If you read a history of a random country in sub-Saharan Africa it either begins at the first contract with Europeans or briefly mentions the state of the country right before the colonial powers show up. Africa often appears not to have a history before that. In Segu Guadeloupean author Maryse Condé shows us a pre-colonial Bambara state centred around the city of Segu (present day Mali) during the period from 1797 to about 1860. A history of the Bamabara empire from the height of it's power to it's eventual fall to the Toucouleur of El Hadj Umar Tall. It's a fascinating historical novel with an unusual subject.

This novel was originally published in French, which unfortunately I cannot read well enough to decipher the label on a milk carton, let alone a novel. I read a Dutch translation of the book. This translation follows the French spelling for the names of places and people strictly. I suspect the English version does not, Segu is spelled Ségou in my copy for instance. I don't have an English copy to check so I may get a couple of them wrong. It should still be recognizable.

The novel opens in the year 1797, on the day the first white explorer, the Scotsman Mungo Park is seen on the banks of the Joliba (Niger) river near Segu. This herald of change causes great excitement in the city, not in the least in the household of Dousika Traoré. Dousika is one of the most influential Bambara noblemen and rules of the huge household comprising of his own family, he has several wives and some twenty children, as well as those of his brothers and he many slaves that work the land he owns. Park's appearance marks change and for Dousika that change comes quite rapidly. That afternoon the first cracks in his position at the court of Segu's ruler, Monzon Diarra, begin to show. Soon he is completely out of grace. The fetish priests are summoned to explain this certain turn in Dousika's fortune and it appears his bad luck is not over yet. According to the family's priest four of Dousika's sons should be considered hostage of the gods, four lives influenced by their unpredictable will, their descendants scattered across the world.

The first is Tiékoro, Dousika's eldest son. The call of the Islam, a religion that is slowly penetrating the Sahel has reached his ears and turns him into a deeply religious man. Unfortunately he is also horny as a toad, and his new religion clashes not only with his traditional family beliefs but also with his own views on sexuality. Sira, the younger half-brother of Tiékoro is sent along with him as Tiékoro leaves for Tombouctou to study the Islam. Sira was born to a slave girl who later committed suicide by jumping into a well. His mother's sin as well his slave heritage make him feel inferior to his brother Tiékoro. A feeling that is only confirmed when Tiékoro's new teacher welcomes his brother but sends Sira on his way.

The third son the gods have claimed is Naba. As a boy he looks up to his brother Tiékoro and when he leaves for Tombouctou, Naba transfers his affection to his half-brother Tiéfolo. Tiéfolo is one of the great hunters of Segu and Naba joins him on many hunting trips. Tiéfolo gets overconfident though, he takes a number of young hunters out on a lion hunt, disobeying their elders and priests. The hunt turns into a disaster when Naba is taken by slave hunters. Naba ends up in Gorée and is later shipped off to Brazil.

Malobali is the fourth hostage. He is a beautiful boy and the most spoiled of Dousika's sons. Until the return of Tiékoro that is. This new holy man in the family restores a lot of the prestige the family had lost after Dousika's fall and he takes all the attention of Malobali's admirers. What's worse, he intends to send Malobali off to a school in Djenné to study the Islam. Malobali does not intend to obey Tiékoro and makes a run for it. He ends up a soldier in the army of the Ashanti empire and is the first of the family to encounter the British.

Segu is not an easy book to read. The author introduces a lot of characters and uses a great number of point of views. You have to keep in mind that the city is the true main character and that Condé uses her characters to show us the various influences on the city. This clearly goes at the expense of the depth of some characters. There isn't a single on that offers the reader an anchor though out the book. Condé also assumes a certain level of knowledge of the history of Africa, colonialism and slavery. There is an appendix in the back of the book (in my copy at least) to help the reader along and she frequently comments on the history of various places in the book but it reads a bit smoother if you have the general background. The history of Mali is not part of the history curriculum in any school I ever attended so you have quite enough on your plate as it is.

Another point that will turn some readers of is that is ends quite abruptly. Keeping in mind that the history of Segu is the star of the show, this makes sense. The Bambara empire is subjugated by the Islamic expansion of Umar Tall, their independence is at an end in 1861. End of a chapter in history. It does however leave the reader with a number of loose story lines with various characters. Condé picks the story of these characters up in the sequel Children of Segu, which covers the period from 1860 to the French colonize the region around 1890. I get to feeling that these weren't meant to be two books to begin with. Reading these two books in one go makes more sense.

