NEWS: Well, That's Different...

You may have noticed that the site looks a little different. I decided that the site needed something more, something to make it stand out. A logo, a banner, a colour-scheme. Something. So this is it.

Running Black (Eshu International Book One)

Title: Running Black
Author: Patrick Todoroff
Series: Eshu International


Ratings

Score: 4/10
Chart Entry Point: 35
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Unlikely

Review

The story started promisingly. I liked chapter one quite a lot. But it turns out that it's not representative of the rest of the story. In fact, It's more of a prologue. Which is unfortunate.

While I liked the story, and the idea of clones - if not the names of the first three - I found that the narrative was extremely difficult to read. And I'm not really sure why, if I'm honest. There is one thing that contributed I'll discuss in a moment, but other than that... I don't know. Maybe it was too jargon-y or something. I just found myself not actually understanding what was going on quite often.

Sleeping Beauty, Indeed

Title: Sleeping Beauty, Indeed (& Other Lesbian Fairytales)
Editor: JoSelle Vanderhooft


Note: This is a collection of short stories - the individual authors are listed in the review itself.


Ratings

Score: 6/10
Chart Entry Point: N/A

Review

This is the first time that a collection of short stories has appeared on my blog, and so It's a new kind of review for me here. What I've decided to do is a quick review of each story, enclosed in an introduction and overall impression. I expect to follow this pattern in the future, although I have no plans to review short stories particularly often. So, the introduction:

"Sleeping Beauty, Indeed" is a book of fairy tales, with the exception that the "Damsels in Distress" are into women rather than men. Some of them are original stories, and others are lesbian versions of traditional fairytales. The idea intrigued me, which is why I decided to read/review it, and I'm glad I did, as two of the stories really left an impression on me. Also, it had the rather pleasant mild scent of apples...

Trapped on Draconica

Title: Trapped on Draconica
Author: Dan Wright
Illustrator: Alexis M. Centeno

Ratings

Score: 7/10
Chart Entry Point: 24
Similar To: Prophecy of Zephyrus

Review

If you're looking for an easy to read story - you've found it. It's light-hearted, not too complex, yet still manages to stir emotion in the reader. There's not a lot I can say about it, because I enjoyed it - there's not a lot to complain about.

The characters reflect the spirit of the story, and while they aren't incredibly complex, they are quite enjoyable to read about. Except that I don't understand why Kalak wasn't just left behind as soon as the other characters met him. He stands for pretty much everything the other main characters are against. But he does become a more likeable character in time.

Nights of Villjamur (Legends of the Red Sun Book One)

Title: Nights of Villjamur
Author: Mark Charan Newton
Series: Legends of the Setting Sun
Succeeded By: City of Ruin

Ratings

Score: 6/10
Chart Entry Point: 8
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I look forwards to it.

Review

I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I began this book, but it' the first book I've read in a while that's ended in a truly satisfactory way. Considering that it's the first in a series, and plenty of plot-lines are left to explore in the next book, I'd say that's quite impressive. And it's not the only good thing that I can say about this book either. I found it to be a very nice read.

Finders Keepers

Title: Finders Keepers
Author: Russ Colchamiro

Ratings

Score: 2/10

Review

For me, unfortunately, Finders Keepers was not an easy book to read. If I hadn't been given it as a review copy, I probably wouldn't have read past the first couple of chapters. Which would have been a shame, because it got a bit better towards the end - although I felt that the actual conclusion was a bit disappointing.

But I'll discuss the good things first. I really liked a lot of the characters in the book. Some of them not at first, and two of them not at all - Donald and Danielle. But I really liked Jason, one of the main characters, and Lilly, one of the lesser characters. I felt that both of them were really well written and characterized, and I simply enjoyed reading their scenes - especially the ones where they were together. I spent the majority of the book (after they met) hoping they would end up living happily ever after together...

Abyss (Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi - Book Three)

Title: Abyss
Author: Troy Denning
Superseries: Star Wars
Series: Fate of the Jedi
Preceeded By: Omen (Christie Golden)
Succeeded By: Backlash (Aaron Allston)

Ratings

Score: 5/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I will read the series, but only out of stubbornness. Still, things are looking up.

Review

Finally this series has something beginning to resemble a storyline. I thought it would never happen. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the writing as much as I did with the previous two books, or even Denning's own books in the previous series. So I'm not sure whether to be elated that something is finally happening, or disappointed in the writing. It didn't stop me from reading until I'd finished though.


While I enjoyed the previous books, they didn't really have a driving force behind them. But now we're finally starting to see groups have objectives. And some questions with a bit more substance than "What's Going On?". There are two women and a force presence, who seem to be important, but for what? What's going to happen with the lost tribe of the sith? What's going to happen between Daala and the Jedi now that (Sarcastic Spoiler) something has happened.

