Shelf Reflections

Click image to purchase from Amazon Last year, Pearl North’s Libyrinth was a breath of fresh air in the young adult genre.  It sang the praises of books and literacy and built a story around a compelling setting.  Now North returns to the Libyrinth with The Boy From Ilysies , a tale about acceptance and preconceptions. Po has trouble feeling like he fits in at the Libyrinth.  His Ilysian upbringing demands that he defer to women and treat men as competition, but the Libyrarians are trying to build a society based on equality.  Thus, Po always feels like he’s making mistakes. When he gets embroiled in a disaster that could cost the Libyrinth its independence, he leaves with the Chorus of the Word, both to spread word of the Libyrinth’s work and to get away from those who would be hostile towards him.  It’s a journey that will test him physically, mentally and emotionally; and ultimately, it will force him to question the values that he’s held dear his enti...

 Click image to purchase from Amazon Although many authors have tackled the issue of inhuman or supernatural populations by now, none of them have taken the next logical step.  Traditionally, “ethnic” populations have gathered in groups; specifically, they’ve gathered into neighborhoods.  Nancy Collins draws on her experience in the boroughs of New York to create Golgotham in Right Hand Magic . Tate needs a place where she can not only live, but work on her life size metal sculptures.  Luckily, a perfect flat opens up, but the catch is that it’s in Golgotham, the New York neighborhood occupied by the Kymeran sorcerers and other supernatural beings.  But she’s pleasantly surprised to find that her landlord, Hexe the Kymeran, is not only friendly and welcoming but also handsome. One night, a crazed cougar shapeshifter enters Hexe’s garden and attacks her.  It turns out that he’s a teenager, one who was captured and forced to fight to the death in illegal p...

Click image to purchase from Amazon Not being much for horror novels, it took a while for me to make the transition to reading dark fantasy.  But eventually I did.  Now, a lot of what we might call “dark fantasy” has transitioned into what we now call “paranormal fantasy”.  Vampires, werewolves and demonic creatures are a staple for many authors nowadays.  One of the most creative authors in the genre is Lilith Saintcrow, and her latest Jill Kismet book showcases her unique world. Hunter Jill Kismet knows how to deal with Perry, the hellbreed that she’s bound to.  But when rumors surface of a new hellbreed attempting to infiltrate Santa Luz—one that’s heralded by butchered bodies and unholy altars—she has to make alliances with the likes of Perry and MelisandeBelisa, the Sorrows priestess who killed her mentor. But anything involving a hellbreed is treacherous.  Jill must constantly question if what she finds out about the situation is the truth, or ...

This book will be available on January 25, 2011.  Click image to purchase from Amazon My first experience with Cherie Priest’s writing was on her blog.  I enjoyed her wit and humor as she wrote about her daily life, her writing, and her cat Spain.  Nowadays her energies are turned to her novels, and her stories have earned her award nominations and critical acclaim.  She turns her pen to supernatural fantasy in Bloodshot , which features a vampire heroine with some rather prominent issues. Raylene Pendle, also known as “Cheshire Red,” is both vampire and thief, and her usual targets involve art and incriminating videos.  When she’s hired by another vampire who needs her help to find his medical records, she has no idea what she’s about to get into. Ian Stott was a captive of a secret government experiment that robbed him of his sight, even though vampires are supposed to be able to heal almost any injury.  He hopes that the experiment notes might ...

Click image to purchase from Amazon Fiona McIntosh was one of the writers whose books got me into reading what I would call “dark fantasy”.  I probably use that term slightly differently than its real meaning, but in my definition, it includes novels that have more overt violence or disturbing imagery in them.  McIntosh’s novels not  only contain those darker elements, but weave them into the tales in a way that justifies their being there.  It’s not violence for its own sake, but the stories don’t shrink away from the darker side.  King’s Wrath has some pulse-pounding moments, but also delivers a solid and action-packed story. It is now ten years since Loethar came out of the Steppes with his army to conquer the kingdoms of the Set.  Things are running smoothly under the self-proclaimed Emperor’s rule.  But of course, there are always those who believe that the hereditary rulers should be returned to the throne, and none believes this as ardentl...

