Summer Knight The Dresden Files Book Four (2002) Jim Butcher Okay, so apparently the last book, Grave Peril, was a fluke, because I really enjoyed Summer Knight. Harry’s has spent his time since the events in Grave Peril searching for a way to cure Susan. Without luck. He has also been ignoring the fact that […]
Past the Size of Dreaming (2001) Nina Kiriki Hoffman The sequel to A Red Heart of Memories, Past the Size of Dreaming is superior to its predecessor. Which is impressive, because A Red Heart of Memories is very good. Edmund and Matt and Suki are back at the House, and are gathering together Edmund and […]
A Red Heart of Memories (1999) Nina Kiriki Hoffman I really like Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s writing. She reminds me a bit of Charles de Lint, probably because the both write about magic just under the surface of our world. Things are such that if we just looked a tiny bit harder, we’d see the magic […]
Blood Pact (1993) Tanya Huff Surprisingly, I like Blood Pact a lot more than Blood Lines, the last book, although it was quite different than the previous four. In this book they battle not magic, but science: a group of researchers are reanimating the dead. I say surprisingly because the researchers were creating zombies. Vicki, […]
Blood Lines (1993) Tanya Huff In the third book in the Victory Nelson Private Investigator series, an ancient mummy is released from his bindings and takes up where he left off–gathering power and souls for his God. Several strange deaths draw Mike Celluci, and then Vicki Nelson and Henry Fitzroy onto the case. I did […]
Blood Trail (1992) Tanya Huff Okay, I did have a very strong drink to celebrate the end of the semester, so that may have been part of the reason why I laughed out loud several times last night while reading this book. Or, it could be that the book was actually amusing. Your call. Vicki […]
Runaways Vol 3: The Good Die Young (2004) Brian K. Vaughan And finally, the conclusion of the story arc started in Pride and Joy. We finally learn why the Pride formed, and what they were trying to do. And the teens finally resolve the problem. We also learn who the mole was, and why the […]
Runaways Vol 2: Teenage Wasteland (2003) Brian K. Vaughan Now that they’ve escaped from their parents, the runaways are trying to figure out what to do with themselves. To amend for their parent’s actions, some of them believe that they should fight evil themselves, but they’re broke and hungry and still scared and shaken up, […]
Runaways Vol 1: Pride & Joy (2003) Brian K. Vaughan The series Runaways came up as a recommendation for me several times, and it looked interesting. However, I am wary books with of teenage characters, because if they’re not well done, I find them intolerably annoying. Luckily, the characters in Runaways may be teenagers, but […]
Blood Price (1991) Tanya Huff I’m embarrassed to admit how long I’ve had this book without reading it. In fact, it’s been so long that I’m not even certain precisely how long it has been, but I’m thinking I picked it up in ’94 or ’95, along with its two companion volumes. (The price was […]
Sunshine (2003) Robin McKinley I picked this book up for two reasons. First, because I liked the cover, and second, because of the quote by Neil Gaiman. Yes, I know lots of people who love Robin McKinley’s writing, and yes the blurb looked interesting, but the cover and the blurb were enough to keep me […]
Snow White Blood Red (1993) Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling I often have a hard time putting down interesting books. Which means that if I’m reading a book I real like before bed, I end up staying up past my bed time instead of falling asleep. One solution is to read non-fiction before bed. The […]
Ex Machina Vol 3: Fact v Fiction (2006) Brian K. Vaughan Ex Machina Vol 3: Fact v Fiction Now that I’m all caught up on Ex Machina, I suppose I have a six month wait or so before the next collection comes out. Luckily, I have one or two other things around here to read. […]
Ex Machina Vol 2: Tag (2005) Brian K. Vaughan Tag continues the story of Mitchell Hundred, also known as The Great Machine, and current mayor of NYC. Like the first volume, the story jumps back and forth in time. This time the past focuses upon his campaign for mayor of NYC, and how he became […]
Dead As A Doornail (2005) Charlaine Harris Dead As A Doornail is the fifth book in Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire series, and full of complications and murder and danger. Someone is killing the double-natured, and since Sookie’s brother Jason was bitten, he’s in the same danger as the rest. I really liked several different things […]
Raven’s Strike (2005) Patricia Briggs The sequel to Raven’s Shadow, Raven’s Strike picks up where Raven’s Shadow left off. Tier and Seraph, and their children Lier and Jes are headed back from Taela. They are still traveling with the clan of Rongier the Librarian, and Hennea, who was separated from her clan when she was […]
