Kristen
2 1/2 stars - It was an ok book
Overall, I thought Songs of the Earth was a rather flawed book, but the series has potential if the issues with pacing and characterization can be worked out. It had a strong opening and ending, but the middle was rather unevenly paced with a lot of familiar elements that didn???t have enough spark to make the book stand out. The writing was decent, but considering the rather dull main character and a storyline that couldn???t always maintain my interest, I ended up feeling like on its own The Songs of the Earth is all right. I can???t say I enjoyed it, but I can???t say I didn???t like it, either.
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This was a rare impulse buy for me since I'd never heard of this book until I came across it at the bookstore. I was very glad I read it. It's a translation of a Japanese fantasy book written in the tradition of the common British and American fantasies based on Celtic mythology, only using Japanese mythology from the Kojiki as the basis for the story. I loved the fantasy elements and am definitely planning to pick up the second book in the Tales of the Magatama, which has also been translated into English!
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The Shadow Reader is fun and fast-paced, and I enjoyed its depiction of two opposing sides of a war. While it was very readable, I did have some reservations about the main character. For one thing, she didn't have as much personality in her narrative voice as I would have liked. For another, I was a bit irritated by her at times. Overall, it was an entertaining book, though.
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Miserere: An Autumn Tale is an excellent debut novel and a great character-driven, dark fantasy book. It has strong world-building and well-developed main characters, both of which are handled in a way that sets it apart as different from a lot of fantasy. The strength of this book has certainly put Teresa Frohock on my radar as an author to watch.
A battle between heaven and hell is a very familiar basic plotline, but one of the things I really appreciated about this novel was that it was not the usual take on this sort of story. Other than one very short part, it is not set on earth, but a completely different place with its own set of rules. Woerld is a very complex place where all religions work together to keep the Fallen in hell where they belong.
Another aspect of the book I appreciated was that the main character, Lucian, was a 40-year-old man who actually acted his age. Likewise, the woman he betrayed in the past, Rachael, is also a mature woman worthy of respect for her strength of character and fairness. These two characters really made the book for me, and I'm excited to read the next book when it is available.
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I really wanted to like this one, but the more I read, the less I liked it. It had a somewhat interesting premise, but I thought it dragged a lot. Plus the characters were flat, especially the very over-the-top evil villain who likes snakes and can't remember the name of anyone beneath her even if she's been around them a zillion times. Some contrived scenes and cheesy dialogue didn't help things, and I'm not planning to continue the series.
Everyone seems to really like this book and I wanted to give it a chance since it was the start of a series, but it just wasn't for me.
Detailed Review: http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2011/12/review-of-blood-rights-by-kristen-painter/
All the Windwracked Stars was a great book, but By the Mountain Bound was even better. I thought this final installment in the trilogy was just about as good as the middle/prequel volume. It had some beautiful writing, characters with a lot of depth, and I especially loved how Elizabeth Bear took parts of Norse mythology and really made them her own. Lovely books, and someday I am going to have to reread them all back to back to get the most out of all the connections.
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3 1/2 stars - I do want to read the next one badly enough that I considered giving this 4 stars even though I usually rate 3 1/2 star books as 3 on here since that's just supposed to be “liked it.”
Resenting the Hero is a delightful book with main characters easy to root for and empathize with, a fun plot and a world history that leads to some very intriguing social dynamics.
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Elfland had compelling characters, some beautiful prose and a fascinating world. The fantasy aspect of the story does mostly take a backseat to the characters and their dramas, but their story made this book nearly impossible to put down ??? even if it did sometimes verge toward a little too much melodrama. It was one of those books that immediately gripped me and never let go until it was finished. It kept me up reading later than I should be and kept returning to my thoughts when I wasn???t reading it, and I will definitely be reading more by Freda Warrington.
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3 1/2 stars
Even though the beginning of The Spirit Thief had me wondering whether or not I???d enjoy it, I found I had rather enjoyed it once I reached the end. It???s a fun story set in a fascinating world in which everything has a spirit, and wizardry is not spell-casting but the ability to hear these spirits. While some of the characters are rather shallowly depicted in this first installment, the charismatic Eli and dutiful Miranda are both engaging, likable characters. I???m looking forward to finding out what happens in The Spirit Rebellion.