What really appealed to me in this novel is than Condé succeeds in showing us the events that influence Segu though African, or maybe I should say Bambara, eyes. Through many incidents throughout the book the proud Traoré show their love for the city and the complete lack of understanding for the restrictions imposed by foreign religions such as the Islam and various Christian beliefs. Why the white peoples have suddenly abolished the slave trade or why the colour of their skin makes them superior in their own eyes is beyond them. Segu is changing but change is slow and sometimes only skin deep.

Condé creates a story on an epic scale in this novel. Many of the developments she so accurately describes are felt in other parts of Africa as well. The story is not new but her choice of setting and characters as well as her profound knowledge of the history of the region as well as that of slavery make this book unique. The history of 19th century Africa is not a happy one. It is not a page in history the colonial powers can be proud of. If you are willing the set aside cultural preconceptions Condé will shed new light on it though. The African view on those events is often underexposed. Condé manages to let it shine in this novel and that is the real strength of this book.

Embrace the Night, Karen Chance’s third volume in the Cassandra Palmer series is a fitting sequel to the first two. Fast paced and filled with faeries, kids, vampires, mages, ghosts, incubi, gargoyles, magic spells, evil plots, backstabbing and surprises – this one follows the lead of the first two and adds in a bit more of each to ‘kick it up a notch’ so to speak. In this novel, Cassie is now Pythia, the most powerful living clairvoyant with the charge of keeping the current timeline from being corrupted through unscrupulous use of time travel. Cassie’s familiarity with vampires and ghosts is an aid to her for this post but she has just a few tiny little obstacles to surmount. The first issue she has to deal with is a geis placed upon her by the very old and very powerful vampire Mircea. Just for complications sake, during one of her trips to the past, she accidentally caused the geis to be intensified. Another problem she must manage is her deal with the king of the faeries. She has agreed to retrieve an ancient book of magic for him. Not just any book but one written personally by Merlin and sought after by everyone who is anyone in the magical community. It hasn’t even been seen in hundreds of years, yet she has to find it and recover it. Working against her are the mage’s Silver Circle and various factions of this or that group that either want to kill her or control her because of her power.

Cassie, however, has friends. She has the permanently cranky Pritkin, war mage extraordinaire who is not only an expert on demons, but the son of one himself. Can she trust him? She also has Casanova, an incubus in the employ of her former tormentor, crime boss and vampire Tony. Can she trust him to not betray her to Tony? Then there are the gargoyles who illegally work the kitchen of the casino where she’s hiding out, Francoise a powerful witch transported from the past, and of course, Billy, her gambler ghost friend.

The action begins immediately and carries through to the final page. This one goes quickly and drags you along for the ride. Full of quirky humor, a bit of steamy romance, and lots of inventive magic and mayhem it is an enjoyable ride to follow along as Cassie attempts to control her gift, save her life and those of her friends as well as to get the magic, faerie and vampire communities off her back. Being new to the post of Pythia, she has to learn as she goes. Her jumps through time seem to be both too easy in a technical manner, as she decides she must go to a certain place and time and does so – even though in the last book it was explained that her magic was tied to a disarray of the timeline and that would be the only way she would travel back in time and would also dictate when she arrived; and too inconsistent – as her multiple leaps bring her physical discomfort some times but not others.

All in all a very engaging book that had me leaping through the pages, and since it is nearly double the size of the previous two, it kept me engaged for a decent amount of time. Now that Cassie is getting settled into the Pythia role, I expect that the series can branch out from personal-to-her stories to more stories of her working at the role of Pythia and keeping the timeline intact. I will definitely be interested in finding out what happens next.

Morganville is a small town, with a strange secret. Claire Danvers is a brilliant student, who starts a new college a year ahead of normal abilities to advance her studies.
But in Morganville you are either food or owned by the local Vampire's and Claire find's herself on the recieving end of town bullies and in danger of becoming someone's meal.

Morganville quickly becomes a nightmare for Claire, were the local college girls hate her so much, they threaten to beat her to death. In the hopes of escaping their bullying, she takes up lodgings at Glass House, run by an strange young musician, Michael.
The house is an haven for two other town outcasts and it's here that Claire learns that Morganville is Vampire capital of America.

With her outcast friends watching her back, she fights to get her dream education and stay clear of the ruling vampires.

Personal Thoughts
Fast paced, well written and entertaining. The author manages to create strong, interesting characters, and despite her main being only 16 years old, Claire is able to carry the reader through the strange twists and turns of Morganville vampire politics.
Her room mates are quite interesting and I enjoyed learning of Michael's secret and how the vampires have affected all their lives. It is aimed as a teen, YA read, however, I found it quite mature enough to keep me interested.

There are violent story elements in the plot, but not in-depth. The ending is left on a cliff hanger, very frustrating, but did leave me eager to read the next book.

Oh Me oh My Oh!

