Cast in Courtlight (2006) Michelle Sagara The sequel to Cast in Shadow, Cast in Courtlight continues the story of Kaylin Neya, Ground Hawk of the Halls of Law, marked by unknown magics, and still lacking control of her magics or her temper. This is a fine sequel to Cast in Shadow, and although there remain […]

The Privilege of the Sword (2006) Ellen Kushner There are a handful of authors whose books I actively seek out, looking for crumbs of news of upcoming books: Sean Russell, Guy Gavriel Kay, Charles de Lint, and also Ellen Kushner. Well, July has been a good month for me; new Charles de Lint, and even […]

The Golem’s Eye (2004) Jonathan Stroud The second book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy starts two years after the end of The Amulet of Samarkand. Nathaniel/John Mandrake has been the apprentice of Jessica Whitwell, and has become a member of the Department of Internal Affairs, and put in charge of learning about and stopping the Resistance. […]

Kitty Goes to Washington (2006) Carrie Vaughn The best thing about supernatural fantasies are the fact that they’re quick reads and a lot of fun. Kitty Goes to Washington takes off where Kitty and the Midnight Hour left off. Kitty is on her own now, separated from her pack and unable to return to her […]

Widdershins (2006) Charles de Lint Widdershins is the latest book by Charles de Lint, and I debated for about a month as to whether I wanted to buy it in hardback or wait for it to come out in paperback. First there was the fact that I own Spirits in the Wires and Tapping the […]

For those who don’t read my regular blog, my grandmother is visiting, so things may be extra quiet around her for awhile. After all, I’ve got plenty to do recommending books for her to read! That would be Sarah Zettel’s Camelot series, Naomi Novik, T.F. Banks, and maybe even Lian Hearn. And she loved Kate […]

The Amulet of Samarkand The Bartimaeus Trilogy (2003) Jonathan Stroud Bartimaeus is a djinni who has been around for thousands of years. He even spent time in Ancient Egypt, a culture that he seems to have some slight fondness for. However, when he’s called this time, his Master is an eleven year old apprentice with […]

Kitty and the Midnight Hour (2005) Carrie Vaughn Kitty Norville is a midnight DJ for a local Denver radio station (I believe it is supposed to be a public radio station. Yay!) who takes requests and calls. One night the calls go in an unexpected direction, and she ends up hosting a regular call in […]

Bloodsucking Fiends (1995) Christopher Moore Jody is coming home from work when she’s attacked. She wakes up to find herself under a dumpster and turned into a vampire. The she has to come to terms with her change, and learn how to survive. The story was interesting but there was something about the writing that […]

Rising Stars: Voices of the Dead / Bright (2006) Fiona Avery This was definitely a disappointment. First of all, it didn’t say on the front cover that this was not written by J. Michael Stracznski. So I was expecting a certain type of writing and story, and didn’t get it. That probably didn’t help matters. […]

Master and Commander (1970) Patrick O’Brian This book ended up taking me several months to read. I started it sometime during the winter, would read a couple of pages or chapters, then I’d pick up another book and forget about this one for awhile. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. I did. However, it’s […]

Nightlife (2006) Rob Thurman This book starts the action right on page one: It was the touch of a much warmer liquid on my fingers that let me know differently. It was blood. My blood. I tightened my hand over the one that held the knife handle. The blood covers both our hands, his and […]

Zorro (2005) Isabel Allende translated by Margaret Sayers Peden As I’ve mentioned before, I love swashbuckling adventures, and as swashbuckling adventurers go, Zorro is one of my favorites. Last summer, when “The Legend of Zorro” was out, I saw this book, but assumed it was related to the movie, and didn’t pick it up. My […]

The Vampire Files: Bloodcircle (1990) P.N. Elrod The third book in The Vampire Files series, Bloodcircle, seems to clear up the last bits of Jack Flemming’s past. Jack and Charles Escott decide to travel to New York to see if they can discover what happened to Maureen. I have to say that it’s a good […]

The Vampire Files: Lifeblood (1990) P.N. Elrod Several weeks have passed since the events of Bloodlust, and Charles Escott offers Jack a part in his investigative services. But the next case they end up investigating end up being a search for the whereabouts of Jack’s lover Maureen–the vampire who sired him. Despite the fact that […]

The Vampire Files: Bloodlist (1990) P.N. Elrod It’s Chicago, in 1936 and reporter Jack Flemming is investigating a case he takes rather personally–his own death. (I feel like I’ve written or read that sentence before. Strange.) I picked up this three book omnibus because we found three later books in this series used. Michael read […]

