Reviews :: Book Genre :: Fantasy :: Page 40

NOCTURNAL by Scott Sigler (Amazon) is a most curious creature. In all my years of reading I can’t remember coming across a book quite like it. This isn’t because NOCTURNAL features some brand new theme or idea, but because it is a book that showcases Sigler’s evolution as an author and still manages to be an inferior novel than its predecessors. Considered to be Sigler’s most ambitious novel to date, NOCTURNAL is a supernatural police procedural with a score of highs and lows.

Monsters lurk in the ruins of San Francisco’s past, striking out at night to hunt for those who won’t be missed in order to sake their blood thirst. Homicide detective Bryan Clauser is drawn to this dark secret by a crop of serial murders that bear chilling resemblance to his own twisted dreams. With his partner, Pookie Chang by his side, Bryan must uncover the mystery of Marie’s Children and the shadowy vigilante known as Savior who kills the killers with supernatural strength.
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I really don’t know how Chris Wooding does it. I am insanely jealous. Though, I suppose this is why he is a published author while I am shopping things around. He’s just so good at storytelling. So freaking good.

If you have yet to read RETRIBUTION FALLS (EBR Review) or THE BLACK LUNG CAPTAIN (EBR Review), you need to to stop reading this review and go buy those two novels. They are some of the finest adventure novels I have ever read. You can get lost in these novels. Escape. Wooding’s Ketty Jay novels are full of magic, machinery, rogues, pirates, love and loss.
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Superheroes are extremely prevalent in pop-culture at the moment. It seems that half the books in my To-Read Pile feature some form of super human shenanigans. With all these options it takes a lot to rise above mediocrity and offer something truly gripping. Ayize Jama-Everett has written a book that does just that. THE LIMINAL PEOPLE (Amazon) is a supernatural crime thriller that reads like NBC’s failed television drama Heroes meets the hit action film Taken starring Liam Neeson.

I make the comparison because when I’m reading a review, comparisons often catch my interest and help me form a basis on which to start considering whether or not I should fork over the cash. THE LIMINAL PEOPLE undoubtedly reflects shades of Heroes and Taken, but in the end it eclipses both.
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I was pretty torn when I read WOLFSANGEL (EBR Review), the first in M. D. Lachlan’s historical fantasy series about the Norse god, Odin, and his eternal battle with the wolf, Fenrir. It had a whole lot that I loved and bundle more that really bothered me. Going into this book, I considered myself to be hopefully optimistic with a couple major concerns. Now that I’ve read Lachlan’s second offering, I again find myself torn but for completely different reasons. Because of this, I am going to do my best to give you my honest opinion.
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Over a year ago when Jayné Heller’s uncle died, he left her as his heir. Little did she know at the time that she’d be inheriting the equivalent of a small nation in money and property. Then she spent the next year learning what Uncle Eric really did for a living: he hunted riders, the demons or malevolent spirits that take over human bodies and minds. As a result, not only does she take over his fortune, she takes over his job. She has no idea what she’s really getting into.
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Okay, so there are times when this job gets difficult, and this is one of those times. Writing stories and then putting them out into the world for people to either love to pieces or gnash between their teeth is not easy. As a reviewer though, I feel like it’s my responsibility to give an honest opinion. I always try to do that. That being said, I’m sure that Mrs. Cooper is a really nice person, but this book just wasn’t very good at all.
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THE INHERITANCE & OTHER STORIES (Amazon) by Robin Hobb and her other pen name Megan Lindholm, is a compilation of old and new short works, several of which are set in previous worlds she’s built. Whether new to or experienced with Hobb/Lindholm novels (I’m particularly in love with her two Farseer Trilogies), this collection of short stories is worth reading on their own merit. She doesn’t fear to tread those difficult subjects that make us squirm or create people we can’t help to love… or hate.
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Let me be clear about something right away. HELLHOUND ON MY TRAIL by D.J. Butler (Amazon), is not the next Great American Novel. It is the first in a series of novella-length works (Rock Band Fights Evil) that appeal to those of us who need a bit more Pulp Fiction in our reading.

HELLHOUND follows Mike Archuleta as he takes one last gig as a stand-in bassist for a band out in the middle of nowhere. Why is this his last gig? Because he plans suck-starting his gun after the set. Mike is a complete alcoholic, a pretty good bassist… and he is haunted by the ghost of his dead brother, Chuy. Naturally, whenever someone uses the phrase “one last [insert job here]” you know right away that things will go wrong.
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When David’s father is killed before his eyes, he believes his world is ending. Unfortunately, not only is David’s personal world ending, it’s also ending for everyone else: the Roil is coming.

Margaret is the only child of famous inventors. The Roil has laid siege to their city for thirty years, and it’s through their inventiveness that the city survives. But their big experiment goes horribly wrong.

Cadell finds David alone on the street and saves him from a fate similar to his father’s. Cadell is an Old Man, born thousands of years before, cursed with sanity and an unquenchable hunger. He may be the only person able–and willing–to save the remaining cities of Shale from the Roil.
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Well it took me far longer than it should have, but I have now finished THIEF’S COVENANT by Ari Marmell. THIEF’S COVENANT (Amazon) is a short (and satisfyingly) breezy read, but finishing up final projects for school has really cut into my reading time. I am pleased to say that I have been having relatively good luck with my reading endeavors lately, and the debut of Widdershins does not disappoint. In a YA market saturated with dystopian settings it’s nice to read one set in a fantasy setting.

Meet Adrienne Satti, also known as Widdershins. Street urchin, turned aristocrat, turned thief, Widdershins has led a rough life. Orphaned at a young age, Widdershins has known both poverty and high class. Having returned to the shady alleys from whence she came, Widdershins has established herself as a daring thief but will her street smarts be enough to save her from the dark conspiracy brewing in the depths of Davillon?
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