Blood Prophecy by Stefan Petrucha – review
Just when I thought vampire novels were getting passe and that there were no new takes that could be written on the vampire theme, along comes Stefan Petrucha’s taut and suspenseful Blood Prophecy to prove me wrong. There have been historical vampire tales before, of course; vampires generally live for quite a long time, and [...]
Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides Sails on Winds of Hype – movie review
I love Johnny Depp, but the last Pirates of the Carribean movie I sort of liked was the second one, Dead Man’s Chest. After At World’s End left me thoroughly disappointed, I was slightly skeptical about watching the newest installment, On Stranger Tides. When sequels start to get bad, they rarely get any better, after [...]
The Black Death Tries Avoiding the Plague Like Cliches
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague. ~William Safire, “Great Rules of Writing” The Black Death is about what you think it is. Set near the beginning of the era of the bubonic plague, it follows a young monk out of his abbey while he serves as guide for a group of [...]
Between Summer’s Longing and Winter’s End by Leif GW Persson – review
Leif GW Persson’s trilogy of novels about the still-unsolved assassination of the Swedish Prime Minister 24 years ago, which begins with Between Summer’s Longing and Winter’s End, has often been compared to Steig Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, et al) and to the novels of Henning Mankel. They’re all three Swedish [...]
Sources of Light by Margaret McMullan – review
Set in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, Sources of Light is a well-crafted coming-of-age story about fourteen-year-old Samantha Thomas and how she develops a love for photography and documents key events in the Civil Rights Movement. It’s a warm and beautifully told novel that follows Sam’s attempts to fit in during her freshman year of high [...]
Annexed by Sharon Dogar – Review
I review the new TV shows, movies, books, and recap the episodes you missed. In today’s segment I review a historical fiction novel titled Annexed by Sharon Dogar. Annexed is about when the Franks and the Van Pels entered went into hiding. This is told from Peter Van Pels point of view. Peter was always [...]
Juliet by Anne Fortier – review
I haven’t been as excited about a book as I was when I got to the end of Juliet in a long time. A year, maybe. Anne Fortier has managed what might well be the impossible: making Romeo and Juliet fresh again. Not in the way that West Side Story did, by re-setting and re-casting [...]
Wolf’s Cross by S.A. Swann – review
In Swann’s first book in this series, Wolfbreed, we were introduced to a young girl who had grown up treated like a monster, but who found a way to reconcile who she was with who she could be. In this second book, set a hundred years later in 14th century Poland, it’s the exact opposite set [...]
Wolfbreed by S.A. Swann – review
Wolfbreed is a different genre of paranormal for me to read. Set in 13th-century Prussia, it introduces us to Lilly, one of a group of young werewolves trained by the Teutonic Order to be brutal killing machines for the Church. They’re treated as animals, albeit highly skilled and useful animals that do the Church’s dirty business [...]
In Scandal They Wed by Sophie Jordan – review
In Scandal They Wed is a story of serious mistaken identities, or perhaps the better term would be mistaken lives. Evelyn, known as Evie, has sacrificed her entire life to raising Nicholas, her sister’s illegitimate son. For nearly five years she’s lived in a small village, afraid someone will guess she’s not really the Widow [...]
The Time Weaver by Shana Abé – review
What if everything you loved, and everyone, suddenly vanished? What if it were your doing? Your future unfurled before you like a map marked with a thick black arrow drawn irrevocably, relentlessly straight toward Extinction. You never knew. You never guessed, until the end. What would you sacrifice to erase that map? The Time Weaver [...]
Guy Gavriel Kay Guest Blog – Under Heaven, and the Book World Under Siege
‘Under Heaven, and the Book World Under Siege’ by Guy Gavriel Kay A first public reading from a new novel is an interesting exercise. Over the years, and with eleven books now, I have learned (probably too slowly) how many variables go into what works and what doesn’t. The starting point is to be aware [...]
