Latest Book Reviews and Comments

Diamond Eyes By A A Bell I honestly didn't know what to expect from this novel. I had made it to the author's web page and looked at the covers, which were intriguing. I really did not read the blurbs. I was, in fact, taking a break from another tedious novel that I felt lacked some bit of style to keep me interested. So I decided to go ahead and try the bit of sample the author is offering. It's about one hundred pages. I usually don't put a lot of stock in the cover or the blurb, but prefer to read at least ten or more pages when possible. And I will say this-about Diamond Eyes- read those pages and then try to act like you're not interested in reading the rest of the book. I was immediately drawn into the book by the engaging narrative. This is not one of the usual action packed, heart pumping, seat of your pants hooks. This is more a carefully crafted lure that is placed gently and casually entices the reader into the world of Mira Chambers and her heart rending story. Ben-recently released from prison for something he had nothing to do with- thought that he'd just been through the worst he could ever see and was looking forward to getting back into the life he had to so abruptly leave behind. He's just taken a job with Serenity-better known as Libica Isle Benevolent Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Not the best assignment but he's now an ex-con. He'll be working with youths and young adults, but is primarily here to help with Mira's case. If he thought he had it bad he's about to discover a whole new meaning of bad. Not the way that the story initially misleads the reader, though. He's about to see how much of a hell that Mira has had to confront and slowly he begins to realize that it may all be even more of an injustice than his own incarceration. Mira is blind- that's the least of her problems. She's not much hindered by her blindness and she is in no way to be considered helpless. Her real problem is that because her hold on reality seems so tenuous and her nature is to strike out at everyone, she is kept mollified through heavy medication. She has no friends in the staff and the one friend she has among the patients has recently sewn here eye lid shut. There's a lot of mystery just in this first bit of getting acquainted with these characters. And sometimes this reads like a paranormal story and for some it might not get to the action as quick as they desire. This is a suspense thriller that build slowly one brick at a time and it kept me interested all the way through. There may have been some predictable elements in the narrative but I think that helped the pacing of the story if anything. There are often novels, which I've read, that resonate with me in such a way that they really touch me and this novel had several moments. There were times when the struggles and decisions of Mira seemed so real that I could cheer when it appears that Ben has somehow connected and goes way above and beyond to help her. In the same token when Ben suffers for both his past and those decisions to help that put him a odds with the system I found myself sympathizing and trying to figure out how things were ever going to work out for him. It seem for every breakthrough in Mira's condition they run into another setback for which either one of them might be responsible and until the two researchers come into the story there seems to be little hope in a total understanding of what is going on. But, with the possibility of answers for both Mira and Ben there comes a new set of risks and dangers that begin to make everything else they have experienced so far look like a walk in the park. I'm not sure how anyone could put this book down after starting. I want the answers to the burning questions about Mira's condition. There were several times that I had to look up some of the stuff mentioned in Diamond Eyes and I'd say the A.A. Bell did the research necessary to bring as much realism into this novel as possible. If you like psychological thrillers, a bit of the paranormal, and some weird time travel like stuff you'll love this book. All this, and it could very well be considered a literary masterpiece. It's well told, clear and understandable as the author builds- each step of the way- the explanation of what the Diamond Eyes mean to Mira.(To say nothing of the Poet Trees.) Well Woven Psychological Suspense Mystery Thriller J.L. Dobias

Weeping for Raven by Mel Kinder This book is a real surprise. I've been avoiding this one hoping Mel would put it on sale or maybe offer it free. Not that it's all that expensive; it's just a bit more than I pay for new author e-books. Plus I wasn't absolutely certain about the genre. And, I have all these other books here in my kindle that I haven't read yet. After reading a number of reviews- they all are pretty favorable- some are rather short and not real helpful- but the ones that took time to demonstrate they read the book left some great impressions to entice me. I wasn't disappointed. We start out with a bit of mystery with someone in a garden of flowers and trees who is wondering how they got there. The last they knew they were asleep in bed. So this could be a dream or she could be sleepwalking. The dream theory is enhanced by the fact that her hair is the wrong color. Then we move to a normal setting and for a while it's a question of; is this just another teen angst story. It takes only a few pages to get past and thankfully the author gets us into the real story. There is a great need for background though, I think. That's my theory. Gwen Penn lives with her grandparents. She's getting ready to chose a college. She's limiting herself because she is certain her grandparents need her near. During the admission process she meets Mick whose nickname is Mimic-because of a stutter problem. Gwen feels a slight connection to Mimic but because she has kept to herself recently she tries to keep it out of her mind. She is affected enough to design her class schedule around his. Gwen's mother has been institutionalized because she's not all there. This is something we learn as things go. I must confess I honestly can't remember what happened with her father if it was mentioned. I'll have to read this again soon. She has lost her best friend, Baylee in an accident. All of this is important because Gwen's about to question her sanity soon. And, I can't help but wonder about what might really be afflicting her mother. This ordinary life is created to contrast the world where the story will really take place. Rook Dresden- through a twist of fate- will happen across a young woman collapsed in a garden. This is Gwen who will find that she's not only in someone else body but she's in some rather strange world. Rook has a lot of strange similarities in his life. He's lost his mother in an accident and his sister Raven is in a coma and his father is institutionalized because he blames himself for his wife's and daughter's condition. Despite herself Gwen has an immediate and intense connection to Rook; her initial thoughts are [quote]...cute is trouble. Cute got people into trouble. Partly to blame for over occupancy at the animal shelters. It weakened good judgement. [/quote]In this world Gwens senses seem to be heightened and with the relentless nature of Rook; she won't be able to rely on her good judgement. While trying to pretend nothing is wrong with her Gwen slowly learns that this world is very different from hers. People are nocturnal. Cars don't have wheels because they fly. There are no restaurants and no banks. They don't eat but feed off the energy of a dark sun. They have magical abilities. And, partially because of the heightened sense, Gwen thinks its a paradise. Strangely one constant in both worlds is her cat-the one in the new world looks just like her's - it has a different name while her's was called Whinny this one is Chester. This is something she finds out at the same time as she finds out that its Alex Murdock whose body she inhabits. This story is like sliders with a quantum leap twist. This is when things get really interesting-like that old curse. Cat, a friend of Alexa's, shows up to inform Gwen that she knows about her and that Alexa had been experimenting with a drug to induce a condition they refer to as a Wardlow. Wardlows are a supposed epidemic that wipes away a persons soul replacing it with a beast. Alexa was trying to prove that that theory was wrong by inducing the condition. The big problem is that Cat was supposed to have been there to prevent Gwen from interfacing with anyone. Gwen was never meant to meet Rook. And there are people who hunt Wardlows -the hunters from the world of the unseen- and beings who detect them, the TAS the all seeing. When the all seeing find a wardlow they send the hunters to hunt them and because there is no cure for their condition they are executed. Okay, so I might be going too far here and I don't mean to spoil things so I better stop. There are still a lot of layers to this story I haven't touched anyway. Gwen who has otherwise isolated herself from friendship is the type of person who can't easily lie to others and now she finds herself in a position where she needs to lie to keep alive. Just when she thought she could make friends she finds that she can't trust anyone. And, she has no idea what Alexa might be doing with her own real life back in her world. This is an exciting almost paranormal romance blended with science fiction and some elements of fantasy with the potential to throw in a bit of horror. Even Gwen thinks jokingly over the curiosity of what genre she would be; when Rook compares her to an interesting book. She wonders if it would be Horror? or Science Fiction. No mater what of the many genre above if you like any of those you'll love this. And even though it promises to be a serial of some sort the ending is satisfying enough to make you yearn for the next book. J.L. Dobias

