Gods in Darkness, by Karl Edward Wagner
pros: well-written; interesting worlds and characters; good example of an antihero; well-developed dark characters; realistic people mixed with extraordinary characters; inevitable results of ambition and violence aren’t glossed over; Teres; 1st novel, Bloodstone, was the best
cons: Kane was a little predictable; Kane isn’t very likeable; the three books leave you hanging; transition from 2nd book to 3rd didn’t make sense; what happened to the girl from the 2nd book – I thought she was in the tower before Kane
misc: Bloodstone; Dark Crusade; Darkness Weaves;
ISBN 189238924; 528pp; pub. 2002
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The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie
pros: one of best books of 2007; great characters, situations, story; Logen Ninefingers/Bloody Nine and his little sayings; Glokta; complex plot, characters, action counterbalanced with simple elements of daily life; portrayal of wizards and wizardry; cynicism; chapter titles
cons: next 2 books in series aren’t available in US yet; ends too soon; Glokta can be hard to like; not sure where he’s going with Ardee’s storyline; Jezal’s character is unlikeable, a little inconsistent; names of lords and power players in city were confusing at times
misc: you have to be realistic; pot; blanket; Shanka/Flatheads; Dogman; Logen’s opponents; Ferro; Bayaz; Malacus Quai; Councils; Inquisitors; Arch Lector
ISBN 159102594X; 531pp; pub. 2007
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Red Seas Under Red Skies, by Scott Lynch
pros: continuation with good, interesting characters; fast moving; complex plot; interesting new cities/states/societies; pirates; rapelling test; creepy scene in the Night Gallery; twist at the end
cons: mysterious enemies are a bit too conveniently mysterious; the Bondsmagi are more a plot device than a specific element; I liked Jean a whole lot more than Locke; jumping around from time and place didn’t work as well this time; weak plot elements – if Jean and Ezri are discussing Jean’s problems in Ezri’s room, it could easily be overheard; cliffhanger ending
misc: pirate stronghold; Zamira; Port Prodigal; Ghostways; Tal Verrar; Requin; Sinspire; Gentleman Bastards; Carousel Hazard; card cheating; Archon; Leocanto Kosta and Jerome de Ferra; Selendri; brass arm with knives; tricky chairs
ISBN 0553804685; 576pp; pub. 2007
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The Prydain Chronicles, by Lloyd Alexander
pros: classic fantasy; great characters and world; fast, easy read; there is reality and the darkness of war and evil, but has an overall upbeat and positive feeling; Gurgi; Kaw; the magic gifts at the end of The Book of Three; Taran’s banner; the final ending
cons: repetitious elements of characters habits and sayings get a little annoying; some pat situations and solutions; a little predictable; Eilonwy was headstrong and foolish; Glew
misc: The Book of Three; The Black Cauldron; The Castle of Llyr; Taran Wanderer; The High King; Assistant Pig-Keeper; Caer Dallben; Hen Wen
ISBN: various editions and an anthology
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Nameless Magery, by Delia Marshall Turner
pros: fun story; likable heroine; good twists on old elements; fast-moving story; some great characters; interesting explanation of magic and different ways of “seeing” it
cons: Lisane makes some foolish choices that seem inconsistent with her general character; details can be sketchy and sometimes seem inconsistent; I would have likes to have more details at the end
misc: seeing magic; ller and Lle; Kahain; kings; wizards; school for mages; mage school; Detter; neck bands
ISBN 0345424301; 240pp; pub. 1998
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Circle of the Moon, by Barbara Hambly
pros: author; great characters and interesting world and problems; as story develops it gets better and more interesting; Shaldis gets more attention, as does Jethan; Oryn’s relationship with his servants and lords is developed more; the Teyn; the island Sisters; the status of the genies(Djinn); Pontifer the pig; Foxfire girl
cons: characters that were self-centered and unlikable suddenly become reliable and reasonable; Mohrvine is a convenient bad guy in terms of driving the plot; Red Silk Woman
misc: glass; Dream Eater; green gas; obsidian; moon; sea; islands; jennies
ISBN 0446618179; 544pp; pub. 2006
Cast in Secret, by Michelle Sagara
pros: the great characters; more seems to get resolved this time; Kaylin keeps growing; Severn; the Oracles; the water; the world of the Tha’alaan; the dragons; Kaylin’s dress; the Keeper; more depth to this story, the grittiness felt more believable; the flow of the story is more smooth than in previous 2
cons: Kaylin is still chronically late and apparently a slob; while there’s a hint of tension between Nightshade and Severn, the relationships with Kaylin are still murky; deliberately mysterious hints; action is still a bit choppy
ISBN 0373802803; 521pp; pub. 2007
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The Troll’s Grindstone, by Elizabeth Boyer
pros: Norse mythology; complicated situation with complicated characters; grand scale; simple and complex heroes; lots of scenery and imagery; Fridmarr and Gotiskolker; Thurid; characters have flaws; the Rhbus; the water sisters; the dogs
cons: a bit old-fashioned with the stoic hero and the beautiful, strong, tragic heroine; strong, tragic heroine only has a small part in the story, mostly as inspiration for the heroes
misc: Alfar; alar; scipling; heart of the mountain; mines; limp; Elbegast; Leifr; swords/knives, etc. not keeping an edge, crumbling; Pentacle; Sorkvir
ISBN 0345012046; pub 1989
The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch
pros: very funny, fast-paced; Locke’s early exploits; Chains; great characters; truly hateful bad guys; lots of gray areas; still lots of mystery even after it’s done; this works as an adventure, mystery, or fantasy; fate of the Berangias twins; the sharks; the con; the Spider and the Salvoras
cons: we never meet Sabetha; fate of the twins and Bug; the net worth of Locke and Jean at the end
misc: Capa Raza; Grey King; Thiefmaker; bondmage; Falconer; the contrarequialla; shifting revels; Midnighters; Gentlemen Bastards
ISBN 055358894X; 752pp; pub. 2007
The Prophet of Lamath, by Robert Don Hughes
pros: good satire; stupid kings and courts get their comeuppance; Pelman and the Power; people actually learn lessons and get wiser, even public figures; the world and its problems; the dragon; the monastery elder and the bear cave; Ezri, the sailor; the naval “battle”; the way the siege ends
cons: Serphimera; could have been longer; Rosha and Bronwynn’s romance is a little forced; the dragon’s fate; the slavery; the merchants were too uniformly unlikable and evil
misc: two-headed dragon; blue-robes; the Power; powershaper; Tohn; Dorlyth; Chaomonous; Ngandib-Mar; Maris; Vicia-Heinox; Divisionists; “The dragon is divided”
ISBN 0345011112; Pub. 1989
Shapechangers, by Jennifer Roberson
pros: interesting idea; female lead stands up for herself; Carillon matures; the animal lir
cons: female lead is more headstrong and stubborn than strong; reads too much like an old gothic romance; council-sanctioned rape and forcing pregnancy on captives to increase a race is disgusting and ruined the whole book and series for me
misc: Cheysuli; hawk; wolf; crofter’s daughter; half-breed; Old Ones
ISBN 0886771404; 224pp; pub. 1984
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Sisters of the Raven, by Barbara Hambly
pros: author; interesting world and dilemma; twist on genies; great characters, especially Peacock King and Summer Concubine; women’s names; the imaginary pig; romance, love interests, implied sexuality without giving step-by-step descriptions of encounters
cons: brutality of world and circumstances; blood mages and related scenes were too graphic for me; it’s not a standalone story; women’s situation in society
misc: desert setting in drought; geisha-type training for concubines or “peach blossom” women; lots of plotting and court intrigue
ISBN 0446615366; 512pp; pub. 2005
Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay
pros: well-written; some likable characters; well-developed world, familiar enough yet also obviously a fantasy world; many underlying themes
cons: I’m not sure what it was really about – fate? unity in the face of a common foe? redemption? futility?; I would have preferred one main character instead of the various characters, or at least just Devin and Dianora; more sex than was necessary; the edition I read from the library was a very low production quality with faded ink, many typos, and repeated pages. The one listed below looks like a different edition.
misc: music is a big part of story; Devin is a great singer; villains are juxtaposed, one might preferred over the other but is more powerful and driven by revenge and the other is more casually destructive and has the threat of total domination of a foreign power behind him; slightly Russian flair to names for Tigana and its folklore, rest of island culture seems like renaissance Italy
ISBN 0451457765; 688 pp; special ed., 1999
A Small Elderly Dragon, by Beverly Keller
pros: funny; fast-paced; humor and quirks outweigh the cliches; the “hero”; the dragon and the parrot; the twist on the Black Knight; the final resolution – all in such a short book; the Happily Ever After isn’t ideal
cons: probably hard to find; the cliches; the overlooked, unappreciated, yet extraordinary heroine was a bit overdone and was a disservice to the character; Miles; the King; what ever happened to her mother?
ISBN 0688025536; 143pp; 1984
To Ride a Rathorn, by P.C. Hodgell
pros: part of Kencyrath, Jamethiel Priest’s-Bane series; setting and dilemmas build on previous book and some problems resolved, including rathorn problem; ghost-horse; Jame is more appreciated and liked in this novel even though she still makes enemies; Jame finds out she’s a specific type of shanir; chaos is not so seemingly random; ending
cons: chaos in her wake; more questions are raised about her role and how her brother’s stability is such an issue; collateral damage–some good, interesting characters die or don’t get rescued; burning man dilemma still seemed confusing or unresolved
ISBN 1592221025; 432 pp; pub. 2006/2001
The Knight, by Gene Wolfe
pros: Gylf; interesting characters and settings; some interesting dilemmas; good portrayal of a boy in a man’s body–consistent throughout; duology rather than long series
cons: meandering account with many detours; constant references to common knowledge reader doesn’t share; contrived situations; cliffhanger
Part One of the Wizard Knight series
ISBN 0765347016; 544 pp; 2005 (reprint)
Immortals series, by Tamora Pierce
pros: interesting, likable characters, good female lead; suitable for YA; beast talking; action-packed; lots of transformations and maturing of characters
cons: some predictability in villains and plot; a little juvenile for my taste
ISBNs: Wild Magic, 1416903437; Wolf-Speaker, 1416903445; Emperor Mage, 1416903372; The Realms of the Gods, 141690817X
The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley
pros: good author; interesting heroine; premise; folkloric feel; Luthe; evil/mean cousins; growing up royal but as a misfit; effects of dragon remnants
cons: brutality; the ending was a little weak–it could have been more defined; two loves
ISBN 0441013058; 304 pages, pub. 2007 (orig. 1984?)
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