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
Amazon link
Eccentric Circles, by Rebecca Lickiss
pros: likable characters; Grandma Dickerson; the books; the fairies; the holes in reality; the explanation of how Lord of the Rings made life so much better in fairy because Tolkein’s descriptions were better (“real” world fiction consensus of fairies/elves, etc., determines reality in fairy)
cons: felt more like an outline than a finished story; Aelvarim was a little silly; ending doesn’t work for me, it felt contrived and repetitive; the whole issue of their silly names comes up a lot but it never goes anywhere – was there a point, or was it just a way to justify a heroine named Piper Pied?
misc: Never After is much, much better; bookstore; funeral; inheritance; back door to fairy; wedding dress; wizard
ISBN 0441008283; 224pp; pub. 2001
Amazon link
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
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
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
The Mirror Prince, by Violette Malan
pros: interesting enough story; interesting characters, even the villian; additional characters are as interesting as the main characters; descriptive; good female lead; interesting twists in typical faerieland setting; good new author to follow
cons: hero wasn’t very sympathetic; dilemma was contrived (wouldn’t they have noticed something wrong a lot sooner?)
ISBN 0756403391; 320 pp; pub. 2006
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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