Weeping for Raven Book One: Inducing The Calm by Mel Kinder This e-book was around five dollars. I've been doing the free ones and usually borrowing the money ones. This is not specifically Science Fiction- it tends more to Paranormal Romance. But, its got this kind of John Carter of Mars leap from one body to another thing going so in that respect its like a Sci-Fi adventure. It has a bit of mystery at first while trying to figure out what is happening. I read a bit of a sampling first and was drawn into the story. Enough that I purchased a copy. It starts with the mystery;someone wakes up in a garden of flowers and trees wondering how they got from their bed to the garden. They think they're dreaming and their senses seem to be off a bit; plus they now have a different color hair. The story shifts to Gwen Penn who is registering for classes- perhaps at the local community college. Gwen seems to be a bit of a loner and doesn't normally interact with people much more than necessary. While waiting in line she meets Mick who calls himself Mimic, a nickname from an affectation of his which is stuttering. They seem to get along well and even to Gwens surprise- she starts to design a schedule that will intersect with his. Gwen's parents are out of the picture. Her mother is institutionalized. She lives with her grandparents and has become codependent on them. They have encouraged her to go to the college of her choice and she's decided to make her choice local. It seems that she may not be focused on what she wants to do. Contrary to that Nick seems to have a strong notion of going into Art. Gwen has some ability in that area which might explain the corresponding scheduled. Gwen's reserved nature, inward drawn personality is partly there because she has recently lost her best friend Baylee in an accident. She's not easily ready to commit to friendships because of this. We don't spend much time with this Gwen because most of the story takes place in some alternate universe. This is a universe of magic where everyone has some magical ability and where cars don't have wheels and they fly. There are no restaurants because people don't eat in this universe. And people get energized from the rays of a dark sun. They're daylight seems to be more like moon light at night and extreme dark when the black sun is up. Gwen of course is the one waking up in the garden. It is actually close to a house which is similar to her grandparents house and eventually we find that that is where she lives. She has skipped into another body and discovers that her name here is Alexa Murdock. Alexa seems to live alone-possibly an orphan. Her father died doing experiments related to an epidemic, which is plaguing the world. It seems that the victims are called Wardlows and they are people who's spirit has been usurped by demons who are considered bloodthirsty and dangerous. Alexa's father thinks there is more to it than that and had tried to create a drug that would induce the same syndrome on someone for a limited time so he could prove this theory. It seems now that Alexa has taken up his work and Gwen is the Wardlow. The original plan was for Alexa to do this while her friend Cat made sure that if it succeeded that the Wardlow would not be found out and Cat and some others could observe and discover the truth. For some reason Cat does not get there in time and a young man named Rook finds her collapsed in the garden and takes her to the hospital. Gwen has an immediate connection to him-which is very odd for her. Rook had been on his way to visit his sister at the hospital. His sister Raven is in a coma and his father is institutionalized because of his grief over the accident that left Raven that way and killed his wife. Gwen wakes up in the hospital and begins the tenuous process of learning about this strange world through Rook. She's playing it cool and by the ear because she doesn't want to end up institutionalized like her mother. What she doesn't know is that there are people who capture and execute Wardlow's like her and she shouldn't be involved at all with Rook or anyone else except for a select few in some secret group that knows about this experiment. The people looking for Wardlows are called hunters and they work for the TAS The All Seeing. The all seeing work for someone else but they have the ability to find the Wardlows and they send the hunters. The hunters are invisible normally but Gwen is able to see them. That allows her to elude them. For a time. Eventually they will catch up to her. Gwen is falling for Rook, while knowing how wrong that has to be considering she won't be staying here and the amount of danger that puts her in. She has to make sure Rook doesn't figure out what's wrong with her. She also doesn't have any idea what Alexa might be doing while she's in her world in her body. She's also beginning to see some injustice to what's happening to the Wardlows and she may have to invest more of herself into this reality to help find an answer. It could cost both Gwen and Alexa their lives. And the secret behind all of this may be something more sinister than just fear of contamination. This is the beginning book of a series that I guess would fall in the Young adult- Paranormal Romance category although it has elements that show up in Science Fiction- that's a great thing since that's what I like to read. There's more to the story- though I don't think the second book is yet finished. Sural

Accelerando by Charles Stross The last thing this book needs is another review. It seems to run the whole gamut of stars in the system. It's that type of book that has a love hate relationship. There seem to be a lot of complaints about the overflow of cyber geek talk which doesn't surprise me. What did surprise me is that I went right through this book with only a couple pauses to look up words. It seems I cut right through the geek talk without flinching. Maybe I should say blissfully through. Since it might be argued that I was bliss-ed just enough to remain unaffected. What some of the longest -geek-speak passages reminded me of was some stuff I'd recently tried to digest at the Depau science fiction studies site.:: http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/81/fernbach81art.htm ::this one in particular was what kept coming to mind every time we took a trip down through all the buzzwords and slang from every notion of cyber punk and the socioeconomic of the net. There were complaints that this is not how they will be talking in the distant future. Get real people if you can pick out the slang I will give you that but buzzwords are forever they just shift around in meaning through the years. I suppose if you can read the articles for the science fiction studies without much pause then Accelerando shouldn't affect you. There is something to say about the characters being a bit distanced and dysfunctional enough that you don't seem to feel for them. I have a feeling that Charles Stross may have been going for that. Another thing that Charles did was he put together a tough combination of things that would drive any writers forum crazy. Much of this book is written in first person and present tense. Other part seem to be third person- close- and present tense. These alone are not easy tasks to pull off. Then there are those long and greatly punctuated sentences that would grind on the nerves of the OCD driven punctuation people at a certain forum I will leave unnamed here. Charles pulls this all off well. I would almost guess he might be thumbing his nose at these forums that are trying to spit out cookie cutter writers. All of them clones of the churlish administrator who is still learning to write. And this is where I can see that a few people might not like this book. Not because it is not written well or that it is full of geek-speak but because it doesn't conform to what the majority of books are that are spit out by the presses of the large publishing houses. Sure there might be some Science in this story that is suspect. It is after all science fiction and the best of them that have started from the most solid what-if have all digressed a bit and wandered off the path. I again think that Charles has done well. Of course there is the notion that these separate stories do not quite congeal together well even though they are about the members of the same dysfunctional family. To that I say we missed a larger point. These are not just the story of Manfred Macx and his wives and children and grandchildren. This is the story of the birth of an AI (catlike) and its growth into something that transcends its creator. *Possible spoiler------------------------------------------------- This is Aineko's story- Aineko is there all the way through the whole story. Right to the end. And I'll admit that its hard to empathize with Aineko but that might be because it's not really human. J.L. Dobias

