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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Poltergeist, by Kat Richardson
pros: good writer, good series; interesting premise, well handled; same group of characters as before, but with different emphases; noirish detective novel feel; only a hint of romance; really works in the city and its quirks and personality; coffee addiction worked in as small detail, including Starbucks
cons: not a lot gets resolved; love interest was there as a plot device; Harper’s personality and circumstances could have used more details; too long since I read first book in series
misc: Greywalker Book 2; Harper Blaine; Seattle; psychokinesis; research project; fake experiment
ISBN 0451461509; 352pp; 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 Black Throne, by Fred Saberhagen and Roger Zelazny
pros: the authors; the story idea; story moves along quickly; twist on magic and parallel worlds; explanations for some of Poe’s elements in poems, like the tapping and the raven and the cask of Amontillado
cons: sketchy details; seems hastily written; not familiar with Poe’s body of work; resolution was weak
misc: Edgar Allan Poe; alcoholic; alcohol; ghost ship; sea voyage; balloon voyage; vortex; plague; dwarf; orangutang; zombie in wine box; very small wineglasses; sandcastle; alchemy
ISBN 0743435796; 288pp; pub. 2002
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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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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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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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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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Tithe, by Holly Black
pros: original heroine and viewpoint; realistic characters; good core dilemma; good question about what constitutes good or evil individually and in context; Roiben; the plot; Lutie
cons: very dark; Kaye’s life is a mess; Kaye’s family; Corny’s situation; general desperate, hopeless feel; the betrayal by the solitary fey
misc: acorn note; kelpie/puka; carousel horse; changelings; cigarettes; samhain; sacrifice; pixie: Spike; Gristle; Thistlewitch
ISBN 0689867042; 336pp; pub. 2004
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Wolf Who Rules, by Wen Spencer
pros: sequel to Tinker; we learn more about Elvish society and the importance of their presence near Pittsburg; we learn a lot more about Windwolf and his household; the friction between human society and the elves; Tinker’s evolving personality; the dream elements; the dragons; the Tengu; this one is a lot more complex than Tinker; good action, believable situations and characters; Tinker’s evolving relationship with Pony and Stormsong; the political situations; the paparazzi and the elves’ reaction; Pony and Stormsong; Tinker’s reaction when watching The Wizard of Oz movie.
cons: Nathan’s fate; Esme’s role; Lain doesn’t appear very much; Tooloo’s role is in question
misc: Oni; Tengu; Riki; quantum physics; ghostland; Alice in Wonderland; Wizard of Oz; Vicereine
ISBN 1416520554; 368pp; pub. 2006
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Chimera, by Will Shetterly
pros: Well-written futuristic detective novel; Chase “Max” Maxwell; the Infinite pocket; Zoe Domingo (jaguar chimera); good plot, good action, believable situations; Mycroft; futuristic details; world with chimera everywhere; Max251’s hospital stays; the future’s version of recycling; in retrospect, Max’s reactions to Kris Doyle’s taste and smell during their lovemaking marathon; Max’s self-image as a “knight in grimy white armor”
cons: hard to tell if Zoe was very smart or if she was just impulsive; chimera rights and AI rights completely replace issues of civil rights for other minorities but their status never gets explained super androids role in police and high society isn’t as well-explained as it should have been; a megalomaniac like Chain probably wouldn’t have liked having so many copies of himself floating around since he wouldn’t be able to centrally control them all; final showdown was a too explosively violent for their survival to be believable, but it was cool
misc: AIs; gene-splicing; indentured servitude; Little Angels; gambling; Crittertown; riot
ISBN 031287543; 285pp; pub. 2001
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The Fixer, by Jon F. Merz
pros: fast-paced, fun read; lots of action; written like an old, gritty detective novel; vampire society; Zero; Lawson; Talya is an interesting, unusual tough-girl love interest
cons: some situations felt contrived; Lawson made some awfully stupid mistakes for such a hot-shot fixer; if the Council is on such fragile ground politically, then it shouldn’t have rebounded so easily at the end of the story; it’s hard to believe that just 2 fixers could solve such a huge conspiracy and then afterwards have everything run so smoothly; Council was just a convenient plot device
misc: assasins; wood-tipped bullets; martial arts; bushido; more books in series
ISBN 0786015004; 349pp; pub. 2002
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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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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
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
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
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