dan Jurgens, Staz Johnson, Al Rio This is actually the last published of the Rising Stars comics, but it’s my least favorite, and since there was no need to read the latter comics in order, I read it before Visitations because I don’t […]
The Raven King (2016) Maggie Stiefvater Believe it or not, I preordered this book and got it when it was published. And then proceeded to not read it. Why? Because I knew this was the last book in the series. Because we’d been told from the very start that Gansey was going to die. As […]
Rising Stars, Vol. 3: Fire And Ash (2005) J. Michael Straczynski, Keu Cha, Ken Lashley, Christian Zanier, Jason Gorder, John Livesay, Edwin Rosell, David Wohl, Dennis Heisler, Dreamer Design, Robin Spehar, Liquid!, Matt Nelson, John Starr, Tyson Wengler And the story ends. We see the culmination of the paranoia and fear that those in power […]
The Myth Manifestation (2018) Lisa Shearin Our world is populated by a greater variety of creatures than we might imagine, from vampires and werewolves to goblins and dwarves and all variety of creatures considered mythical. For these creatures to hide in plain sight, a treaty was hammered out 100 years earlier, to keep fights that […]
The Brimstone Deception, Audio Version (2016) Lisa Shearin narrated by Johanna Parker This is a series that we both listen to on car trips. I generally try to get input as to what Michael wants to listen to (since he’s the driver) but generally it’s me picking a couple books and him choosing one of […]
Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was (1984) Barry Hughart Set in the Middle Kingdom of China, Year of the Tiger 3337 (AD 639) All the children in the village between the ages of eight and thirteen have fall victim to an unknown illness, and all the silkworms have died, […]
Rising Stars, Vol. 2: Power (2002) by J. Michael Straczynski, Ken Lashley, Christian Zanier, Stuart Immonen, Brent Anderson, John Livesay, Brett Evans, Dan Kemp If, perhaps, you thought the first volume was a little confusing, this volume begins with a synopsis: “Mediaweek: Ten Years After” which gets you up to speed on what happened before, […]
Rising Stars, Vol. 1: Born In Fire (2001) J. Michael Straczynski, Jason Gorder, Keu Cha, Christian Zanier I really really love this comic. Enough so that this is the first time I’ve actually stopped between volumes to review the first separately (usually I just plow right through without stopping). Here is the start: This is […]
Dead Man Walking: A country house murder mystery with a supernatural twist (2016) Simon R Green I tend to either love Simon R Green’s series, or … not. This is a series I like I think. Ishmael Jones works for a super secret agency that takes care of beings and events that would disturb the […]
Silence Fallen (2017) Patricia Briggs I have no idea how I did it, but I somehow completely missed reading this when it came out last spring. This story is slightly different in that for most of the book the POV switches between Adam and Mercy. Mercy is first person, Adam is third person. This would […]
The Tropic of Serpents (2014) Marie Brennan The second novel in the Lady Trent series finds Isabella preparing to go on another scientific journey–this one to Eriga, where they hope to document other types of dragons. The warnings delivered in my first foreword continue to apply: if you are likely to be deterred by descriptions […]
Flame in the Dark (2017) Faith Hunter The third Soulwood novel finds Nell at the scene of a murder–a party where a vampire was in attendance and could have been the intended victim of the assassin. Nell is still attempting to assimilate all the changes in her life: her work for PsyLED, her relationship with […]
Rivers of London: Vol. 4 Detective Stories (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Luis Guerrero, Lee Sullivan The fourth Rivers of London comic finds Peter being interviewed to become a detective. The gentleman interviewing him is a bit unprepared for what he’s about to get. There is a lot to love about this comic. First off, […]
The Far West (2012) Patricia C. Wrede There are plans for a new expedition to explore and research the Far West, and they’re looking for scientists and others with experience to join. In my experience, the things everybody knows are just exactly the ones that are most likely to be mistaken in some important way […]