Book Reviews
Review: “Gone” by Michael Grant
Grant has successfully written himself a real suspense-filled saga about a group of small city kids placed in extraordinary circumstances and dealing with problems that would cause any well-seasoned and trained adult to go crazy.
Review: “A Young Man Without Magic” by Lawrence Watt-Evans
A Young Man Without Magic is very easy to read. While some events seem like they were shuffled around to fit the outline instead of being part of a natural progression, everything works. Every time I found myself starting to get the slightest bit bored with what was happening, something exciting broke the page and I was hooked again.
Review: “Chalice” by Robin McKinley
I think Robin McKinley is one of the best fantasists writing today and if you are a writer; interested in writing meaningful, engaging and moving fantasy, then she is a writer to study. If you are a reader, then her books are a joy to read and re-read again.
Review: “Magic Bites” by Ilona Andrews
This is a world where tech and magic are competing for control. When the tech wave rises, magic subsides and vice versa. The fantasy construct is detailed and original. It’s a bit Renaissance society meets futuristic.
Review: “The Prestige” by Christopher Priest
This is an odd, hard to define, impossible to put down book, first published in 1995, but out in a new paperback edition. The reason I’m bringing it to your attention is primarily due to news of an upcoming film: Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins and one of my personal favorites, Memento, will begin shooting an adaptation of The Prestige this month.
Review: “Redshirts” by John Scalzi
If you’ve ever watched an episode of classic Star Trek, you’re probably familiar with the old adage, “Don’t wear a red shirt.” Odds are you won’t survive until the first commercial break.
John Scalzi’s latest novel Redshirts delves into that old adage as well as several other tropes from not only classic Trek but many of our favorite genre series.
Review: “Southern Fire” by Juliet McKenna
Juliet McKenna is the thinking fantasy reader’s author, the kind who dreams up fantasy elements and then works out the implications of those elements with the precision and thoughtfulness of a scientist, or, well, an SF writer. It’s clear throughout Southern Fire that McKenna is spinning her tale out of a deep, rich, internally consistent tapestry of details and textures.
Review: “Finding the Way and Other Tales of Valdemar”
Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar books are the reader’s equivalent of coming home after a long day; putting on your pj’s and eating cereal for dinner. It’s simple and sometimes intensely comforting. As a reader, the structure of a Valdemar book is highly predictable and that is part of their appeal.
So, this book of short stories is a great way to shake things up.