Ambrose and Dorcus Lowell, Witch and Wizard matchmakers, ticked off the High Council. As punishment, they are sent to the non-magical hamlet of Big Knob, Indiana. They are sentenced to make sure an ADD suffering dragon does his job and earns his golden scales. But the two lovebirds can't help but do a little covert meddling magic in the love department for the mortals.

Sean is a stud muffin in his small town. He can't escape the sexual advances and overt propositions from any female age 16 to 60. Longing for peace and quiet in which to buy and restore his childhood home, he encounters Ambrose and Dorcus. They grant him his wish, kinda. They reduce his sex appeal as well as his, uhm, manhood size. All his problems are solved, right? Except for that side affect of bad vision that comes and goes.

Maggie Grady needs a miracle. As a scout for Save-A-Lot big box store, she thinks she has found a way to save her job. A prime location magically fell into her lap and she needs to close this deal. The fact that the property happens to be Sean's old Homestead can not get in her way. She can not understand why the whole town thinks he is some sort of Adonis. He is cute enough, but nothing special. Until he kisses her. Then she feels the magic and the sizzle. But she is determined to have the land. Trouble is, so is Sean.

Wishing he could fall back on his old charming ways to get what he wants, he has to work to prove to Maggie that he loves her despite their common goal of depriving the other of a sale.

Ambrose and Dorcus do their best to convince George, the belligerent dragon, to do his job and end their exile in this backwards non-magical town. They are failing miserable. Not even a coveted iPod can make the dragon behave.

This book is packed full of laughs, snickers and innuendo. I zipped through it in a single evening and was sorry when it ended. Ambrose and Dorcus are hilarious in their sexuality and quirky magical practices. George gets my vote as the most unique character in a romance novel this year! Poor Sean got his wish a little too much and then had to deal with the consequences. And Maggie gives up her job to prove that Magic doesn't rule her heart, love does. And the hinting of a sequel was icing on the cake!! I can't wait!

What woman doesn't have a bad boy fantasy?

Ex-marine turn security specialist Joel Wilde loves his jet setting dangerous job. It keeps romantic entanglements at arm's length. But then an old military buddy calls in a favor. Deep in gaming debt, Zach mistakenly sets up his sister and her life insurance policy as a possible out. Now she has hit-men on tail and doesn't even know it.

Joel sets out to keep watch on an unsuspecting Lora at her night time job, as a cocktail waitress at The Electric Blue, a Coyote Ugly type bar. His bad boy looks and the fact that he only has eyes for Lora stir up her nearly dead libido. Working two jobs, she has no time for romance. But she can not deny what the darkly attractive leather clad man is doing to her pulse rate.

Determined to keep things platonic, Joel invites Lora for coffee. She figures out he is her troubled brother's comrade and decides to throw caution to the wind. She tries to seduce him on his Harley, but Joel manages to resist, mostly. Even tho she finds this incredibly sweet, it also sparks her desire more. She is bound and determined to get him between the sheets.

Then a warning comings in the shape of two hit men with a very sharp knife. Shaken, Lora turns to Joel for comfort. Realizing that she came very close to dying rattles him. He should not be feeling these emotions for her. Nor should he take her to bed. But he does both.

The passionate night spent together is obliterated when the vagabond brother calls and lets Joel's undercover work out of the bag. Lora is incensed that Joel lied to her. Fulfillig his promise, he whisks her off to a secluded cabin to keep her from harm and sets a tentative plan in motion to erase the threat against her life. Lora thaws to Joel when she realizes he does having feelings for her that he is denying even to himself.

She uses his lust for her as a lure and he can't resist. She employs the erotic skills of her day job as a masseuse. When her brother shows up and Joel tells him of his plan to erase his debt, Zach balks as any addict would. But then he hits rock bottom and has no choice. He accepts help and rehab and the threat which kept Lora and Joel together is gone. And Lora lets him go. She can't keep him if he doesn't want to stay. Ultimately, Joel realizes he can not live without Lora and returns to her.

There is a wonderful romantic sub-plot with Lora's boss and friend Sydney and her daughter's Math Teacher Daniel that threatens to overshadow the main story. It was like a mini book inside the primary one. Those characters were refreshing and a engaging with a spicy plot-line.

While the premise of the book was a little weak (If Joel couldn't offer the money to fix Zach's debts in the first chapter, hows can he do it in the end?), the overall effect was believable. The female aggressor is always a nice change and by, is Sydney a go-getter!!

The sex was spicy but not overly erotic and scattered enough to not be just one long string of bedplay. The emotions were well thought out and true to character. But the shaky plot really bothered me in the end. Zach seems to just deflate and accept the offer of help without much fight. And the fight he did show was not too aggressive. Having read other books by the author, I was a little disappointed. It was good but not her best work.

