This is it – my 40th book review of the year! When I pledged to do 40 book reviews a year ago, I had no idea what I was setting myself up for. Now, with this final entry, we can all bask in the satisfaction of someone actually finishing what they start. But anyways, onwards… Continue Reading
Title: The High Road Author: Terry Fallis Publisher: McLelland and Stewart Format: Print Rating: 4 out of 5 I read a lot of speculative fiction, as my past reviews clearly show – books about space zombies, ghosts, Russian mythological figures, and more. However, The High Road is speculative fiction of an entirely different sort. It’s… Continue Reading
Title: Ironskin Author: Tina Connolly Publisher: Tor Format: Print Rating: 4 out of 5 Note: this review contains spoilers. Jane Eliot is a veteran of The Great War against the fey. The five years since the end of the war have not been kind to her, however, as the lingering scar on her cheek –… Continue Reading
Title: Seraphina Author: Rachel Hartman Publisher: Random House Format: Print Rating: 5 out of 5 One of the chief things I measure in a novel is how it affects me when I read it. Do the book’s events wend their way into my dreams? Am I compelled to keep reading? How concerned am I with… Continue Reading
Title: The Hum and the Shiver Author: Alex Bledsoe Publisher: Tor Books Rating: 3 out of 5 Format: eBook Warning: this review contains spoilers. The Tufa are a community of people who have lived in what is now east Tennessee for hundreds of years – they were there before the arrival of Europeans to North America, yet they… Continue Reading
The 2012 World Fantasy Convention starts today! I have been waiting for this day for months. I don’t know if I can describe to you the relief and trepidation I feel this morning now that there’s the prospect of meeting some of my favourite authors in person. Then there’s the temptation of the dealers’ room, filled… Continue Reading
Well, it’s officially late October, and you know what that means: a frantic ramp-up to NaNoWriMo. Well, perhaps not frantic, but it’s definitely a more informed mess of activity than it was in 2011. Last year was my first time writing for NaNoWrimo, and I think I learned a lot from the experience. Unfortunately, the story I… Continue Reading
Title: Who Fears Death Author: Nnedi Okorafor Publisher: DAW Rating: 2 out of 5 Format: Print Who Fears Death is the story of Onyesonwu, a girl growing up in Africa – Sudan is implied – after an unnamed apocalyptic event. Onyesonwu is not just any girl, though – she is an Ewu, a child born… Continue Reading
Title: The Guilty Plea Author: Robert Rotenberg Publisher: Simon & Schuster Rating: 3 out of 5 Format: Print One of the genres that I’ve often had trouble “getting” is that of the crime/procedural (which was why I had problems with both Zoo City and Empire State). In terms of my reading habits, then, my enjoyment… Continue Reading
Title: Redemption in Indigo Author: Karen Lord Publisher: Small Beer Press Rating: 5 out of 5 Format: eBook Note: Nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer This was one of several works that I read in preparation for filling in my Hugo Awards ballot. There’s one more novel I need to… Continue Reading
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