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 […]
Going Postal (2004) Terry Pratchett Going Postal is the next Discworld book in line, and like Monstrous Regiment, the primary characters are new ones. Although other characters continue to make an appearence, and Lord Vetinari plays an important part in the story, like Monstrous Regiment, Going Postal requires no previous knowledge of Discworld, which makes […]
Monstrous Regiment (2003) Terry Pratchett I love Terry Pratchett’s books. However, I’ll frequently go long periods where I don’t read his books, despite his prodigious publication rate, because once I get started I frequently read a lot of his books, sometimes going back and re-reading much of the series. At which point I get tired […]
The Buried Pyramid (2004) Jane Lindskold I spent the first two thirds of this book mildly wondering why it was classified as a fantasy. Then the fantasy kicked in, but I’d given up caring whether it was fantasy or historical fiction long before. I just wanted to know what happened. Jenny Benet has been orphaned, […]
Kitty and the Silver Bullet (2007) Carrie Vaughn The fourth kitty book sees Kitty returning to Denver for a family emergency. Unfortunately, he return places her in the middle of a vampire turf war where she is requested to take sides. As this was the fourth Kitty book, was I a little leery when I […]
The Secret History of Moscow (2007) Ekaterina Sedia I both enjoyed this book and found it frustrating. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, which drew heavily upon Russian folklore. However, at times the writing bothered me. Some of the descriptive prose was phrased in ways that took me a moment to parse, and in the moment […]
Ex Machina: Vol 6 Power Down (2007) Brian K. Vauhgan & Tony Harris In the latest installment of Ex Machina, Mitchell Hundred continues his time as mayor of New York, and the great blackout that affected the entire city is now affecting him as well–seems also to be linked to him in some way. We […]
Valley of the Soul (2006) Tamara Siler Jones Valley of the Soul is the third book in the Dubric Byerly mystery series. I read Ghosts in the Snow and enjoyed it, and decided to order the rest of series. Unfortunately, Threads of Malice was out of print, so I had to skip to Valley of […]
Dzur (2006) Steven Brust I’ve been reading Steven Brusts Vlad Taltos novels since about 1994, and I’ve been snatching them up eagerly as they’ve come out–at least until Dzur. Not because I don’t still love Vlad, but because I love reading this books, and don’t like reading hardback. So I decided to bite the bullet […]
Jack of Fables Vol 2: Jack of Hearts (2007) Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, Tony Akins, Steve Leialoha I preordered Jack of Hearts months ago, because I am a huge fan of Fables. And I was disappointed when there was a delay in publication. Unfortunately, this volume didn’t really live up to my expectations. When the […]
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 […]
Child of a Rainless Year (2005) Jane Lindskold Although I have Jane Lindskold’s series starting with Through a Wolf’s Eyes I’ve never read it, because I simply haven’t been in the mood for a long series. However, I picked up and read Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls which I thought was absolutely marvelous. So […]
Chill Factor:Weather Warden Book 3 (2005) Rachel Caine Chill Factor takes up where Heat Stroke took off; Joanne has to get to Las Vegas to try and stop Kevin and Jonathan from inadvertently destroying much of the ecosystem of the planet. Unlike Heat Stoke, Chill Factor doesn’t have a cliff hanger ending, which is a […]
Heat Stroke (2004) Rachel Caine Heat Stroke is the second book in Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series. Joanna was killed at the end of the first book, and is now adjusting to life as a djinn. Unfortunately for her, her adjustment period is not going to be long, and is turns out to be incredibly […]
Girl Genius Vol 6: Agatha Heterodyne and the Golden Trilobite (2007) Phil & Kaja Foglio When we last left Agatha, she was possessed by the spirit of her mother, who seems to have plans to take over the world. Gil still thinks Agatha is dead, and the Circus of Adventure has not yet decided how […]
Empire of Ivory (2007) Naomi Novik I’ve been waiting for Empire of Ivory to come out since I finished Black Power War last year. The war with Napoleon is still raging, and Lawrence, Temeraire and the rest of their group are returning to England, where they hope to learn why England did not come to […]
Girl Genius 5: Agatha Heterodyne and the Clockwork Princess Agatha Heterodyne and the Clockwork Princess is the fifth volume in the Girl Genius series. Agatha is still traveling with the Circus of Adventure, Gil still thinks Agatha is dead, and Agatha still wants to meet up with her friends and newly discovered family. Unsurprisingly, she […]