The Convent of the Pure by Sara M. Harvey is listed as a Steampunk novel. I'm not a fan of Steampunk though I have enjoyed the Girl Genius and I must admit that this novel as well as some others gave me good reason to look up the definition of Steampunk. Since I'm giving this one the possibility of a read that makes defining it almost paramount. I have been willing in the past to nod to aspects of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells that would easily slide into the Steampunk genre. There have been some aspects of the horror or shock fiction which I've struggled with. Such as Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. All and all I think I came to an agreeable understanding that the Convent of the Pure qualified. It also opened the avenue to look to some of my other old authors and to see how easily Edgar Rice Burroughs could fall in this category. In fact the description of some of the scenes in the macabre lab reminded me of the Master Mind of Mars. Even the subsequent 'surgery' kept taking me back to that old novel. The narrative itself without the aspects of Genre was more than enough to sustain my attention most of the way through. There may have been two or three places where I caught myself skipping ahead. If I were of the ilk of those in some forums I would write a two page analysis of what was wrong with one paragraph or sentence. It would be more likely that the fault lie in the reader who may have been trying to get an advanced look at where things were going. It did not hurt that I'm a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and that I kept trying to draw parallels to Portia and Buffy. But, this story has its own unique elements. I enjoyed the take on the Nephilim - the children of the sons of god and daughters of man. That they survived the flood and were hiding while assigning themselves as watchers over man. Elements of this part of the story bordered on a dystopic life for these watchers and once again - not a fan of dystopia novels. But it was Portia and her relationship to the ever present spirit of her lost love Imogen that catapulted me past those parts. Being new to the genre I hesitate to say that the first half of the novel does or doesn't seem to contain much that is new and unique. It was a good and sustainable read and when I reached the second half which I'll refer to as that more grisly half I think the style and voice of the author, Sara, comes shining through. We see her show us Portia at her most vulnerable moments having to grow and learn to trust that the strength and determination she's been trying to build within herself is not as distant from her as she thinks. Overall for me Sara M. Harvey may have tipped the scale that's been balancing me away from getting immersed in Steampunk. Way to go; as if I don't have enough to read already. J.L. Dobias

Space Captain Smith by Toby Frost. I always like to say something good about a book before I point out the negative. It has a nice cover and I was able to read more than a full chapter for free. Being not entirely impressed I was hoping for more than that in the rest of the book Toby should look at the small piece where he introduced Paul Devrin there are a number of paragraphs where he develops this character that almost hooked me. If only he had done this with the main characters or any number of his sidekicks. Sadly he did not and it digressed quickly even with this more evil sounding character, Paul. There are few books that I don't finish. I must admit that I haven't gotten much farther than the available free part so I won't belabor any points. I can't give away plot points because there was only one that I sort of noticed here. I'm one of those people who do not judge a book by its cover or the blurb on the back. Rarely do I read the blurb that might be in the front. What I do; is read the first chapter and if it doesn't grab me I don't take it home. I tried to give this the benefit of the doubt but perhaps the humor has missed me and perhaps the development of the characters is tied to that humor. Either way even had I think its a bit over priced for the e-book I put it down after the end of the third chapter. It's likely just me but this just didn't do it for me. The three stars if for that one bright light in the dark character of Paul Devrin. J.L. Dobias

Touchstone Trilogy by Andrea K Host. I purchased this book after reading a sample of Andrea K Host's -And all the Stars-. I had already put the three books in my wish list prior to that. But after reading that sample I had a feeling I should just buy the whole and totally unrelated trilogy. I read through them in three days. People have told me that writing in first person is hard to do. They have given various reasons why it does not work and sometimes those reasons are conflicted. Some even suggest that it's this decades fad to write in first person. Because this is written as a diary it's naturally in first person. Andrea nails first person right on the head, and right out of the box. Cass is such an engaging character in Stray that she sucks you right into her story at the beginning. There is not doubt of Andrea's world building abilities and her strong characterization. But what really got me in this story is in the chapter February when Cass's birthday arrives. And I'm not giving anything away, other than to honestly say I was so into Cass by then that I nearly cried. It's not often a book does that. And then there was Lab Rat One. And by now this series is peopled with a couple of handfuls of characters that you would think you'd need a score card but there are more to come and Cass has a way of making sure we don't lose track of who is who. Or maybe I should say that Andrea does. It doesn't take long before Andrea does it to me again. Even though Cass sometimes begins to sound a bit whinny I just get so into her whole dilemma that I can't help but feel what she must be feeling. So by Caszandra the third installment, you would think I was steeled and ready to handle it. But, Andrea through Cass has a way of now drawing you into her life and the extended family of people around her. This series of books is one powerhouse. Well told tightly packed. Emotionally charged. But what really got me was how it all touched me. I would need more stars if I gave a star for every time I was greatly affected by this story. J.L. Dobias