Courage of Falcons (2000) Holly Lisle In all, this was an interesting series. Again, the pace was fast–very fast–and action packed. In fact, I found it to be a little too fast, and a little too action packed, which I didn’t think was possible. The problem I had was that I was reading one tragedy […]

Vengeance of Dragons The Secret Texts Book 2 (1999) Holly Lisle Again, with the cliffhanger ending; the lack of conclusion of a story arc is my biggest problem with this book (or series actually). You have been warned. Don’t read this book without the third close at hand. Luckily, they’ve been out for awhile, so […]

Diplomacy of Wolves (1998) Holly Lisle Do not, I repeat do NOT start this book unless you already have the second book. If you finish this book without having the second book at hand, you’ll be sooorry! Talk about a cliff hanger ending! Jeesh. Aside from that, this is a pretty good book. I started […]

Twisted Tails (2006) edited by J. Richard Jacobs e-book ISBN: 1-55404-339-5 Twisted Tails This anthology probably wasn’t meant for someone like me. It’s an eclectic mix of short stories, of fantasy, mystery, science fiction, and horror. The problems is that I don’t enjoy science fiction, and horror simply bothers me. (Horror leaves me feeling icky–a […]

The Crooked House Book Two of the King’s Daggers (2000) Dave Duncan The further adventures of Sir Stalwart and Sister Emerald. In summary: Pride goeth before the fall. Pretty much the same as the first book. Teenage characters. Acting pretty much as you’d expect teenager heroes to act. I liked The Crooked House even less […]

Sir Stalwart Book One of the Kings Daggers (1999) Dave Duncan Candidate Stalwart has been training since he was thirteen to become one of the King’s Blades–the elite group of guards whose lives are sworn and bound to the king. Emerald had just been sworn as a White Sister, when a magical attack leads one […]

Cloven Hooves (1991) Megan Lindholm I realized relatively quickly that this was not the book that I wanted to be reading. Already depressed, the last thing I needed was a story full of pain and sorrow and darkness. “I’ll just finish this chapter, and then I’ll pick up something else.” Except that I couldn’t put […]

Black Powder War (2006) Naomi Novik Trilogy? Did I say trilogy? BAH! This is no trilogy! This is a series, nowhere near done! It is, however, still good, and although the war still rages, she does complete the story arc of this book, and does not leaving you hanging–at least not too much. Now that […]

Throne of Jade (2006) Naomi Novik Temeraire is not just a Imperial dragon, but a rare Celestial dragon, and upon discovering that the English have him, the Chinese are demanding his return, and the military is commanding Will Laurence to give him up–and to lie to Temeraire to convince him to return to China. Temeraire […]

The Book of Ballads (2004) Charles Vess To create The Book of Ballads, Charles Vess worked with some of the biggest names in fantasy, to recreate a graphic rendition of some of the best known songs of folklore. Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman, Emma Bull, Jane Yolen… It’s like a who’s who of fantasy authors. […]

His Majesty’s Dragon (2006) Naomi Novik During the Napoleonic wars, Captain Will Laurence of the HMS Reliant captures the French ship Amitie and its valuable cargo: a dragon egg. Unfortunately, the egg is close to hatching, so someone on the ship must become bonded to the dragon upon its hatching, and then leave the Navy […]

The Charmed Sphere (2004) Catherine Asaro In the kingdom of Aronsdale, the king must be wed to the strongest female mage of his generation. Chime is an untrained mage, unable to control her powers and unwilling to use them, but stronger than any other known mage. Muller is heir to the throne only because a […]

The Devil in Music (1997) Kate Ross Four years previously, Lodovico Malvezzi died of a heart attack. Now, four years later, it comes out that he was actually murdered, but local officials covered up the murder in fear it would encourage the revolutionaries, who it was believed were behind the plot. However, on her deathbed, […]

Whom the Gods Love (1995) Kate Ross Alexander Falkland has been killed. His head smashed in with a poker while one of his famous parties rages upstairs. But Alex is the darling of the ton (it took me awhile to figure this one out; the ton is the bon ton, or high society in London) […]

A Broken Vessel (1994) Kate Ross The second Julian Kestrel mystery, A Broken Vessel looks at prostitution in 1800s London, and the Reclamation houses that existed to recover these women. Julian is introduced to this world through his manservant Dipper, who discovers his lost sister, who is working as a ladybird. One of the most […]

Green Rider (1998) Kristen Britain Karigan G’ladheon is on her way home after getting suspended from school when a Green Rider, arrows in his back, comes across her, and begs her to carry his message satchel to the King. Meanwhile, in various spots throughout the kingdom, bad things are happening. This is an interesting story, […]

Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (2004) Isabel Allende translated by Margaret Sayers Peden Alexander Cold asks his grandmother, Kate, if he can accompany her on her latest expedition for International Geographic, this time to a remote country in the Himalayas. A country nicknamed The Forbidden Kingdom, because of its far location and the fact that […]

The Summer Country (2002) James A. Hetley The deciding factor for buying this book was the fact that there was a blurb by Chares de Lint on the cover. Since I love his writing, I was curious as to what he would like enough to blurb. Maureen Pierce isn’t quite right. That’s what her family […]

Dead Beat The Dresden Files Book Seven (2005) Jim Butcher I had Michael read this book first, so he could warn me if it had a cliffhanger ending. He doesn’t mind being left hanging, whereas I hate it with a passion. But Michael said I’d be okay with this, so I dove right into the […]

The Dragon Queen (2001) Alice Borchardt Usually when I don’t like a book, there’s something specific I can point to, to say, “THAT horrible thing is what ruined the book for me.” Not so for The Dragon Queen. It was more like the death of a thousand paper cuts. A whole bunch of little things […]

Rearranging bookshelves requires a will of iron. Unfortunately, when it comes to books, I have a will of aluminum foil. Let me repeat what I said the first time I read these: Wow. All I wanted to do was update my book database and rearrange a couple of bookshelves. However, I foolishly opened Born in […]

Cut to the Quick (1993) Kate Ross Reading the T. F. Banks books put me in the mood for another Victorian mystery, and lucky for me, I had one waiting here to read. Julian Kestrel is a dandy. He’s making his mark on London society by being a sharp dresser, and the perfect gentleman–even if […]

The Black Forest 2 (2005) Todd Livingston, Robert Tinnell, Neil Vokes I read The Black Forest in January, and liked it. We’d picked up The Black Forest 2, but I’d somehow forgotten we had it, but when I was putting Hellraiser away, I noticed it and picked it up. Although it took me a bit […]

Hellblazer: Rare Cuts (2005) various Rare Cuts is a collection of John Constantine stories spanning 1988 to 1994. It is my understanding that Rare Cuts was published after the movie Constantine came out, as an introduction to the comic, and written by Jamie Delano, Grant Morrison, and Garth Ennis. These stories cover a lot of […]

The Emperor’s Assassin Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner (2003) T.F. Banks aka Ian Dennis and Sean Russell Although this book was as well written as the previous, I found myself disappointed in the ending. The mystery was perhaps even better than the first book, however, it was a Hollywood ending, with guns a-blazing, shots […]

Hellblazer: Original Sins (1987) Jamie Delano So. Well. I first came across Constantine in the Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes, when Constantine helps Morpheus get his bag of sand back. He was a strange character, and I wasn’t sure about him. But I was curious. Then we watched “Constantine” which was an okay action movie, although […]

The Thief Taker: Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner (2001) T.F. Banks aka Ian Dennis and Sean Russell I was browsing Sean Russell’s web page, when I saw two books listed that I didn’t own: The Thief Taker and The Emperor’s Assassin. My immediate reaction was one of shock: Sean Russell had co-written a series […]

Definitely Dead (2006) Charlaine Harris First things first, this book had me laughing out loud, and reading passages to Michael. That usually only happens for Steven Brust books, but in multiple places Charlaine Harris nailed the dialog, and forced me to keep interrupting Michael game so he could laugh with me. Additionally, for those of […]

Moon Called (2006) Patricia Briggs I have to say, Moon Called was a lot of fun to read. I had no expectations of the book at all (I bought it because I liked other books by Patricia Briggs), so everywhere the story went was a surprise. And a pleasant surprise at that. Also, this book […]

War for the Oaks (1987) Emma Bull Wow. I’ve been bypassing this book for years. Initially, because wasn’t on the shelves. Then when the reprint came out, because the cover made it look like something I wouldn’t like. Boy was I wrong. And I shouldn’t have been, because I liked Freedom & Necessity, which she […]

Path of Fate (2003) Diana Pharoah Francis This book had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, when it lost my attention in the beginning of the book, it never really regained it, even though the story got better. Reisil is a tark. (Actually: A healer. Why they just couldn’t call her a healer is beyond me.) […]

Blood Rites The Dresden Files Book Six (2004) Jim Butcher This must be the point at which Jim Butcher started getting really popular. Because we’ve suddenly switched from having the title at the top of the page, to the author name at the top of the page at double the font size of previous books. […]

Death Masks The Dresden Files Book Five (2003) Jim Butcher Interestingly, I liked this book more once I put it down and started thinking about it, than right after I closed it. Not that I didn’t like it before–I just liked it better after thinking about it. One of the reasons is that (in case […]

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 […]