Halfway to the Grave (2007) Jeaniene Frost Cat is half-vampire, and since her mother has told her of her history, has dedicated her life to killing every vampire she can find. Her heritage gives her heightened senses and strength beyond that of a normal human, but her hunt is surprised one night when she meets […]
Kitty Raises Hell (2009) Carrie Vaughn WAH! Now I have to wait a whole year for the next Kitty book! Picking up where we left off at the end of Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand, Kitty is back in Denver, and being haunted (quite literally) by the events that occurred in Vegas. Someone burned […]
Spiral Hunt (2009) Margaret Ronald Apparently John Scalzi has created a devious plot to separate me from my money. He’s calling it “The Big Idea” and has authors talk about their recent works. The last book to catch my attention was Margaret Ronald’s Spiral Hunt. Since ordering that I’ve been all but avoiding his site […]
The Stepsister Scheme (2009) Jim C. Hines As you may or may not know, I love folk tales and fairy tales. I also love things derived from folk and fairy tales, which is why I love Fables, and Sandman, and Hellboy. Authors who work myth and characters from folklore into their works. So when John […]
Unfallen Dead (2009) Mark Del Franco Connor Grey is still helping Detective Murdock of the Boston PD solve cases in the Weird, still has a crush on Meryl, and is still fighting the Darkness that stole his abilities. Unfortunately, things have gotten even more confusing after the events of Unquiet Dreams. The Taint is wreaking […]
Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand (2009) Carrie Vaughn Kitty and Ben are trying to plan for their wedding, and when they decide on a Vegas wedding, Kitty’s producer decides that would be a great opportunity for Kitty to try her hand at a live TV show. I’m still not sure how I feel about […]
Mean Streets (2009) Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson, Thomas E. Sniegoski OK. I admit it. I’m an Amazon junkie. I often search for my favorite artists and look at coming releases to see if anyone I love has something new coming out. Which is how I stumbled upon Mean Streets. I believe it […]
Unnatural Inquirer (2007) Simon R. Green We return once again to Nightside, where John Taylor is once again on the case. On several cases actually. As he finishes a case at the HP Lovecraft Memorial Library, he’s asked by Walker, who has the Voice of Authority in Nightside, to retrieve the Aquarius key before Max […]
Gil’s All Fright Diner (2005) A. Lee Martinez A vampire and werewolf walk into a diner… Not in those words, but that’s pretty much the start of Gil’s All Fright Diner. Duke the werewolf and Earl the vampire end up spending time at Gil’s All Night Diner, to help Loretta the owner deal with her […]
Tempting Danger (2004) Eileen Wilks Lily Yu is a young Homicide detective on the San Diego police force whose first major case is going to be a lupi killing–and the prime suspect seems to be the local werewolf prince. This is a very interesting book. The world is not quite our own, as magical creatures […]
Thirteen Orphans: Breaking the Wall (2008) Jane Lindskold I really like Jane Lindskold’s writing. Brenda Morris thinks she is simply taking a vacation with her father, but she quickly learns the trip is much more–that her father took her to California to introduce her to her magical heritage. Unfortunately, this simple trip turns dark when […]
Farthing (2006) Jo Walton Wow. That was far more depressing than I expected. It’s 1949, and Great Britain remains independent after its “Peace with Honor” with Hitler. The war between Hitler and the Soviet Union continues on, but in Britain labor unions are starting to emerge to ask for better pay and working conditions. The […]
Unusual Suspects (2008) edited by Dana Stabenow I own and read Dana Stabenow’s first fantasy/mystery anthology, Powers of Detection and found it a mixed bag. But when I saw Unusual Suspects and saw it had stories from Sharon Shinn & Simon R. Green, I knew I would have to have this anthology. In general, I […]
Hellboy Vol 8: Darkness Calls (2008) Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo Hellboy is slowly working his way back to the world, after spending six (or however many) years under the sea. But now Hellboy is on his own, separated from B.P.R.D., and Baba Yaga and several others who were taken down are also looking to extract […]
Fables Vol 11: War and Pieces (2008) Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Niko Hearichon, Andrew Peopy So there are added advantages to pre-ordering from Amazon. I got Fables Volume 11 today! It’s very very good. As a matter of fact, I started to panic while I read it, fearing that this was going to […]
The Truth (2000) Terry Pratchett I seem to have developed a somewhat insane relationship with Terry Pratchett novels. I’ll read one, remember how awesome they were, then read a whole bunch more, move onto something else, and then at some point pick up a new novel and put of reading it for months and months, […]