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This particular version of the Sleeping Beauty tale is based on the familiar myth but makes it into its own unique version. While it is the same basic story with the fairies and a princess destined to prick her finger on a spinning wheel, the princess is not the main focus. The Sevenfold Spell is told from the perspective of a commoner named Talia, who is of marriageable age at the beginning of the story. The princess Aurora was just cursed by the evil fairy, and all spinning wheels have been outlawed from the kingdom. Talia and her mother earn their living by spinning, and the consequences of the seizure of their spinning wheel are devastating. Over the course of several years, we see just how this affects the course of Talia's life and how her story ties in with that of Princess Aurora.
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Each book in the October Daye series is better than the last, and this series has become one of my top three urban fantasies (right after the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews and the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs). The second book was a big improvement over the first one, and this latest installment was slightly better than the second one. The plot was tighter with a wonderfully creepy atmosphere in the realms of Blind Michael. It's dark and there is not a vampire or werewolf to be found - it's all about the fae.
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The Parasol Protectorate is becoming one of my favorite new series. It's comedic historical fantasy set in a steampunk version of London populated with both humans and the supernatural (vampires, werewolves and ghosts). The first book in the series, Soulless, was also somewhat of a romance, but the next two books are not. In my opinion, this latest installment is about as enjoyable as the previous book and both are more polished than the first one.
Blameless is full of clever, whimsical humor and it struck me a couple of times while reading it that nearly every sentence is hilarious. There are so many well-worded phrases, but while there are plenty of funny situations the book doesn't compromise characterization just for the sake of being amusing. Alexia has become a character I really care about; she's so logical and courageous it would be difficult not to like her.
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I'm so conflicted - by Goodreads standards this is 1 star (didn't like it). By mine it is 2 (didn't like it but there were some things I liked about it so I wouldn't say I hated it and can't see anything positive about it). Since this is Goodreads, I'll go with 1 to fit with their rating system with the caveat that it's a 2 star book by my own ratings system.
Basically, I really liked the foundation for this story - the Jewish history and lore and the feminist leanings - but found I didn't really like the execution. It was enjoyable for a while, but about halfway through I realized I wasn't all that interesting in finishing it (although I did so I could review it). It had an interesting premise and mythological basis, but the plot, writing, and characters didn't really live up to my expectations.
Full Review: http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2010/12/review-of-lady-lazarus-by-michele-lang/
Like Havemercy, Shadow Magic captured my attention from the very first page and held it throughout with its character narratives. In this novel, there are two narrators from Xi'an, the prince Mamoru and his servant Kouje, and two from Volstov, the delegates Caius and Alcibiades. After only seeing characters from Volstov in Havemercy, the inclusion of two of the Ke-Han with a broader, more sympathetic look at their culture and how they were affected by the war was very welcome. Mamoru and Kouje were perhaps the more easily likable of the four main protagonists with their good intentions and their story's focus on loyalty and a long-standing friendship.
However, Caius and Alicibiades were the more intriguing with their more humorous voices and propensity to get into trouble. Caius is a magician previously exiled for using his talent to wreak revenge. Alcibiades is a soldier who also has a talent but hates the fact that he has magical ability and does whatever he can to avoid using it. Their observations about each other were quite entertaining - Caius decided that he simply must be friends with Alcibiades, who thought Caius was a pest, and a crazy one at that.
Caius was easily my favorite to read about - he appeared so carefree and easygoing most of the time with his main concerns focusing on fashion, gossip and breaking down the barriers Alcibiades built outside the door between their rooms. Yet he also had this love of danger coupled with the ruthless streak that lead to his infamous exile from Volstov that almost made him eerie.
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It continues to impress me that Briggs manages to pack so much into such a short novel. Each of the books in this series are approximately 300 pages long, yet the main plot is always wrapped up by the end and the characters are further developed. What I love best about each new installment, though, is that reading a new Mercy Thompson book is like reconnecting with old friends. After five books, the characters are all so familiar and true to themselves that they seem real (in spite of any supernatural abilities). Mercy has such a natural voice touched with humor that always draws me right in to the story and keeps those pages turning quickly.
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