'm a fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy. So, stepping into Steampunk can be both easy and trying. Fortunately I'm not so tied up with the harder form of science fiction. I think some contemporary authors of Hard Science Fiction take the hard part to heart and make it as hard as they can. Still, I wanted to do some research before I started into the Bookman Histories by Lavie Tidhar. First, though, I must admit that I read the sample of the first book on Amazon and was intrigued to say the least. With a character using the name Gilgamesh I was assuming that someone might lose something valuable and someone would have to go through hell to get it back. And it looked in this case that the protagonist, Orphan, was to lose the love of his life, Lucy. I wanted to know how that was going to work out. Since the price of the three volumes together as an e-book was the same as each individual I saw no way to lose by purchasing the Bookman Histories. I was not disappointed. In my search to help define Steampunk I was led to one place where there was a notion that such authors as Jules Verne,H.G.Wells and even Mary Shelley could be considered to be influences of Steampunk. Those were good influences and I'm fairly certain that they all figure nicely into the Bookman Histories. I also found mention of the movie - Metropolis- which was intriguing. I don't have a copy of the movie but I do have one of the novel by Thea Von Harbou which is quite a bit different from the movie. It's been suggested the book was made from the film but there is not enough evidence to substantiate that and its just as likely the book was made to be a film and the screenplay was adapted from the book. It's not so much different though, to make it unqualified as an influence. In fact I found some interesting parallels with the book Metropolis and the first book of the Bookman Histories. Both Protagonists Freder in Metropolis and Orphan in Bookman have lost their mother. Both Protagonists fall in love at first sight. Freder with Maria and Orphan with Lucy. Both become driven by their love and passion, as their motivation throughout the story. Both are destined to be catalysts for change, even though they would deny it. Of Metropolis Thea Von Harbou spoke of it being a moral - that the mediator between brain and muscle must be the heart. The first book of the Histories seems to be the same since it is Orphan who seems to be the heart. His love for Lucy (his heart) is his motivation for moving forward into things he barely understands. He soldier's on in his devotion to the belief he's doing this to help him regain that lost love, Lucy. It becomes an inner conflict between his selfless devotion to undo an enormous wrong while trying at all times to do what, in his heart, is right. I first read Metropolis when I was around sixteen years of age. It was a difficult read. When I reread it for this I thought it would be less difficult. But, it's written as are many books of its time a bit florid and in a time when purple prose wasn't a nasty thing. Although it's entertaining; it's difficult. Thankfully the reader of the Bookman Histories will not find this book difficult. The entire three volumes are quite easy to read. Not only a pleasure; but, in some cases a wonder. There is an enormous amount of name dropping in these books. They are almost a who's who of famous people not only out of history but characters from the fiction of those times. We have elements of Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G Wells, Lord Byron and many more. If not in their actual appearance,then in the appearance of characters they created. Often they are anachronistically portrayed. In some ways these books remind me of the RiverWorld series by Philip Jose Farmer. And in other ways they remind me of the later work of Robert Heinlein where there was an alternate world where many of his favorite characters were resurrected. An interesting side note is that in a scene in the first book, Bookman; Orphan is going through a pile of books and they are named to a tune of around 39 various titles that are all fictitious books written by fictitious characters. These books show up in a variety of real books and are out of the imaginations of the authors of those books. I have no idea if Lavie Tidhar is suggesting that he's read all the books that those come out of; or if he did an extensive search for books and authors that don't exist. In that list there is one news article mentioned that may have some basis in reality.(It might be a foreshadow of the last book also.) And of course there is Rime of the Ancient Mariner which is quoted throughout. There are some parts of this trilogy that get a bit gruesome and remind me of the Deathstalker series by Simon R. Greene. Elements reminiscent of the surgeries of Dr. Frankenstein in Frankenstein by Mary Shelly Or Ras Thavas in Edgar Rice Burroughs Master Mind of Mars. The fun fantastic part is that Lavie Tidhar puts it all together with such wonderful prose and a tight plot that it all works. All I have to say is, "I want more." There are plenty of threads left-for more. Save time and money and buy the whole History its well worth it for the first story, Bookman. The rest is like icing on the cake. J.L.Dobias

'm a fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy. So, stepping into Steampunk can be both easy and trying. Fortunately I'm not so tied up with the harder form of science fiction. I think some contemporary authors of Hard Science Fiction take the hard part to heart and make it as hard as they can. Still, I wanted to do some research before I started into the Bookman Histories by Lavie Tidhar. First, though, I must admit that I read the sample of the first book on Amazon and was intrigued to say the least. With a character using the name Gilgamesh I was assuming that someone might lose something valuable and someone would have to go through hell to get it back. And it looked in this case that the protagonist, Orphan, was to lose the love of his life, Lucy. I wanted to know how that was going to work out. Since the price of the three volumes together as an e-book was the same as each individual I saw no way to lose by purchasing the Bookman Histories. I was not disappointed. In my search to help define Steampunk I was led to one place where there was a notion that such authors as Jules Verne,H.G.Wells and even Mary Shelley could be considered to be influences of Steampunk. Those were good influences and I'm fairly certain that they all figure nicely into the Bookman Histories. I also found mention of the movie - Metropolis- which was intriguing. I don't have a copy of the movie but I do have one of the novel by Thea Von Harbou which is quite a bit different from the movie. It's been suggested the book was made from the film but there is not enough evidence to substantiate that and its just as likely the book was made to be a film and the screenplay was adapted from the book. It's not so much different though, to make it unqualified as an influence. In fact I found some interesting parallels with the book Metropolis and the first book of the Bookman Histories. Both Protagonists Freder in Metropolis and Orphan in Bookman have lost their mother. Both Protagonists fall in love at first sight. Freder with Maria and Orphan with Lucy. Both become driven by their love and passion, as their motivation throughout the story. Both are destined to be catalysts for change, even though they would deny it. Of Metropolis Thea Von Harbou spoke of it being a moral - that the mediator between brain and muscle must be the heart. The first book of the Histories seems to be the same since it is Orphan who seems to be the heart. His love for Lucy (his heart) is his motivation for moving forward into things he barely understands. He soldier's on in his devotion to the belief he's doing this to help him regain that lost love, Lucy. It becomes an inner conflict between his selfless devotion to undo an enormous wrong while trying at all times to do what, in his heart, is right. I first read Metropolis when I was around sixteen years of age. It was a difficult read. When I reread it for this I thought it would be less difficult. But, it's written as are many books of its time a bit florid and in a time when purple prose wasn't a nasty thing. Although it's entertaining; it's difficult. Thankfully the reader of the Bookman Histories will not find this book difficult. The entire three volumes are quite easy to read. Not only a pleasure; but, in some cases a wonder. There is an enormous amount of name dropping in these books. They are almost a who's who of famous people not only out of history but characters from the fiction of those times. We have elements of Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G Wells, Lord Byron and many more. If not in their actual appearance,then in the appearance of characters they created. Often they are anachronistically portrayed. In some ways these books remind me of the RiverWorld series by Philip Jose Farmer. And in other ways they remind me of the later work of Robert Heinlein where there was an alternate world where many of his favorite characters were resurrected. An interesting side note is that in a scene in the first book, Bookman; Orphan is going through a pile of books and they are named to a tune of around 39 various titles that are all fictitious books written by fictitious characters. These books show up in a variety of real books and are out of the imaginations of the authors of those books. I have no idea if Lavie Tidhar is suggesting that he's read all the books that those come out of; or if he did an extensive search for books and authors that don't exist. In that list there is one news article mentioned that may have some basis in reality.(It might be a foreshadow of the last book also.) And of course there is Rime of the Ancient Mariner which is quoted throughout. There are some parts of this trilogy that get a bit gruesome and remind me of the Deathstalker series by Simon R. Greene. Elements reminiscent of the surgeries of Dr. Frankenstein in Frankenstein by Mary Shelly Or Ras Thavas in Edgar Rice Burroughs Master Mind of Mars. The fun fantastic part is that Lavie Tidhar puts it all together with such wonderful prose and a tight plot that it all works. All I have to say is, "I want more." There are plenty of threads left-for more. Save time and money and buy the whole History its well worth it for the first story, Bookman. The rest is like icing on the cake. J.L.Dobias

