Kristen
Winner of the first Nebula award in 1965 and co-winner of the Hugo award, Dune is regarded with an almost reverent awe by some. As one of the first science fiction novels to emphasize characters, Dune is the precursor to many of the modern books in the genre that we read today. In spite of its reputation as a must-read novel in the genre, I put off reading it for years, thinking it was probably dry and dated with flat, boring characters and lots of technobabble. Fortunately, I found these preconceived notions of mine to be wrong. Although it is not a perfect novel, Dune contains interesting characters, political intrigue, religious themes, a very detailed world, and philosophy that made for an enjoyable and profound reading experience....
http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2008/06/review-of-dune.html
3 1/2 stars
J.M. McDermott's debut Last Dragon is one of the books published under the new Wizards of the Coast Discoveries imprint. Discoveries includes novels by new authors in all types of speculative fiction instead of just epic fantasy with settings outside of the Forgotten Realms universe. The goal is to publish more mature fiction that appeals to adult readers instead of the simplistic but fun stories that often end up getting adolescents hooked on reading fantasy. Far more original and artistic than the typical Wizards of the Coast book, Last Dragon succeeds at meeting this standard, though it is not flawless.
Complete Review:
http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-of-last-dragon.html
3 1/2 stars
Hood is the first book in the new “King Raven” trilogy by Stephen Lawhead. Scarlet, the second book in the series, is also available, but the concluding volume Tuck has not yet been released. Much like the tales of King Arthur, Robin Hood is a story that has evolved over the years and Lawhead wanted to tell the tale set during the time it seems to have first appeared. Thus Hood begins a version of the classic legend set in 1093 during the reign of William II.
Complete Review:
http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-of-hood.html
The books contained in this omnibus are a lot of fun. It is light reading and very easy to breeze through, heavy on dialogue and humor. There is a mixture of serious storytelling dealing with themes such as oppression and prejudice and light-hearted humor that provides a nice balance between the two.
Miles is an enjoyable character - extremely bright and energetic with a strong mischievous streak. However, the other characters are definitely secondary as Miles always takes center stage with a shining personality that overshadows the rest. His name is in the series title, after all, so I suppose this is not all that surprising.
Complete review:
http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2008/08/review-of-young-miles.html
I have wanted to read one of the Culture novels by Iain M. Banks for quite a while and one that sounded particularly interesting to me was The Player of Games. Unfortunately, that particular title was difficult to find in the U.S. – until it was reprinted here a couple of months ago. I am very glad it was since this is definitely one of the better novels I have read this year, containing layers and depth without ever becoming too dry or a chore to read.
Complete Review:
http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-of-player-of-games.html
Full review:
http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2008/04/review-of-cordelias-honor.html
Cordelia's Honor contains the first two chronological novels in Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series, Shards of Honor and Barrayar. These books could also be viewed as prequels to the series since they are not actually about the life of Miles but instead tell the story of how his parents met and how Miles came to be disfigured before birth. Shards of Honor is Bujold's first published novel while Barrayar was released 5 years later after other books in the series had been written. The latter is a direct sequel to the former and completes the story begun in the first book, some parts of which Bujold had originally wanted to include in Shards of Honor before she realized it was too long. While the first half of the story was certainly enjoyable, it did lack polish and Bujold's extra writing experience shows in Barrayar, which is a much tighter novel and the winner of the 1992 Hugo Award.