Click image to purchase from Amazon Robin McKinley seems to be a very hit-or-miss author.  I have greatly enjoyed some of her novels, and haven’t been able to get into others.  Unfortunately, Pegasus falls into the latter category.  What begins as a wonderful concept is mangled in the execution. Humans and pegasi have been allies for hundreds of years.  Every member of the royal family is bonded magically to one of the other race in a partnership that is lifelong and a living reminder of the Alliance.  But humans and pegasi can only communicate through the intervention of Speakers, mages who facilitate conversations and help with translation. But when Princess Sylvi and the pegasus Ebon bond, they can talk telepathically with no difficulty whatsoever.  They keep their ability a secret for years, but when it becomes public knowledge, Sylvi and Ebon come under intense scrutiny… and suspicion.  There are those who believe that their communion is unn...

Click image to purchase from Amazon It’s not often that I read a novel that makes me say “Wow”, but my recent discovery of Revolution led me to do just that.  I have a fondness for “historic mysteries”, and this one fits the bill beautifully.  Donnelly takes readers to the French Revolution with style and grace. Andi Alpers is watching her life disintegrate: her father has left, her mother is slowly losing her mind, and her younger brother was killed two years earlier.  Andi herself is on the verge of suicide, taking medication that causes hallucinations, but unable to function without it.  In an attempt to get her to graduate high school, her father appears to drag her off to Paris over the winter break. Once there, Andi becomes caught up in the story of Alexandrine, a young woman who lived during the French Revolution.  Alexandrine’s diary, which she finds in a guitar case, captivates Andi in a way that nothing else can.  As her father helps geneti...

Click image to purchase from Amazon This review contains spoilers The fantasy genre is no stranger to romance, especially not with the glut of supernatural fantasy crowding the shelves these days.  But there are some novels that dispense with the magical creatures and simply concentrate on the human side of relations.  One of the newest of these is Passion Play , a novel with some unexpected twists on what could have been a very familiar tale. Therez Zhalina has always dreamed of true love, and thus it’s an unpleasant shock to find out that her father has contracted her in marriage to an older man.  Feeling that she can’t stand being trapped in a loveless marriage, she gathers her possessions and flees. Young and inexperienced, she falls prey to a caravan master who uses her to his own ends and eventually ends up at the house of Raul Kosenmark.  Kosenmark runs a notorious pleasure house, but forebears to take advantage of Therez’s straitened circumstances....

Click image to purchase from Amazon I should say up front that I’m not a fan of Greg Bear’s books.  And yet, I keep reading them.  I hear good things about his novels from other people and I keep wondering what they’re seeing that I’m not.  Perhaps his books just aren’t to my taste.  But his latest novel, Hull Zero Three , would most definitely have worked better as a novella. The man who will come to call himself Teacher wakes, cold and naked, in the bowels of a seemingly dead spaceship.  He has no memory of how he got there or what his purpose in being there might be.  He sets off to find not only answers, but survival. Along the way, he meets a few others with the same goals, and they slowly penetrate deep within the ship.  As they learn more, they come up with just as many questions as they answer.  What happened to this ship?  Why are they traveling the stars?  And what happened to Hull 03?

Click image to purchase from Amazon I’ve noticed that, over the past few years, I’ve begun reading a significant amount of paranormal fantasy.  Lots of magic, lots of action, usually a dollop (or more than a dollop) of romance.  And of course, as with any large sub-genre, you get good examples and bad examples.  Devon Monk’s Allie Beckstrom novels are, I’m happy to say, among the better ones out there. Magic at the Gate picks up mere seconds after the end of the previous book: Allie has walked voluntarily into the realm of death to find the soul of her lover, Zayvion Jones.  Helping her is her father, whose soul has been taking up residence in her head for a good little while.  While they do find Zayvion and retrieve his soul, it costs Allie something extremely precious—the small magic that she’s always carried within her. Bereft of her own unique magic, Allie returns to a world where magic is under siege.  The disks created by her father, used to sto...

Click image to purchase from Amazon I have a fondness for fantasy that’s got a good, complicated plot.  Some of my favorite authors in that regard are Robin Hobb, Jacqueline Carey, and Fiona McIntosh.  But now I have to add another name to that list: N. K. Jemisin.  Her outstanding The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms combines intriguing characters, stellar worldbuilding, and enough beefy plot for the most ardent reader. Yeine Darr has been called from her homeland to the court in the city of Sky.  But upon her arrival, she’s dumbfounded to realize that she’s been named as one of the heirs to the throne.  Just as shocking is the fact that she’s not expected to survive the experience. She finds allies in the most unusual of places—among the cadre of fallen gods who exist as slaves to the royal family.  From them, she finds out about the circumstances of her own conception, the politics swirling around Sky, and the truth about the gods.  As the time to co...