Territory (2007) Emma Bull Matilda is a widow living in Tombstone and working as a typesetter for the paper. Jessie Fox is a horse trainer who ends up in Tombstone after someone tries to steal his horse. In Tombstone Wyatt Earp is consolidating power, including keeping Doc Holliday in town. In Territory we see Tombstone […]
Hellboy Vol 7: The Troll With and Others (2007) Mike Mignola, Richard Corben, P. Craig Russell This is another collection of shorter stories, and as usual, these collections tend to be my favorites. Though I do have to admit, that from reading Mike Mignola’s introductions to the various Hellboy short stories, I have apparently missed […]
B.P.R.D. Vol 6: The Universal Machine (2007) Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis Roger is dead. Abe is still lost in his thoughts of his past. And Johann is trying to bring Roger back from the dead. While Kate Corrigan heads off to France in search of a book that may help bring Roger back […]
Hellboy Vol 6: Strange Places (2006) Mike Mignola Hellboy was gone for awhile–a couple years. Strange Places tells us where he was during that time. Nowhere good. He travels to Africa to talk to a shaman, gets nailed by an evil undersea witch, spends time hanging out with some dead sailors, and learns some of […]
B.P.R.D. Vol 5: The Black Flame (2006) Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis In the 5th BRPD volume, the frogs released in Plague of Frogs are now appearing everywhere, and wreaking destruction as they go. In the meantime, Roger, who was extra simple last volume, has decided to imprint on Captain Daimio. Needless to say, […]
B.P.R.D. Vol 4: The Dead (2005) Mike Mignola. John Arcudi, Guy Davis Set in the aftermath of Plague of Frogs, the BPRD has to figure out how to stop the frog monsters, while Abe has become obsessed with his past, and the man he may have been in another life. On top of that the […]
Blue Moon Rising (1991) Simon R. Green I believe it was Tania who was shocked that I had not read Blue Moon Rising. After all, I love the appalling John Taylor of Nightside, so why hadn’t I read Blue Moon Rising? Especially since I own a used copy of it? Two not very good reasons. […]
Undead and Unwed (2004) MaryJanice Davidson Betsy thought things couldn’t get much worse when she got fired from her job. She soon discovered that was wrong, when she woke up in a coffin (after being smashed by a truck) dressed in pink and wearing her step-mother’s castoff shoes. So, first and foremost Undead and Unwed […]
Spirits that Walk in Shadow (2006) Nina Kiriki Hoffman I ordered Spirits that Walk in Shadow, but because it’s a trade paperback instead of a mass market paperback, it got put on a different shelf, and I forgot I had it. But my reading binge while home sick reminded me I had another unread Nina […]
The Silent Strength of Stones (1995) Nina Kiriki Hoffman To get it out of the way, the cover shown here? Awesome. The cover on the used copy I received? Awful. So bad that I kept putting off reading The Silent Strength of Stones even though I love Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s writing. I mean really, a […]
X-Rated Bloodsuckers (2007) Mario Acevedo Felix Gomez went to Iraq a soldier but returned a vampire, so with his unique skill set, decided that becoming a private eye would be the best career he could make. He’s good enough that he can choose the cases he wants, but is intrigued when Katz Meow asks him […]
A Fistful of Sky (2002) Nina Kiriki Hoffman The first time I read A Fistful of Sky, I was at loose ends and thought I’d just flip through a couple pages and see if that was what I wanted to read. I ended up reading the entire book in a single sitting. When I picked […]
B.P.R.D. Vol 3: Plague of Frogs (2005) Mike Mignola and Guy Davis I have to admit I was a tad bit disappointed when I saw Vol 3 was a single story and not a collection of short stories. It’s not that I dislike the longer format, it’s simply that I think the short stories are […]
Borderland: Where Magic Meets Rock and Roll (1986) edited by Terri Windling and Mark Alan Arnold The Borderland anthologies contain stories by some of my favorite authors, in this volume Charles de Lint and Ellen Kushner contributed stories, along with Steven R Boyett and Bellamy Bach. I’ve been a fan of shared world anthologies since […]
Backup (2008) Jim Butcher At last, we get to see into to mind of someone other than Harry Dresden–and get a glimpse of Harry from the outside–albeit the somewhat adoring eyes of his brother Thomas. We also get to a glimpse of the interior life of Thomas. He considers himself a monster, but he continues […]
B.P.R.D. Vol 2: The Soul of Venice & Other Stories (2004) Mike Mignola, Miles GUnther, Michael Avon Oeming, Brian Augustyn, Guy Davis, Geoff Jones, Scott Kolins, Joe Harris, Adam Pollina & Cameron Stewart In The Soul of Venice & Other Stories, Mike Mignola invited several other artists and writers to help him write five new […]
Ex Machina Vol 7: Ex Cathedra (2008) Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, Jim Clark, JD Mettler I’ve been reading Ex Machina for awhile now, and I’ve been pre-ordering the collections since then. I have yet to regret these pre-orders, yet I also feel like the more I read, the less I know about Mitchell Hundred […]
