Demon Lord of Karanda (1988) David Eddings The third book of the Mallorean finds our heroes meeting Zakath, the emperor of all Mallorea. As with Urgit, the meeting has unexpected results, and again, Garion discovers that the Anagraks are not all he was expecting. Brador cleared his throat, fought for a moment with one of […]
King of the Murgos (1998) David Eddings < The second book of the Mallorean finds Belgarion once again on the road with companions (including my favorite, Silk) but not all those who went on the first quest are allowed on this one, which causes some grief, and will come up again in later books. And […]
Guardians of the West (1987) David Eddings I’ve been sick, so I’ve been craving comfort reading, hence my re-reading of the Mallorean. This book starts with Errand, who is living in the Vale with Polgara and Durnik. Errand is a strange child, which is unsurprising giving his early upbringing. Like the previous series, there is […]
Foxglove Summer (2014) Ben Aaronovitch When dealing with the law, having a mysterious past is contraindicated. I love this series so much. We return again to Peter Grant, police constable and apprentice wizard. He is still trying to deal with the results of the last case he worked–the one where his co-apprentice and friend Lesley […]
The Mislaid Magician: or Ten Years After (2006) Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer The third Cecelia and Kate book comes ten years after their Grand Tour. Both have offspring that seem to get into as much trouble as their mothers did when they were younger, and some of the children seem to be showing […]
The Grand Tour: or the Purloined Coronation Regalia (2004) Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer We last saw our heroines married and getting ready to start their Honeymoon Grand Tour, or travel across Europe, which begins with the trip across the Channel. “Don’t fret,” Thomas told him, in what I thought was a most unfeeling […]
Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot (1988) Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer I had somehow managed to forget how marvelous this story is. Kate and Cecy are two young ladies in Edwardian England–where there is magic. Kate has been sent to London for her Coming Out during the Season, while her cousin […]
The Devil You Know, Audible Version (2006/2007) by Mike Carey and narrated by Michael Kramer I fear I am becoming an audio book snob. All my recent favorites have been full of British accents (few of which are posh, which makes it all the better). I read the Felix Castor series years ago, and had […]
Gunmetal Magic (2012) by Ilona Andrews Started the audio version and just couldn’t get into it, so switched over the the ebook version. I read it a little slower this time, and overall it was a good book, however, this time around I found myself a little disappointed in the ending. It seemed just too […]
Gunmetal Magic Audible edition (2012) by Ilona Andrews and narrated by Renée Raudman It’s quite possible that we have become spoiled by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, who narrates Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series, but neither of us could really get into the audio version of Gunmetal Magic. The narrator wasn’t horrible or anything, but I didn’t […]
Enchanters’ End Game (1984) David Eddings And the final book of the Belgariad. Here we find Garion and Belgarath and Silk in Gar og Nadrak, which is one of the most fascinating places in his world building. The Nadraks don’t much care for their god, and have a disconcerting take on women, but unlike the […]
Castle of Wizardry (1984) David Eddings Book four of the Belgariad finds Garion and his companions with the Orb, and needing to make their way back to safety. We discover who Garion really is, and what the future has in store for him. There are some marvelous passages in this book. Such as this bit […]
Magician’s Gambit (1983) David Eddings The third book of the Belgariad opens with one of my favorite “outside the story” bits, which is how the Ulgos came to worship UL. The story feels as if it could have come out of the Torah. Then Gorim brought the creatures before UL. The creatures prostrated themselves before […]
Queen of Sorcery (1982) David Eddings The second book of the Belgariad finds Garion and his companions traveling and following the trail of an object that his grandfather can sense, but Garion isn’t sure how. This is the book where Garion comes to terms with Belgarath and Polgara, and starts to come into his own […]
Pawn of Prophecy (1982) David Eddings At one point in my life, as hard as this may be to believe, I wasn’t reading very much. College was eating my spare time (in ways that were no good for me, but that’s a long, complex and painful story that shan’t be told) and I just wasn’t […]
Fate’s Edge (2011) Ilona Andrews I like rogues. I can’t help it. I have a terrible weakness for them. Which is odd, when you consider that I probably wouldn’t much care for them in real like. But the ability to be charming while stealing you blind (but only for a good cause!) is book catnip. […]
Bayou Moon (2010) Ilona Andrews Cerise Mar is the head of her family, now that her parents have disappeared. She wants more than anything to get her parents back, but more important is holding the family together, and dealing with their three-quarter century feud with the Sheeriles. She also has to hold things together for […]
