Robin Hobb fans might be interested in this short story available online. Published as Megan Lindholm.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
"Cut" - Megan Lindhom (Robin Hobb)
Monday, January 28, 2008
Storm Front - Jim Butcher
Book info:
- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Orbit (1 Sep 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1841493988
- ISBN-13: 978-1841493985
Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Reasonable rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment. Harry Dresden is the best and technically the 'only' at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal capabilities, they come to him for answers. For the 'everyday' world is actually full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a - well, whatever. The first six Dresden files novels will be published over three months - a great introduction to Harry Dresden, a modern-day wizard who manages to get into some seriously tricky situations.
Reviews:
Reviewers like the pace and grittiness of this series with the right balance of modern violence and traditional SFF structures.
The Gravel Pit points out that this is meant to be a light read and shouldn't be over critiqued for its literary greatness and contribution to SFF literature so read it with a bucket of salt. This is backed up by several reviews simply referring to it as a "page turner".
A final criticism of the series as a whole is that its yet another Wizard called Harry. Regular readers will know my feelings about that particular series.
My two cents:
Generally considered to be better than the TV series, modern urban fantasy with a clearly identifable formula and plenty of action. You need to read these in order to avoid being confused.
Butcher does for Chicago what Rankin did for Ealing - taking an existing world and building a new one within it which saves a lot of time in SFF and allows for more time to be spent on character development.
After you've read the first one, you'll be tempted to go right out and buy the next two or three but be warned that the forumla becomes more and more obvious by the third and you can easily get bored so mix them up with other authors to get further in to the series.
Graham has an overview of the series and makes a couple of interesting points, like how annoying Dresden's monologues become as the series goes on, which may just be an attempt at character development but which I agree can be tedious. Just looking at the amazon reviews you'll see that people are wetting themselves over the characters in the first book, but that there is a desire amongst readers for deeper, more developed characters, which possibly aren't compatible with the pace and style of the books?
Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
Book info:
- Paperback: 480 pages
- Publisher: Headline Review; New Ed edition (8 May 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0755305094
- ISBN-13: 978-0755305094
Synopsis:
Fat Charlie Nancy is not actually fat. He was fat once but he is definitely not fat now. No, right now Fat Charlie Nancy is angry, confused and more than a little scared - right now his life is spinning out of control, and it is all his dad's fault. If his rotter of an estranged father hadn't dropped dead at a karaoke night, Charlie would still be blissfully unaware that his dad was Anansi, the spider god. He would have no idea that he has a brother called Spider, who is also a god. And there would be no chance that said brother would be trying to take over his life, flat and fiancee, or, to make matters worse, be doing a much better job of it than him. Desperate to reclaim his life, Charlie enlists the help of four more-than-slightly eccentric old ladies and their unique brand of voodoo - and between them they unleash a bitter and twisted force to get rid of Spider. But as darkness descends and badness begins, is Fat Charlie Nancy going to get his life back in one piece or is he about to enter a whole netherworld of pain?
Reviews:
Opinion is divided as to whether Anansi Boys is as good as or better than American Gods. Funny, contemporary and occasionally dark this is still a well received effort from Gaiman and his writing fits nicely between Mr Pratchett and Mr Rankin for those who are fans of either, though by no means considered to be his best work.
My two cents:
Sadly not as good as Good Omens (how could it be). Maybe it lacks Practchetts vivid imagination to take it beyond a basic comic tale. The relationships between the characters however are interesting because of the cross over between social commentary and fantasy that is the hallmark of SFF works set in contemporary society. Not as fast paced as, say Jim Butcher's Dresden Files but this is quite possibly a good thing as unlike Butcher, Gaiman is able to explore the characters and their relationships in a much more interested way - both comic and insightful.
Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams
Book info:
- Paperback: 229 pages
- Publisher: Pan Macmillan; New Ed edition (21 Sep 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0330323113
- ISBN-13: 978-0330323116
Synopsis:
The fifth part of the "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. 20 years on, the Guide falls into the hands of Arthur Dent's daughter, Random, whose mother, unexpectedly to all concerned, is Trillian. Random journeys to an insignificant planet, whose entry in the Guide reads "mostly harmless".
