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Posts Tagged ‘Urban-Fantasy’

REVIEW: Through The Veil by Shiloh Walker

By Janet • Jul 2nd, 2008 • Category: C Reviews Category, C- Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Walker:
I know it has taken me a long time to complete this review, but the truth is that it took me a long time to complete Through The Veil. At first I kept thinking it was just that I couldn’t sit down and focus long enough on the story [...]



REVIEW: Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow

By Jia • Jun 23rd, 2008 • Category: C Reviews, C Reviews Category, Reviews

Dear Ms. Saintcrow,
While I haven’t finished your Dante Valentine series, I enjoyed enough of what I read to seek out the first book in your new Jill Kismet series. I’ve said in the past that I do like reading about unsympathetic characters provided they’re compelling and the text doesn’t want me to [...]



REVIEW: Night Child by Jes Battis

By Jia • May 27th, 2008 • Category: C Reviews Category, C- Reviews, Reviews

Dear Mr. Battis,
While it can be said we have a female author bias here at DearAuthor (and maybe that’s true to a certain extent), we have previously reviewed and enjoyed books written by male authors here. If a book interests me, it interests me regardless of who wrote it. So [...]



Anne Sowards, Editor, Gives 2008 Urban Fantasy Preview

By Jane • May 22nd, 2008 • Category: Interviews, Misc

Sarah of SmartBitches wondered if you can follow an editor like you would an author, or maybe I can take that a bit further, and ask whether you can follow an editor like another reader who you trust. I initially thought that there was no correlation between an editor’s output and reader taste, but [...]



REVIEW: Key to Conspiracy by Talia Gryphon

By Jane • May 5th, 2008 • Category: F Reviews, Reviews

Warning: This F review may contain language that is offensive to Sensitive Readers.
Dear Ms. Gryphon:
The cover quote for the book is by Laurell K Hamilton and it says “A unique idea in the paranormal genre.” I have to agree. It was unique. Unique like I’ve never read anything so bizarre in [...]



REVIEW: Rogue by Rachel Vincent

By Jia • Mar 26th, 2008 • Category: D Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Vincent,
Like Jane, I found myself disappointed by your debut, Stray. I think my expectations had been raised so high by the pre-publication buzz that there was no possible way the actual product could have met them. That’s a danger I sometimes encounter with the internet, which offers up so much information about books [...]



REVIEW: Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews

By Jia • Mar 18th, 2008 • Category: B Reviews Category, B+ Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Andrews,
When I read your first novel, Magic Bites, I was struck by your fresh worldbuilding. Sometimes I feel like many urban fantasy novels feature similar worldbuilding details. Execution makes all the difference, of course, but because of those similarities, I really appreciate unique worldbuilding when a book presents it to me. That said, [...]



Am I Cheating on Romance?

By Jane • Mar 18th, 2008 • Category: Letters of Opinion, Misc

see more crazy cat pics
As was reported last week, urban fantasy is on the rise. More and more UF books are being published and these books are increasingly being marketed toward the romance reader. These books are commonly referred to as part of the cross over genre. There is a boon and a [...]



Urban Fantasy Appeal Increasing Steadily

By Jane • Mar 10th, 2008 • Category: Misc, Publishing News

Orbit Books, the SFF branch of Warner Books, posted last week that Urban Fantasy is growing in popularity and the evidence is the number of books showing up on the bestseller lists. According to Orbit, in 2004, only 1 Urban Fantasy was on the Fantasy Bestseller list and in 2007, there were 7. [...]



REVIEW: Madhouse by Rob Thurman

By Jia • Feb 25th, 2008 • Category: B Reviews Category, B+ Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Thurman,
I can’t remember exactly how I first discovered your books. When your first novel, Nightlife, came out a couple years ago, I dismissed it as just another straight urban fantasy. We already have Jim Butcher and Simon R. Green for that. Then I read a couple favorable blog reviews that [...]



REVIEW: Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

By Jia • Feb 19th, 2008 • Category: C Reviews Category, C+ Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Briggs,
I’ve been putting off writing this review for some time. As readers, we each have our own preferences and quirks in what we like to read. We also have our personal hot buttons with regards to what we don’t. While I liked the first two-thirds of Iron Kissed, the last third hit my [...]



REVIEW: My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon edited by P.N. Elrod

By Jia • Jan 4th, 2008 • Category: B Reviews, B Reviews Category, B+ Reviews, B- Reviews, C Reviews, C Reviews Category, C+ Reviews, D Reviews, Reviews

Dear Authors,
While many readers dislike anthologies because the good stories are often outnumbered by the bad, I’m not one of them. I love anthologies. They let me sample many different authors at once — old favorites and new-to-mes. And sometimes all it takes is one perfect story to make an anthology worthwhile.
The [...]