The Rebel Prince (Moorehawke Trilogy - Book 3)

Title: The Rebel Prince
Author: Celiene Kiernan

Series: Moorehawke Trilogy (Book Three)
Preceeded By: The Crowded Shadows

Ratings

Score: 7/10

Review

I enjoyed reading this final entry in the Moorehawke trilogy much more than I did the first two. The pace was a lot faster, the objectives of the characters more clear, and we finally get to find out a lot of the answers that the first two books made us ask.

However there are a couple of things I didn't really like. For example there are a considerable amount of storylines that are concluded "Off-Page". They results of these storylines are all pretty much mentioned in the epilogue, but not with the prominence that they needed concluding. One of them was quite major to this book, and the other is one that has been increasingly important throughout the trilogy, until in this book it becomes Christopher's 0nly real story...

The Metalmark Contract (Metalmark Book One)

Title: The Metalmark Contract
Author: David Batchelor
Series: Metalmark

Succeeded By: ???


Ratings

Score: 7/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I'd like to.

Review

Now although it might not seem it to anyone who reads this blog, but I generally don't read books set in our world. I don't tend to enjoy them as much as those set in different ones. But occasionally there is one such book that I really enjoy. This is one of them. But before you read any further, I have a warning. This seems to be the first in a duology/trilogy/series/something. I didn't realise this, and it doesn't seem to say anywhere online or on the book except for the words "End of Book One" after the end of the narrative. Because I didn't realise this, I was a little disappointed when the story didn't reach it's full conclusion.

Omen (Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi - Book Two)

Title: Omen
Author: Christie Golden
Superseries: Star Wars
Series: Fate of the Jedi
Preceeded By: Outcast (Aaron Allston)
Succeeded By: Allies (Troy Denning)

Ratings

Score: 6/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I will read it.

Review

The first thing that I thought when I picked up 'Omen' was "Wow, This is thin." It's visibly shorter than the other two of the first three books, and of those in Legacy of the Force. But Quality is more important than Quantity and so I started reading (after all, there is another seven books after this one...).

And I have to say. I'm disappointed that there still isn't a plot. Not really. I could summarise it in maybe two or three sentences. There is nothing that really happens. Except for one small plotline, the Lost Tribe of the Sith are involved at this book, and the ending for that hints at a larger plot arc, which hopefully becomes a stronger one throughout the next few books.

Outcast (Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi - Book One)

Title: Outcast
Author: Aaron Allston
Superseries: Star Wars
Series: Fate of the Jedi
Succeeded By: Omen (Christie Golden)

Ratings

Score: 8/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I already have, actually. Expect a review of that in a week or two.

Review

For this review, the 50th on the blog, I decided to review something that I had bought myself, rather than one that someone had requested me to review. And then I got a little carried away and read the second in the series. But to those waiting for reviews, don't worry - after this I shall be back to reviewing those that have been requested of me. But for now, Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi - Book One, Outcast:

I approached this book with some trepidation, as I was disappointed with the last book of Legacy of the Force, and was unsure whether I should really be setting out on another nine book journey with the same characters, by two out of the same authors, especially when the one author that was replaced was my favourite of the three. But my desire to read all the Star Wars books overcame my anxiety of being disappointed and I began to read.

Blood For Love

Title: Blood For Love
Author: Chris M. Finklestein


Ratings

Score: 9/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I would love to read a sequel, and I hope Finklestein writes one.

Review

I have to say this book was not at all what I was expecting. It's about a planet where love is forbidden - and so I expected it to be a romance. It's not about that. It's about a resistance movement trying to survive in what seems to be a destructive government. It's called the Nation of Vengeance. Now I don't like the name, I can't imagine a government calling themselves that, but it is pretty apt.

So there's an enemy, which all good novels tend to have, and there's good guys: Jan, Martha, Rebecca... etc. These are good characters, altohugh I wouldn't say they are outstanding, they changed too fast after they went to a certain school, and there was one character, Rachael, who I felt was underdeveloped. But the character that reallys stood out to me was Grisvolt...

Mine

Title: Mine
Author: Lin Sten

Ratings

Score: 8/10

Review

It's been a long time since I stayed up till 4am reading. At least, unless you count last night. You can probably tell from that that I enjoyed it, and I'm sure the author enjoyed writing it. It's a happy book, an uplifting one. One that it's easy to enjoy reading. But it's not easy to read. It's Technical, Hard Sci-Fi, and there will be more about that later in the review. But first I want to talk about the characters. They're great.

Essentially that's the summary of the characters. I can't think of a single character that I didn't like. Maybe the chat-show host, Charles Dance. But of the main characters, there are none that are boring or lifeless. Even the bad guy seems somewhat lovable as the story progresses. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Generally it's helpful to have someone to hate. Normally the bad guy, but not always. This doesn't have that, but while unusual, it reflects the theme of the book quite well (that of coexisting with other species).