'm a fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy. So, stepping into Steampunk can be both easy and trying. Fortunately I'm not so tied up with the harder form of science fiction. I think some contemporary authors of Hard Science Fiction take the hard part to heart and make it as hard as they can. Still, I wanted to do some research before I started into the Bookman Histories by Lavie Tidhar. First, though, I must admit that I read the sample of the first book on Amazon and was intrigued to say the least. With a character using the name Gilgamesh I was assuming that someone might lose something valuable and someone would have to go through hell to get it back. And it looked in this case that the protagonist, Orphan, was to lose the love of his life, Lucy. I wanted to know how that was going to work out. Since the price of the three volumes together as an e-book was the same as each individual I saw no way to lose by purchasing the Bookman Histories. I was not disappointed. In my search to help define Steampunk I was led to one place where there was a notion that such authors as Jules Verne,H.G.Wells and even Mary Shelley could be considered to be influences of Steampunk. Those were good influences and I'm fairly certain that they all figure nicely into the Bookman Histories. I also found mention of the movie - Metropolis- which was intriguing. I don't have a copy of the movie but I do have one of the novel by Thea Von Harbou which is quite a bit different from the movie. It's been suggested the book was made from the film but there is not enough evidence to substantiate that and its just as likely the book was made to be a film and the screenplay was adapted from the book. It's not so much different though, to make it unqualified as an influence. In fact I found some interesting parallels with the book Metropolis and the first book of the Bookman Histories. Both Protagonists Freder in Metropolis and Orphan in Bookman have lost their mother. Both Protagonists fall in love at first sight. Freder with Maria and Orphan with Lucy. Both become driven by their love and passion, as their motivation throughout the story. Both are destined to be catalysts for change, even though they would deny it. Of Metropolis Thea Von Harbou spoke of it being a moral - that the mediator between brain and muscle must be the heart. The first book of the Histories seems to be the same since it is Orphan who seems to be the heart. His love for Lucy (his heart) is his motivation for moving forward into things he barely understands. He soldier's on in his devotion to the belief he's doing this to help him regain that lost love, Lucy. It becomes an inner conflict between his selfless devotion to undo an enormous wrong while trying at all times to do what, in his heart, is right. I first read Metropolis when I was around sixteen years of age. It was a difficult read. When I reread it for this I thought it would be less difficult. But, it's written as are many books of its time a bit florid and in a time when purple prose wasn't a nasty thing. Although it's entertaining; it's difficult. Thankfully the reader of the Bookman Histories will not find this book difficult. The entire three volumes are quite easy to read. Not only a pleasure; but, in some cases a wonder. There is an enormous amount of name dropping in these books. They are almost a who's who of famous people not only out of history but characters from the fiction of those times. We have elements of Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G Wells, Lord Byron and many more. If not in their actual appearance,then in the appearance of characters they created. Often they are anachronistically portrayed. In some ways these books remind me of the RiverWorld series by Philip Jose Farmer. And in other ways they remind me of the later work of Robert Heinlein where there was an alternate world where many of his favorite characters were resurrected. An interesting side note is that in a scene in the first book, Bookman; Orphan is going through a pile of books and they are named to a tune of around 39 various titles that are all fictitious books written by fictitious characters. These books show up in a variety of real books and are out of the imaginations of the authors of those books. I have no idea if Lavie Tidhar is suggesting that he's read all the books that those come out of; or if he did an extensive search for books and authors that don't exist. In that list there is one news article mentioned that may have some basis in reality.(It might be a foreshadow of the last book also.) And of course there is Rime of the Ancient Mariner which is quoted throughout. There are some parts of this trilogy that get a bit gruesome and remind me of the Deathstalker series by Simon R. Greene. Elements reminiscent of the surgeries of Dr. Frankenstein in Frankenstein by Mary Shelly Or Ras Thavas in Edgar Rice Burroughs Master Mind of Mars. The fun fantastic part is that Lavie Tidhar puts it all together with such wonderful prose and a tight plot that it all works. All I have to say is, "I want more." There are plenty of threads left-for more. Save time and money and buy the whole History its well worth it for the first story, Bookman. The rest is like icing on the cake. J.L.Dobias

Silversands by Gareth L. Powell is one of those delightful surprises that you run across while searching the internet for something else. I was searching for another author and stumbled upon a link to Silversands. The story started out slow for me but by the end of the sample I was hooked and had to download the rest. This is the story of Avril Bradley a young woman who has been orphaned and is looking for her father. A man she only knows from a photograph and her mother's memories. To quirk up the equation, her search has taken her aboard a star ship that travels through a wormhole that has so many random destinations that it's improbable that she'll succeed. After many jumps and a cargo full of refugees from a failed settlement on another star system they seem to have lucked into finding the ship that her father was supposed to have been aboard. In a strange turn of events something causes a malfunction in their ship, when they attempt to communicate with the other ship. Suspicious and unsure what caused their problem, they are forced to seek help from the settlers on the planet below the ships as their cargo begin to awaken from a long sleep. This is where the story begins to weave into a convoluted set of political plots and strange events that point to Avril and her quest. This has some excellent world building that helps drive the plot. Though I found some of the plot to be predictable it did not interfere with my enjoyment of the story.(I can't really mention more about it without spoiling things) There were plenty of ways for the whole plot to play out and Gareth gives us plenty of surprises. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys Science Fiction and is looking for some fresh new ideas and Characters. There's plenty of room for more stories in this universe. J.L.Dobias

