Jenn’s Books

This is another series that I got into and love. The sequel to The Soprano Sorceress is just as intriguing as the first book. Most of the characters make an appearance, with references to those that have not. Anna, Regent of Defalk, continues her struggle to learn about the magic of Harmony before it kills her. Beyond this are enemies on all sides and even inside her new kingdom. Every time she turns, there seems to be some new threat. The greatest thing about Anna is also her downfall, she doesn’t want to kill. In order to avoid killing more people then necessary, she turns to Darksong. Darksong is the magic dealing with what is living or what once lived, but it has a great price and it takes that out on the user. The other thing I like about this series beyond the depth of humanity in the main characters, is that the series is only five books long.

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1)
George R.R. Martin is not the first author to have his story told by multiple characters in the book, but I think that he is the best. He is able to capture the voice of the young and the old, the innocent and the corrupt with equal perfection. The series starts off by hinting at the big “unknown” on the other side of the Wall. Martin masterfully moves all about this world, having us watch as one thing happens as a result of the others that came before. Martin is also not afraid of killing off characters if it furthers the plot. As he gets rid of one voice, he replaces it with another, usually from a completely different view point. Some of the deaths we get to experience from the dying person’s prospective, sometimes from a spectator, sometimes they are a foot note in someone else’s day a thousand miles away. While some of my favorite characters were gotten rid of, he replaces them with others that I found that I had some strong emotion for, usually intense protectiveness or deep hatred. While this is a fictional setting, it gives you a feel for how our world may work if we got to look down on it all from above.

Moon Called
This was my first experience with Patricia Briggs. Overall, my feelings were meh. I am not a big fan of the romance genre. The genre as a whole is predictable in as far as how characters interact with each other. This was half way fantasy and half way romance. The book was great whenever the main character, Mercy, was not dealing with her old fling or her new budding relationship. Mercy is a character that I very much like, being a shape-changing mechanic who owns her own garage. Basic plot: she meets a young werewolf that is attacked in front of her. After killing the attacker, the only thing she can think to do with her charge, she takes him the the local alpha werewolf. Next day, the young one is dead on her door step, the alpha is ripped to shreds, and the alpha’s daughter is missing. Picking up the trail, she goes north to see her adopted father and head alpha of the western hemisphere, and of course her old flame is there. Hilarity ensues, red herrings are found and thwarted, and over all the book was alright. Great as fluff reading on a plane, but I wouldn’t get too invested in it.

Whiskey and Water: A Novel of the Promethean Age
By Elizabeth Bear
This post has been a long time the making. My deepest apologies to the author for the delay in this post. Elizabeth Bear is becoming a contender for my favorite modern fantasy author. Neil Gaiman is still number one, but just barely. Bear brings back many of our old dear friends, and enemies, in the sequel of Blood and Iron. This book primarily focuses on Matthew, crippled Mage and guardian of New York. Bear also introduces some new, or old depending on how you look at it, players to the struggle. Michael the archangel make an appearance, as do several Princes of Hell, chief among them is Lucifer. Elaine still holds the horn throne of Arcadia, much to her son Ian’s dismay. Whiskey, our beloved steed, comes back with all of the power and majesty that he commanded in the last book, and just when you though the Promethean club was done for, here comes Jane for round two. Bear makes you see one thing while making three others change behind your back. In this writer’s humble opinion, Bear is not only one of the best writers in the fantasy genre, but one of the best fiction writers out there right now. Like the last novel, it is so full of detail, that you must read every word or you will soon be lost. Skimming is not recommended.

Red Seas Under Red Skies

Scott Lynch

This book is quite possibly even better then the first. Starting from an introduction where Jean is about to kill Locke, to some of the most kick ass ship fights since Pirates of the Caribbean or Master and Commander. Locke and Jean are at it again in a different city, but yet again, they find themselves being the ones that are conned. To the high seas they flee to start thinking how they are going to get out of this one, and come out ahead. In the process, Lynch explores the character Jean further. We knew from Lies of Locke Lamora, Jean is a romantic, a skull-cracking, ax-wielding romantic. One of the sweetest and saddest romances is played out in the book with Jean. I had people asking me if I was alright after reading that chapter because I was crying so hard, and I rarely get emotional over books. Lynch is currently writing the third book in the series, and he had better finish it soon because the bastard leaves you on such a cliffhanger. Locke is also a bit more flushed out, and finally embracing what it means to be the Thorn of Camora. This is a rare series for me, as I hope that it never ends. I gave up on any series of books that was more than five books, thank you Mr. Pierce Anthony and your never ending Xanth series.