The Gift (Chiveis Trilogy Book 2)

Title: The Gift
Author: Bryan M. Litfin

Series: The Chiveis Trilogy
Preceeded By: The Sword
Succeeded By: ???

Ratings

Score: 7/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I look forwards to it.

Review

Normally I start with a review with a short introduction to what I thought about the book. This time I'm going to do it differently, and start with a review of the introduction of the book itself. Firstly there's the prologue. Now it's the second in a trilogy - and normally I don't like prologues in the second of a trilogy. But this was short, and in essence was the same as the prologue of the first novel - extended a bit to briefly (barely) cover what happened to the main characters in book one. I felt it didn't really didn't need to be there, but it doesn't harm the story. But what I really want to talk about of the introduction is the first chapter. The start of the novel finds the main characters (Ana and Teo) with a small group of scouts. The author uses this as a way to help remind the reader of what happened in the first book (The Sword). It's not a unique way to recap the readers, but the way Litfin utilises this tool is possibly the thing I admire most about the beginning of the book. It's easy to read - not just a long monologue about the previous book - it even misses out the majority of the story. But it shows the character of the characters, and from the first chapter we are once more identifying with and sympathetic to the characters, Ana in particular.

NEWS: Monthly Newsletter

Hi Everyone,

I'm thinking of adding a monthly newsletter style post to the blog. perhaps the last Sunday of every month, or something along those lines. Now some of you might not want this. Some of you might just want to read reviews, and not bother with the running with the site.

Fair Enough. It's what you came for. Then really, you should look at post with the "review" tag. To be helpful, here's the link http://sfandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/search/label/Review. You can bookmark that for a quick link. But once a month isn't so bad is it?

The American Book of the Dead

Title: Henry Baum
Author: The American Book of the Dead

Ratings

Score: 10/10

Review

I have no idea how the author of this book could have remained sane. Perhaps he didn't. This is one of the most complex books I've read - yet is remarkably easy to understand. I don't know how it does it. Somehow it tricks your brain into thinking without you realising or something. It's a book about a writer who writes a book that he's already written which is the book that you'd be reading if you read this book. Try not to think about that too much. It's basically a summary of the introduction - which I found confusing until I'd read the rest of the book. This review doesn't quite do it justice, but IT IS definitely worth a read.

Invincible (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force - Book Nine)

Title: Invincible
Author: Troy Denning
Superseries: Star Wars
Series: Legacy of the Force
Preceeded By: Revelation by Karen Traviss


Ratings

Score: 7/10
Overall Series Rating: 9/10

Review

This book had a lot to live up to. The series as a whole has been incredible thus far, and the previous book particularly so. If this book was to even match my expectations it had a lot to do. Quite frankly: it didn't.

This was the book that everything had been centering on. The loose storylines, the tension, the emotion... All of them really suggested that this was going to be something big. But it actually seemed like the author wasn't really that into it anymore. I felt that scenes were cut short, characters were fairly two dimensional - except Jaina and Ben - and that the conclusion happened too fast.

Revelation (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force - Book Eight)

Title: Revelation
Author: Karen Traviss
Superseries: Star Wars
Series: Legacy of the Force
Preceeded By: Fury by Aaron Allston
Succeeded By: Invincible by Aaron Allston

Ratings

Score: 10/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Never more sure that I would.

Review

This book is the best in the Legacy of the Force series. I waited until having read the final book to add this claim - and it still holds after that. In some ways it's odd, because of the first books by each of the three authors, I liked Traviss' the least. But she has shown that she is undoubtedly a brilliant writer.

Fury (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force - Book Seven)

Title: Fury
Author: Aaron Allston
Superseries: Star Wars
Series: Legacy of the Force
Preceeded By: Inferno by Troy Denning
Succeeded By: Revelation by Karen Traviss

Ratings

Score: 9/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Definite

Review

When I reviewed the last book Allston wrote in the series, it as the worst so far. As of this book, I'm happy to say it keeps it's position. Allston exceeds his previous book considerably - and I found myself reading "Fury" much more voraciously than I read "Exile". It was an engaging story, filled with excitement and entertainment, AND we finally get to see a little bit more of Jaina - who until now has been mainly sidelined.

NEWS: Recent Delay

Some of you may have noticed that the most recent review was posted a few hours late. What happened!? Well, essentially Blogger/Blogspot/Google was having some problems and decided to solve it by deleting posts from the last three days temporarily (although none have mine have returned) and making it impossible to post for a while.

Since I had this on timer, it would have posted anyway I believe. Except that I set the timer two days ago. Meaning that that version of the post was deleted, and the old version without an incorrect timer was all that remained. I didn't know this at the time, so posted the post manually (apparently just after I was allowed to do so again.). I don't think this will happen again any time soon, but I thought I'd let people know what happened (Something Google is hesitant to do, apparently). Note: may get a second post of the previous entry sometime next week. I'm not sure if the old version will still try to post or not.