Girl Genius Vol 4: Agatha Heterodyne and the Circus of Dreams (2006) Phil & Kaja Foglio I got lucky and the next Girl Genius came today (well, volumes 4 and 6 arrived. 5 should be here tomorrow.) I ended up tearing through volume 4–so much for drawing things out. Of course as soon as I […]
Many Bloody Returns (2007) edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner I pre-ordered this, not realizing it was in hardback. As much as I love anthologies, I’m not that excited about hardback books–especially anthologies where I don’t know all the authors or the quality of the stories. Many Bloody Returns pretty much tells you […]
Girl Genius Vol 3: Agatha Heterodyne and the Monster Engine (2004) Phil & Kaja Foglio Now that Agatha is settling into Castle Wulfenbach, she is beginning to come to terms with her abilities. Now, she must learn about her heritage, and how her skills and her family’s past will change her life. We also see […]
Girl Genius Vol 2: Agatha Heterodyne and the Airship City (2004) Phil & Kaja Foglio After being taken prisoner by the Baron Wulfenbach, Agatha is now living on Castle Wulfenback, and despite her anger, is slowly becoming friends with Gil. She also meets the other kids who live on Castle Wulfenbach, some of who are […]
Girl Genius Vol 1: Agatha Heterodyne and the Bettleburg Clank (2002) Phil & Kaja Foglio I came across the Girl Genius comic online, and got completely sucked in. After reading a good bit from the start of the story, I realized that I could purchase this in actual book format, which would be 1) easier […]
Places to Be, People to Kill (2007) Edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Brittany A. Koren I really like short stories, so I’m a sucker for anthologies. I’ve been burned a couple of times, but for the most part, anything that Martin H Greenberg has a hand in will most likely contain a majority of […]
The Shape-Changer’s Wife (1995) Sharon Shinn Everything I’ve ready by Sharon Shinn I have really liked, so when I saw The Shape-Changer’s Wife in a used bookstore, I picked it up. Then I left it on the bookshelf in one of those weird fits I go through, of worrying that a book–especially an earlier book–by […]
The Essential Bordertown: A Traveller’s Guide to the Edge of Faerie (1998) Terri Windling & Delia Sherman The Essential Bordertown is a collection of short stories set in Bordertown, the land between our world and Faerie. The stories are written with a teenage audiences in mind, with primarily teenage characters, and parts of a “traveler’s […]
Just re-read American Gods and found that I liked it even better the third time around. Perhaps because I read it more slowly, and thought more about the mythology
The Traveler (2005) John Twelve Hawks The Traveler has been my riding the PRT/sitting in waiting rooms book for the past month. However, once I got a third of the way into the book, it moved out of my jacket pocket and became my primary book to read. Maya is the daughter of a Harlequin–a […]
Children of Magic (2006) edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes As I have mentioned on many previous occasions, I am a huge fan of short stories. Occasionally I have been disappointed, but for the most part the anthologies I have read have good, especially the one edited by Martin H. Greenberg. The theme […]
The Thread that Binds the Bones (1993) Nina Kiriki Hoffman I really like Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s writing. She hasn’t written many novels, but I’ve tried to get my hands on as many of them as I could. The Thread that Binds the Bones is out of print, but my brother found a used copy for […]
Shadows in the Starlight (2997) Elaine Cunningham I enjoyed the first book Changeling book, Shadows in the Darkness, so I decided to pick up Shadows in the Starlight. Unfortunately, for me, this book failed one of my most important tests–there was very little resolution to the story, and the book asked far more questions than […]
Civil War: Runaways & New Avengers (2007) Zeb Wells, Stefano Caselli As I have mentioned previously, I love Runaways and what Brian K Vaughan has done with the series. So I hesitated to pick up this tie in, because I know nothing about the whole Marvel “Civil War” storyline, and know nothing about the New […]
Poltergeist (2007) Kat Richardson I enjoyed Greywalker enough that I pre-ordered Poltergeist when I came across it. This was a decision I did not regret. I liked Poltergeist even better than I liked Greywalker. Harper Blaine is still coming to terms with her ability to see and move into the Grey, the paranormal realm populated […]
Cast In Secret (2007) Michelle Sagara Cast In Secret is the sequel to Cast in Courtlight, and takes off not long after the events of that book. Kaylin is still learning magic–and still not succeeding very well in her attempts. She terms with the fact that Severn is both her partner, and the keeper of […]
