Category: A-B Page 22 of 23

Authors A-B

Loved this book the first time I read it, and it’s better the second time around (if for no other reason than I could slow down and enjoy it more rather than have to race to find out what happens). Like he’s been doing for awhile now, the stakes get bigger–as do the foes–in this book, as does the cast.

At the same time–for most of the book anyway–this is a lighter read than the last couple have been, it’s a bit more “fun” in the midst of the darkness and destruction, I guess you could say.

And then the fun goes away and you get only darkness and destruction for awhile–and an emotional punch in the gut that fans really didn’t want (but love anyway).

I’m not sure how well this’d work as a jumping on point for someone new to the Dresden Files, but I think it’d stand on it’s own, and show readers why they’d want to go back and read all of the best Urban Fantasy series going.

Dusted Off: Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

By HCNewton

On April 20, 2011

In Authors, Ben Aaronovitch, Fiction, Rivers of London (Peter Grant), Urban Fantasy

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
Series: The Rivers of London, #1

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In a very real sense, there’s practically nothing new in this book–neophyte wizard just discovering a world of magic; super-secret police division tasked with investigating (and covering up) supernatural crimes; a whole world of ghosts, vamps, trolls, dryads, nymphs, demigods living unseen amongst mortals; clever (and funny) pop culture references littered throughout the text; and so on…Urban Fantasy 101.

BUT, there’s something about the way that Aaronovitch writes that makes Midnight Riot so fresh, so entertaining, so fun, it feels like I’m reading a brand new genre. He’s basically the British Anton Strout (but a tad bit funnier).

I had a blast reading this–every second of it–laughed out loud, sat on the edge of my seat, and tore through this book.

Dusted Off: Dark Jenny by Alex Bledsoe

By HCNewton

On April 16, 2011

In Alex Bledsoe, Authors, Eddie LaCrosse, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Dark Jenny by Alex Bledsoe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ll be honest with you, I have only the vaguest of memory of what actually happened in the first Eddie LaCrosse novel (The Sword-Edged Blonde), and only somewhat better recall about the second (Burn Me Deadly). That’s a reflection on the amount of stuff I’ve read in that time, and is in no way a reflection on Bledsoe. I do have a very clear recollection about what both books told me about Alex Bledsoe’s talent and that I enjoyed them a lot. I’m equally certain that Dark Jenny won’t suffer from that same fading from memory/excuse to reread them. This one is gonna stay with me for awhile.

Essentially, this book is a variation of an Arthurian story–ideal king, queen rumored to be less than ideal, noble knight corps with a few rotten apples thrown in, a wizard figure, wicked half-sister, and a whole lotta intrigue–with a few unique twists of Bledsoe’s own thrown in for good measure. Not a sour note to be found here–some notes that were hard to listen to, sure, but…okay, there’s a metaphor that went awry. I was trying to say that yes, there were things that were less pleasant than others–this book goes to some dark, nasty places–but it all worked well.

We get this Arthurian tale via an extended flashback–in the middle of a nasty winter storm, with nothing else to occupy the attention of his neighbors, Eddie receives an interesting package. One so interesting, there has to be a great tale that goes along with it–which he ends up telling to the crowd at his favorite tavern (with only the tiniest of breaks to remind us that this is all in Eddie’s past). By making this all an extended flashback, Bledsoe is able to give us a slightly different version of Eddie–one on the way to being the guy we’ve seen in the last two books. It also gives him the excuse to have a great femme fatale to grab Eddie’s attention without having to write around his lovely lady.

A great, riveting fantasy noir. Can’t wait for the next one already. A decent jumping on point for those new to the series, and a great third installment for those who’ve been around for awhile.

Dusted Off: Wolfsbane by Patricia Briggs

By HCNewton

On January 14, 2011

In Fantasy, Fiction, Patricia Briggs

Wolfsbane (Sianim, #4) by Patricia Briggs

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A fun, solid read with characters you end up caring a lot about without even noticing, just a touch of action, a splash of romance, and at least one character who switches between species. In other words, it’s a Patricia Briggs novel.

Like its predecessor Masques, this was written pretty early in her career, and it shows. It’s still a heckuva story, and I’d jump right into a third adventure of Wolfe and Aralorn.

View all my reviews

Dusted Off: Side Jobs by Jim Butcher

By HCNewton

On November 3, 2010

In Fiction, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher, Urban Fantasy

I’m not big on the short story form. Outside the Nero Wolfe short story collections, I could count on one hand the number of short stories I’ve read in the past 5-10 years. Lately, there’s been a decent number of my favorite Urban Fantasy writers contributing to short story collections–usually on a theme, and usually using characters I really want to read about. But being short fiction, and being surrounded by stories about characters I don’t care about/don’t know/don’t have time to get to know even if I wanted to, I don’t get around to getting my hands on them.

From what I can tell, that’s resulted in me missing some interesting stuff–even the start of a series I’m invested in (maybe more than one, come to think of it, but I’m not going to double check now).

Which is a whole lotta rambling set up to saying why I was very happy to hear that Jim Butcher was going to release a collection of previously published and new Harry Dresden stories. And even happier to get my hands on it last week.

Being short works of fiction, basically every story was this–some sort of problem, Harry investigating rather quickly and then moving right on to the fireworks, usually dazzlingly so. Wham, blam-o, thank you, sir. Each of them also tended to focus on at least one member of the supporting cast in a way we don’t get enough of in the novels. I really appreciated getting to spend a little time with each of these people in this setting.

It was, admittedly, a mixed-bag. The first story, “Restoration of Faith,” was the first Dresden story, and it’s clearly that. There’s a lot to our favorite wizard PI that is recognizable here, and a lot that get’s tossed before Storm Front. A fun read, but I’m glad Butcher tweaked things the way he did.