As part of the series, it did stand alone very very well. You didn't get the sense of a huge back story you missed out on. The sub-plot was almost more creative than the main line and I found myself more interested in them as a whole. This line would have made a fantastic read alone.

Laini Taylor’s Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer is a true fairy tale. Only it isn’t, it is a faerie tale. What is the difference? The difference is that while fairy tales tell us of glorious deeds and wondrous or horrible things that happen because of love or hate or greed. This is a faerie story because it does the same thing but from a different perspective – from the character inside that fairy tale. Imagine Snow White as told by Doc. It would still have the feel of that familiar fairy tale but would have a new and exciting flavor, the flavor of perspective. The perspective we as the reader get from this book is that of an actual faerie. This faerie is a little different from the norm but extremely likeable, relatable, and most of all interesting, her name is Magpie. Magpie is an unusual faerie in that she travels the world outside of Dreamdark, the home of faeries, hunting devils let loose by men. Magpie travels with a group of crows, who have become her family through all of their years of hunting.

Inside Dreamdark, faeries do not even believe in devils. Their most feared foe, the Blackbringer is only a tale told to frighten children. It’s the bogeyman. It isn’t real. Oh but it is, and Magpie is the only one who can help. With aid from her friends the crows, a stranger with gifts he’s unaware of, old and new friends, she has to convince the faeries of their folly, unscramble ancient recipes, ask dead legends for answers and follow a strange quest to the beginning and end of it all.

I read this book, front to back on a quiet evening after work. It was a smooth and delightful read. The faeries depicted within are both extraordinary and fascinatingly familiar. Laini Taylor’s use of language to differentiate parts of faerie society, and descriptions of specific differences between the faeries themselves gives the book such depth that it all feels real. However, it is a reality that could have been imagined by Disney. Softer edged, but with that hint of steel beneath, her characters evoke both reality and fantasy and the mixture blends well to create a story that dances over your senses as lightly as a dragonfly would. The reader is even blessed by the bonus of several illustrations throughout the book that echo the feeling of the text.

My Immortal by Erin McCarthy is a romantic fantasy tale that leans more toward romance than fantasy. The lead character, Marley Turner is a shy, timid, self-conscious and self deprecating woman who’s concern for and jealousy of her wild sister leads her to the steamy wilds of New Orleans.

Marley, fresh from a solitude retreat at a monastery, has traveled to New Orleans to discover whether her sister is truly missing or just out of touch with her family and young son. Lizzie’s last communication with Marley indicated that she was in love. This clue leads her to Damien du Bourg who, unbeknownst to her, is an immortal in service to a demon. With Damien’s help, Marley attempts to locate her sister and during the search finds herself becoming more and more interested in Damien.

While this story was an attempt to mix the fascination of the fantasy genre with the intoxication of the romance genre, I felt that it did justice to neither. The purpose of the demon and his immortal daughters were not adequately explained and the bargain struck by Damien du Bourg seemed to be convenient device. Perhaps because I could not relate to either of the main characters, I did not enjoy this book as much as I should have. Generally a mix of fantasy and romance will send me running to the couch to open the book and begin.

I did like McCarthy’s use of the old letters to tie in the past and give the reader an insight into the current characters. However, these letters did not read as real letters would have done, and they didn’t have the feel of a diary or journal. Because they included entire conversations and other descriptions that would not have been included in these types of writings, these letters felt like an obvious information dump. A device to give the reader what was needed without the entire necessary story to go with it. This fractured the story and made it feel false, like a deliberate tall tale.

Other parts of the story may be especially appealing or not depending upon what you are looking for. There is a great deal of gratuitous sex included in the story, including Damian’s debauched background and his sex parties designed to inflame the lusts of mortals. The actual romantic scenes between Damian and Marley are less gratuitous but they display the characteristics of long time lovers, not of lovers who have just met. Granted, Damien’s specialty is charm and sexuality but that wouldn’t change the nature of Marley’s thoughts and reactions.

So while this was not a bad book, I was a bit disappointed that the author took so many shortcuts with a good idea and turned it into something that was only marginally interesting. I felt that she could have explored a great deal more of the demon aspect. That she could have given us a few glimpses of Damien’s two hundred years as a broker of lust, and more background on the two sisters and why they are the way they are. I think it could be a fine book if it were to be expanded, the plot holes filled and some of the character’s lives filled out.

