Boondocks Fantasy edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg – review
I enjoy reading short fiction; it’s remarkable how much world building and ambiance can fit into a small piece. I usually look forward to DAW anthologies, because they’re themed but the themes are loose enough to offer a wide interpretation, which leads to some very interesting stories. The news that Martin H. Greenberg had passed away [...]
Steampunk’d edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg – review
Steampunk’d, the latest anthology edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg, offers sci-fi and fantasy readers a good selection of stories that should help them decide whether or not they like the steampunk asthetic if they haven’t made up their minds already. Fans who already know they enjoy steampunk should find stories that they [...]
5th Annual Book Tournament Winner
The polls are closed. The votes are in. The final fight was long and uncertain. It came down to the wire. It got five times the votes of the most-voted on round up to that point, and 10 times the number of more average rounds. The lead changed hands several times, with Seanan McGuire and An [...]
Finding the Way and Other Tales of Valdemar, edited by Mercedes Lackey – review
Finding the Way is the latest installment of Mercedes Lackey’s ongoing anthology series set in her world of Valdemar. Readers who have enjoyed previous anthologies will find some familiar characters in these pages, since this volume contains several stories which feature recurrent characters. People who are new to the anthologies shouldn’t be put off by [...]
A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire – review
In A Local Habitation, the follow-up to wonderful Rosemary and Rue, author Seanan McGuire gives us a sequel that is different not only in scope but also in plotting from the first book. This is not a bad thing. We like new stuff. We like when authors don’t follow predictable patterns. In Rue, we followed along [...]
Changing the World – edited by Mercedes Lackey – review
Most fans of the fantasy genre have encountered a Mercedes Lackey book at some point in their reading. Most likely, that book was part of her Valdemar series. One of the nice things about Valdemar is that Lackey is gracious enough to allow other writers to play in her sandbox. There are four other Tales [...]
The Dragon and the Stars – edited by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi – review
Before I start this review, I want to note something that’s more than a little important to the understanding of this book. This is an anthology written solely by ethnic Chinese writers who live outside of China proper. In her introduction Tess Gerritsen explores the fact that growing up, she was immersed in the Chinese [...]
The Sapphire Sirens by John Zakour – review
Zachary Nixon Johnson is the last freelance Private Investigator left on the planet. He has a supercomputer named HARV, who is holographic and also linked into Zach’s brain, an assistant named Carol, and a semi-intellingent AI weapon named Gus. He also has an incredible talent for getting himself into trouble. He gets kidnapped to the [...]
A Girl’s Guide to Guns and Monsters edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes – review
If you’ve ever found yourself a little frustrated with the state of female characters in fantasy fiction, then A Girl’s Guide to Guns and Monsters should prove to be a shining beacon of hope. This collection of short stories offers selections from Jane Lindskold, Jim C. Hines, Mickey Zucker Reichert, and Nina Kiriki Hoffman. Martin [...]
Spells of the City edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg – review
In Tennessee William’s play A Streetcar Named Desire, the character of Blanche Dubois says, “I don’t want realism. I want magic!”–a quote that aptly describes this collection of tales related by their relationship to their cities. Many of the exploits and adventures within the stories could have mundane explanations. Maybe the mother really did kill her [...]
Doppelgangster by Laura Resnick – review
Double the pleasure, double the suspense and fun–that’s the case, at least, when you’re reading Laura Resnick’s humorous urban fantasy novel about doppelgangers, or doubles, Doppelgangster. Aspiring actress Esther Diamond stars in Resnick’s series, working at restaurants and doing other part-time jobs between acting gigs. She’s friends with a sorcerer named Max who owns a [...]
The Mermaid’s Madness by Jim C Hines – review
After finishing a fairy tale, did you ever wonder if the princesses ever went on any more adventures? Did it ever concern you that “Happily Ever After” might actually be a horrible euphamism for “completely stuck in a rut?” If, in fact, your brain did turn in that direction, then Jim Hines has an answer for you in his book The Mermaid’s Madness, in which the story of “The Little Mermaid” gets an amazing re-write that will hold older fans of fairy tales spellbound.
Full review after the jump…