Reviews:
Pending
My two cents:
Pending
The Dragonbone Chair - Tad Williams
Book info:
- Paperback: 944 pages
- Publisher: Orbit (18 Oct 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1857236165
- ISBN-13: 978-1857236163
A thrilling, heartstopping quest that blends the machinations of a king gone mad with the politics of empire, breathtaking suspense with the pity of war, a brilliantly conceived world of ancient days with the joys - and terrors - of magic ...
Reviews:
Pending
My two cents:
Pending
Armageddon the Musical - Robert Rankin
Book info:
- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Corgi Adult; New Ed edition (25 April 1991)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0552136816
- ISBN-13: 978-0552136815
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 10.6 x 2.6 cm
From the point of view of 2050, you're history
Theological warfare. Elvis on an epic time-travel journey - the Presliad. Buddhavision - a network bigger than God (and more powerful, too). Nasty nuclear leftovers. Naughty sex habits. Dalai Dan (the 153rd reincarnation of the Lama of that ilk) and Barry, the talkative Time Sprout. Even with all this excitement, you wouldn't think a backwater planet like Earth makes much of a splash in the galatic pond.
But the soap opera called The Earthers is making big video bucks in the intergalactic ratings race. And alien TV execs know exactly what the old earth drama needs to make the off-world audience sit up and stare: a spectacular Armageddon-type finale. With a cast of millions - including you! DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL - IT'S GONNA BE A HELLUVA SHOW!Reviews
Pending
My two cents
Pending
The Sword of Shannara Trilogy - Terry Brooks
Book info:
- Paperback: 1200 pages
- Publisher: Orbit (5 Jul 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1841492876
- ISBN-13: 978-1841492872
THE SWORD OF SHANNARA: Long ago, the world of Shea Ohmsford was torn apart by war. But the half-human, half-elfin, Shea now lives in peace - until the forbidding figure of Allanon appears, to reveal that the long dead Warlock Lord lives again ...THE ELFSTONES OF SHANNARA: Ancient evil threatens the Elves and the Races of Man. For the Ellcrys, the tree of long-lost Elven magic, is dying - loosing the spell of Forbidding that locks the hordes of Demons away from Earth. Only one source has the power to stop it: the Elfstones of Shannara. THE WISHSONG OF SHANNARA: Evil stalks the Four Lands as the Ildatch, immemorial book of evil spells, has stirred to eldritch life. Once again Allanon, ancient Druid Protector of the Races, must seek the help of a descendant of Jerle Shannara.
Reviews:
Pending
My two Cents:
Pending
Interesting Times - Terry Pratchett
Book info:
- Paperback: 351 pages
- Publisher: Corgi Adult; New Ed edition (9 Nov 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0552142352
- ISBN-13: 978-0552142359
Mighty battles! Revolution! Death! War! (and his sons terror and panic, and daughter Clancy). The oldest and most inscrutable empire on the Discworld is in turmoil, brought about by the revolutionary treatise What I did on My Holidays. Workers are uniting, with nothing to lose but their water buffaloes. Warlords are struggling for power. War (and Clancy) are spreading throughout the ancient cities. And all that stands in the way of terrible doom for everyone is: Rincewind the Wizard, who can't even spell the word 'wizard'...Cohen the barbarian hero, five foot tall in his surgical sandals, who has had a lifetime's experience of not dying...and a very special butterfly.
Reviews:
pending
My two cents:
Pending
The Portable Door, Tom Holt
Book info:
- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Orbit; New Ed edition (5 Feb 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1841492086
- ISBN-13: 978-1841492087
Starting a new job is always stressful (especially when you don't particularly want one), but when Paul Carpenter arrives at the office of H.W. Wells he has no idea what trouble lies in store. Because he is about to discover that the apparently respectable establishment now paying his salary is in fact a front for a deeply sinister organisation that has a mighty peculiar agenda. It seems that half the time his bosses are away with the fairies. But they're not, of course. They're away with the goblins. Mister Tom Holt, Master of the Comic Fantasy Novel, cordially invites you to join him in his world of madness by reading his next hilarious masterpiece.
Reviews:
Pending
My two cents:
Pending
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