All Together Dead is the seventh book in the Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris. The series’ main character, Sookie Stackhouse, is not a vampire herself but associates with them on occasion. Sookie is a telepath and in this capacity has worked for the vampires in the past. This time she is to attend a vampire convention along with Louisiana’s reigning vampire queen, Sophie-Anne Leclerq. Sophie-Anne needs her as a protective element since Sophie-Anne herself has been weakened physically and in reputation due to recent events. Murders, anti-vampire terrorism, vampire justice trials, dancing and romance all ensue.

Sookie is contracted to work for the Louisiana vampires for the convention. Since her most current lover is a were-tiger who works in special events, he’ll conveniently be at the convention as well. Also attending will be two of her former lovers, both vampires. At home she leaves a witch named Katie, her temporary housemate and Katie’s boyfriend whom she has turned into a cat. At the convention, Sookie is to provide telepathic protection and support during murder trial Sophie-Anne as well as the rest of the convention. When the Louisiana group happens upon a double murder at the convention hotel, things get more complicated. Even worse, there may be an anti-vampire plot brewing at the convention.

Since this is the 7th book in the series, Sookie is reintroduced relatively well to the readers, especially those who may not be reading the books in order or have picked this one up on its own. However, past events from previous books are mentioned often and repeatedly and a reader not having read the first six may be scrambling to understand what those scenes’ relevance are to the current story. The combination of relevant gaps in her history and a thorough description of her current surroundings gave me an unbalanced feeling with regards to Sookie. I couldn’t decide if I liked her or if I did not, but quite often I knew that I did not understand her.

There are two reasons that I’ve given All Together Dead a relatively poor score in this review. The first is that Charlaine Harris did not clear the improbability hurdles. As a fantasy reader, I generally expect to be presented with a world that is not like mine but that could conceivably be mine. What I mean is that I must be able to believe in the premise for it to become real enough for me to enjoy. The improbable must be explained away and manipulated so that it becomes probable. I found the vampire convention to be both kooky, unreasonable and downright uninteresting. Conventions are boring things where large groups of like-minded individuals get together and talk about the things they have in common. Definitely not a thrill ride. Vampires have a feel to them. There are hundreds of books out there about these undead creatures, from Ann Rice to Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and many in between, and while they all differ, they also give the sense that no self-respecting vampire of any sort would be caught undead buying fake fangs at a convention.

The second reason for the lowered score was the odd combination of a fairly lighthearted romp about vampires and a sexually promiscuous telepath and a graphically gory debate on whether vampires should be allowed to exist and what should be done to eradicate them if they should not. This jarring combination, which was at its worst at the end of the book, really took me out of the story which is one of the fastest ways to ruin a reader’s enjoyment of a story.

This may very well be O’Connell’s best book yet. Over several novels (this is number 9) she has developed Mallory, a hard-nosed New York Police Detective—giving glimpses of the dark childhood years that helped formed her, all while solving difficult murder cases. Perhaps one of the reasons I didn’t totally love the book previous to this one, “Winter House,” was because the author chose not to develop Mallory and her interesting history as much.

O’Connell always has multiple plots running and almost always includes clues about the mysterious background of Mallory. For me a thriller is only as good as its characters, and those characters need to be affected and changed by the events around them. Too often an author strings a reader along with a larger story of a person’s life—and fails to ever advance that part of the story. In O’Connell’s case, her plots are compelling by themselves, but when you add in the superb characters and the changes in their lives, there is no stopping this series.

In “Find Me” Mallory is taken out of her comfort zone of New York and travels down Route 66—tracking clues from her past, parts of the road that no longer exist, and a child serial killer. The clues are thrown out fast and furious; the two cases intertwine, then separate, and just when you think you know where things are headed, you see another viewpoint and must explore yet another alleyway. In some ways, I was left unable to assimilate all the facts with only a single read.

O’Connell has a rare gift: you don’t just see the scenes she paints, you feel them. You know instantly whether the roadway is lonely or filled with the heartbeats of passing souls. I swear you feel warm blood dripping when one of her characters bleeds. Without exact words the cold dampness of an abandoned farmhouse seeps into your living room, drawing you away from safety to look at evidence you’d rather not see.

One of the strengths of the books is also a weakness: Mallory’s relationship with her long-time partner, Riker. Riker is a bit of a father or uncle figure to Mallory; he watches her back and tries to cover for her flaws, especially when she plays outside the edge of the law. You want these two to exist outside the police and personal head games, but Mallory is not so forgiving a character. She will manipulate events to suit her unless it actually endangers her partner’s life. This harsh part of her personality is a reality in all her relationships even though you hunger for her to put it aside with her partner. As a reader, I chase each exchange, hoping for the signs she will relent, getting teased now and then when she shows a kindness, but I’m always left wondering if she is too close to the edge and one day it might just cost her the friendship.

