Moon Over Soho, Audio Edition (2011/2012) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith This is a story about jazz vampires. “You can’t die of jazz,” said Dr. Walid. “Can you?” I thought of Fats Navarro, Billie Holiday, and Charlie Parker who, when he died, was mistaken by a coroner for a man twice his real age. […]
Very Important Corpses (2017) Simon R. Green This is the third Ishmael Jones mystery. The Organization is sending Ishmael and Penny to Scotland (to that very famous Loch in fact) to provide security for a gathering where one agent has already been murdered, and it’s probable the House has been infiltrated by one or more […]
Midnight Riot, Audio Edition (2011/2012) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith I finished all the Nightside books that I own, and instead of buying the next book (none of them are available at my library) I decided to re-listen to the Rivers of London series, since there is a new book. I do love this […]
The Raven King, Audio Edition (2016) Maggie Stiefvater narrated by Will Patton Alas, I finally finished this story. We learn a lot about the psychics at 300 Foxway. They were so close to the situation that it was difficult to tell whether or not they were the situation. “I don’t believe in the concept of […]
The Dream Thieves, Audio Edition (2013) Maggie Stiefvater narrated by Will Patton This is the book where Ronan breaks my heart. “And you, Ronan,” Niall said. He always said Ronan differently from other words. As if he had meant to say another word entirely — something like knife or poison or revenge — and then […]
The Raven Boys, Audio Edition (2012) Maggie Stiefvater narrated by Will Patton I’d been a loose ends, trying to figure out what I wanted to listen to. This was it. I adore this story. And I love it even more remembering that Ronan, who is relatively awful in this book, ends up my favorite character […]
Dreams Underfoot (1993) Charles de Lint “Uncle Dobbin’s Parrot Fair,” Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Nov ‘87 “Stone Drum,” Triskell Press chapbook, 1989 “Timeskip,” Post Mortem: New Tales of Ghastly Horror, ed. Paul F. Olson & David B. Silva, St. Martin’s, 1989 “Freewheeling,” Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine Issue 6, ed. Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Pulphouse, 1990 […]
Freaks & Other Family (2016) Lish McBride You Make Me Feel So Young Halfway Through the Wood This collection is two stories about the characters from Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, Sam and Ramon. Sam is now a necromancer. Ramon is now a were-bear. Luckily, Sam’s inheritance also included a house and money, so he’s able […]
The Rook, Audible Version (2012) Daniel O’Malley narrated by Susan Duerden Myfanwy Thomas awakens in a park, surrounded by bodies, with no idea who she is. I really do like this story a lot. It’s so dryly funny. The meeting with the people from accounting proved spectacularly uninteresting as Myfanwy learned how cheaply one could […]
Rivers of London:
Sixth Watch (2015/2016) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield This text is mandatory reading for the forces of Light. —THE NIGHT WATCH This text is mandatory reading for the forces of Darkness. —THE DAY WATCH This is the final book of the Night Watch series. Definitely and irrevocably the final book of the series. It’s […]
New Watch, Audible Version (2012/2014) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield narrated by Paul Michael I don’t love this book as much as the previous, but I still love this series and spending time in this world. Nadia is now ten, and in training at the Night Watch. Sveta is still out of the Watch, […]
Last Watch, Audible Edition (2009/2010) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield narrated by Paul Michael The fourth book in the Watch series is another one I really enjoy. A Russian college student is murdered in Edinburgh Scotland, and because the young man’s father had links to the Watches, and they young man appears to have […]
Twilight Watch, Audible Version (2006/2007/2010) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield narrated by Paul Michael This might well be my favorite book of the series, partially because Anton and Svetka are happily married and that relationship is a strength, and partially because the events are so unexpected. Plus, of course, it’s a delight. “Svetka,” I […]
Day Watch, Audio Edition (1999/2006/2010) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield and narrated by Paul Michael The second book in the watch series. This is, as the title says, about the day watch. It’s very strange. I don’t enjoy reading the first story, but I quite like listening to it. The other stories I enjoy […]
Night Watch, Audio Version (1998/2006/2010) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield and narrated by Paul Michael Last year I re-read books one through five of the Night Watch series, but kept putting off reading the final book. So when I finished off the final (published) Jane Yellowrock book, I decided I should re-listen to Night […]
Dead Man Walking: A country house murder mystery with a supernatural twist (2016) Simon R Green I tend to either love Simon R Green’s series, or … not. This is a series I like I think. Ishmael Jones works for a super secret agency that takes care of beings and events that would disturb the […]
