Kristen

Crystal Rain, Tobias Buckell's debut novel, is the first book in a series of stand-alone space operas set in the same universe (if it has a series name, I can't find it on Buckell's site or Amazon). It is followed by Ragamuffin, which was nominated for a Nebula Award in 2007, and Sly Mongoose, which just came out a few days ago. These books seem to receive a lot of praise; however, bad writing, lack of strong characterization, and some slow pacing despite a lot of action kept me from enjoying this book.

Complete Review:
http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2008/08/review-of-crystal-rain.html

Lord of the White Hell: Book One had the same strengths that made me enjoy Ginn Hale's earlier work, Wicked Gentlemen - compelling characters facing a clash caused by belonging to two very different social groups. In Wicked Gentlemen, there was a dissonance between Belimai's demon ancestry and life in Hells Below and Harper's role as a part of the Inquisition. Lord of the White Hell features a pair of young men who come from completely different cultures.

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Each book in the October Daye series is better than the last, and this series has become one of my top three urban fantasies (right after the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews and the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs). The second book was a big improvement over the first one, and this latest installment was slightly better than the second one. The plot was tighter with a wonderfully creepy atmosphere in the realms of Blind Michael. It's dark and there is not a vampire or werewolf to be found - it's all about the fae.

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Elfland had compelling characters, some beautiful prose and a fascinating world. The fantasy aspect of the story does mostly take a backseat to the characters and their dramas, but their story made this book nearly impossible to put down ??? even if it did sometimes verge toward a little too much melodrama. It was one of those books that immediately gripped me and never let go until it was finished. It kept me up reading later than I should be and kept returning to my thoughts when I wasn???t reading it, and I will definitely be reading more by Freda Warrington.

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