scifantasybooks (original) (raw)

Title: Foreigner, + 8 sequels
Author: C.J. Cherryh
...unfortunately I don't have all 9 handy, so I can't give you all the names + total page count.

I passed by these on the bookshelves of various libraries and bookstores for years, and I hope this review will get someone else to stop passing them up too.
( ReviewCollapse )

All in all, worth reading. One would be ever so grateful if you would, nandiin.

Title:

Ysabel

Author: Guy Gavriel Kay
# of Pages: 421 (hardcover)
Rating: A
Summary: (from inside cover) Ned Marriner is spending six weeks with his father in France, where the celebrated photographer is shooting Saint-Sauveur Cathedral in Aix-en-Provence. Both father and son fear for Ned's mother--a physician with Doctors Without Borders, currently assigned to the civil war-torn country of Sudan. This is not the first time she's placed herself in harm's way to help alleviate suffering--and Ned has inherited her courage. He'll need it.

While exploring the cathedral, Ned meets Kate Wenger, an American exchange student with a deep knowledge of the area's history. But even Kate is at a loss when she and Ned surprise a scar-faced stranger, wearing a leather jacket and carrying a knife, deep inside the cathedral. "I think you ought to go now," he tells them. "You have blundered into a corner of a very old story..."

In this ancient place, where the borders between the living and the long-dead are thin, Ned and his family are about to be drawn into a haunted tale, as mythic figures from conflicts of long ago erupt into the present, changing--and claiming--lives.

Review:

An amazing novel, as one would expect from GGK. I doubt that any review of mine could do it justice. The plot, characterization, setting, and prose are all excellent. I especially liked the little hints and inside jokes for loyal fans; this book is a side sequel of sorts for The Fiovanar Tapestry, with two reoccuring characters. Detail-wise, I especially liked the Veracook/Veraclean distinction, because little things like that are so realistic, what any tourist family might do. Ned's defeat of the mountain is exhilarating and keeps him from Gary-Stu-ism, as he is far from perfect or powerful. A minor quibble I had was with the brand-dropping at the beginning--Ned goes running in Nikes and listens to his iPod. It seems like the author is trying too hard to maintain a modern setting, and it will date the novel quickly.

Cross-posted to fantasywithbite and my personal journal.

25 December 2006 @ 11:39 am

A book review!

( The Privilege of the SwordCollapse )

Cross-posted to bookshare and my personal journal.

28 November 2006 @ 05:29 pm

A book review! Excuse my slight ramblingness.

( Beka Cooper: TerrierCollapse )

I'm pretty sure that my annoyance with whoever wrote the summary copy (it definitely wasn't Pierce, whose style is always excellent) weren't a good sign, but overall the book is decent. Not outstanding, but decent. I can't help comparing

Terrier

to

Twilight

--both have strong prose, engaging characters, and moving plot, but

Twilight

affected me emotionally much more. I could actually feel, imagine Bella's horrific emotional pain and her fear of Edward leaving her. It was very powerful.

Cross-posted to my personal journal.

Current Mood: mellow

10 September 2006 @ 11:44 pm

Catspaw by Joan D. Vinge

Title: Catspaw
Author: Joan D. Vinge
Genre: science fiction

( Joan D. Vinge rules you, me, and everyone elseCollapse )

Current Mood: geeky

Current Music: The Critic

11 August 2006 @ 07:00 pm

Current Mood: listless

Current Music: The Last Stand score.

Title: The Sword of Bedwyr
Author: R.A. Salvatore
Genre: fantasy

( More subway reading...Collapse )

Current Mood: amused

Current Music: The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. -"Pirates!"

Title: The Light-Years Beneath My Feet
Author: Alan Dean Foster
Genre: scifi

( Luckily, all I wanted was something to read on the subway.Collapse )

Current Mood: indifferent

Current Music: The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. -"Pirates!"

Title: Phule's Company/Phule's Paradise
Author: Robert Asprin
Genre: SciFi, Comedy

( In space, no one can hear you laugh.Collapse )

Current Mood: amused

Book Title: Neverwhere
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy
# of pages: 400
My rating of the book, F- [worst] to A [best].: A
( Summary and my thoughts belowCollapse )