The Eye of the Hunter (1992) Dennis L. McKiernan If I remember correctly, this is the second Dennis McKiernan book I read–and the first novel. (The first book was the short story collection Tales of Mithgar.) In The Eye of the Hunter, the Lastborn Firstborns Gwilly and Faeril, join with Riatha and Aravan to fulfill […]

A Circle of Cats (2003) Charles de Lint Illustrated by Charles Vess I received this book for my birthday from Brian and Stacie. (THANKS!) I’d placed it on my wish list solely because it was written by Charles de Lint, and as usual, I wasn’t disappointed. A Circle of Cats is about Lillian, a girl […]

Into the Fire (1998) Dennis McKiernan Book Two of the Hel’s Crucible Duology The conlusion to the story started in Into the Forge, Phais, Loric, Tipperton, and Beau leave Mineholt North to continue Tip’s quest to take the coin to Agron. War continues to rage as Gryphon seeks to dominate Mithgar and all its inhabitants. […]

Into the Forge (1996) Dennis McKiernan The first book in the Hel’s Crucible duology. Tipperton is awakened by sounds of battle outside his door, and thus is drawn into what is to become one of Mithgar’s great battles of good versus evil, as Gryphon seeks to dominate not just Neddra, but Mithgar and all its […]

The Fencing Master (1988) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Margaret Jull Costa (1998) I initially didn’t realize that this books were originally in Spanish, and was a little unsure when I realized they were translated, but then decided that it shouldn’t make a difference, and so happily read the book. The Fencing Master is set in […]

Burn Marks (1990) Sara Paretsky V.I.’s aunt Elena shows up on her doorstop at 3 in the morning after escaping the fire that burned down the hotel where she was living. As an alcoholic deadbeat aunt is not the idea roomate, V.I. gives her 24 hours to find a new place and get out, but […]

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2005) J.K. Rowling Finished. And grr… I liked the book up through the last couple chapters. Then it went exactly where I thought it was going to go. And I’m not happy about it. Also, this had all the feel of a second book in a trilogy–minor points […]

Blood Shot (1988) Sara Paretsky V.I. Warshawski reluctantly heads back to the old neighborhood–her childhood next door neighbor wants her help in solving the mystery of her past. V.I.’s mother had befriended the single mother next door, and made V.I. take care of Caroline, the little girl. Now, as her mother lies dying, Caroline begs […]

Killing Orders (1985) Sara Paretsky In Killing Orders V.I.’s bitter and unpleasant aunt asks her to look into a matter for her–securities have been forged at the church where Aunt Rosa works, and as everyone who had access to the safe is under suspicion, she is on leave from her job at the church. Worried, […]

Indemnity Only (1982) and Deadlock (1984) Sara Paretsky I used to own the V.I. Warshawski series, but in a fit of pique–and shelf space squeeze–I sold them all. I recently decided that I wanted to give them another chance, which means that I needed to reread them, which means I had to find all the […]

Cold Service (2005) Robert B. Parker I had figured that I was going to have to wait a year, until it came out in paperback, to read the latest Spender book. However, we found a hardback copy at Half Price Books, cheaper than the coming paperback will be, so we got it. There was a […]

The Last Templar (1995) Michael Jecks This was an interesting book. The mystery was good, the story was good, and I quite liked the historical setting and the history lesson. The writing was, for the most part, very good, with one glaring exception. In this book Michael Jecks switches point of view abruptly and sometimes […]

The Dragonstone (1996) Dennis McKiernan This is a good book, but not my favorite Mithgar books. Unlike other books set in Mithgar, there are few appearances by characters from other books: Aravan is mentioned in passing, the great dragons make an appearance, and Vanidar accompanies Arin for awhile, but mostly the characters in this book […]

Voyage of the Fox Rider (1993) Dennis McKiernan Dennis McKiernan is another author I appreciate for his ability to write duologies and single book fantasies. Of course as the Mithgar books all have the same setting, and contain recurring characters, I suppose that gives him the luxury of being able to continue in a known […]

Small Vices (1997) Robert B. Parker Okay, so I didn’t totally resist, but I’ve limited myself to just Small Vices, which is one of my favorite Spenser books. Small Vices was my introduction to Spenser. It is also the reason I have some small affection for Burt Reynolds. Back when I worked in a lab, […]