The SF Site: Featured Reviews Archive (original) (raw)

A Stir of Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman reviewed by Cindy Lynn Speer Susan, freed from having to go home so that she can begin research on a science fair project, overhears three friends discussing a haunted house. The three -- Julio, the closet thing she has to a real friend, Edmund, who is desperately seeking a place to conduct experiments in magic, and Deirdre, a tomboyish girl who distrusts Susan at first -- are determined to explore this abandoned place. Susan asks to go along, and takes the first steps toward taking control of her strictly structured and confining cage of a life.

A Fistful of Sky by Nina Kiriki Hoffman reviewed by Matthew Peckham In genre fiction, families are often either terrorized victims of chainsaw wielding maniacs, or nostalgic bubbly after-school-special caricatures wrapped in kid-safe behaviors and words. This coming-of-age novel plays the field near the latter, unfurling its mysteries in to-the-point plotting bounded by the author's home-cooked narrative musings on philosophical questions of identity, sibling rivalry, power, and love. Packed with curious variations on the old "what would you do with magic powers" theme, the tale is a whimsical romp through adolescence to adulthood that mostly succeeds in drawing the reader along to the wistful end.

A Red Heart Of Memories by Nina Kiriki Hoffman reviewed by Donna McMahon Matt Black, a homeless woman, is sitting on a park bench eating discarded sandwiches when a man steps out of a nearby ivy-covered wall. The man is Edmund. Edmund wanders the world, going where the spirit moves him, and the spirit has told him to follow Matt. Thus begins a most extraordinary fantasy adventure set in the contemporary U.S.A., slightly to the left of reality.

Past the Size of Dreaming by Nina Kiriki Hoffman reviewed by Regina Lynn Preciado The story picks up about 15 years after A Red Heart of Memories left off, with Edmund and Matt (Matilda) Black partners in life and in the search for Edmund's old friends, all of whom have their own magic. As adults, each member of the group has changed at least as drastically as Edmund has. Julio in particular causes quite a stir when they finally locate him, and while Terry can't resist sneaking a spell on Matt, it lacks the depth of meanness she exhibited in the past. Tasha's metamorphosis into a creature of Air adds a touch of gentle humor. Even Nathan the ghost has grown up.

A Red Heart of Memories by Nina Kiriki Hoffman reviewed by Jeri Wright This book is full of beautiful, impossible magic, and the reader is sucked right in. The two main characters are both damaged, both outside the realm of ordinary living, both in need of something they cannot quite define. Matt sees people's dreams and talks to things -- all kinds of things: sidewalks, walls, houses, cars... She gets itchy feet if she stays in one place too long. Edmund is a witch who follows the spirit that leads him to where he is needed.