Archive for April, 2008
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Memory and Dream, by Charles de Lint
Here we are on Day 4 of Old Favorites Week, and today I give you a book that I cried over. Not while reading the book, actually — when, in 2003, I went on vacation with my parents, we accidentally left a car window cracked overnight. My bag of books was right below that window, [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in book reviews, fantasy by Stephanie
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
Tam Lin, by Pamela Dean
Of the entries in my Old Favorites week, this is probably the latest-read of them. I first heard about this book because it was part of the Fairy Tales series, published by Tor Books with Thomas Canty covers. I’m lucky enough to have a copy of that hardback, signed by the author, even. Pamela Dean [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, fantasy by Stephanie
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
By the Sword, by Mercedes Lackey
This is Day 2 in Old Favorites Week, and my job is still taking over my life. (No, I do not work for the IRS.) Our second entry sort of follows upon the first, in that it’s also about a stubborn, impossibly-colored female swordswoman, but this book is not necessarily for YAs. Mercedes Lackey has [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, fantasy by Stephanie
Monday, April 14th, 2008
Alanna: The First Adventure, by Tamora Pierce
I suspect this will be a surprise to a lot of you, but reviewing books is not my day job, and this week I’m ramping up to the busiest weekend of my life. Therefore, I’ve decided to review old favorites this week — books I don’t need to reread in order to review. Rest assured [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Friday, April 11th, 2008
Specials (Uglies Trilogy, book 3), by Scott Westerfeld
This is the third book in the trilogy, which started with Uglies (appropriately enough) and Pretties. If you’ll recall, Westerfeld is married to Justine Larbalestier, last year’s Norton Award winner, and the two of them spend summer in New York and summer in Australia. This, of course, necessitates two sets of practically everything, and I’m [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, science fiction by Stephanie
Thursday, April 10th, 2008
The Becoming (Anna Strong, book 1), by Jeanne Stein
This is the first in an urban fantasy series, published by Ace Books. They were recommended in a generic “If you like X, you’ll like Y” situation: X was probably either Laurell K. Hamilton’s works, Kim Harrison’s works, or Kelley Armstrong. I think it’s fairly obvious that I like Kelley Armstrong’s works, and I’m a [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, fantasy by Stephanie
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Corbenic, by Catherine Fisher
I’m always interested in contemporary retellings of old tales, and the tales of the Holy Grail qualify as ‘old’. I read the dust jacket and really had no idea what the book was actually about, but there was a quote on the back that says, “An elaborate and intricate reworking of the Grail Legend . [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
The Dark Horse, by Marcus Sedgwick
I’d never read anything by Marcus Sedgwick before, but his name repeatedly came up on recommended-books lists. When I saw one of his books on a clearance rack for a ridiculously low price (I think $1), I bought it. Of course, I’ve said I’ll buy practically any book for a dollar or less, but I [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Monday, April 7th, 2008
The Battle for Skandia (Ranger’s Apprentice, book 4), by John Flanagan
John Flanagan, an Australian, has written a popular and successful children’s fantasy series set in an imaginary world with many parallels to our own. I reviewed the first three books in this series here; the fourth one was released on March 20th of this year. Of course, in Australia, book SEVEN was released in December [...]
No Comments » - Posted in book reviews, children's lit, fantasy by Stephanie
Friday, April 4th, 2008
Bloody Jack (Jacky Faber, book 1), by L. A. Meyer
This is the first book in what seems to be a rather popular series of semi-historical children’s novels. There are five out so far, which means that yet again I was a bit late to jump on the bandwagon, but I think I’ll survive it. Meyer’s apparently published a couple picture books, but Bloody Jack [...]