And All the Stars by Andrea K Host. I first had a taste of this novel in a sample; before discovering that it hadn't been released. In the bit of the beginning that I was able to read, I was hooked. I don't read a lot of apocalyptic novels or dystopian novels. I can't say with great knowledge that this contains no dystopia, but in my meager knowledge it didn't seem so much. I was drawn into the story by the great writing and story telling. It certainly wasn't the claustrophobic description or the ever-present feeling of being choked by some strange and possibly alien dust.The slow but persistent buildup of the character, Madeleine's, suspicion that she's at ground zero of a possible bio weapon. The eventual realization that she's all alone and that those around her who aren't dead are locked up in any type of safe containment that they could find. No one is going to offer to let her, and the strange dust that's choking her, into their safety. Some of the earlier pages are difficult to get through for some people-someone I know put it down very early and it's too bad they did. There are some very important plot points in those pages. So, it's important and it does help drive the story and the character. Madeleine has survived the worst of the catastrophe with some injury and is confused and afraid. Madeleine is your average rebellious teen who seems to be a bit of a loner. She's immersed herself in her art and wants to gain honor in that field at a young age. To that end she's skipped school and gone into the big city for a chance to paint a portrait of her famous cousin Tyler. Now she's face to face with that very place that parents always warn their teens about and it could be her most fatal move in her rebellion. In her early wandering she contacts her parents and continues to lie about where she is to keep them from worrying. There is a great sense that Madeleine is already dead. She's just been given a temporary reprieve and it's not yet clear if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Madeleine eventually makes it to her cousins apartment. Her cousin is gone and she's able to get in. She cleans up and while trying to avoid facing the inevitability of her death, she decides that her last act should be the portrait of her cousin even though it won't be possible to have him pose live. For me this was a very interesting type of character development. The author,Andrea, builds a believable portrait of how an artist feels and sees things while choosing what eventually ends up on the canvas. We see this development quite a number of times throughout the story. Enough for the reader to wonder if Andrea is applying how she writes to how an artist might be inspired or if, in fact, it's from her own experience with sketching and painting. Eventually our Character, Madeleine, starts experiencing the side effects of the dust. They are both strange and unsettling, and there is always the fear that she might die. All the time she's monitoring broadcasts about others who are affected, and many of those have died. I found no problem with the notion that much of technology was still active; even after establishing that this is an invasion. In fact it made sense that since this was happening everywhere that it would be more demoralizing to have a constant feed of information telling everyone how bleak things were. Eventually the side affect that causes Madeleine to have an insatiable appetite is what brings her out to brave the city and seek sustenance. This is when she begins to meet more people and make friends in a way she would never have done if things were normal. This is when the story really takes off. I found the pacing in this novel to be quite tight. I'm not a fan of seat of your pants action from cover to cover and there were plenty of well place lulls in the narrative that make perfect sense as far as plot and character development. It did seem a bit longer than 205 pages in the e-book, but when I love the characters I love more pages because I usually don't want to say goodbye so quickly once I get to know them. As has been noted by other reviewers; there are plenty of plot twists in the story to keep the reader guessing. I often catch these in most novels, usually before they are -on the next page. There is one in here though that caught me unaware- the twist makes perfect sense- and you want to kick yourself and few other people when it happens. Young, old- whatever genre- I think everyone will love this book.(Except perhaps those who are genuinely claustrophobic; as is someone I know.) Trust me. Once you get past that first bit of suffocating but possibly accurate description (I've never been in that situation so I don't know.) things will be easier to take. J.L. Dobias

The Colors of Space By Marion Zimmer Bradley I remember reading this a long time ago. Some time after the 1963 edition was published. I decided to read it again and see if it still stood well against time. Bart Steele is a young Vegan who has come to Earth to study at the academy. He is a product of a human and Mentorian pair, although he lost his mother, the Mentorian, early in his life. His father owns a space shipping business that struggles as it must against the monopoly that the Lhari race has over interstellar flight. The Lhari have made it clear that only Lhari can survive while the warp-drive is active and that all other races must go into cold-sleep. This monopoly causes Bart and many others to have a prejudice against the Lhari. On graduation Bart is to meet his father at the Lhari spaceport where he will return home. Bart will never see his father again and will be catapulted into a universe of danger and intrigue. He discovers that his father and several others have died while trying to obtain the secrets of the Lhari and of the warp-drive. Bart is thrust into his father's world while he's become a fugitive from Lhari authorities. The Lhari are not able to perceive colors the way humans and Mentorians do and this becomes a major plot device or I should say part of several plot devices. This is the only part that my more mature insight has quibbles about during this read. There are some big things that are hinged on this color disability that might not work quite as well as I once believed. One major one is that the Lhari could not tell something was red hot because they couldn't see the red. Since often survival hinges on such things there would likely have been another way for them to discern that a surface they were working on in their ship might be hot. Most everything else in the story seems to stand the test of time and still seems to work quite well to move the plot along. Since not enough is revealed about how a specific disguise is worked out, it might seem a bit thin but it still works here. The story itself beyond being science fiction seems to contain a mix of moral elements as regards prejudices and race hate. It becomes a story of a young mans journey to grow to maturity in his thinking and his beliefs. J.L.Dobias

Containment by Christian Cantrell I loved this book and the character of Arik and it would be nice to give it five stars, but that would be lacking honesty. This is good hard science fiction about a group of settlers on the planet Venus. As such, it is necessary to draw the proper picture of why we are there and how we got there and how we survive there so much of this hard science has to be there to support that. Some of the science seems questionable to me but that's only because I didn't stop to look things up to verify them and I'm just not an expert in many of those fields. Often the hard science of Containment seems to come at the reader from a distance with detachment. Other times there are moments when Arik resonates with the science. There are long paragraphs about the harshness of the planet and life in the biosphere that contrast to the Arik's feelings because he expresses a few times how he's comfortable within the biosphere that he must live. The exposition often draws on the harshness of the planet almost as though we are portraying the planet as another character, and that didn't work that well with me because I didn't see the plot developing in that direction. There also seems to be two stories happening. The present and some flashbacks. Again it's necessary, but at times it's confusing. I had this one curious problem, Containment caused what I refer to in my antiquated thinking as the vinyl record skip syndrome. It's like having that scratch on the record where the needle skips and you have no idea how much you just missed. That's where I'm reading along and stumble into exposition and then suddenly reach the bottom of a page that I can't remember reading. It's a bad habit of mine and I believe many other readers might have something similar. I know to catch it because, as is the case with Containment, the parts I nearly napped through have some plot points that I need to know. Containment qualifies as a hard science science fiction. The problem with that is that in trying so hard to do this many times hard science becomes hard to read. If the goal is to deliberately alienate readers who hate walls of exposition then it's likely to be successful at that. Most readers will accept a few of those when they clearly drive the plot. But, when a few of them seem to be there just to increase the hard science quotient, some readers end up skipping the important ones later. And, although I can point out many occasions where the exposition does drive the plot forward; for each of those there always two that are questionable. I would never ask a writer to give up their babies, especially when they are doing hard science because it does tend to create some lovely images. The problem is that they often serve as a match for the dreaded purple prose that other creative writers get noted for. Neither of these are bad, But out of necessity they should drive the plot or character development and serve a purpose that the reader can identify. Over all Containment is one of those curious books that everyone who loves science fiction might like, but it will always have a variety of reactions from love to mild acceptance to confusion. Obviously many people do love it, and although it's possible one more good edit might have made those numbers rise, it's just as likely to make it worse. By the numbers (reader response) I can't say that the author made any large mistake in leaving it as it is. It might be a tough read for one out of four readers, but overall it's a tightly written and entertaining read. J.L.Dobias