As for the serial killer plot, it’s a fascinating mix of old cases and new. A killer that had gone underground is back, but he has changed his killing pattern. It’s up to Mallory to not only find some of the bodies in the older cases, but tie them to the new killings. Then there’s the subplot of why the murders started up again and why they are different this time. In all the Mallory books, her companions are quite certain she is able to solve crimes because she can, in a very accurate and frightening manner, get inside the head of the killers. Riker is completely convinced she is a sociopath in her own right, but that doesn’t stop him from being one of her biggest supporters.

You don’t have to read the earlier books in the series to follow the serial killer plot of this one; however reading earlier books helps greatly in understanding Mallory’s personality. Knowing the character and her past triumphs and failures helps you anticipate her actions. The story of Mallory’s history is peppered throughout the series and is more important in some of the books than others. There are nine books now; I’d recommend reading at least the first three before this one. Reading the whole series makes the grand finale in "Find Me" all the more rewarding, but it is a book that is complete on its own.

If you want just a taste of O’Connell’s talent without starting the series from scratch, I highly recommend her stand alone: “Judas Child.” As Brian would say, "it’ll leave you sockless." Start any O’Connell book well before bedtime because you’ll not have time for sleep or food until you’re finished.

"The Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer" is a first novel by artist Laini Taylor. Don't let the fact that she's an artist worry you. She successfully writes an amazing fantasy story that should keep kids and adults happy. The book is targeted for young readers, most likely in the 8-12 set, but it could easily hold the attention of older readers who are looking for a good story but aren't quite up to the rigors of the latest epic doorstop.

The novel follows Magpie Windwitch, a young faery who travels the world hunting devils who were released from their bottles by humans. That might sound like a typical Djinn to you, but rest assured, while there are Djinn in this book they are not devils and the distinction is made abundantly clear. There are also imps (both good and bad) along with good and bad faeries. Magpie travels with an actor's troupe of crows who serve as her surrogate family. A routine hunt turns into a much bigger journey when they discover that they aren't hunting the typical devil.

I found the book to be original and imaginative. I don't think I've ever seen the particular bent Taylor uses for her Djinn and while the overall laws governing the magic have been done before, the style the author gives the explanations for how the magic works (and there are explanations, rather than the overdone and oversimplified "magic works here, doesn't matter how") really turns it into a fitting method of introducing how the peculiar physics of Dreamdark work.

I wouldn't give this book to a child with a particularly vivid imagination if they're predisposed to nightmares. Taylor's descriptions are vivid and call forth very particular images. One of the imps in the book is a particularly vile little creature and he's got some rather disgusting habits, which means that even though the main character is a girl, there are probably more than a few little boys out there that won't mind the fact too much. There are fight scenes, killings, dragons, skeletons, skulls, and a clan of tattooed warrior faeries in the book as well. It's tightly paced, which means that there's little chance that attention to the story will wander.

The only other thing that gave me a little concern is that the crows in the book smoke cheroot cigarettes. Many of the characters refer to the smoking as being smelly and gross and it's considered a very low class thing to do. I don't think that the smoking warrants ignoring or deriding this book however, because it's really just a little character tic that gives the crows a little more depth.

The characters are well written and the reader will get a sense very early on that each character acts within the realm of their established personality nearly flawlessly. There are no moments of shocked questioning of a character's motives or sudden flips in teperament that cause confusion. They're very solidly and believably written.

The illustrations in the book, as well as the cover, are by Laini Taylor, I believe. (My proof copy doesn't actually credit the cover illustrator, and I couldn't seem to find the information elsewhere) The illustrations are sparse, but well-placed. They are black and white drawings that are appropriate to the story, even though very few of them appear to be an actual scene in the book. The illustrations seem to be there to help the reader envision the characters as the author sees them, which adds to the book rather than detracting from it. It's clear that the centerpiece of this book is the story, the pictures are just small treats hidden between the pages, to be uncovered unexpectedly in the midst of reading.

The story is self-contained, wrapping itself up satisfyingly and at a reasonable pace, though not so neatly as to seem completely pat. There are a few loose ends, including indications that the particularly nasty little imp mentioned previously is going to return in future novels, but they aren't the sort of loose ends that make the reader feel gypped. Instead, I'm honestly looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I want to know what else is going to happen in the realm of Dreamdark and what will become of Magpie Windwitch. It's the first new fantasy series I've gotten excited about in a long time. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a good fantasy adventure.

In Dope, Gran's third novel in as many genre's, we are introduced to Josephine, a former addict, who is offered a thousand dollars to find a suburban couple's missing daughter. But the search will take her into the dark underbelly of 1950's New York that she thought she'd escaped-and a web of deceit that threatens to destroy her.