BPRD Vol 1: Hollow Earth and Other Stories (2003) Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Tim Sniegoski, Ryan Sook, Curtis Arnold, Brian McDonald, Derek Thompson, Matt Smith I’ve been enjoying the Hellboy comics, so I thought I’d branch out and check out the B.P.R.D. series. Hollow Earth & Other Stories takes place after the events in Conqueror […]
Poison Sleep (2008) T.A. Pratt Nathan raved about the first Marla Mason book, Blood Engines. I thought the book was good, but nothing really drew me into the story. But Michael liked Blood Engines so I bought the second book, and decided to read it while I was on vacation. Marla is called out to […]
Harbingers (2006) F. Paul Wilson The tenth Repairman Jack novel things are beginning to come to a head as finds Jack at odds with the entities that have wreaked such havoc in his life. Abe is still trying to find a new identity for Jack, and a way for him to reenter society. But Jack […]
Hellboy Vol 5: Conqueror Worm (2002) Mike Mignola I believe I’ve mentioned previously that I prefer Mike Mignola’s shorter Hellboy stories than the longer stories. The Conqueror Worm is a longer story. It’s not that the story is bad–it’s not. My problem is that the longer stories tend to wander more and get more confusing […]
Hands of Flame (2008) C.E. Murphy The third and (for now) final story in the Negotiator story arc finds Margrit dealing with a conflict between the Old Races that is turning into an out-and-out war. A war that Margrit inadvertently started. Although I was quickly sucked into the story, and tore through the book to […]
Cast in Fury (2008) Michelle Sagara Let me get this out of the way: I hate this cover. The scene seems to be a depiction of events from the last book, Kaylin does not once wear a dress–especially a dress that horrific–in this book, and the bracer is so badly photoshopped onto her arm her […]
Blood and Iron (2006) Elizabeth Bear I put off reading Blood and Iron because I haven’t been in the mood for epic fantasy. But I added it to the pile of books I took on my trip, and picked it up when nothing else seemed to suit. First of all, Blood and Iron is set […]
Precious Dragon (2007) Liz Williams The third Detective Inspector Chen novel, it seems as if recent activities have brought Chen and Zhu Irzh to the attention of authorities, and they are charged with escorting the emissary from Heaven, Miss Qi, through Hell. Meanwhile, an old woman arranges the marriage of her only daughter, and soon […]
The Hobbit (1937) J.R.R. Tolkein My father gave me my first copy of The Hobbit and I quite literally read it to pieces. I read it at least once a year up through my late 20s. Then I suddenly had lots of books to read, and didn’t get around to rereading The Hobbit for quite […]
Hellboy Vol 4: The Right Hand of Doom (2000) Mike Mignola Have I mentioned that I am really enjoying the Hellboy books? I am. They’re a lot of fun. Like The Chained Coffin and Others, The Right Hand of Doom is also a collection of short stories centered on Hellboy. The first story in the […]
The Shadow Roads (2004) Sean Russell The Shadow Roads is the final book in Sean Russell’s ‘The Swans’ War’ trilogy. Having escaped the Stillwater (those who survived) the children of Wyrr now prepare for battle. In the realms of the Renee and the Wills mortals prepare for war, even without Hafydd there to control and […]
The Isle of Battle (2002) Sean Russell The Isle of Battle is good book. However, it is a middle book in a series; although the tale continues forward, the book doesn’t have the momentum of the first book. The characters are still good, the intrigue is still good, but the characters spend much of the […]
The One Kingdom (2001) Sean Russell I love Sean Russell’s writing. I’ve read everything he’s written that I could get my hands on, including the mystery series he co-wrote as T.F. Banks. The One Kingdom and the other books he has written are very different from the supernatural fantasy that I most often scarf down. […]
Hellboy Vol 3: The Chained Coffin and Others (1998) Mike Mignola Unlike the previous two volumes, which were along the lines of novellas, The Chained Coffin and Others is a collection of Hellboy short stories. As I’m a big fan of short stories, I really enjoyed this collection. And as a fan of folktales and […]
Infernal (2005) F. Paul Wilson The next book (9th?) in the Repairman Jack series, Infernal again contains little but misery for Jack. A visit from Jack’s father turned terribly wrong turns into the visit from hell from Jack’s brother Tom. It’s actually impossible to say anything more than that, without giving away the main parts […]
Hellboy Vol 2: Wake the Devil (1997) Mike Mignola In the second volume of Hellboy stories, it is believed that someone is trying to bring the vampire Vladimir Giurescu back to life and health, so Hellboy and several others from the BPRD are sent to Romania to find out what is really going on. Needless […]
Girl Genius Vol 7: Agatha Heterodyne and the The Voice of the Castle (2008) Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio, Cheyenne Wright It’d been so long since the last Girl Genius volume came out, I’d all but forgotten about it. So I was very excited when my copy of Agatha Heterodyne and the The Voice of the […]