On the Edge (2009) Ilona Andrews Rose Drayton lives in the Edge, the border between the Broken (mundane world) and the Weird (magical world). She’s raising her brothers, George and Jack, with the occasional help of her grandmother. She’s proud, despite her poverty, and has one thing that sets her apart from the other Edgers: […]
Burn for Me (2014) Ilona Andrews This is the first book in the Hidden Legacies series. It ends, not with a cliff hanger, but not as cleanly as it could. Nevada Baylor runs her family’s detective agency. Her father’s death put the family deeply into debt, and the agency that bought their mortgage owns the […]
Tainted Blood (2014) M.L. Brennan This is the third book in the Generation V novel, and finds Fort helping to cover for his brother, following the death of Chivalry’s latest wife. This means he’s sent to take care of situations where he is in over his head. Luckily for him, he’s friends with Suze, and […]
Night Shift (2014) Nalini Singh; Ilona Andrews; Lisa Shearin; Milla Vane Let me be clear from the start: I read only two of these stories. In fact, I was going to read only one story, Ilona Andrews’ story “Magic Steals” until I realized the next story was a Lisa Shearin SPI files story. I very […]
Fairest Vol. 4: Cinderella – Of Men and Mice (2014) Mark Andreyko, Shawn McManus I’ve been hit or miss with the Fables spin-off series. I hated Jack, didn’t much care for Cinderella, but have quite enjoyed Fairest. But I was hesitant when I saw the latest volume of Fairest was Cinderella. This series continues to […]
Whispers Under Ground Audible version (2012/2012) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith I am enjoying listening to this series so much. I tore through all the available books when I first came across the series, and have been waiting impatiently for the next book in the series, but the narration by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is such […]
Blood Cross Audible version, (/2010) Faith Hunter, Narrated by Khristine Hvam I quite like the narrator for this series. She does a good job of distinguishing Jane and Beast’s voices, as well as the different accents and voices for the other characters (and there are a lot of characters in this series). This is the […]
Fair Game (2012) Patricia Briggs This is the third Alpha & Omega story, and although it is about Anna and about Charles coming to terms with the changes in his position as the Marrok’s enforcer, but even more important are the changes to the world that Anna & Charles and Mercy Thompson live in. Throughout […]
Eternal: Shadow Falls: After Dark (2014) C.C. Hunter This is the second full book of Della Tsang’s story (although she has been the center of several novellas, one of which is the reason I started reading this series). Della coming to terms with being one of the Reborn, and also dealing with her continued guilt […]
Broken Soul (2014) Faith Hunter The latest Jane Yellowrock installment finds Jane and the Mithrans preparing for the visit of the European Council–a visit that seems it will bear nothing good for Jane. Of course, she does get to learn a new form of fighting. “Ernestine keeps all the lists,” Wrassler said. “And the pools.” […]
Fables Vol. 20: Camelot (2014) Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Russ Braun, Barry Kitson I actually read this last month, but since it was on the day we caught the train, I forgot about it when I came back. It wasn’t until I was trying to clear off the table I remembered I’d hadn’t […]
Blue Lily, Lily Blue (2014) Maggie Stiefvater I knew this was not going to end cleanly. I KNEW it. But I read it anyway, because OMG I love this series. This book begins a few weeks after the last book ended. Maura is missing, Blue and the Raven Boys are getting ready to start school, […]
Frost Burned (2013) Patricia Briggs Mercy and her step-daughter, Jesse, are hitting the Black-Friday sales when a panic attack causes Mercy to wreck her rabbit. When she can’t reach anyone to come pick her up, she discovers that with a few exceptions, the entire pack has been kidnapped—which takes some doing, kidnapping an entire pack […]
The Winter Long (2014) Seanan McGuire I held onto the book for a while, solely because I knew I was going on vacation, and would have the time to read the whole thing in one sitting. This book tied up some loose ends that I hadn’t realized were loose ends, and made for a slow […]
Downfall (2014) Rob Thurman I fully admit that I have been avoiding reading this book. As the series has gone it, it has become more and more clear that Niko and Cal won’t outlive each other. If one is killed, the other will fall soon after, most likely in a horribly violent and destructive way, […]
Black Water (2014) Faith Hunter This is a collection of three Jane Yellowrock short stories / novellas: Black Water, Snafu, and Off the Grid. Black Water is set after Blood Trade and before Black Arts, as Jane returns to Chauvin after receiving a text from Rick’s family that someone with a gun was looking for […]
Hunting Ground (2009) Patricia Briggs The second Alpha & Omega book finds Charles & Anna sent to broker negioations with the European werewolves, to find a way to make the Marrock’s bringing the American werewolves out of the supernatural closet. The biggest problem is going to be the head of the European werewolves, who is […]