Gran is capable of condensed moments of characterization. Those nutshell moments contain a wealth of information. She presents for you some dots in a picture and then leaves it to you connect them. If she held your hand and led you to the conclusion this would be lesser fiction but instead she wants you to actually engage the book. Because you participate in the process of characterization the result is much more powerful. Here is an example that shows how much weight a few words can carry.

What's unsaid and unseen can be more powerful then what's said or shown.


This style of storytelling, which exists in the gaps, mirrors the lives of these characters. Their existence on the shiny gold coin that is America is on the tarnished side that is face down in the gutter, never to see the light of the sun. They are junkies, con men, drug dealers, dancers and pimps. You might think that you know these characters but you don't because there isn't a cliché in sight. Gran's ability to infuse even the smallest of characters with depth and life adds to the rich tapestry on display here.


Without getting into the specifics of this book or any others it needs to be said that one of Gran's biggest strengths is that she knows how to write strong endings. They are logical extensions of the story that they follow and are never afraid to end the way that they are supposed to.

--Brian Lindenmuth

"Journey Between Worlds" tells the story of Melinda Ashley who receives a largely unwanted trip to Mars from her father as a graduation present.

Melinda is the narrator of the story and the author uses a very authentic voice for her character. At times, she seems much younger than her eighteen years, and those times when her maturity slips are appropriate from both the character standpoint and the plot. Very often an eighteen year old doesn't have the first clue what they want out of life, which might come as a complete surprise to the teenagers who are probably going to be reading this book. Melinda seems to know exactly what she wants, though in the course of the book the reader discovers that Melinda's carefully laid-out plans are mostly the result of a lack of life experience. She wants to stay where she feels comfortable and that involves, almost exclusively, all that's familiar to her.

The book is very heavy on the human experience of an uninitiated tourist visiting colonies on Mars, rather than the technology involved in sustaining humans in a hostile environment. The practicalities of living with an extremely limited water supply and the limitations of rudimentary space travel are addressed very well and realistically. Mars is colonized utilizing technology that will probably be developed in the not so distant future and the descriptions of the materials used is very convincing without bogging down the story in superfluous details that the protagonist wouldn't be interested in in the slightest. She is not an engineer or a math whiz, or any type of a scientist and she doesn't become one overnight to clue the reader in on how far the human race has really come to make cities on Mars feasible.

It isn't difficult to see where the plot is going, though the power of the story is really in the strength of the characters. They aren't stock cardboard standees from the Trusty Sci-Fi Stereotype Store, they're characters that have some depth to them, and there's not even a Yeoman Jones in sight. The one seemingly thin character is Janet, a scientist who goes to Mars because it's the only way for her to advance in her field. Janet mostly seems to be there to be an antagonist and stimulate Melinda to think rather than blindly follow along. She serves as a catalyst for the story and she seems to be a truly necessary evil in order to drive things along.

Sylvia Louise Engdahl, the author, has written a Newberry Honor book, "Enchantress from the Stars."
While I wouldn't put this book in the Newberry running any time soon, it was a good, quick read that I did enjoy. This book is one I'd recommend to girls who are frustrated with the almost exclusively male playground of sci-fi and are starting to feel alienated from the genre. It's not some fluffy chick-lit plot that could take place just anywhere, the journey to and stay on Mars are integral to the plot and character development in the story. It's light on technobabble and ridiculous sounding made-up gadgetry without sacrificing belivability. There's more here for YA readers who are wondering if it's okay that they haven't made up their minds what to do with their lives and are searching for a character to identify here than for hard sci-fi geeks.
This is not a bad thing at all, rather it's a refreshing change of pace. Surprisingly enough, it was originally printed in 1970 and the story is still very fresh and relevant today.

Silent Echoes is the story of two teenagers who both have problems they need to figure out. Lucy is a sixteen year old girl working with her father, the con artist, to make money by holding fake séances and posing as a medium. She feels this is their only chance to get out of the slums they are living in and have a better life. Lindsay is a sixteen year old girl who is trying to deal with her alcoholic mother and abusive step-father. Once they find each other, though they both enjoy the connection, their friendship worsens Lindsay’s life and enhances Lucy’s. Realizing that she is negatively effecting Lindsay’s life, Lucy sets in motion a course of events designed to help Lindsay. However, there is a difficulty with their relationship. Lucy lives in the nineteenth century, Lindsay lives in the twentieth and their only contact is mental.

