Reviews :: Book Rating :: Books that are Mediocre :: Page 15
Horns
You know that kid that you grew up with? The one that dressed like he lived in an abandoned trailer park, who was always talking about death and fire and explosions? He’d creep out your parents, and always get away with the worst things, and the girls you wanted all seemed to go ga-ga every time he walked by?
Well this story is not about that guy.
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The Prodigal Mage
Ten years ago Asher saved Lur from destruction. Now he and his wife Danthe, and their two children Rafe and Dennie, look forward to a more peaceful life, free of prophecy and fear.
No such luck. Of course.
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The Queen of Sinister
THE QUEEN OF SINISTER (Amazon) is the second book in the Dark Age Trilogy by fantasy author Mark Chadbourn. This trilogy is the second of three that tells of the time when the boundaries between our world and next have run thin and allowed Celtic gods and nightmares of legend to cross over. If you caught my review of THE DEVIL IN GREEN (EBR Review), the first of this trilogy, you’ll probably understand that I was a bit hesitant going into this book. Like a good reviewer though, I dove into it with my eyes and arms open, hoping for some goodness, because I just love you that much. Ah, the things we do for you…
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From Hell with Love
James Bond meets Harry Dresden–except with a much bigger family–in Simon R. Green’s newest urban fantasy mystery, FROM HELL WITH LOVE (Amazon).
Our hero, Eddie Drood, is devoted to the family cause: keeping humanity safe from the real horrors that threaten it. He’s spent his entire life saving the world from one danger after another, and the needs of the Drood family has always come first. Now he has to protect Earth from Hell itself, even at the expense of the life of the woman he loves.
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The Conqueror’s Shadow
Ari Marmell has been writing freelance for years, including short stories, co-authored shared-world fiction, and RPG manuals for Wizards of the Coast. THE CONQUEROR’S SHADOW (Amazon) is his first solo novel, and he attempts to shake things up, with a twist on the standard sword and sorcery.
Corvis Rebaine is happily married to a loving and clever wife, Tyannon. He’s got two rascally kids. He’s living a simple life among small-town villagers. Everything’s all peachy keen.
But his sordid past catches up to him when bandits attempt to assault his daughter. However, this is no random attack, its very deliberateness to bring Corvis out of hiding, because he has something everyone would kill to get.
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WWW: Watch
WWW:WATCH (Amazon) is Robert Sawyer‘s sequel to his Hugo nominated story, WWW:WAKE (EBR Review). It is the second novel of a trilogy that will end next year with WWW:WONDER (Amazon).
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Office of Shadow
Progress is good. I always like to see progress when I read a book or follow an author. You get to watch them evolve from their rudiments to greatness not only through their characters and stories, but in their ability to deliver that story to the reader. Unfortunately, not all authors accomplish this. Some just stagnate. Some even regress. A sad but true tale, though completely opposite to the one I’ll paint for you today.
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The Last Stormlord
Call me spoiled if you want. After the likes of epic fantasy writers Erikson, Sanderson, and Butcher (and others), I’ve gotten used to the current trend of jumping right into the middle of the story. You could say I’m a girl who likes her some action. Ahem.
Alas, not all epic fantasy writers have gotten the hint. THE LAST STORMLORD by Glenda Larke (Amazon), reminds me of the epic fantasies of 20-odd years ago because the pacing is similar in its devotion to world-building without a visible purpose. There’s the standard young boy being trained whose abilities will change the world. A girl on the verge of womanhood, trapped in a life not of her choosing. I probably wouldn’t have minded STORMLORD if I haven’t already read it, like, one thousand times before in its various incarnations.
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Under Heaven
A soldier-poet in a world where connections and subtly are everything, Shen Tai expects to lead an ordinary life. After the death of his father, he spends the required two year mourning period burying the bones of a twenty-year-old conflict in the mountains. His father was the former general of the Kitai army, and had spent many an evening lamenting that fruitless battle. No one else could be bothered to bury the dead because the angry ghosts of a hundred thousand men scared them away, but Tai is doing this to honor his dead father, despite the danger, and works those years easing the spirits of the former soldiers into their eternal rest.
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The Adamantine Palace
Okay, so let’s be up front. I’m completely jealous of Stephen Deas. Yes, it’s true, and no you can’t laugh at me because I’m not going to allow you to. So there. The largest portion of this jealousy stems from the fact that he lists K.J. Parker on his acknowledgments page. K.J. Parker. That nearly dropped me right where I was. At the bus stop. I’m also jealous of him though because Mr. Deas was one of those newbie authors with a humble number of publishing credits to his name, when one of the “Big Guys” over at Gollancz decided to ask him to write a book for them.
