Dead Witch Walking (2004) Kim Harrison This book had a lot to overcome. I don’t like the cover, I hate the title, and the first time I picked up this book I couldn’t get past the first ten pages. However, I kept hearing good things about it, and Michael said that he liked it, so […]
Blind Justice (1994) Bruce Alexander A Sir John Fielding Mystery Jeremy Proctor was orphaned at thirteen, after a mob kills his father–all under the guise of justice. Jeremy runs away to London, and it is there that he first encounters Sir John Fielding, the famous magistrate of Bow Street. While Sir John is trying to […]
Winter Moon (2005) Mercedes Lackey, Tanith Lee, and C.E. Murphy Winter Moon contains three novellas all centered around the moon: Moontide by Mercedes Lackey, The Heart of the Moon by Tanith Lee, and Banshee Cries by C.E. Murphy. Moontide and Heart of the Moon are traditional fantasies, while Banshee Cries is an urban fantasy set […]
The Water Room (2004) Christopher Fowler The second Bryant & May mystery, The Water Room takes place a month or so after the events of Full Dark House–at least the current day events. The Peculiar Crimes Unit is being rebuilt, and during the reconstruction, the unit is at loose ends, and two separate cases fall […]
Full Dark House (2003) Christopher Fowler A Bryant & May Mystery Full Dark House is the first Bryant & May mystery. An explosion destroys the Peculiar Crimes Unit, and Arthur Bryant is believed to have been inside. In order to discover the course and cause of the bombing, John May has to go back 60 […]
The Little Country (1991) Charles de Lint While musing over a broken relationship that may lead to a broken tour of American, Janey searches the attic and finds a book by her favorite author–an author who was good friends with her grandfather–and discovers there was only a single copy of the book printed, and that […]
Staying Dead (2005) Laura Anne Gilman A Retrievers Novel I found this book disappointing. I’ve come to expect a lot from books published by Luna, so it’s almost a shock for me to read one of their books that I don’t absolutely love. And the thing is I really should have loved this book. Like […]
Seventy-Seven Clocks (2005) Christopher Fowler A Bryant and May Mystery I picked this up at The Bookshelf’s Clarence sale. The name intrigued me, and the back cover sounded interesting, although I wasn’t quite sure what London’s Peculiar Crimes unit was, other than something that sounded fascinating. It’s 1973 and the Peculiar Crimes Unit has just […]
Wolf Moon (1988) Charles de Lint Wolf Moon is one of Charles de Lint’s earlier books. It’s quite short–only 245 pages. In tone, it reminds me very much of The Harp of the Grey Rose. A fantasy world that similar to, but not quite the same as, ours. Kern is a werewolf. Accepted by neither […]
The Red Tent (1997) Anita Diamant A co-worker who also loves to read loaned me this book. She said she enjoyed it, and thought I might as well. Of course my problem was that my “to read” list is pretty much ridiculous, so I had to force myself to put aside some of the lighter […]
Swan Sister (2003) Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling I don’t think I’ve come across a short story collection put together by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling that I didn’t like, and Swan Sister is no exception to the rule. The stories are fairy tales retold, by a variety of authors–many some of my favorites. The […]
Ptolemy’s Gate (2006) Jonathan Stroud The final book of the Bartimaeus trilogy, in Ptolemy’s Gate Bartimaeus and Nathaniel discover the conspiracy that has been plotting to overthrow the government. We also discover what Kitty Jones has been doing since we last saw her. John Mandrake may have risen in the government, but Kitty has been […]
Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners (1987) Ellen Kushner Despite my best efforts, I ended up re-reading Swordspoint again. I really love this book–and with good reason. Here, see for yourself: The falling snow made it hard for him to see. The fight hadn’t winded him, but he was hot and sweaty, and he could feel […]
Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days) (2006) Bill Willingham Volume 7 of Fables struck me as somehow different from previous volumes. Although there is a complete story arc about the Sinbad and the Arabian Fables coming to Fabletown, that story seemed almost secondary to several different different threads that were dropped or mentioned in passing. It […]