The White Mists of Power (1991) Kristine Kathryn Rusch I found this story both enjoyable and maddening. Enjoyable because it was a very interesting story, but maddening, because the “twist” in the story felt more like a trick than a twist. I also wasn’t quite clear about the Enos and what the difference was between […]
The Line Between (2006) Peter S. Beagle The Line Between is a collection of short (and some not so short) stories by Peter S. Beagle. It contains two short stories that are related to two of his books. Two Hearts is a sequel to The Last Unicorn and looks at some of the characters from […]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (2007) J.K. Rowling Seven and a half hours. Although not seven and a half hours straight, since there was a very large break in the middle to have dinner with my family. Which was good, because I had to hand it off to Michael, so hopefully he’ll be able […]
Destiny (2001) Elizabeth Haydon After reading Rhapsody and Prophecy I wanted to finish re-reading the series and the story, but I just wasn’t thrilled about reading more about Rhapsody. So I put Destiny in my pocket as my waiting and transportation book. Unfortunately, an 850 page book is large and unwieldy, and after almost two […]
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 […]
Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls (1994) Jane Lindskold Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls is an urban fantasy set in the future, with bits that remind me of The Velveteen Rabbit. Sarah lives in the Home–an asylum for the insane. Her past–adn even her last name–are unknown. She was initially diagnosed as autistic and […]
Runaways 7: Live Fast (2007) Brian K Vaughan, Adrian Alphona, Mike Norton, Craig Young After ordering and reading volume 6, Parental Guidance, I was able to read volume 7, Live Fast, and I have to say that the beginning made a lot more sense. The Runaways are dealing with their losses, and attempting to adapt […]
Runaways 6: Parental Guidance (2006) Brian K Vaughan, Adrian Alpohna, Craig Yeung I somehow missed publication of volume 6 of Runaways, but saw when volume 7 came out. Considering the events in Parental Guidance, I was quite confused when I started to read volume 7, and quickly realized I’d missed several important events. Luckily, Amazon […]
Sea Without a Shore (1996) Sean Russell Sea Without a Shore takes up immediately after the close of World Without End. Tristam is recovering from the events on the Lost Island, Averil Kent is further embroiled in politics and working with the Countess of Chilton to keep Palle and his followers from creating a mage […]
World Without End (1994) Sean Russell Reading “The River Into Darkness” series made me want to read another series written by Sean Russell, so I picked up the “”Moontide and Magic Rise” series, for which “The River Into Darkness” is the prequel. I was surprised to discover that I found this series much easier to […]
The Compass of the Soul (1999) Sean Russell The sequel (and conclusion) to Beneath the Vaulted Hills, The Compass of the Soul continues the story of Erasmus Flattery, Countess Chilton, Anna Fielding, Lord Eldrich, and those who have gathered around them in the struggle for the fate of magic. As with the previous book, the […]
Beneath the Vaulted Hills (1997) Sean Russell I’ve always been fond of Sean Russell’s books. They’re dense and complex, and I often understand them better on the second reading. But they’re also beautifully crafted works full of marvelous characters. Unfortunately, Sean Russell has not published many books. Nine fantasy novels I believe (three duologies and […]
Twilight Watch (2003/2007) 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 […]
Five Hundred Years After (1994) Steven Brust Because I re-read Phoenix Guards, I had to follow it up with Five Hundred Years After But really, I’m not going to re-read any of the Vlad books until I get my copy of Dzur when it comes out in paperback in the fall. I mean it.
Phoenix Guards (1991) Steven Brust In the mood for re-reading favorites, I just finished Phoenix Guards. Phoenix Guards is one of the books that falls into my “pretty much perfect” category.
Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners (1987) Ellen Kushner I couldn’t help myself. I re-read Swordspoint. Sometimes when you’re feeling bad, you just have to turn to favorites.
Claimed by Shadow (2007) Karen Chance This book left me feeling…annoyed. I went and checked, and here’s how I summed up Touch the Dark: (I)t’s an interesting story with some flaws, but for a quick read it’s pretty good, and has potential to get more interesting. Well, unfortunately, it didn’t get more interesting. I mostly […]