The Rosetta Key
William Dietrich
Release Date: 04/2008

This book came out in April. I’ve had it since April. I’ve been trying to make myself read it since April and I just can not. (This attempt to force myself to read something I was sick of after the first chapter and dreading after the third caused me to be rather late in reviewing a much more interesting novel by David B. Coe.)

The geographical area Rosetta is set in and the type of adventure reminds me of the Mummy movies with Brendan Fraser (Which I loved. It looks like the third one is going to be good as well.) but that’s the only resemblance. The writing is not plodding, exactly, but trying to read it is like repeatedly walking head first into a tree.

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The Sorcerers’ Plague
Book One of Blood of the Southlands
David B. Coe
Release Date: 12/2007

This review has been a long time coming. I started reading it months ago, but put it down in favor of a slightly newer novel in an effort to “keep up with the times” (and as you can see, I regret it greatly). After my prolonged and disappointing break from Plague, I was happy to pick it up once again and settle down for a good story.

The prologue grabbed me, starting with a young girl walking through a thunderstorm, willing herself to live. Curiosity about what horror she was running from – her family and village dead, allegedly her fault – propelled me to the first chapter. This began an introduction to an intriguing fantasy world whose details were continually and skillfully dropped throughout the book.

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We talked to them at the con last week and the interview is finally up. Towards the end their was a slight jitter on the tape. This is by far one of the funniest I think I’ve done, so check it out after the jump. And much apologies to Lar, for calling him Lars. He is not Swedish, but don’t hold that against him.

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Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star
Brandon Mull
Release Date: 5/1/2007

Intended for readers twelve and up, Brandon Mull’s new book is a fairly quick and easy read, with a few laugh-out-loud scenes.

I didn’t read the first one, but the sequel didn’t leave me confused; it stands on its own while picking up the threads of the first book and laying down the tracks for the next book in the series.

There are challenges and life-or-death mythic battles a lá Harry Potter towards the end of the story, but Fablehaven doesn’t feature a “chosen one” – unless you count Kendra, whose “fairystruck” state is more complicated than it seems. Mythical creatures abound in the book since Fablehaven Ranch is one of the last bastions of mythic and magical creatures. The plot revolves around Kendra, her brother Seth, and their grandparents trying to keep Fablehaven’s magical relic out of the hands of the evil Society of the Evening Star while ferreting out a traitor in their midst. As to whether they are wholly successful at either of these tasks, well, you’ll have to read the book to find out.

If you’re looking for some summer candy – an entertaining and light read – then whether you’re twelve or twenty-five, this is a book to pick up.

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Zig Zag
José Carlos Somoza
Release Date: 4/10/07

Zig Zag, a scientific thriller about the consequences of manipulating time, traces the present and past of physics professor Elisa Robledo and the unnamed horror that haunts her. As she fights to be free of her personal demon, her colleagues are being brutally killed by the same evil.

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[thumb:28:l]Hmmmm…how do I start this one?

What do you get when you mix the WWE, its stars, the NSA, and drugs?

Surprisingly you get a novel that runs like the plot of a TV Movie that you might find yourself watching on a rainy Saturday evening.

And surprisingly, I expected a far worse novel.

What I got was a decent short little read about some of my favorite wrestlers going undercover and busting a huge NY drug ring. But how does this occur, I hear you asking? Read the rest of this entry »

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Kim Harrison’s new novel, For A Few Demons More, is officially on bookstore shelves. As I said in my review, you definitely want to go pick up this book!

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… for a few demons more? That’s the question that plagues the protagonist, Rachel Morgan, in Harrison’s new book. Just when she thought things were settling down, her life goes crazy… again.

For a Few Demons More
Kim Harrison
Release Date: 3/20/07

Funny, sexy, heart-wrenching, dramatic, suspenseful… how many adjectives am I allowed to use to describe this novel? It’s just damned cool. I willingly sacrificed my sleep to finish reading this book. If you’re a fan of authors like Laurell K. Hamilton and Kelley Armstrong, and you haven’t yet checked out Kim Harrison, then you definitely want to pick up this author. (Click the more link to keep reading.) Read the rest of this entry »

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X-Rated Bloodsuckers
Mario Acevedo
Release Date: 2/27/07

The title is intriguing (or maybe titillating is a better word) and the premise, a vampire P.I. investigating the death of a “surgeon turned porn star” (book jacket summary), sounds ridiculous and promisingly funny, but I could not get past the writing style. It’s a riff on old dime-store detective novels, complete with the bad similes and that first-person seedy swagger.

I wanted to like this book. I sat down prepared to enjoy it, but the very first page gave me reservations… and click here to see how it played out.

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Un Lun Dun, released February 13^th of this year, is the newest novel by China Miéville, acclaimed author of King Rat, Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council. This novel is his first foray into the young adult book scene, but its YA status doesn’t preclude adults from enjoying it.

The story starts out with two young girls, best friends named Zanna and Deeba, in the city of London. Strange occurrences abound until finally, one night, they accidentally transport themselves to an alternate world filled with puns (though not as prolific, obvious, or painful as those of Pierce Anthony’s “Xanth” series). They discover that a menace looms that must be defeated, and can only be defeated by the Chosen, for whom the weird residents of Un Lun Dun have been waiting all this time.

The tale is beautifully fabulous, with the majority of the action taking place in Un Lun Dun. The strange world abounds with irrational characters and ideas usually not found in adult literature, even in adult fantasy: one has a bottle of ink for a head, in which it dips a pen to write. Another literally speaks words into existence: absurd, beautiful, grotesque, beings crawl from its mouth when it speaks (and even these living words become functional characters in the novel). Trash is capable of sentience, giraffes are dangerous carnivores, and various other normal things from the real world are twisted and reappropriated for weird and different use in this other-world.

A highly entertaining and well-paced adventure, it also contains enough subtext to intrigue any reader who likes delving beyond the surface.

Continue Reading This Review…

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