http://www.readalready.com Book reviews, commentary, and pithiness Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:30:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I knew very little about Faith Hunter when I started this book, except the fact that her name sounded like one of her characters. (What? She writes post-Apocalyptic fantasy, and her name is Faith Hunter. Legit, I think.) However, her website has informed me that she was born in the ... http://www.readalready.com/2008/07/24/bloodring-thorn-st-croix-book-1-by-faith-hunter/ A month or so ago, I reviewed the first half of this duology, and was awfully mad for not having the second half right away. Well, yesterday it was released (today, as I'm writing this), and of course I purchased it (here) and read it right away. I got it ... http://www.readalready.com/2008/07/23/twice-a-prince-sasharia-en-garde-book-2-by-sherwood-smith/ [Sherwood Smith's Twice a Prince is released today. Hopefully review tomorrow!] Apparently Tobias Druitt is the pseudonym of Diane Purkiss and Michael Dowling; they're mother and son. She's an Oxford tutor (professor-type); he's thirteen (probably fifteen by now) and supposedly a Child Genius. They have published a trilogy (of the which ... http://www.readalready.com/2008/07/22/corydon-and-the-island-of-monsters-by-tobias-druitt/ Charles de Lint is one of my favorite authors; I own at least one copy of nearly everything he's written. (Between Ben and me we have three copies of Moonheart, but that's a different story.) He's written at least a little bit in nearly every speculative-fiction genre, but his vast ... http://www.readalready.com/2008/07/21/yarrow-by-charles-de-lint/ I had never read anything by Philip K. Dick prior to this work, and it isn't even actually a novel. In any case, Mr. Dick was a major force in the science fiction field prior to his death in 1982; several of his novels have been made into major motion ... http://www.readalready.com/2008/07/18/ubik-the-screenplay-by-philip-k-dick/ This is another entry in Donna Jo Napoli's collection of retold fairy tales; I reviewed another (actually a Greek myth) here. Ms. Napoli (most like Dr. Napoli) is a professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College. She has written a good deal of novels for children and young adults; none for ... http://www.readalready.com/2008/07/17/beast-by-donna-jo-napoli/ [Happy birthday, Dad!] I honestly thought I hadn't read this book before; it was still in my head as 'a book I need to read', so when I found an inexpensive paperback copy, I grabbed it PDQ. Then, of course, I read the first twenty pages and thought, "This sounds awfully ... http://www.readalready.com/2008/07/16/east-by-edith-pattou/ I reviewed three of Tanya Huff's books last week (here's the first one); those three were among her most recent novels, and urban fantasy. She has, of course, written serious fantasy, serious science fiction, humorous fantasy, urban fantasy, high fantasy, short stories, and a partridge in a pear tree; she's ... http://www.readalready.com/2008/07/15/the-fires-stone-by-tanya-huff/ Tanith Lee has written something like fifty books, primarily for adults, but in the last ten years or so, she's been writing quite a few for young adults. I first encountered her YA books with the early ones, which were titled Black Unicorn, Gold Unicorn, and Red Unicorn. A good ... http://www.readalready.com/2008/07/14/piratica-by-tanith-lee/ Let's see. Monday, I reviewed book 1. Wednesday, I reviewed book 2. Today, unsurprisingly, we get book 3. I wish they would make this series into a TV show, because, well, it's about a TV show, and it's written in a rather cinematic fashion. Anyway, another recap: Tanya Huff is ... http://www.readalready.com/2008/07/11/smoke-and-ashes-darkest-night-vol-3-by-tanya-huff/