Rivers of London: Vol. 4 Detective Stories (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Luis Guerrero, Lee Sullivan The fourth Rivers of London comic finds Peter being interviewed to become a detective. The gentleman interviewing him is a bit unprepared for what he’s about to get. There is a lot to love about this comic. First off, […]
Child of a Rainless Year (2005) Jane Lindskold Mira Fenn was nine when her mother disappeared, and she was sent away to Ohio to live with foster parents. The further she goes from her time in Las Vegas New Mexico, the stranger her early childhood seems. Especially her mother. I watched, mesmerized, as Mother transformed […]
A Long Day in Lychford (2017) Paul Cornell This is not my favorite of the Witches of Lychford stories. It isn’t bad, but the three main characters are separated for part of the book, and their interactions are often the best parts of the book. Not to say that there isn’t plenty of amusement. A […]
Shadowhouse Fall (2017) Daniel José Older This is the second book in the Shadowshaper Cypher series. Sierra is coming to terms with being the Lucera and leading a team of Shadowshapers. She’s also learning that all of this is going to be far more dangerous that they could have guessed, because The Sorrows–the House of […]
Firebug (2014) Lish McBride I have this thing where if I really love an author, I sometimes have difficulty starting a book in a new series. Because I’m afraid the new book won’t live up to my expectations of the other books I’ve read, so I keep putting off reading it. Lish McBride fell into […]
A Rare Book of Cunning Device, Audio Short Story (2017) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith This is a Peter Grant short story, available only as an audible short story (currently free). Oh My Dog I love this so much. Peter is summoned to the London British Library because the library (who knew his mother) […]
Rivers of London: Detective Stories #3: Cry Me a River (2017) by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, Luis Guerrero This one is actually a murder mystery–a ghost is trying to get his murder resolved, even though most of the principals died long ago. Because Peter can talk to the ghost, he looks into it. […]
Rivers of London: Detective Stories #2: Old Soldiers (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, Luis Guerrero, Gary Erskine, Yel Zamor This story takes place before Leslie left the Folly to join the Faceless Man. They are called to an art gallery not because of a theft, but because a painting appeared–an authentic Goya. This […]
Rivers of London Volume 3: Black Mould (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan I read these as ebooks, but being able to read on paper made a surprisingly huge difference. It’s possible I picked up on more things because it was the second read, but I think it’s because I could read it as […]
White Hot (2017) Ilona Andrews Guess what? I DESPISE THIS COVER TOO. It’s TERRIBLE. I tells you nothing about the story except that there is boinking. BLETCH. OK, enough. How about the story? The story is good! Things are even more complex, and not just between Nevada and Rogan. The cabal that attempted to destroy […]
Burn for Me (2014) Ilona Andrews I STILL DESPISE THIS COVER. Avon? THIS COVER IS HORRIBLE. No, really. It’s been what, three years, and I STILL HATE THIS COVER. Especially considering the proposed cover. But this review is not for me to rant. Well, not completely anyway. Nevada Baylor is owned by MII, the investigative […]
The Furthest Station (2017) Ben Aaronovitch My current theory is that the reason the previous novel took so long to come out was because it was too long, and a lot had to come out, and that material has made up the comics and this novella. Sounds good anyway. This is a Rivers of London […]
Rivers of London: Detective Stories #4.1 (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, Luis Guerrero, Mack Chater I am… confused by this. This is Detective Stories #4.1 and it just came out. Rivers of London: Detective Stories #2 comes out July 12. Rivers of London: Detective Stories #3 comes out August 9th. All I can […]
Stiletto (2016) Daniel O’Malley I really enjoyed The Rook, so I was thrilled when the sequel, Stiletto, went on sale. At first, I was a tiny bit disappointed that Rook Myfanwy Thomas wasn’t the main character, but she made a later appearance, and I came to really like the new characters introduced: Felicity and Odette. […]
Legion: Skin Deep, Audio Version (2014) Brandon Sanderson narrated by Oliver Wyman I really like this series, but I fear with all his other writing commitments, further books may be few and far between. Since Michael listened to the first book, we listened to the second as well, on another car trip. Just as good […]
Magic Stars (2015) Ilona Andrews If you’ve read the Kate Daniel’s series, this novella (which seems like it’ll be ongoing) features Derek and Julie. If you haven’t read the Kate Daniel’s series, I’m not sure how good of a starting place this would be, simply because Derek and Julie have a past that is intertwined […]