The rest were better executed–mostly because Butcher’s grown a lot as a writer since then, all were good reads, some better than others.

A couple of other stand-outs for me were the lighter, “Day Off” about Harry’s fruitless quest for a quiet, relaxing day; “The Warrior” in which we get to see post-Small Favor Michael in action–even if it was a tad preachy, Butcher pulled it off, and I was so, so glad to see Michael like this; and “Love Hurts,” which is the kind of story we’ve seen/read countless times about what happens when two will-they/won’t-they friends fall under a spell/temporary delusion/whatever and fall madly, temporarily in love–it’s been done a lot, frequently poorly, but not here.

“Love Hurts” was also a perfect set-up to the novelette Aftermath, which starts up hours after the jaw-dropping/rage-inducing last page of Changes and was, for me, worth the purchase price. If I’d remembered that this was going to be at the end of this collection, I’d have finished the thing in one setting, rather than over a period of days. Great, great story, both for the plot/characters itself, and for what Butcher shows us about how these characters will act without the man in the duster around. Loved it.

Now, this hasn’t convinced me to get these other collections I mentioned earlier–but I just now have hope that some of my other favorite authors will get in gear and publish collections like this one.

Dusted Off: An Open Letter to Jim Butcher

By HCNewton

On April 14, 2010

In Authors, Fiction, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher, Urban Fantasy

Dear Mr. Butcher,

I just finished reading your latest Dresden Files novel, Changes and would like to thank you for one of the best reads I’ve had in months. And by thanks I mean to say that I hope you die a slow, agonizing death. Not anytime soon, mind you, it needs to be after you’ve completed the next novel (if not the whole series). Still, I hope it happens, and I hope you dread its coming.

I actually am just kidding, sir. If nothing else, the intensity of my initial reaction speaks to the connection that exists between the great characters you’ve created and your readers. Honestly, you seem like a pretty cool guy, I’d love to buy you a Whopper some time and just chat–‘course what I’d really love is to take that Whopper and shove it so far down your throat that…

maybe I should finish this some other time.

Sincerely,

Dusted Off: Hey, you sass that hoopy Douglas Adams? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.

By HCNewton

On May 25, 2009

In A-B, Authors, Calendar Items, Douglas Adams, Fiction, Science Fiction, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I may not have gone where I intended to go,
but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
– Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams
(1952 – 2001)

What’s Towel Day? Wired has a handy article.

(thanks to Travis Avery for the banner)

Dusted Off: In nomine pizza domine!

By HCNewton

On April 13, 2009

In Authors, Books, Fiction, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher, Urban Fantasy

a quick peak into my geekery:

Thanks to the virtual signing hosted by Dog Eared Books last week, I received my signed copy of the new Dresden Files novel, Turn Coat this weekend. This being the, I think, 6th signed book in my meager library,^** this one is obviously being added to my “do not loan” list–honestly, not sure I’m going to let myself read it.

——

^*The inscription, “In nomine pizza domine!” is the battle cry of Toot-Toot and his dewdrop faerie friends, as they attack the Summer Court in Summer Knight.

^**I fully expect certain readers, like TLomL, will dispute the use of the word “meager.” On this, however, she is uncharacteristically wrong.

Dusted Off: Belgium, Belgium, Belgium! (sorry for the profanity)

By HCNewton

On March 11, 2009

In Douglas Adams, Fiction, News/Misc., Science Fiction, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Not sure why I’ve let this layer of dust accumulate over things lately, meant to post a thing or two last week, but things got away from me I guess.

Nothing personal, I assure you–well, most of you anyway.

So what got me riled up enough to break my silence?

This monstrosity:

That’s right, author Eoin Colfer has been commissioned to write the sixth volume of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide trilogy.

SciFi Wire reports:

And Another Thing…, which will be released Oct. 12 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the publication of the first book in the series by the late Douglas Adams, is a sequel commissioned by the publisher from Eoin Colfer. Colfer is the author of the best-selling Artemis Fowl series.

While Penguin will publish the latest book, Pan Macmillan, which was Adams’ paperback publisher, will repackage his backlist, adding new introductions to the books, which will be released monthly leading up to the release of the new title.

Why, oh why, is this being done? Was the world begging for a follow-up to Mostly Harmless? Did another story just need to be told? NO!

Did Adams’ leave notes, instructions for another? No.

Does Arthur Dent really need to get kicked around some more? No.

Wouldn’t it be easier to insult the Douglas Adams’ memory by digging up his bones and throwing rocks at them? Or you could just put out the recent movie on Blu-Ray, that’d do it, too.

This is wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. A travesty. A disgrace. A literary crime.

Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll be there on 10/21, cash in hand, just waiting for the book–probably with baited breath. Just hope it’ll be slightly better than a collection of poetry by Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings of Greenbridge, Essex, England.

Dusted Off: Backup by Jim Butcher

By HCNewton

On October 28, 2008

In Fiction, Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher, Urban Fantasy

Well, that was a fun, 45 minutes (give or take).

Just knocked off Jim Butcher’s Backup: A Story of the Dresden Files. Weighing in at about 12K words, it’s almost as meaty as the 4-issue mini-series comic book Welcome to the Jungle (recently collected and published in hardcover form).

This is a different way of telling a Harry Dresden story, coming at it from the POV of his brother, Thomas. Not only does this give us a new way of seeing Harry, it gives us a better appreciation for Thomas. (In many ways, it reminded me of Crais’ The Watchman from last year.)

Quick read; decent story–resolution came a bit too soon, but given the length, such was unavoidable; probably paid too much for it, given my budget; hope some of the backstory spills over into the regular Dresden File novels. Something any fan should pick up.