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....