The Door Through Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley I read this; because it was there. Well, it's written by Marion Zimmer Bradley and its one of the first novels of her's that was published. I loved The Colors of Space but honestly did not read much more than that because her stories seemed predominantly fantasy and at the time I was reading science fiction. I'm almost sorry I haven't read more of her's- the good thing is that enough is out there I might still have time. The Door Through Space demonstrates that she had a lot of talent coming out of the gate. The story starts on the planet known as Wolf. The reader is introduced to Race Cargill former intelligence agent of the Terran Secret Service. He's at the spaceport in Kharsa and in the first chapter we are introduced to the natives much of the political situation and some of the back-story of Cargill all through the movement of a mob chasing a dwarf who appears to be peddling toys. And the reader is introduced to a mystery when the dwarf disappears while Cargill is trying to calm the natives, using his skill at speaking in their language. All of this is in the first short chapter. Cargill is intent on leaving Wolf on the next Star-ship. He's ready to go and on the ship waiting when he's pulled off by his employer who has one more job for him. This job involves a traitor named Rakhal. Rakhal had been a fellow agent. When he turned native he left with Race's sister Juli and he disfigured Race's face. Race has since been at a desk job and he has no desire or ambition to seek after Rakhal or to kill his own brother in law. The problem is that Juli has come back and she's desperate to have Race find Rakhal and bring back her own daughter to her. If that's not enough Race finds out that Rakhal has been pursuing the possibility that someone on Wolf might possess a matter transmitter. If that's true then Terran Intelligence needs to be on top of it. One more time Race Cargill must go undercover to find his niece and try to secure the matter transmitter. This is a tightly written tale that has survived the test of time and still stands as an intriguing story that keeps the reader on their toes and involved to the very end. I sure hope Amazon has that download fixed. If not Guttenburg has this in kindle format and its easy to upload it from a pc into your que- I believe that's how I did it. J.L. Dobias

I don't care what everyone else says-I enjoyed this book Sunrise Alley by Catherine Asaro I picked this book up in the kindle version- probably from the publisher-I don't see it here on Amazon. I'm familiar with Catherine Asaro and had not yet read any of her novels. This novel reminded me of some of Heinlein's middle years - you know after the juvenile and after stranger in a strange and before the really wild stuff he wrote near the end. This is more on par with Friday. Except that the female character in Sunrise Alley has more depth. Samantha Bryton is a rich intelligent woman who, after having suffered the loss of her father and her husband, has become a bit of a recluse. In the year 2033 where everyone is connected by what they refer to as the local mesh, Sam is trying to shed most of technology. This is a difficult thing for her since she's a leading figure in the development of EI Intelligence and EI Psychology. To say nothing of the basement lab she has in her seclude home. We find Sam on a secluded beach near her home after a storm jogging and checking out storm damage while remaining as disconnected as she can from the mesh. She discovers first a shipwreck and then the man who calls himself Turner. It takes Sam a while and much conversation before she discovers that Turner is and EI - sentient machine that's been hybrid into a deceased human. One quibble right away might be that this story early on takes the shape of a slightly contrived plot. Here we have Turner an EI who, though he died and someone named Charon has altered his brain with an EI, claims he is still Turner Pascal the human. Since Sam has been a staunch supporter of the notion that EI intelligent machines are sentient and should be accorded the same rights as people this seems all too convenient. But the contrived nature of this story is also a plot point so it works as it is. There are a number of twists and turns in the plot and plenty of thrills and danger to match many Hitchcock suspense films. There are some places where are hero's get into tight spots and squeak out of them rather conveniently - again a plot device and that becomes clear soon enough. What isn't clear is the why and that keeps the story going. The evil character of Charon is shrouded in mystery and there are some twists and turns here but there are plenty of clues about this to make any final reveals work well. It was an easy read for me-one sitting- and anyone who enjoys science fiction, suspense and even romance will find plenty to keep them involved. J.L. Dobias

The Planet Savers, by Marion Zimmer Bradley The copy I have of this is from the Gutenberg project. It is taken from the pages of amazing stories. And I want to share the little quote at the beginning. [Quote] Marion Zimmer Bradley has written some of the finest science fiction in print. She has been away from our pages too long. So this story is in the nature of a triumphant return. It could well be her best to date. Marion Zimmer Bradley. The Planet Savers (Kindle Locations 16-17). [/Quote] I had not read this prior and it's fairly old. It's from Bradley's Darkover world and I think it's a masterpiece. Even after all this time it still holds together well as a relevant and well told tale. This short novel easily demonstrates the author's massive ability at world creation and her skill in writing that makes this not only a marvelous work of Science Fiction but a literary masterpiece. This is the story of Jay/Jason. A highly intelligent and driven doctor who is respected on one hand and despised on the other. He's aloof most of the time and has nothing but prejudice against most of the inhabitants of the Darkover world especially the trailmen whom he considers to be low life beasts. Ironically Jason is also the man who as a child was rescued and raised by the trailmen in their remote mountain village. They raise him until they decide he's old enough that he needs to be returned to his kind. It might be that this young man felt abandoned by them as he may have felt abandoned when his father died. Whatever the reason, he's pulled off a sort of Jekyl-Hyde or Sybil turn in his life where he has segmented the old Jason from the new Jay. Now, at the time of the reawakening of a cyclical pandemic fever he is forced to bring out the Jason- trailman- side of his personality. The Trailmen are immune to the illness because they suffer a milder form of it when they are young. The notion is that they might be able to make a serum from the trailmen blood. The problem is the trailmen never come down from their mountain. Jay even has to agree that this trip out to the trailmen is necessary because his greater understanding of medicine can see the value. They need Jason to help insure its success. Submitting to a procedure that will bring forth this other personality he becomes Jason- a somewhat genial and reckless young man. The transformation he undertakes affects even his physical characteristics to a point that colleagues who have known him for years don't recognize him. All this takes place in a matter of few pages all packed in expertly with the added bonus of creating the affect that the reader comes to identify and love Jason, while loathing and despising Jay. There's a lot more to come in this story as they make the dangerous trek into the wild and up through treacherous mountains that tax even the local Darkovans. Will they survive, will they find a vaccine, how did Jason get so messed up. All these and more will eventually come out in this gem of a short. The skill with which Marion Zimmer Bradley weaves and fills this novel and the fact that it stands the test of time make it easy to see how she became such a respected author and remains that to this very day. This book is a good read for anyone who wants to become acquainted with the author and her Darkover series. And for those already acquainted who may have missed this one, they should pick it up and give it a go. There is no way for you to be disappointed. J.L. Dobias