Click image to purchase from Amazon Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels are among the most beloved in fantasy literature.  Since 1983, the tales of the witches, Rincewind the wizard, and the City Watch have continued to make readers laugh, cry and think.  In his thirty seventh Discworld novel, I Shall Wear Midnight , Pratchett rejoins Tiffany Aching, a young witch with a rather large problem. Tiffany has been a witch long enough to know that her skills are usually, though not always, appreciated.   But the murmurs currently stirring against her are something new.  And they coincide with the appearance of an eyeless man in black that smells horribly of corruption.  Unsure of what the creature is, Tiffany and her tiny blue guardians, the Feegles, journey to Ankh-Morpork in search of answers.  What she finds there is a hatred that goes back centuries, and it may destroy both her and the people that she cares about.

Click image to purchase from Amazon This review contains spoilers Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar books have been a staple in the fantasy genre for a long time.  I picked up my first Valdemar novel back in 1992, and I still occasionally go back and revisit the land and people that have given me so many hours of happy reading.  But after so many years in the same setting, can the newer books be as original as the earlier ones? Mags, an orphan rescued from horrible conditions in a mine by being Chosen by the Companion Dallen, is settling into his new life at the Heralds’ Collegium.  Although inundated with lessons ranging from math to history to equitation, he works with the King’s Own Herald to learn the tricks of being a spy.  And such skills come in handy when Mags is in town and spots someone who infiltrated the Collegium the previous winter. But all isn’t smooth sailing for Mags.  The Foreseers have begun to have disturbing visions of the King lying on the g...

Click image to purchase from Amazon This review contains spoilers Before I picked up this book, I’d only read one other novel by David Weber. I know a few people who absolutely love his Honor Harrington series, and because of them, I plan to read them someday. When I saw what appeared to be a stand-alone novel by Weber, I picked it up in the hopes of getting more of a feel for Weber and his writing. I must say, I wish that I hadn’t. Unbeknownst to humanity, a great and sprawling galactic empire exists, made up of dozens of different races. Most of them are peaceable and non-confrontational; however, there are a few that have expansionist leanings. To try to direct those who want to move out into the stars, prospective planets are scouted in advance to determine their suitability for colonization.One such survey observes Earth during the 1400s and concludes that we’re too bloodthirsty to be allowed into the empire, but we’re not technologically advanced enough to protect. Hundred...

Click image to purchase from Amazon Vampires are fiction's current superstars, but their well-known mythology makes it too easy for writers to stick slavishly to common themes and characteristics. Of Saints and Shadows offers a different look at vampire origins. Peter Octavian, a private detective and vampire, occasionally helps the police with his unusual knowledge and expertise. But one dark night, a simple murder case blossoms into something much more complicated ... and deadly. It involves the mysterious “Gospel of Shadows,” stolen from the Vatican library. This tome contains the collected knowledge of the church sorcerers who want to eliminate the “Defiant Ones”: the vampires. Sorcerer Father Liam Mulkerrin has come to the United States to retrieve the book, and start a final holy war against all vampires. Peter and his scattered vampire friends must fight the church's magic and stop Mulkerrin's plans.

Click image to purchase from Amazon I admit that I get excited when I find novels that are set in Northern California. So many stories occur in places like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Seattle that finding one in my own backyard is something of a treat. Seanan McGuire’s October Day novels satisfy my craving, as they’re set in the Bay Area and feature locations that I’m familiar with. An Artificial Night is the third in the series and, in my opinion, the best one thus far. Toby’s morning starts off badly when her Fetch arrives at her door. A Fetch only shows up if you’re supposed to die in the near future, so Toby’s reaction is understandable. But soon she has other things to worry about besides her own demise. Two of her best friend’s children have gone missing, and a third can’t be woken up. The kidnappings aren’t confined to them—several other children from Faerie families have been taken as well. The culprit is Blind Michael, the leader of the ghostly Hunt that is some...