Magic

REVIEW:  Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

REVIEW: Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

Dear Mr. Aaronovitch, Back in March, I read and reviewed your terrific debut, Midnight Riot (Rivers of London in the UK), an urban fantasy/police procedural narrated by an endearing London police constable named Peter Grant. Peter is a new recruit in a secret (and very small) department of the London Metropolitan Police which investigates supernatural [...]

Recommended Reads Saturday: Master of Crows by Grace Draven

Recommended Reads Saturday: Master of Crows by Grace Draven

From Nicci: I am recommending this book because From the very first chapter, I was hooked. The storyline is compelling and kept me enthralled, but it’s the characters that commanded my attention. Silhara is one of the most interesting heroes I’ve ever read, and Martise’s quiet strength and determination is the perfect complement to such [...]

Recommended Reads Saturday: Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk

Recommended Reads Saturday: Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk

From Darlynne: I am recommending this book because The fantasy genre of magic users in urban settings is turned on its head and re-imagined in this Portland, Oregon-based series about Allie Beckstrom, magic Hound and reluctant daughter of the city’s most powerful businessman. Magic is available to all, but the use of it exacts a [...]

REVIEW: Fate’s Edge by Ilona Andrews

REVIEW: Fate’s Edge by Ilona Andrews

Dear Ms Andrews, I must confess, I am a fan. You are one of those authors I count on to consistently deliver good stories. The presence of your name on the cover of a book will motivate me to buy what I would otherwise pass. I’m hooked on your Kate Daniels series of Urban Fantasy [...]

REVIEW: Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh

REVIEW: Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh

Dear Ms. Singh: This is the fourth book in a connected series with the three other stories written by three other authors. I haven’t read the other three and I don’t feel like my reading experience was impaired in any way.  The prologue lays the table.  A long lived people leaved peacefully and prosperously in [...]

REVIEW: Death Magic by Eileen Wilks

REVIEW: Death Magic by Eileen Wilks

Dear Ms. Wilks: I loved the first and second book in this series but as the worldbuilding evolved and became bigger, I felt like I lost an understanding of the world. The book started out as a Pack book for me (Pack = werewolf) and has been transmogrified into world where every kind of magic [...]

REVIEW: Pride and Passion by Charlotte Featherstone

REVIEW: Pride and Passion by Charlotte Featherstone

Dear Ms. Featherstone: I confess that I read this book because I just loved the cover.  The positioning of the characters, the color of the dress, the frills at the cuff of the man’s outfit. It was very evocative.  The soft against the hard.  It’s a clinch but an evocative, sophisticated clinch.   This is [...]

REVIEW: Cast in Ruin by Michelle Sagara

REVIEW: Cast in Ruin by Michelle Sagara

Dear Ms. Sagara, Ah, the peril of the long-running series. I knew in the back of my mind that your ongoing Elantra series consisted of many books but checking Amazon, I see that Cast in Ruin is book 7. This both surprises me and makes me wince. Surprise because I can’t believe it’s been that [...]

REVIEW: No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper

REVIEW: No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper

Dear Ms. Cooper, I was really intrigued by the description of your book, No Proper Lady, which touts itself as a being a cross between Terminator and My Fair Lady. And indeed, this is a very apt description for the plot of this book. More importantly, based upon the excerpt I read before deciding to [...]

REVIEW: Cat’s Tale: A Fairy Tale Retold by Bettie Sharpe

REVIEW: Cat’s Tale: A Fairy Tale Retold by Bettie Sharpe

Dear Ms. Sharpe, I was a big fan of your previous reworking of the story of Cinderella, Ember, so when I heard you had another novella out based on a fairy tale, I was intrigued. I was slightly dismayed to discover that Cat’s Tale was based on Puss in Boots, which is a fairy tale [...]

REVIEW: Naamah’s Blessing by Jacqueline Carey

REVIEW: Naamah’s Blessing by Jacqueline Carey

Dear Ms. Carey, I’m a huge fan of yours. The original Kushiel trilogy about Phedre and Joscelin rank high among my favorite books. Even when one of your novels fails to capture my heart, I still find myself appreciating what you attempted with your writing. I’ve said in the past that I wish you’d move [...]

REVIEW: Con & Conjure by Lisa Shearin

REVIEW: Con & Conjure by Lisa Shearin

Dear Ms. Shearin, I’ve been looking forward to ‘Con & Conjure’ the next installment of your Raine Benares series since shortly after finishing your last book, ‘Bewitched & Betrayed’ and I’m glad to say I wasn’t disappointed. Our heroine Raine Benares, still linked to the soul eating Saghred which gives her access to almost unlimited [...]

REVIEW: Red Glove by Holly Black

REVIEW: Red Glove by Holly Black

Note: This review is going to be spoilery for White Cat because there’s no good way to discuss Red Glove without revealing the big secret of that book. Skim very selectively if you’re spoiler-phobic! Dear Ms. Black, Last year, you introduced us to the Curse Workers. In the Curse Worker world, magic was outlawed along [...]

REVIEW: The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle, Day One by Patrick Rothfuss

REVIEW: The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle, Day One by Patrick Rothfuss

Dear Mr. Rothfuss, By February I had heard enough people mention how eagerly they were awaiting the sequel to your first novel, 2007's The Name of the Wind, that I was intrigued and decided to pick up the first book in the series. The Name of the Wind begins this way: "It was night again. [...]

REVIEW: The Seduction of Miranda Prosper by Marissa Day

REVIEW: The Seduction of Miranda Prosper by Marissa Day

Dear Ms. Day, I never know what grades to give erotica, because, much like exotic foodstuffs, it is a genre that is peculiarly subjective to what Englishmen call taste, the French call bon gout, and everyone else chalks up to appetite. But let’s be fair, Ms. Day, most erotica is-’even without the idiosyncratic presence of [...]