New Watch (2012/2013) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield The fifth book of the Night Watch series! I finally got around to reading it! This is a dubious text for the cause of Light. —THE NIGHT WATCH This is a dubious text for the cause of Darkness. —THE DAY WATCH As with the rest of […]
The Last Watch (2009) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield This text is acceptable to the forces of Light. THE NIGHT WATCH This text is acceptable to the forces of Darkness. THE DAY WATCH This is the 4th book in the Night Watch series. As with the previous books, it is broken up into three […]
Twilight Watch (2006/2007) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield The third book in the Night Watch series is one of my favorites. There are, of course, three stories: Nobody’s Time, Nobody’s Space, Nobody’s Power. “Nobody’s Time” is the first story, and finds Anton searching for an other who has promised to turn a human being […]
Day Watch (2000/2006) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield This text has been banned for distribution as injurious to the cause of Light. —THE NIGHT WATCH This text has been banned for distribution as injurious to the cause of Darkness. —THE DAY WATCH As with the first book, there are three stories within the book, […]
Night Watch (2006) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield This text has been approved for distribution as conducive to the cause of Light. —THE NIGHT WATCH This text has been approved for distribution as conducive to the cause of Darkness. —THE DAY WATCH I’ve got the final two Night Watch books just waiting to be […]
Salsa Nocturna: A Bone Street Rumba Collection (2012) Daniel José Older I was feeling out of sorts and unsure what I was in the mood to read, so I decided to re-read Salsa Nocturna since I knew I’d enjoy it. “Tenderfoot” published in The Innsmouth Free Press (2011) “Salsa Nocturna” published in Strange Horizons (2010) […]
Rivers of London Volume 3: Black Mould (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan This comic occurs between Foxglove Summer and The Hanging Tree . It’s also how Peter ends up working more with Sahra Guleed, who I also adore. And I love how snarky both of them are about the racism they deal with […]
The Hanging Tree (2017) Ben Aaronovitch I just went back and checked, and I pre-ordered this August 2015. The publication date of this book got pushed back a lot. Yes, there were three (almost complete) comics published in the interim, but I know that didn’t appease a lot of people. Me? I’m good with it. […]
Legion (2012) Brandon Sanderson read by Oliver Wyman (settling in for a drive and figuring out what to listen to) Michelle: Did you read Legion yet? Michael (sounding uninterested): Nah. Michelle: That is what we’re listening to then. (time passes) (we get out of the car and when we get back in I switch to […]
Battle Hill Bolero (2017) Daniel José Older This is the sequel to both Midnight Taxi Tango and Salsa Nocturna. You don’t have to have read Salsa Nocturna for this, but you really really should. Events have come to a head, and Riley and Cyrus and many other ghosts are in open rebellion against the Council […]
Street Magicks (2016) edited by Paula Guran I believe it took me less than a year to finish this anthology. Hopefully this is a new trend for me. “Freewheeling” by Charles de Lint “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane” by Scott Lynch “Caligo Lane” by Ellen Klages “Socks” by Delia Sherman “Painted Birds […]
A Fantastic Holiday Season: The Gift of Stories (2014) edited by Kevin J. Anderson & Kieth J. Olexa I picked this collection up solely for the Patricia Briggs story, but once I saw some of the other authors, read through the stories that interested me (but skipped the ones that didn’t grab me after a […]
Burnt Sugar (2014) Lish McBride Ava, Lock, and Ezra have been sent by the Coterie (magical mafia) to collect a tithe from a witch who has missed payment. But when the find a gingerbread house, they know things are more serious than they expected. Lock stopped and crossed his arms, giving us a look that […]
Ghost Girl in the Corner (2016) Daniel José Older This is set after Shadowshaper. Tee has received a grant to take over the publishing of the Bed-Stuy Searchlight–the local paper that had been run by Manny. She has three other teens to help her: Mina, Rafael, and Coruscant, although the woman from the group that […]
Iron Kissed (2008) Patricia Briggs I still have great difficulty reading this book, and flat-out skip most of a chapter because it is so hard for me to read. Just so you know. Mercy is called by Zee to look into a death at the Fae Reservation; this will allow her to repay her debt […]
Blood Bound (2007) Patricia Briggs The second Mercy Thompson books finds Mercy helping the vampires–specifically Stefan, who is a friend of sorts. The Mistress of the City knows what Mercy is, but believes Stefan that Mercy is no threat to the local seethe, and so accepts Mercy’s place in the city (although Mercy still has […]
Moon Called (2006) Patricia Briggs I learned my lesson years ago, although sometimes I’d forget, this time I remembered: after reading Guy Gavriel Kay, I must read something absolutely different. If I read any kind of historical fantasy after Guy Gavriel Kay, I am always sorely disappointed. Since I was still in the mood for […]