Under Camelot’s Banner (2006) Sarah Zettel Under Camelot’s Banner is the third book in Sarah Zettel’s Camelot series. There isn’t a specific name for this series, but all the books have Camelot in the title, so that’s obvious enough. Books published by Luna typically have a romantic or erotic element, however, they also tend to […]
Mystic and Rider (2005) Sharon Shinn I really liked this book. It’s a good, solid, and lovely fantasy. Senneth is a mystic, leading a group through the country of Gillengarin upon the orders of King Baryn. In her group are two King’s Riders, sent along, but unsure of Senneth and where her loyalties lie. First […]
I came across a comment in passing that gave me pause to consider what I’ve been writing here. Specifically, I don’t review a lot of books I don’t like. There’s a very good reason for this–I usally don’t read books I don’t like. When I pick up a book I don’t care for I tend […]
Swords of Haven (1999) Simon R. Green Omnibus edition of: Hawk & Fisher, Winner Takes All, The God Killer Swords of Haven, the omnibus edition containing the three Hawk and Fisher books, Hawk & Fisher, Winner Takes All, The God Killer, is a very odd book. The stories are set in a world of magic, […]
Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days (2005) Brian K. Vaughan I picked this up several months ago (before Christmas), but like other books, was putting off reading it until I had time only for something short to read. Then I forgot I had it. It was the name of the series, which first caught my […]
Raven’s Shadow (2004) Patricia Briggs Yes, I am gouging myself on new books. I’d been very good, about not bought myself any books for several months, so I figure I’m entitled to a small binge–especially when I can find books on sale. Seraph, a Traveler, a mage, and the last of her clan, is saved […]
The Grand Tour (2004) by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer If you’ve already read Sorcery and Cecelia, then you’ll need little or no encouragement to pick up The Grand Tour. Cousins Kate and Cecelia are taking the grand tour of Europe on their honeymoons. Within almost no time, they are caught up in intrigue […]
Grave Peril (2001) Jim Butcher The third book in The Dresden Files series occurs several months after the events of the last book, and introduces us to another of Harry Dresden’s friends and companions, Michael, a Knight of the Cross. Michael is helping Harry put down an uprising of ghosts that are rising up and […]
Fool Moon (2001) Jim Butcher Nope. I wasn’t at the bookstore right when it opened this morning, to get the second book in the Harry Dresden Files. The store had been open for at least twenty minutes when I got there. Plus, it was on the way to the grocery store. Fool Moon is set […]
Storm Front (2000) Jim Butcher Amazon had been recommending Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files to me for about a year However, the cover just looked like something I was not going to be interested in reading. But it kept coming up in relation to authors that I really like (Charlaine Harris, Simon Green) so I decided […]
Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth (2006) Simon R. Green To be honest, I was less than pleased with the last Nightside book, Paths Not Taken. The story was good, but I had a hard time accepting that John Taylor was really as cold-blooded as he came off. Luckily, Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth returns to […]
The Farthest Shore (1972) Ursula K. Le Guin The final book in The Earthsea Trilogy, as A Wizard of Earthsea tells of the start of Ged’s life as a wizard, The Farthest Shore closes his adventures. This time, Ged appears at the start of the book, as he receives Prince Arren, sent by his father […]
The Tombs of Atuan (1970) Ursula K. Le Guin The second book in the Earthsea Trilogy, The Tombs of Atuan tells the story of Tenar, who becomes Arha, the Eaten One, and High Priestess of the Nameless Ones. Tenar is taken from her home at the age of five becuase she is the reincarnation of […]
A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) Ursula K. Le Guin Strangely enough, as much fantasy as I read, I’d never gotten around to reading Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea Trilogy. I’ve had the books for a couple of years, but for one reason or another, never got around to reading them. It’s a short book, my […]
Brokedown Palace (1986) Steven Brust I don’t know how long it’s been since I read Brokedown Palace, but it was long enough ago that I didn’t remember any of the story, and I don’t think I’d yet read many of his books other than the first couple Vlad Taltos books. Which meant that there were […]
Spirits in the Wires (2003) Charles de Lint I’ve reviewed this book previously. This entry is simply to allow me to keep track of how many books I’ve read this year. Rating: 9/10
The Onion Girl (2001) Charles de Lint First things first, this is an excellent book. It’s the Jilly book that you always wanted, getting inside her head and learning why she’s the way she is. However, I have to admit that this is one Charles de Lint book that I just don’t like to read. […]
