Territory, by Emma Bull
pros: author; well-written story with great characters; historical setting is realistic and believable and details of area and time are very good; great idea; plenty of action but still doesn’t feel like a typical fast-paced action fantasy; Chu; newspaper details
cons: ending leaves me hanging; I would have liked to see more details about Jesse’s abilities and his lessons with Chow Lung; would have liked some more details of the conflicts between the various wizard factions
misc: OK Corral; Tombstone; Wyatt Earp; Cochise County; silver mine; Chinatown; Mildred/Millie; typesetter; Nuggest; Tombstone Epitaph; cowboys; ranchers; Mexican border
ISBN 0312857357; 320pp; pub. 2007
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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
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Bedlam Boys, by Ellen Guon
pros: familiar characters, tells us about Kayla’s beginning as a healer; from Baen’s free library; prequel to Bedlam’s bard series with Mercedes Lackey; Elizabet and her grandmother; the ogress and Elizabet’s explanation that follows
cons: portrayal of gang members seemed naive; Kayla had some very foolish moments; Kayla seems to forget her previously tight friends very easily
misc: Chicano gangs; LA; crystal figurines; ghosts; foster care/system
ISBN 0671721771; 304pp; pub 1993
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Nine Layers of Sky, by Liz Williams
pros: romance worked; use of angst wasn’t overdone; bad guys were sufficiently creepy; interesting ideas and play on Russian folklore/mythology; very descriptive
cons: sketchy details; I’d have liked to see more about the bogotyr and at least a little more about the parallel world and the colonel
ISBN 0553584995, 448 pages, pub. 2003
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