Touchstone Trilogy by Andrea K Host. I began reading the Stray which hooked me because it reminded me of some of Robert Heinlein's later works where people could take a a left turn in just the right way and end up in another dimension. Maybe even get lost as his character JOB did. And Cassandra is such a dear character- reminding me of one of my favorite book critics whose not afraid to use the f**k word. I could see her as this character when she discovers she's lost F**Kity F**K. Sort of jarring as an opening sentence. This novel is done from a first person perspective and that works well for this story. Contrary to what many believe, first person is not what makes this YA its the YA in the story that does that. This is a sort of Young Adult story so it throws one that it starts right way with this type of language-or at least it does us older folk. Her full name is Cassandra Eloise Devlin. She's been living a sheltered life in Australia and the last thing she wanted today was to get lost on the way home. Well at that age it's a bit embarrassing to get lost. But with this the wrong left turn thing going here it's going to take a while for Cassandra to figure out that she's not just lost. She's LOST. The good news is she has her wilderness survival kit. The bad news is it has everything she might need if she's lost in Sydney. Not much use for where she's at. At one point she's speculating New Zealand- she's still thinking just a bit on the shallow side of the galactic pool. In the next few pages I have sympathy for Cassandra because she's going to do a lot of camping. I hate camping. And she's being forced to do it while still rather lost all the way around. Of course this camping becomes survivalist pretty soon, which is totally different from camping- not that I like it any more.(at least camping usually has the full range from survival roughing it to places that have electricity so you can charge your gadgets and stuff.) No there's not hope for that. Things have gotten real by this time when Cassandra has found all sorts of mysterious flora and fauna. They look almost familiar but very much strange and unfamiliar. And very much wild and dangerous. After wearing down her few useful tools and walking endlessly she comes across a settlement. Unfortunately it seems to be abandoned. Having some time to relax a little and become frustrated by her lack of survival skills Cassandra also has a chance to check out the new world to make some few observations about things. (These become handy later but for now its mostly her own curiosity.) She tries unsuccessfully to make her own materials for bedding and clothing and other house items. Thankfully there are others who know of this world and settlement and who also seem aware of the openings between dimensions and worlds through which Cassandra has stumbled. A team of these people show up at her settlement and a couple of them scare the daylights out of her when she wakes up to them hovering over her. At this point though she's sick and feverish so she's more relieved than frightened. Taken to a hospital like environment she is poked prodded and injected. She doesn't understand the language right away but there seems to be a technology that helps her with this. Once she starts to learn things she realizes that she's considered a savage and that she possibly will never reach their level. When it finally dawns on her that they're treating the savage like a lab rat she begins to balk and that's when her true character kicks in. They say that they will try to return her to her home, but they don't have a clue yet where that is, though they seem to know how to do it once they find it. Later we find its not so easy to do that. Of course at this time Cassandra also begins conflict with the people who saved her and it interferes with whats up for her future. This is a sort of Science Fiction fantasy and almost Paranormal romance, which will contain some romance for Cassandra down the road. But with the speed bumps she creates for herself in the first two books it's going to take a while. I loved this story as Science Fiction. The characters were every much as engaging as I hope for. I'm a character driven story lover and don't much care that all the science is believable nor do I demand a long explanation of the science for validity. It's a bonus that there's a cute romance story that comes out eventually and of course one whole underlying thread that's resolved at the end of the trilogy. I think YA and Sci-Fi and fantasy and paranormal romance lovers will not only love this book but whatever else Ms Host has in that great mind of hers. Keep it coming Andrea. Sural

I was very disappointed with The Amber Spyglass. I really enjoyed the series until I read this book. Without giving too much away, major characters completely turn away from their true nature. The plot falls apart in certain aspects. The series had a lot of potential, but the last installment did not live up to my expectations.

The Octagon Key is a compelling novel full of action, mystery and forbidden, but unrequited love. There are great landscapes and descriptions of weather in what was once the Alaskan and Canadian wilderness as well as what is left of the West Coast. The parts written of sea travel aboard sailing vessels is so realistic that one cannot help but feel that the author has experienced these places and modes of travel. I can hardly wait for the next book.

Action backed book of witch in world with alternative history. Urban story of trying to get away from hitmen hired by your former employee. Quite ok concept, but I was constantly reminded of Butcher's Dresden files. The main elements were so similar that most of the time this only felt like female version of the wizard Dresden.

We had to wait more than two years, but now it's here! "Fearless", the second book in the "Mirrorworld"-series. This book is at least as beautiful and dangerous as the first one. Let yourself drift away on the magical tales about Jacob, Fox and the others.

This is one of the best books I ever read. I didn't like Funke's Inktrilogy, but the Mirrorworld series is something completely different. I love the world, the characters, the tales, everything! This a fairy tale for young adults you can't put down.

"The Wyrd of Willowmere" (which means "The Destiny of Willowmere") is the last book in the series (what a shame). I have enjoyed this series. It took me less than two days to read the whole series, about 750 pages. "The Wyrd" is just as good as the other books, with a very good end. The author has thought for how to end this series, and it worked. "The Willowmere Chronicles" is one of the best series I ever read.

After "The Witches" comes "The Warding of Willowmere", which has as much potential as the first book in the trilogy. I have the (sometimes annoying) habit of re-reading the very best pieces in my books. But if I did that with this book, I'd be reading it two times as long as usual. A book which you can't put down!