Friday, September 29, 2017

Review: The Family Trade

The Family Trade The Family Trade by Charles Stross
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rating: Fun take on what little girls dream of.

Adopted woman discovers she's a princess. Ah, but far from a Disney princess. Imaginative, smart-ass heroine, who grew up in NYC with an adoptive Jewish mother. She's not taking much lying down.

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Sunday, September 24, 2017

Review: The Greyfriar

The Greyfriar The Greyfriar by Clay Griffith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rating: Pretty good for a vampire book.

I'm not really big on vampire books, but since this one was also steampunk I thought it would be fun, and it was. Set on an alt Earth where vampires defeated humans and drove them down to the equatorial lands and now control the rest of the planet. Interesting world, some different sort of tweaks on the vampires, and the action pretty constant. A tad too much romance for me, but at least it didn't get too annoying until near the end.

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Saturday, September 23, 2017

Review: Promise of Blood

Promise of Blood Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rating: Exciting and unpredictable. Interesting world/magic building

First book in the Powder Mage trilogy, a Flintlock Fantasy outing, with lots of action, and well-drawn characters. The magic is complex and interesting, the action and plots drawing you in. Just who the good guys are can sometimes be unclear, which is all to the good.

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Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Review: Urban Shaman

Urban Shaman Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Joanne should have guessed something was weird when she watched a bunch of hounds and a man on a horse chasing down a woman through the streets of Seattle. That was weird enough, but the fact she was watching this from an airplane on approach to land made it even weirder.

But Joanne had been on a fight for hours, her contacts were glued to her eyes and she was so exhausted she barely registered where she was.

Thus begins The Walker Papers, Urban Shaman the first book of the series.

I liked the character, enjoyed her growing awareness of powers and her problematic and skeptical attitude toward the whole thing. But since suddenly that rider was after her, too, well, she didn't have much choice about buying in to what was happening to her.

One of the better urban fantasies I've read for quite awhile.

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Sunday, September 03, 2017

Review: The Hangman's Daughter

The Hangman's Daughter The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well written, well researched, but depressing as hell, what with torture and misery all around. I need something far more upbeat these days.

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