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October, 2009
Just Henry - Michelle Magorian
I've been a huge fan of this author since I read Goodnight, Mr. Tom in a YA Lit class in college. I was thrilled to see she had a new book out (after *years and years* of keeping an eye out for it. A very enjoyable read. Her previous YA books took place during WWII, but this one moves ahead a few years, with the war being a bit behind everyone, but its impact still felt.
September, 2009
Forest Mage - Robin Hobb
Bit of a disappointment after how much I loved the first book. So much of the story in this one (and in some volumes of her other series, too) is dependent on her main character being utterly oblivious to festering situations that are blatantly obvious to the reader and making *really* poor choices because of it. Like, pretty much EVERY decision Nevare makes in the book is the *wrong* choice, and it makes for a really frustrating experience for the reader who *wants* to root for him, when he's clearly being such a dunder-head.
Firebirds Soaring - Nancy Springer (editor)
Third in an ongoing series of short story anthologies from YA publisher, Firebird. Really enjoying these, and I hope the series lasts and lasts. Like the previous books, this has a wonderful collection of sf/f stories, ranging from traditional genre to a few where you sort of have to squint or you miss the genre elements completely.
August, 2009
Before They are Hanged - Joe Abercrombie
Continue to enjoy the series. A bit less of a "Wow" factor this time around - more straightforward quest-fic.
Thomas the Rhymer - Ellen Kushner
I've never much gotten the allure of the whole "faerie" thing, and this one relies on that quite a lot, so it left me rather cold.
Myth-Chief - Robert Asprin & Jody Lynn Nye
Enjoyable chapter in the series. Nice to have the "band" back together again after such a long separation.
Breath and Bone - Carol Berg
Pretty awesome. Excellent follow-up to the first book... though I enjoyed the first volume more. As much as I love her books, I think I'm finding a trend that I much prefer her stories *before* the magical stuff starts to take center-stage. That's probably a symptom of my reading preferences in general, more than anything.
June, 2009
His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik
A tough sell for me, as I am quite soundly *not* a fan of dragon-fantasy. Decided I should at least give it a shot when the publisher offered it as a free PDF, and got drawn in by the "Horatio Hornblower" elements. Curious how folks who aren't already familiar with the culture from Age of Sail stories would react to it. Enjoyed it enough to buy the book and the next two, but have had my fill of dragons for a while now. I know Temeraire is the star of the show, but a little goes a long way for me.
Songs from the Seashell Archives - Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
This was a combination of two books (Song of Sorcery and The Unicorn Creed) that I'd sort of read back in my younger days when I tended to skip around and look for the 'good bits', and reread now. Something like these books would probably shelved as "YA" nowadays, but they're still such a fun read. Sweet and fluffy and witty. And I do adore Maggie and Colin.
May, 2009
The Hidden Queen - Alma Alexander
Rather ho-hum. I just don't have much patience anymore for this brand of "chosen one" fantasy. (Exiled princess turns out to also be rather uber-powerful in the book's form of psychic power and is clearly destined for great things, since gods talk to her and such.) It didn't *quite* cross the line between "chosen one" and "mary sue" for me, but I'm not sure why. Oddly enough, this is the third author from the Aussie/NZ part of the world who I've had a Mary Sue reaction to, and looking over a list of Aussie fantasy authors, I see several others who I've actively avoided due to Mary Sue vibes. I wonder if traditional fantasy is tied up with romance tropes more down there?
April, 2009
The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen - Lloyd Alexander
Probably my favorite non-series Alexander book to date. Has a lot of the same "moral of the story" sort of storytelling that he has in some of his later standalones, but a more mature story at heart that would fit in well next to Westmark or Prydain. His later books tended to be a little more simplistic.
The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie
Pretty darn awesome. I had lumped this in with Bakker and other "gritty" fantasy that is all the rage lately, and after the Bakker disappointed me, I wasn't expecting much from Abercrombie. It's nice to be proven wrong. The thing that strikes me with this book is that it's the first "gritty" fantasy I've read that seems to be built around an old-school quest-fantasy core rather than a more military-driven core like Erikson. The entire book is basically a setup in the vein of "wise old wizard brings together characters of varied backgrounds to go on a quest for mysterious reasons known only to him". The way this is done while being very much in the "gritty" fantasy mold is really pretty fascinating, and makes for a damn good read.
March, 2009
The Sherwood Ring - Elizabeth Marie Pope
Pleasant entry in the "modern day person moves into new house and finds out about the past from ghosts" genre of children's and YA lit.
Exogenesis - Sonny Whitelaw & Elizabeth Christensen (Stargate: Atlantis tie-in)
Quite good! Definitely my favorite non-Martha-Wells-written tie-in book I've read to date. The plot was plenty meaty with several unique twists that drastically changed the landscape of the story, the stakes were high enough that I was wondering for most of the book how on earth they'd be able to get things back to the tie-in-mandated status quo, and the characters were written VERY well.
Melusine - Sarah Monette
Hrrrrmmm... this is my latest read to be fairly pleasing on a fannish level. I'm not sure if the author is fannish, or just writing from a "romantic sf/f" perspective (she's on LJ, so the odds are a better than average for the former), but the book definitely has the sort of focus on character relationships and emotional baggage that pings on my radar for happiness. :) I enjoyed the characaters, the interdependence that evolves between the two main characters made my hurt/comforty genes squee, and I've already picked up book #2. That being said... I'm not sure I'd be quick to recommend this book to non-fannish readers. On the objective level, if you're not caught up by the slashy/fannish vibe, the story may focus *too* much on character emotions at the expense of world-building and plot structure. Not that it's plotless on a Twilight level or anything, just a bit vague around the edges with the details.
February, 2009
Bastard Prince - Katherine Kurtz
Finally finished the Heirs of Camber series, years and years after I should have. Mostly the same strengths and weaknesses as the previous book - we readers know Rhys Michael isn't going to get a happily ever after, so after a certain point, it starts to drag a bit as we wait for the inevitable. Definitely an enjoyable read, though. Only problem is that I really want the 948 book she's talked about now, and who knows when that will get done, if ever. :P
The Sunbird - Elizabeth Wein
Lovely. Simply lovely. I'm loving this author's work more and more, the more I see. I love how she's continued to followup on The Winter Prince in these other books that are so far removed from Britain. The events of that book continue to echo in this one, and it's as much a story of Medraut and Goewin (as seen through Telemakos' eyes) as it is about Telemakos. Telemakos, himself, is a wonderful, wonderful character. I can't wait to get more. I'm off to order them right now. :)
The Phoenix and the Mirror - Avram Davidson
A very "literary" and erudite fantasy, but I confess is was a bit of a difficult read for me. It was an excellent, mythic story, and the language was appropriate to the story being told, but I found the actual reading of it to be a bit of a slog. My brain had to step in with a lot of parsing of sentences and guesstimating at meanings of strange words, so it couldn't just sink into the story and enjoy. I suppose enjoyment isn't wholly the point for this sort of writing, though...
January, 2009
Nevermore - Keith R.A. DeCandido
I didn't think this was nearly as bad as the squealing fangirl discussions I've read made it out to be. There are definitely some missteps (Especially in defining Sam & Dean a bit too narrowly into their archetypes - it all felt a bit too "fanon"-ish vs. "canon"-ish.) but it was overall an enjoyable read in the Supernatural universe.
Days of Blood and Fire - Katherine Kerr
Another fairly enjoyable chapter in this series.