Title: The Lies of Locke Lamora Author: Scott Lynch Format: Hardbound

The more I read new names in science fiction and fantasy, the more new names I want to find. All of them that I have read recently have brought something new to the field. Someone suggested Scott Lynch’s Lies of Locke Lamora. So since it’s his first book, I gave it a read. OMG, is this good. The storytelling is fantastic; Lynch masterfully switches from the present to the childhood of Locke beautifully. The characters are funny and believable, like Locke. It’s almost like watching Robin Hood grow up, from boy who screws up all the time, into the cunning “Scourge of Nottingham and Thorn in Prince John’s side.” I explained the character of Locke to one of my friends as a mix of Robin Hood and the cast of Ocean’s Eleven, then add the biggest pair any thief has ever been born with. I would say this is more of a romanticized cat burglar mystery than it is a fantasy, but as it is set in a different world and in the middle ages of that world it seems, the book can be found at your local bookstore in sci/fi & fantasy.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.

Title:The Black Swan Author: Mercedes Lackey Format: Mass Market

So, as I have said before, I like new twists on old tales. This is a new rendition of Swan Lake. Yet we are not following the princess, but the sorcerer’s daughter as she tries to find her own place within this world. She also can wield magic like her father, but he doesn’t seem happy when she follows in his footsteps. He is happy when she can use her magic for more feminine things, like cleaning the tapestry. The sorcerer changes each night into a owl and flies out to find “wicked” women. Any woman that has disobeyed her father or husband is then turned into a swan and taken back to the sorcerer’s castle. So the question is this: does the daughter continue doing what she has always done, and ignore the captives, or does she risk becoming one to save them? I have found that I do like Lackey’s stand alone novels much more then I like her series. I would suggest this title to anyone that has wandered away from Lackey in the past, or would like an intro to her works.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.

Title:If I Pay Thee Not In Gold Author: Pierce Anthony and Mercedes Lackey Format: Mass Market

At times, I have found both authors to be a bit trying. Both have long-winded, often repeating series and very few new ideas. Yet, somehow, when both Anthony and Lackey got in the same room, magic happened. A somewhat new idea for the both of them came forth, a world where women rule and men are slaves, where women have magic and all of the power and money. From all of this comes our little heroine, Xylina, and while she is female, she is an outcast of her society. Most believed that she and her line is cursed; she believes that she has very little magical talent and will not make it past her coming of age combat. I found that the book had a much different tone then either of the writers normally have. If you are a fan of either author I would suggest owning this book. I would also suggest this novel to anyone who has read only one author or the other and would like a introduction to the other.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.

Title:Soprano Sorceress Author: L.E.Modesitt Jr. Format: Mass Market

Very few fantasy stories try to do something new with the main character. Most of them tend to be busty, young females or brawny, young males. In this first of five book series, Modesitt changes all that. The book starts with a 42 year old woman, divorced mother of three. Anna has just lost one of her children, and is trying to hold herself together. She is a community college chorus teacher, and has a decent voice. Just as she has gotten herself fixed up to go sing for a charity event at her school, her bra and dress decide not to cooperate with each other and her, and she says the fateful words “I wish I was anywhere but here.” She goes from a impending rainstorm to dry heat. She finds that indeed she is somewhere else. Where she is now loved and feared for her voice, a voice like fire, the voice of a sorceress. Her new world looks to her to save them from not only each other but the never ending drought. But Anna can not let go of her old world, the world her children are still in. This is much more of a political and emotional story then it is a fantasy. For those that don’t like all of the dragons and fire casting mages, this is a wonderful series. Also if you are a big fan of the Song of Fire and Ice series by George R. R. Martin, then you will like this series.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.

Title: Blood and Iron Author: Elizabeth Bear Format: Trade Paper bound

Blood and Iron is a rich wonderful modern fairy tale, intermingled with reality. My one warning to my readers: This is not a light book. Bear crafts magic and detail into every single page, so much that if you decide to skim this book, you will soon be lost. Everything takes place modern day. Sometimes in New York City, some times in the Fae realm. We get to follow Seeker, one of the Fae queen’s most feared subjects, through our world and back into Fae. What does she seek? A Merlin. A creature of pure magic. Not a mage, who wields magic, but someone that is magic. Seeker must balance the needs of her queen with her own needs, and those of her werewolf lover and that of their child. And even with those needs, she must face the Prometheus Club, a secret society of mages trying to get to the Merlin first. For whoever has the Merlin controls the war, and ultimately, controls the Dragon and both worlds. I like this book a lot, and I truly hope that Bear continues to write fantasy. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who has lost faith in the sci-fi genre and would like that faith back.
If you would like more reviews of this title, please visit the Amazon website.