Magic Bites (2007) Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels works as a mercenary in a world that used to be ours, where technology is losing out to magic. Vampires are not romantic creatures (think the older vampires on Buffy) the vampire faction is held at bay by the shape shifters–neither group can take control, which is probably […]
Murcheston: The Wolf’s Tale (2000) David Holland The story told in Murcheston: The Wolf’s Tale is of a werewolf, told years after the fact by one who had been his companion. In it, we are privy to the journal of a man who has become a werewolf, and watch in fascination as the transformation changes […]
The Demon and the City (2006) Liz Williams After reading The Snake Agent, I’ve been looking forward the reading the next Detective Inspector Chen book. (In fact, the paperback edition has been on pre-order for several months.) As with many authors I like, after getting a book, I’m hesitant to read it, for fear that […]
A Fistful of Charms (2006) Kim Harrison The fourth book in the Rachel Morgan series, A Fistful of Charms takes place several months after Every Which Way But Dead. Rachel and Ivy are still trying to figure out how to mend their relationships with Jenks, and Rachel is enjoying her relationships with Kistin, although she […]
Every Which Way But Dead (2005) Kim Harrison It actually took me several weeks to read Every Which Way But Dead. It ended up in my jacket pocket for riding on the PRT and sitting in waiting rooms, so I was only reading a few pages at a time. However, I eventually reached a place […]
The Stars Compel (1999) Michaela Roessner First things first… WAH! This was supposed to be book two of a trilogy–however, the third book was never published, and since The Stars Compel was published in 1999, it doesn’t look like I’m going to get the third book any time soon. Hence… WAH! On the bright side, […]
Prophecy (2000) Elizabeth Haydon The sequel to Rhapsody, Prophecy continues the story. They are still trying to find the F’Dor who escaped to Sendair. Achmed and Grunthor are continuing to build the Bolg into a nation. Rhapsody meets the dragon Elynsynos, and learns more about Ashe. As with the previous books, my favorite characters are […]
The Stars Dispose (1997) Michaela Roessner I picked up The Stars Dispose used, several years ago. But for one reason or another, never got around to reading it. However, when I was looking for something different to read, I finally picked it up. In the 1500s, there was a power struggle in Florence. The de […]
Rhapsody: Child of Blood (1999) Elizabeth Haydon I read this series (Rhapsody is book one) several years ago, and remembered enjoying it, but never re-read it, primarily because Rhapsody is 656 pages, and the remaining books in the series are just as long or longer. It’s one thing to start a 400 page book. It’s […]
The Repentant (2003) edited by Brian M. Thomsen and Martin H. Greenberg I love short stories, so I tend to pick up anthologies when I come across them–assuming they look even remotely interesting. The Repentant looked particularly interesting, since it had several authors I particularly like: Tanya Huff, P.N. Elrod, and especially Nina Kiriki Hoffman. […]
Summers at Castle Auburn (2001) Sharon Shinn I picked up Summers at Castle Auburn because I’d read another Sharon Shinn book and thoroughly enjoyed it. So when I came across Summers at Castle Auburn used I snatched it up, since I hadn’t seen it before. Corie is the bastard daughter of a bastard lord. After […]
The Wood Wife (1996) Terri Windling It took me a long time to read this book, however, you shouldn’t necessarily see this as a reflection on the quality of the book. I picked up The Wood Wife used, and it was a relatively slim novel, so it was perfect for sticking in my jacket pocket, […]
You Slay Me (2004) Katie MacAlister Just so you know that I’m not completely opposed to all sex in all books, I managed to pick up You Slay Me, which is a “supernatural romance.” Of course I picked it up not for the boinking, but because it looked funny. Aisling (pronounced ash-ling, which I never […]
The Banquet of the Lords of Night & Other Stories (2004) Liz Williams The Banquet of the Lords of Night & Other Stories is an anthology (obviously) of stories by Liz Williams. The stories range in style from the fantasy to science fiction. As with most mixed anthologies, I didn’t much care for the science […]
Shadows in the Darkness (2004) Elaine Cunningham Gwen Gellman is an ex-cop who was pushed off the force after a bust goes terribly wrong. So she sets up her own private investigation company. However, the latest case to walk in her door–a missing teenager–starts to go wrong almost from the start. There are actually several […]
Unshapely Things (2007) Mark del Franco Connor Grey is a druid who has lost most of his powers. An attack by radical environmentalist elf has left him crippled–not physically, but magically. So in addition to his disability payments, he takes occasionally jobs helping the Boston police department in attacks involving the fey. What I found […]
Labyrinth (2005) Kate Mosse This book could be classified in any number of ways. There are elements of fantasy, mystery, suspense, romance, and history. As such, I thought it worked best as an historical novel, because this was the strongest part of the book. The story of Alais and Guilhem and Sajhe was the most […]
