June 2010
16 posts
Divine Misfortune →
by A. Lee Martinez
A comedy of errors, with a boorish raccoon god and a reformed Quetzalcoatl.
Changeless (The Parasol Protectorate, #2) →
by Gail Carriger
The first one was probably the stupidest fantasy novel I’ve ever read, so why did I pick up the second? Is this how Twilight readers feel? Confused and afraid? …nah,…
Bone Shop (Marla Mason Prequel) →
by T.A. Pratt
Pretty grim stuff for a modern fantasy escapist fluff whatever thing! Sadly, the publisher abandoned the series after this one. ::shrug:: I would have kept buying more.
A Nameless Witch →
by A. Lee Martinez
less haunting and more funny than other Martinez fantasies I’ve read. Still funny, though. Celebrates witchiness in a nearly Pratchetty way.
I Am Not A Serial Killer (John Cleaver, #1) →
by Dan Wells
Wow - this is what I was hoping for but didn’t get when I read the first Dexter book (which just made me queasy and then bored). Features a seriously conflicted main character…
Sh*t My Dad Says →
by Justin Halpern
just a tiny little morsel, but enjoyable.
Feed (Newsflesh, #1) →
by Mira Grant
Such a good zombie story! With journalism and presidential politics and young people and much drama!
Dead Reign (Marla Mason, #3) →
by T.A. Pratt
Like Warm Sun on Nekkid Bottoms →
by Chuck Austen
Ok, it’s a sex comedy. I liked it in the end (ha!) but struggled through a few parts where I wanted to punch the main character in the face for making yet another stupid awful…
The Gabble - and Other Stories →
by Neal Asher
Great stories from Neal Asher, set in the Polity world of most of his novels.
Poison Sleep (Marla Mason, #2) →
by T.A. Pratt
The second Marla Mason book. I barely likes the first one, and picked this up because of John Gillette’s fierce burning love of the series. And yeah, this one was better.
Too Many Curses →
by A. Lee Martinez
at its best, evokes late witch-canon Pratchett in celebrating down-to-earth qualities. Quite nice.
Monster →
by A. Lee Martinez
Comedy fantasy horror is my favorite kind of horror!
61 Hours (Jack Reacher Series, #14) →
by Lee Child
What, it’s like the 27th Reacher book. It’s better than the last one I read, OK?
Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help →
by Douglas Anthony Cooper
A pleasant ghost story, including abduction and potential murder by school/authority figures. Somewhat Dahlian!
Moving to a Standing Desk →
looks like a sensible way to make a standing desk — with adjustable-height sawhorses and a flat wooden door!
May 2010
11 posts
Genius Squad →
by Catherine Jinks
A nice, somewhat unexpected sequel to Evil Genius.
The Oblivion Society →
by Marcus Alexander Hart
Indie-published humor horror; great stuff.
The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles, #1) →
by Rick Riordan
Enough like the Percy Jackson series to feel very familiar, but still new enough to be exciting.
From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain →
by Minister Faust
I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did. The bummer ending didn’t help.
John Dies at the End →
by David Wong
fantastic melding of humor and horror! Others have described it as lovecraftian, and I see why, but it’s really its own thing. Recommend!
The Sovereign Era: Year One →
by Jared Axelrod
Stories set in the same universe as “Brave Men Run”. Good but too short; I want another novel!
Brave Men Run - A Novel Of The Sovereign Era →
by Matthew Wayne Selznick
An awkward teen with a major secret gets nervous when people with extraordinary powers declares himself to the world, and suggests that there are hundreds or…
April 2010
23 posts
Ragamuffin →
by Tobias S. Buckell
Unshapely Things (Connor Grey, #1) →
by Mark Del Franco
Wish you could go back to beginning of the Dresden Files series and read it all over again for the first time? Well, here’s your chance. Derivative is the name of the game…
Dead Men's Boots (Felix Castor, #3) →
by Mike Carey
Vicious Circle (Felix Castor, #2) →
by Mike Carey
The Devil You Know (Felix Castor, #1) →
by Mike Carey
demons and weres and ghosts! and a man with a gift for returning the walking dead to their graves! not Constantine, but a suitable stand-in.
Unquiet Dreams (Connor Grey, #2) →
by Mark Del Franco
Doesn’t urban fantasy have enough image problems without making it worse with terrible cover art?
Unfallen Dead (Connor Grey, #3) →
by Mark Del Franco
Skin Deep (Laura Blackstone, #1) →
by Mark Del Franco
::sigh:: — yet another urban fantasy series (set in world of the Connor Grey series)?
Silver Borne (Mercedes Thompson, #5) →
by Patricia Briggs
Ok, I devoured it, but I’m still worried this series is teetering on the brink of jumping the shark into maudlin romance over pointless and repetitive action. Hrmph.
Unperfect Souls (Connor Grey, #4) →
by Mark Del Franco
still two-fisting the urban fantasy. definitely having trouble now keeping the various series distinct in my mind. eh, whatevs.
The Equivoque Principle (Cornelius Quaint... →
by Darren Craske
Hilldiggers →
by Neal Asher
Set in the same universe, but belonging to neither the Agent Cormac or Spatterjay series, this standalone follows a compromised Polity diplomat trying to survive the strange…
Against A Dark Background →
by Iain M. Banks
A weird future heist/assassination adventure. Not his best work, and oddly detached in some ways, but Banks is such a great writer that I enjoyed it lots.
Playing for Keeps →
by Mur Lafferty
A quick, enjoyable adventure featuring a heroine with an unlikely superpower.
Transition →
by Iain M. Banks
Try to keep up with the unreliable narrator! It’s worth it. Scary and revealing, built very deftly around the central plot device.
Sly Mongoose →
by Tobias S. Buckell
Any series that can take your from foot-battles with Aztecs to space battles with alien zombies totally has my vote.
Crystal Rain →
by Tobias S. Buckell
An adventure in a future dystopia—caribbean sailors with lost memories, scary immortals, and Aztec warriors whose bloodthirsty gods have the bad grace to be real.
Moon Called (Mercedes Thompson, #1) →
by Patricia Briggs
Urban fantasy with fey and werewolves and vampires and stuff. Not a romance novel, despite the cover.
Line War (Agent Cormac 5) →
by Neal Asher
Oo! Released slowly and out of order in the U.S.—start with Gridlinked, if you’re interested—a few more of British SF author Neal Asher’s books have recently turned up in the…
Blood Bound (Mercedes Thompson, #2) →
by Patricia Briggs
Bone Crossed (Mercedes Thompson, #4) →
by Patricia Briggs
Apparently I just can’t read these fast enough.
Iron Kissed (Mercedes Thompson, #3) →
by Patricia Briggs
I’d been experiencing these as sort of light snacks, but this one took a gut-wrenching turn.
