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Review

Ghost Story

Posted: December 15, 2011 by Steven in Books We Like Meta: Jim Butcher, Urban Fantasy
Ghost Story

I realize this review is fairly (really) late. I simply wasn’t sure what I should say about Jim Butcher’s latest. Overall I love this series, but there have been some moments that have driven me absolutely crazy (like the whole novel, TURN COAT). The newest Dresden Files novel, GHOST STORY (Amazon), is not the absolute best in the series, but is isn’t the worst either. In the end, it’s fairly solid.

What GHOST STORY amounts to is “It’s a Wonderful Life, Dresden Edition”… kinda.
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Review

Dark Descendant

Posted: December 12, 2011 by Vanessa in Books that are Mediocre Meta: Jenna Black, Urban Fantasy
Dark Descendant

Nikki Glass is a descendant of Artemis. Yes, that Artemis. But it isn’t until she unwittingly becomes one of the Liberi that she becomes immortal and her powers of the hunt manifest.
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Review

The Unincorporated Woman

Posted: December 9, 2011 by Shawn in Books We Like Meta: Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin, Science Fiction
The Unincorporated Woman

In case you can’t tell from the title, THE UNINCORPORATED WOMAN (Amazon) is the third in the Unincorporated series by the Kollin brothers Dani and Eytan. It follows THE UNINCORPORATED WAR which was a sequel to THE UNINCORPORATED MAN. I believe subsequent volumes will be titled The Unincorporated Gas Station and The Unincorporated (fill in here).
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Review

This Shared Dream

Posted: December 7, 2011 by Vanessa in Books that are Mediocre Meta: Kathleen Ann Goonan, Urban Fantasy
This Shared Dream

Siblings Jill, Megan, and Brian were orphaned while in their youth—but now as adults they still don’t know what really happened, since their parents simply disappeared. It turns out that their parents had something to do with the development of Q, a sort of world network of education and communication, and its later incarnation: the Device, the machine that will change the world.

But someone wants the Device for their own use, and Jill and her family are in danger.
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Review

The Unincorporated War

Posted: November 28, 2011 by Shawn in Books that are Mediocre Meta: Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin, Science Fiction
The Unincorporated War

You may remember that THE UNINCORPORATED MAN (EBR Review) followed the adventures of Justin Chord, a man who had frozen himself in a time capsule to be reawakened when the cures to his diseases were found and he could be revived to live again. Justin indeed was awakened to a world run by the system of incorporation, the selling of personal shares to individual lives. The vast majority of mankind was working, not able to make their own decisions, towards being a majority share holder in their own stock thus taking control of their decisions and their lives. Justin saw the system as tantamount to slavery and started to oppose it immediately. The end of THE UNINCORPORATED MAN saw Justin forced into space towards the outer planets starting a revolution that pitted the outer planets and asteroid belt versus Earth and its incorporated system.
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Review

Hearts of Smoke and Steam

Posted: November 22, 2011 by Vanessa in Books We Like Meta: Andrew P. Mayer, Steampunk
Hearts of Smoke and Steam

In THE FALLING MACHINE (EBR Review) you were left with a cliffhanger: during the battle with Lord Eschaton, Tom is dismantled and Sarah leaves home after a fight with her father.

The continuation, HEARTS OF SMOKE AND STEAM (Amazon) begins over a month later. Even though Tom was destroyed, Sarah was able to recover his heart in the chaos. Unfortunately it’s broken, and she needs to find someone to repair the heart, but doesn’t trust the majority of the people in New York who are able to do it. Her search leads her to Emilio Armando, an Italian immigrant and inventor—whose past, if Sarah knew it, would make her think twice about trusting him with Tom’s secret.
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Review

Cry of the Newborn

Posted: November 18, 2011 by Steven in Books We Love Meta: James Barclay, Epic Fantasy, Friends of Ours
Cry of the Newborn

James Barclay. You know the name. You know that his Raven novels made him one of my favorite authors. If you live in the US, finally getting his novels has been a welcome breath of fresh air. That’s all great and dandy, but there is something we in the US are missing that our UK buddies still have exclusive.

The Ascendants of Estorea.
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Review

The Restoration Game

Posted: November 16, 2011 by Shawn in Books that are Mediocre Meta: Ken MacLeod, Science Fiction
The Restoration Game

Sadly I think I can write up this review for Ken MacLeod‘s THE RESTORATION GAME (Amazon) in one, short sentence. Ready for it?

Too little, too late.
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Review

Chicks Kick Butt

Chicks Kick Butt

Yeah, yeah, don’t roll your eyes at me. The title CHICKS KICK BUTT (Amazon) sounds totally cliché and dumb and silly. But it’s totally fun and entertaining. CHICKS is a short story compilation of several popular female Urban Fantasy authors—some you’ve heard of and some you haven’t—and other than a couple of mediocre entries, is a solid group of stories. So let’s get to it, shall we?
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Review

The Third Section

Posted: November 11, 2011 by Steven in Books We Love Meta: Jasper Kent, Horror
The Third Section

By now most of you faithful readers should have picked up a copy of Jasper Kent‘s novel, TWELVE. If you are like me, TWELVE (Amazon) completely blew you away with its terrific blend of Historical Fiction and Horror. I mean, come on, that ending? That was freaking awesome. And the twist made it even more horrific and awesome. TWELVE easily became one of my favorite books last year. The sequel, THIRTEEN YEARS LATER (EBR Review), was awesome in its own way, but fell juuuuuuust short of its predecessor.

And now we get book three, THE THIRD SECTION (Amazon).
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