Proven Guilty (2006) Jim Butcher I started this book several weeks ago, and then put it down because I remembered why Harry had been annoying me so much for the past several books.However, I decided to give Proven Guilty and Harry another chance. At the start of the book I was still annoyed with him–he’s […]
Mister Monday (2003) Garth Nix I absolutely loved Sabriel. The following two books were also excellent, but I just adored Sabriel. I also liked his collection of short stories, Across the Wall. So when I saw he had another series, The Keys to the Kingdom, I… hesitated. Sometimes when an author has written a book […]
Ex Machina Vol 5: Smoke Smoke (2007) Brian K Vaughan, Tony Harris, Tom Feister, JD Mettler Okay, I must be missing something somewhere, because this is the second volume in a row of Ex Machina that I found to be only so-so. Between the title and the cover, it should be obvious that one of […]
Runaways Vol 5: Escape to New York (2006) Brian K Vaughan, Adrian Alphona, Takeshi Miyazawa Escape to New York is the fifth volume of the Runaways series. The Runaways are still trying to clean up the mess they created when they took out their parent’s crime syndicate, and for now they’re allowing Victor to remain […]
Ill Wind (2003) Rachel Caine If it wasn’t for the fact that I was too lazy to get off the sofa, I would have put this book down several times and gotten something else to read. However, I was lazy, and eventually I got into the story, but it took several chapters. Joanne Baldwin is […]
Moonshine (2007) Rob Thurman Moonshine is the sequel to Nightlife. Now that Cal and Niko have defeated the monsters who were trying to possess Cal, they have moved onto the more mundane task of simply living their lives–something they were never given the luxury to do when they were constantly on the run. They’re currently […]
Kitty Takes a Holiday (2007) Carrie Vaughn The third book in this series takes off where Kitty Goes to Washington left off. After being exposed on national television, Kitty has decided to take a holiday to escape for awhile, and to write her memoirs–or attempt to write her memoirs. Unfortunately, her rural isolated cabin doesn’t […]
Runaways Vol 4: True Believers (2005) Brian K Vaughan, Adrian Alphona, Craig Yeung True Believers is the fourth installment in the Runaways series, telling the story of five teens who ran away after discovering their parents were super-villains. Still on the run from Foster Care, the Runaways are hiding out under the La Brea Museum, […]
Day Watch (2006) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield The sequel to Night Watch, Day Watch contains another trio of stories about the Day and Night Watches in Moscow. The first story, Unauthorized Personnel Permitted is the story of Alisa Donnikova, a witch, and Other member of the Day watch we first came across in […]
Disappearing Nightly (2005) Laura Resnick This book was a disappointment. About halfway through I started reading as fast as I could so I could get the whole thing over with. The frustrating thing was that the story was good, the mystery portion of good. I just hated the main character. She struck me as incredibly […]
Greywalker (2006) Kat Richardson Greywalker starts off strong–Harper Blaine gets beaten to death–although she is dead only for a few minutes. I’d been surprised when the guy belted me. Most people don’t flip out when they get caught in such a small fraud. I had expected am embarrassed apology and a hasty check to appease […]
My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (2006) Edited by P.N. Elrod My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding is an anthology of short stories featuring supernatural creatures and weddings. All the stories are good, but some are better than others. In some of the stories the wedding is the main feature, while in other stories the wedding felt […]
Working for Devil (2005) Lilith Saintcrow Dante Valentine is a necromance–she is able to visit the realms of the dead and draw spirits back to the world where they can answer questions or communicate again with their loved ones. Although mages and other psis are out and somewhat accepted by the public, necromances still are […]
Lucifer Vol 3: A Dalliance with the Damned (2002) Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly, Dean Ormston A Dalliance with the Damned is the third book in the Lucifer series. Maziken is in search of a way to return her face to its proper form, Lucifer has decided to create his own Creation, and there […]
Blood Bound (2007) Patricia Briggs Blood Bound is the sequel to Moon Called, and continues the story of Mercy Thompson, a mechanic and a walker. A walker is similar to–but not the same as–a werewolf. What she has is an inborn power to change form at will, and that shifting isn’t tied to the moon. […]
Lucifer Vol 2: Children and Monsters (2001) Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly, Dean Ormston Children and Monsters is the second book in the Lucifer series. Lucifer has obtained the gate, and has now decided to use it. Now he is looking to get some other objects, for whatever plans he has. We also see […]