Tapping the Dream Tree (2002) Charles de Lint Tapping the Dream Tree is the fourth collection of Charle de Lint’s short stories based in Newford. It’s also my favorite collection so far. Several stories where Jilly makes an appearence, as well as several other favorite characters, and several new characters, or characters who made a […]
Moonlight & Vines (1999) Charles de Lint The third Charles de Lint short story collection, Moonlight & Vines returns again to Newford. Although it starts and ends with a Christie Riddell story, and there are plenty of appearances by the characters with whom we’ve become familiar, there are also new characters, some we’ll meet again, […]
Memory & Dream (1995) Charles de Lint Memory & Dream is not my favorite Charles de Lint book. Partially, because I keep forgetting that it’s a novel and not a short story collection, so I pick up the book, start reading, and then think, “boy, this is a really long story.” Then I remember that […]
Jack of Kinrowan (1995) Charles de Lint Jack of Kinrowan is actually two books: Jack the Giant Killer and Drink Down the Moon. In Jack the Giant Killer, the Seelie Laird of Kinrowan’s daughter has been stolen by the Unseelie Court, despite the fact that she was being escorted by the Gruagagh. And the Unseelie […]
The Ivory and the Horn (1995) Charles de Lint The Ivory and the Horn is the second short story collection by Charles de Lint, and like Dreams Underfoot, is set in Newford, the mythical North American city, where mythical beings reside. Reading these short stories makes me wish there there really was a Newford, so […]
Dreams Underfoot (1993) Charles de Lint I believe that Dreams Underfoot is the first Charles de Lint book I bought. I may have read one of his stories somewhere (Now that I look, I may have first read “The Moon Is Drowning as I Sleep” in Snow White, Blood Red, and from there been sucked […]
Sethra Lavode (2004) Steven Brust Sethra Lavode concludes The Viscount of Adrilankha trilogy. Morrolan is ensconced in Castle Black and learning Sorcery as well as more about Blackwand, Zerika is settled into Adrilankha and attempting to consolidate power and call a Meeting of Principalities to legitimize her reign, while Kana, who still retains a hold […]
The Lord of Castle Black (2003) Steven Brust The second volume in the Viscount of Adrilankha series takes up where the first left off, even going back a bit to cover events that occurred towards the end of Paths of the Dead Zerika is now Empress in name, but has yet to become Empress in […]
The Paths of the Dead (2002) Steven Brust For me, Steven Brust books are like potato chips; I can’t read just one. And so, having recently finished all the Vlad Taltos book, The Phoenix Guards, and Five Hundred Years After, there was nothing to do but read The Viscount of Adrilankha. The Paths of the […]
Five Hundred Years After (1994) Steven Brust If you have read the Vlad Taltos books, then you already know the outcome of Five Hundred Years After: Adron’s disaster, which lead to the Interregnum. But what we don’t know, is the story that leads up to Adron’s disaster. Why did Adron act in the manner he […]
The Phoenix Guards (1991) Steven Brust As is typically the case, once I finished reading the Vlad Taltos books, I felt myself consumed by an overwhelming desire to go back and re-read the other Dragaeran books. That is to say, mention of characters and events in the Vlad Taltos books whetted my appetite for re-reading […]
Issola (2001) Steven Brust Issola, for reasons about which I am not quite clear, is one of my favorite Vlad books. I think it’s because I like Lady Teldra so much, but it could also be the fact that Vlad is back to spending time with with Morrolan and Aliera and Sethra Lavode. Set after […]
Dragon (1998) Steven Brust I really like Dragon. It’s fun, it’s well-written, and I particularly like some of the observations that Vlad makes about life and war. For the most part, Dragon takes place soon after Taltos, however, a few parts of the story take place after Yendi. And if you think that’s confusing, you’re […]
Orca (1996) Steven Brust Set about a year after the events of Athyra, Vlad has wandered into Northport in search of a sorcerer who might be able to cure Sven, the Teckla boy who lost his mind during the events of Athyra. He finds one, however, her price is keeping her from being evicted from […]
Athyra (1993) Steven Brust Once you get past the fact that it is not written from Vlad’s point of view, Athyra is a very good book. The story is told from the point of view of Sven. It’s not first person like the other Vlad books, but we know Sven’s thoughts and feelings and impressions […]
Phoenix (1990) Steven Brust Chronologically, Phoenix follows Teckla. Verra, the demon goddess, has “work” for Vlad. She wants the king of Greenaere killed, and she refuses to say why. Vlad and Cawti are still at odds, with no reconciliation on the horizon, as Cawti’s actions with the revolutionary group continue to place her in danger, […]
Taltos (1988) Steven Brust With great relief I picked up Taltos, which again tells some of Vald’s history, and returns to the tone of the first two books. Taltos is fun and amusing, especially as Vlad and Morrolan get to know each other and learn to work together. It is also interesting to see Vlad’s […]