The Demon and the City, by Liz Williams
pros: great idea; interesting characters and plot; Chinese culture and mixture with Indian pantheon; Zhu Irzh; the badger/tea pot; the guild of dowsers; Mhara; Robin Yuan; the forgotten temple; the ultimate fate of the angry dowser and his goddess
cons: very violent; the demon’s lover is just unlikable, although a bit sympathetic; too much mayhem and collateral damage; reality is very dark and ugly; what happened to the second celestial being?
misc: Singapore 3; meridians; Chi and feng shui lines; viral drugs; wealthy society vs. working and poor; earthquakes; Celestial boat; Celestials; Jade Emperor; demoted goddess; Bad Dog City; Chinese afterlife; Detective Inspector Chen; Sergeant Ma; exorcists; sorcerors; black pill; devas; Hell money
ISBN 1597800473; 256pp; pub. 2007
Amazon link
One Hex of a Wedding, by Yasmine Galenorn
pros: likable characters; believable plot; believable family issues; the way Em uses her abilities to track down the stalker; Murray and White Deer; Jimbo and his dog
cons: predictable; reads like any romantic suspense with magic thrown in; the business with the ex at the party didn’t really add to the story; the myriad of family strife details, everyday life issues, etc., don’t add to the story
misc: Chintz n’ China mystery; Emerald O’Brien mystery; crystal necklace; redheaded stalker; bustier; wedding-dress fiasco; Irish faerie and magic
ISBN 0425211177; 272pp; pub. 2006
Amazon link
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
White Knight, by Jim Butcher
pros: Harry Dresden; Lash; Thomas’ job; the scene in Thomas’ apartment; Mouse; Ramirez; Murphy’s new gun; Justine’s new role; Harry’s guitar playing; Harry and Lara’s escape
cons: not as many jokes and humor as in past 2 books; it ended; not enough Butters
misc: Black Council; Black Hats; Cowl; ghouls; vampire courts; Skavis; Malvora; White Council; Grey cloak; Wiccans; freeholding lord; Walkers or Outsiders
favorite quips: “cult of porn-star sorceresses” and “age is always advancing and I’m fairly sure it’s up to no good”
ISBN 0451461401; 416pp; pub. 2007
Bloodsucking Fiends, by Christopher Moore
pros: fast-paced; silly fun; adult viewpoint; quirky characters; the cliché of the small-town gullible hero twisted with the aspiring young author, in a different situation; the Wongs/flower gag; laundromat scene and witness accounts; the night crew at Safeway; the Emperor; Tommy’s actions at the end
cons: what happens to the turtles; Jody isn’t very likable; more dark and sarcastic than fun; Jody’s mother was just a sad stereotype
misc: turkey bowling; graveyard shift; yacht; San Francisco; laundromat; Elijah Ben Sapir; redhead; Indiana; C. Thomas Flood; SOMA; South of Market; loft; metalworkers
ISBN 0060735414; 304pp; pub. 2004
The Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers
pros: well-written; fun to read; interesting characters; twisty plot; the character Jacky; the ending; Coleridge in the dungeons; special shoes for villains and chains on the feet for the good guys; some of the names; some very creepy bad guys, especially the clown
cons: the bad guys were a little spread out; Brendan’s doppleganger/ka dopeyness didn’t fit with the explanations of what happens to a ka and his ultimate fate is also inconsistent but convenient; I didn’t fully understand where the “master” came from, he just seemed like a convenient arch-enemy
misc: misfiring gun; ear loss; London in 1800s; Egypt; British and French occupation of Egypt; time travel; time as an ice flow over weeds in a river; gypsies; a wooden monkey; motorcycle crash; soul-shifting; hairy apemen; spells/sorcery gone awry; werewolf isn’t really a werewolf but a sorcerer sort of turned into a dog who keeps growing long hair all over his body and he shifts bodies about once a week because of the hair; Brendan Doyle; William Ashbless; poetry and poets; Punch and Judy show; Dr. Romany; Lord Byron
ISBN 0441004016; 400pp; pub. 1997
A Night in the Lonesome October, by Roger Zelazny
pros: it’s by Zelazny; animal characters, especially Snuff, the dog; use of literary and historical characters like Sherlock Holmes, a druid, Cain, Dr. Frankenstein (I may not have recognized all of them); action; dog hero’s “rounds”; surprise with the rat; catnappery world of dreams; portrayal of story from animals’ viewpoints
cons: I didn’t care for the ending, it was both a little anticlimactic and predictable; I didn’t like that one particular character dies; Holmes was annoying; a little confusing at times (it is a Zelazny, after all); end of the world threat sort of fizzles out, doesn’t really work as driving conflict in story; a little negative about cats’ nature
ISBN 0380771411; 280 pp; pub. 1994
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?)
Blood Rites, by Jim Butcher
pros: it’s Harry Dresden; more angst-driven than the previous books; a lot more details of the politics behind the chaos; Harry’s old mentor is back as well as some new or expanded warden characters; Michael’s daughter and her situation, especially in relation to Harry’s past
cons: With all the angst, I would have liked to see a little more resolution. I know it’s a series, but I don’t want to wait! More questions were raised about whom to trust, so I’m still unsettled about Harry’s chances for future heartbreak and disappointment
ISBN 0451461037; 496 pp; pub. 2007
Dead Beat, by Jim Butcher
pros: the funniest Dresden files so far; incredible imagery; great gags and puns
cons: what’s going on with Thomas? that part was weak; the pathologist could have been fleshed out a bit more; the snail pace romance between Murphy and Dresden
ISBN 045146091X; 448 pp; pub. 2006
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