This is a difficult book to describe. It’s set in the fictional Bay area town of Avicenna, to which Joe Farrell is returning after years away. (Bearing in mind, this was published in 1987, after apparently having been in the works for 18 years, so it’s got a hippy vibe to it that surely does […]
The Folk of the Air – Peter Beagle Read More »
This book is part memoir, part musing on books that straddle the divide between “regular” fiction, and genre fiction (sci fi, fantasy, comics, etc). Chabon’s considered a “regular” fiction author (I guess getting a Pulitzer does that), though he’s written books that would definitely be considered genre if other people had written them. He’s also
Maps and Legends – Michael Chabon Read More »
I enjoyed this book. It’s set in a sort of alternate Russia, where the land has been split by the Shadow Fold, or Unsea – a place of darkness, inhabited by monsters. The Grisha can work magic, and use their various abilities to try and keep the shadows at bay. Alina is an orphan. She
Shadow and Bone – Leigh Bardugo Read More »
This book take place after Wildwood Dancing, focusing on Paula, one of the younger sisters from the previous book. Paula’s the family scholar, and after her father’s assistant falls ill, he asks her to come with him to Istanbul, where he’s been asked to find an artifact called Cybele’s Gift, for a wealthy client. Istanbul
Cybele’s Secret – Juliet Marillier Read More »
This book skews to the younger side of the author’s work, more young reader than young adult. Princess Anya and her sister Morven are unlucky enough to have two step parents – first their mother died, introducing their step mother, and then, when their father died, she remarried their step-step father. Who is an evil
Frogkisser! – Garth Nix Read More »
This is the second book of the Herald’s Collegium series. Mags is settling into life at the Collegium, learning to fit into this world he find himself in, but also developing the gifts that will eventually make him into a spy. Things seem to be going well until every Foreseer in the kingdom sees Mags,
Intrigues – Mercedes Lackey Read More »
Kate and the Beast Lord are asked to go to Europe to be the third party at some important negotiations between three European packs. It’s an offer they can’t refuse – the payment will be in panacea, the availability of which is the difference between life and death when shape shifter children reach adolescence. They’re
Magic Rises – Ilona Andrews Read More »
The priest of the lay parish attached to the Abbey has died, and when the Abbot returns from a meeting of the English church fathers, he brings a replacement with him. Father Ailnoth brings with him a housekeeper and her nephew, a young lad who’s quickly volunteered for help for Brother Cadfael. The old priest,
The Raven in the Foregate – Ellis Peters Read More »
This book starts a new series in Valdemar, in a different timeframe than’s been covered before, when the Herald’s Collegium was developed, because there were so many new Heralds that the old mentorship system of training them is starting to fall apart. Mags has lived all his life in the gem mines, and simply cannot
Foundation – Mercedes Lackey Read More »
Mercy Thompson and Adam Hauptman are finally married (a surprise arranged by Adam’s daughter and Mercy’s mother when it became clear that Mercy was going to freak out if she had to plan the wedding herself). So they’re off to their honeymoon – all by themselves in a campsite on the Columbia River Gorge. Of
River Marked – Patricia Briggs Read More »
