Dragonhaven, by Robin McKinley
pros: well-written; well-developed idea of what if dragons were real and how it would work out realistically; details of National Park, Native Americans’ role, and legends; believable characters and situations; complete story in one book; the dragons’ names; hero has hispanic last name but is not a stereotype, it’s just his name
cons: dragged a little; ending felt rushed; conflict details felt choppy but this may be result of first-person POV; annoying little girl was a true brat; what happened to the mother remained a mystery
misc: caves; burns; fate; walkie-talkies; radios; feds; poachers; tour busses; Smokehill National Park; Jake Mendoza; Lois (the baby dragon)
ISBN 0399246754; 272pp; pub. 2007
Amazon link
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
Amazon link
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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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
Swordspoint, by Ellen Kushner
pros: the prose; Richard and Alec’s romance/relationship is twisted but interesting; well-drawn decadence; excellent characterizations; swordsmen as professional duelists acting for nobility isn’t new, but point of view of swordsmen and their life is more detailed than usual; not so much an antihero as antiheroic
cons: homosexual romance, although beautifully written, was too much for my tastes and distracted from the story – it would have been enough to establish their particular preferences, that this world accepts same sex relationships as totally mundane, and that Richard does apparently care about someone; intrigue, drama, and violence are a major part of story; fascination with violence and blood presented as a sexually desirable trait; some predictability
ISBN 368pp; pub. 2003 (paperback edition)
Tomoe Gozen, by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
pros: Japanese mythology/pantheon; plot and premise; women are powerful and not just decorative; reads a bit like a quest without being drawn out; some good fight scenes
cons: some stereotypical villians; maybe too self-consciously clever; Tomoe was annoying at times when she’s so self-absorbed
ISBN 0441816533; 274 pp; pub. 1984
Bloodring, by Faith Hunter
pros: fast-paced; likable characters; interesting premise; well-visualized; good blend of fantasy and science (more fantasy than hard science)
cons: obviously a set-up for a series; relationships are established but not developed very well; cliff-hanger ending; heroine’s dilemma/danger seemed weakly developed, there was a lot undefined or possibly inconsistent details; mage heat idea seemed silly and contrived to me
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