Snake Agent (2005) Liz Williams When I purchased this book I thought it was a mystery, after all, it’s “A Detective Inspector Chen Novel.” And since I bought the book on-line, I couldn’t see the cover clearly, so that didn’t tell me anything either. I just knew it had come up as recommended for me, […]
The Serpent’s Shadow (2001) Mercedes Lackey Myra Witherspoon is half-Indian and half-English, and has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a doctor. Unfortunately for her, both her race and her gender work against her, in a society where women are still little more than possessions, and India remains a British colony. It is her […]
Ghosts in the Snow (2004) Tamara Siler Jones Dubric is the head of security at Castle Faldorrah–a matter of self-preservation, since he is haunted by the ghosts of those who are murdered at the castle, until their killers come to justice. In the past there has been only an occasional killing, but now young servant […]
Perdido Street Station (2000) China Mieville I’ve been reading this book since March, a page or two at a time and for awhile, I was beginning to think it was never going to end. It’s not that this book isn’t good–it is good–I just didn’t care for it. Isaac is a scientist–an eccentric scientist who […]
The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006) Scott Lynch It’s somewhat difficult to classify The Lies of Locke Lamora. It’s definitely fantasy, but I haven’t come across a lot of fantasy like it. The closet comparison I can think of is Thieves’ World; the main characters are scoundrels and thieves, and no one is up to […]
The Ladies of Grace Adieu (2006) Susanna Clarke Illustrated by Charles Vess The Ladies of Grace Adieu is a collection of short stories set in the same world was Jonathan Strange and Mister Norrell during the 18th and 19th centuries. Several of the stories revolve around familiar characters–Jonathan Strange, the Raven King, the Duke of […]
Touch the Dark (2006) Karen Chance Cassandra is a clairvoyant who is on the run from her former vampire master. After she receives a death notice on her computer, she flees, taking only her gun from her office, and stopping only to warn her roommate that there is danger coming, and he shouldn’t go home. […]
Hell To Pay (2006) Simon R. Green I am quite fond of Simon R. Green’s Nightside books, although the Nightside itself would probably be offended by the use of the word fond. John Taylor is a private investigator in the Nightside, an alternate city within London where it is always night, and anything you can […]
Night Watch (2006) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield I picked up this book a month or two ago, even though I didn’t have time to read it, because I was afraid it would be one of those books that I never saw again if I didn’t get it then. Having read it, I am […]
Ex Machina: March to War (2006) Brian K Vaughan March to War is the fourth installment of the Ex Machina series. The president is pushing for war in Iraq, and Mitchell Hundred is dealing with the repercussions of that in New York. A group wants to have a peace protest, and the police commissioner wants […]
Tripping to Somewhere (2006) Kristopher Reisz Gilly and Sam are looking to escape their lives, and opportunity knocks when one of the city’s better known street people tells them that the Witches Carnival is in town, and if they move fast they can catch it. As Gilly and Sam run after the Witches Carnival, we […]
The Dark Sleep (1999) P.N. Elrod I don’t know how I messed it up, but somehow I thought that The Dark Sleep came after Lady Crymsyn. This would be wrong. The Dark Sleep precedes Lady Crymsyn. Luckily, both are stand alone books, so I didn’t lose anything by reading them out of order. This was […]
Lady Crymsyn (2000) P.N. Elrod After finishing the last three books, I was reluctant to read this book, for fear it would continue what felt to me as a downward spiral. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Lady Crymsyn went back to the things that I had liked so much about the previous […]
A Chill in the Blood (1998) P. N. Elrod The best thing about A Chill in the Blood is that it finishes the story arc started in Fire in the Blood. Angela Paco and Vaughn Kyler are fighting for control of Chicago and Jack and Charles are caught between, with both gangs believing that Jack […]
Blood on the Water (1992) P. N. Elrod Okay. Now I’m starting to get frustrated. This is the second book with an unfinished story arc. It’s not quite as bad as the previous book, but it’s still frustrating. Blood on the Water picks up immediately after the end of Fire in the Blood. And by […]
Fire in the Blood (1991) P. N. Elrod The Vampire Files Vol II I have to say that I found Fire in the Blood disappointing on multiple levels. Although the mystery wasn’t bad, I know I’ve read at least one of the major conclusions. So it was only the details that were a surprise, rather […]
Art in the Blood (1991) P. N. Elrod The Vampire Files Vol II It probably means something that when I started the first story in The Vampire Files Volume Two I had to stop and think, “Wait a second. Which vampire was this? Who did he kill in the last book?” It possibly means that […]