REVIEW: Blood Drive by Jeanne C. Stein

By Jia • Dec 13th, 2007 • Category: B Reviews Category, B+ Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Stein,

I love urban fantasy but lately I’ve found myself getting tired of the genre. Too many books feature the usual suspects (vampires) and the same plot conflicts (love triangles). So when Jane sent me a copy of your book, I admit I sighed. A vampire bounty hunter? And a comparison to Anita Blake [...]



GUEST REVIEW: Servant: The Awakening by L. L. Foster

By Guest Reviewer • Dec 10th, 2007 • Category: A Review Category, Reviews

Dear L.L. Foster,
I just finished your new book Servant: The Awakening and before I expound on its virtues first let me tell you how excited I was to find out that one of my favorite erotic authors, Lori Foster, had a darker side, L.L. Foster. I even joined the [...]



REVIEW: Dancing with Werewolves by Carole Nelson Douglas

By Jia • Nov 20th, 2007 • Category: C Reviews Category, C- Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Nelson Douglas,
The thing I like about the Juno imprint is that it offers a wide variety of fantasy novels featuring strong female protagonists. The titles have run the gamut from sword and sorcery to fantasy romance. So when Dancing with Werewolves arrived on my doorstep, I looked forward to reading this urban fantasy. [...]



GUEST REVIEW: The Little Country by Charles de Lint

By Guest Reviewer • Nov 12th, 2007 • Category: A Review Category, Reviews

Dear Readers:
This is the book that cemented my love for the urban fantasy genre and, in particular, my love for Charles de Lint. This man is a master storyteller, who infuses his stories with lifelike characters, evocative settings, and a sense of wonder that I think is sometimes too often missing [...]



Romance Isn’t for Everyone and It Doesn’t Have to Be

By Jane • Sep 20th, 2007 • Category: Letters of Opinion, Misc

There was a recent post at “Fangs, Fur & Fantasy”, a blog for urban fantasy writers, from a self labeled romance cynic, author Maggie Stiefvater. Ms. Stiefvater is, by her own definition, a urban fantasy writer whose first book is due out in Fall 2008. She attempts to open a dialogue about romances [...]



REVIEW: Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh

By Jane • Mar 5th, 2007 • Category: B Reviews, B Reviews Category

Dear Ms. Singh:
Visions of Heat is the sequel to your debut novel Slave to Sensation. While Visions of Heat didn’t quite live up to StoS, it was still a good read. This alternate realty romance provides a rich otherworld filled with three distinct groups: Psy, Changeling and human. Like Slave to Sensation, [...]



REVIEW: Tempted by Two by Anya Bast

By Jane • Feb 16th, 2007 • Category: B Reviews Category, B+ Reviews, Ebooks, Reviews

Dear Ms. Bast:
Tempted by Two is a sequel and features Miranda and Theo who appeared in Seduced by Twilight. Miranda is a counselor at a local woman’s shelter. This is not just a career for her, but a driving need. Miranda’s mother was beaten and ultimately killed by her [...]



REVIEW: Kitty Goes to Washington by Carrie Vaughn

By Jane • Jul 18th, 2006 • Category: C+ Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Vaughn:
I understand that this is the second in a series which started last year. I am happy to report that it stood alone without any need to read the first book (although I am sure that it adds something). Kitty Norville is a werewolf who has a radio show called The [...]



REVIEW: Hunting the Hunter by Shiloh Walker

By Jane • Jul 10th, 2006 • Category: C- Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Walker:
Brilliant farce of book. I loved how you took conventional paranormal romance stereotypes and just eviscerated them. You took the normal kick ass capable heroine and made her into a whiny, crying boring woman. The whole cohesive world building thing? Totally blown apart with your incomprehensible, deux ex machina [...]



REVIEW: California Demon by Julie Kenner

By Jayne • Jun 20th, 2006 • Category: B Reviews, B Reviews Category, Reviews

Dear Ms. Kenner,
I love Carpe Demon, last year’s prequel to California Demon, so I was ready when this one went on sale. Though it took the Waldenbooks clerk a couple of minutes to find where her co-workers had shelved it, I was able to go home happy. My credit card balance will haunt me [...]



REVIEW: Thunderbird Falls by CE Murphy

By Jayne • May 27th, 2006 • Category: B Reviews, Reviews

Dear Ms. Murphy,
I’ve had a copy of your first book “Urban Shaman” lying around the house for a while now but just never had gotten to it. Then I got my hands on a copy of your new Jo Walker series book “Thunderbird Falls” without realizing it was a sequel. Silly me. Well, I [...]