River Marked (2011) Patricia Briggs Although Mercy and Adam are supposed to be on their Honeymoon, unexpected gifts from the fae lead to (when dealing with fae anyway) the expected consequences, of danger and threat. But more importantly, we learn more about Mercy’s father, and finally meet Coyote (THE Coyote). Figures that are both tricksters […]
Silver Bourne (2010) Patricia Briggs This story has three separate story arcs: Mercy receives a call from Tad, asking her to check on the owner of the book fae book she borrowed, Samuel has started to sink further into his misery, and Mercy begins truly to have problems with the Pack, now that she and […]
Cry Wolf (2008) Patricia Briggs My reaction to this book, re-reading it and after reading half the Mercy books and the short story anthology is quite different from my initial read. First and foremost, I realized this story is as much about Asil and Bran as it is about Anna and Charles. I’ve grown to […]
Bone Crossed (2009) Patricia Briggs This book makes up for very end of the last book, where only a week after her rape, it seems like Mercy is ready to jump into bed with Adam. She isn’t and she doesn’t, and Adam wouldn’t. So points all around for Adam. And it’s good that things are […]
Iron Kissed (2008) Patricia Briggs I had forgotten just how dark this story was. Bad things happen to Mercy. Very bad things. And Mercy just doesn’t brush these things off, which means seeing Mercy suffer as she tries to recover. It’s very hard to read. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very well done, and it’s […]
Blood Bound (2007) Patricia Briggs This is a second book in the Mercy Thompson series, and finds Mercy inadvertently caught up in vampire business. There are so many little tidbits that I enjoy, dropped randomly throughout the books. The Marrok, the leader of the North American werewolves, insists that all of the wolves wear a […]
Moon Called (2006) Patricia Briggs I started listening to the Audible version of Moon Called, and I don’t know if it was the narrator, the fact that I’ve been so blown away by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith who reads Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant series, or a combination of both, but I just couldn’t listen to it. So, […]
Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson (2014) Patricia Briggs As I’ve mentioned previously (and repeatedly) I love short stories. They’re a hard thing to love sometimes, because there are so many poorly written ones out there. Luckily for me, Patricia Briggs tends to do them well, so I didn’t hesitate to pick […]
Moon Called: Audible Version (2006/2009) Patricia Briggs and read by Lorelei King After finishing Moon Over Soho, I needed something new to listen to, and since I seemed to be in the mood for supernatural fantasy, I decided to start Patricia Brigg’s Moon Called, especially since I was reading and enjoying her collection of short […]
Moon Over Soho: Audible Version (2011/2012) Ben Aaronovitch and Narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith It’s quite possible I’ve fallen a little bit in love with Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, for the way he reads Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant books. The story is good–I thoroughly enjoyed reading it–but listening? Amazing. He is really good at the voices and the […]
Midnight Riot (2011/2012) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith I’ve had audio books that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed before, but until now, I’d not had the experience of a reader making a book better. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith did that. He is amazing. He did various accents that made each character distinct and they all sounded different. Even […]
Kitty’s Greatest Hits (2011) Carrie Vaughn Il Est Ne (Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (2008)) A Princess of Spain (The Secret History of Vampires (2007)) Conquistador de la Noche (Subterranean Online (2009)) The Book of Daniel (Talebones #39 (2009)) The Temptation of Robin Green (The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance (2009)) Looking After Family (Realms of Fantasy […]
Skinwalker (2009/2010) Faith Hunter narrated by Khristine Hvam I started listening to this, and ended up going back and re-reading the entire series. But I still finished the audio version, because I thoroughly enjoyed it. First, Beast and Jane have distinct voices, which is important, since they often have conversations in Jane’s mind. Also, the […]
Lord and Lady Spy (2011) Shana Galen This is not an historical romance. It’s a steampunk, without the automatons. Or perhaps it’s fantasy, with boinking. But it is not historical fantasy. Why? Because it’s wildly inaccurate as far as the history goes. So inaccurate that even I–who am terrible with dates and other numbers–caught multiple […]
Black Arts (2014) Faith Hunter And now I’m all caught up on Jane Yellowrock–at least until the new book comes out in October. The book opens with Jane under attack–from Evan Trueblood, who believes that Jane is hiding his wife, Molly. Jane and Evan came to an uneasy truce in an earlier book, but Molly […]
Jane Yellowrock World Companion (2013) Faith Hunter I have conflicted feelings about this. The co-author put a lot of work into the time-line and weapons list and such. And it’s a great reference if you’re not familiar with Jane’s world. But it’s not something to sit down and read. There are three stories: two short […]