While the ideas behind this story are good ones, with some thought put into paradoxes and time comparisons, there are a couple of issues that dimmed my enjoyment of the book. To begin with, the characters tended to do what helped the plot along and not necessarily what fit with their character. However, by the second half of the book, the writing seemed to be smoother and the people more fixed in their character molds. The biggest issue deals with the transference of physical papers across time. When speaking of time travel, I wouldn’t want to say that there is a wrong way and a right way to do it. Obviously since there is currently no way to do so (at least, as far as I am aware) I shouldn’t quibble about the fictional method used in the book. However, having been a fantasy and science fiction fan for all of my reading life, I’ll quibble. In my mind her solution to the problem of transferring large amounts of information across time was too simplistic and impossible in the manner that she described it.

All that aside, it wasn’t a bad story. I liked the issues she brought up about teenagers at risk and the conflicts between cultures. The story ends on a surprising note and I almost wish that the author had extended that portion of the story as it would have been interesting to read about the behind the scenes action.

The Thrall’s Tale is Judith Lindbergh’s debut novel of historical fiction set in the times of Viking exploration in the late 10th century. Eirik Raude and his sons including Leif Eiriksson lead several small ships packed full of people and animals from bleak Iceland to a place “all flush and green”. But this is not another story of marauding Norse men out to pillage and plunder. On this journey and the subsequent settlement of Greenland, we follow three women: a young female slave, an old seeress, and the daughter of the slave who becomes the apprentice of the old seeress.


Lindbergh gives her characters an amazing depth and provides exceptional insight to their motivations and emotions even as they perform the most mundane chores and eke out an existence from such harsh conditions.


Still, every dawn I awake to sounds of the scraping out of stones, to the slicing of sod and the lashing of driftwood. Every day, Thorbjorg’s men mount the casing stones into sturdy walls, then stuff them with sod, thick and wide for warmth, then make a roof of grassy turf laid over driftwood beaming. Once full enclosed, the house is dank, with a meager hearth for warmth set upon the inner row. On either side, dirt-built benches tuck beneath the roof’s low eaves. On these we will sit, eat, sew, and sleep-and, fair, most likely die.


As these people struggle to settle this land and build lives for themselves, the old prophetess Thorbjorg foresees a coming of great change even as she feels the weakening of her master Odin.


Thorbjorg reflects on her ominous feelings:


What is to come. What lingers close. What these others all about me still cannot fathom. Yet ever it will come-as they to me, begging for some lean, uncertain tidings. I tell them what I may-what little well I can. But the murk is thick. My master’s voice has grown quite still.
…
And a scent-such a scent-strange and thick with the sweetness of a rotting. Such as I knew it once-upon a distant market-where? Well now I remember; and somewhat how that scent was termed-by foreign names, fitting crudely on the tongue. One was frankincense…another myrrh.


Christianity reaches out even to Greenland and as some are quick to embrace it, others deny it and stand fast to the old gods. Lindbergh presents a balanced and compassionate view of the Christian conversion and the dying of old myths.


The formal prose creates a sense of detachment that contributes to the feeling that Greenland and the Vikings are truly of another time and place. The ancient magic that pervades their world is palpable as Lindbergh skillfully includes the myths and gods of Old Norse. The novel’s language and its structure read like an epic poem of yore. It’s melodic and flowing with its own distinctive meter.


The author’s years of research is evident in the detail provided, the dialog and mannerisms of everyone from the lowliest thrall to the most arrogant son of a chieftain. The Thrall’s Tale is a compelling interpretation of the lives of three very different women whose fears and struggles and passions cross the boundaries of time and place.

Setting out to read book one of the new young adult series, Monster Blood Tattoo (Foundling) I didn't have particularly high expectations. But there are a lot of great YA fantasy novels out there, so I was willing to give it a try. And I was richly rewarded. Wow.

Australian illustrator D. M. Cornish is a worldbuilding geek. Prior to writing the novel, he'd spent over a decade developing his 'Half Continent' for no reason other than the sheer pleasure of the creation. And it shows. The setting is rich and detailed and strongly original, and the feeling of discovery is enhanced by the inclusion of Peake-esque character sketches and glorious maps, the kind you could get lost in. The Half Continent is a landscape with character and history.

Buy this book for every child you know, if you want them to grow up reading good fantasy. And definitely buy it for yourself. Reading it I was reminded of Peake, of Mieville and of Vance (especially the latter's Lyonesse in the fantastical ecosystem Cornish has revealed).

The Half Continent is inhabited by an amazingly diverse variety of monsters. And humans who, with their steampunk technology, are encroaching on monster lands. Much of human science is devoted to finding new means of tracking and killing monsters. Those heroes who manage the feat are given the privilege of a tattoo made from the monster's blood - hence the title of the series.

I'm not giving anything much away by saying that it's pretty obvious from the beginning that the situation isn't as black and white as the humans perceive things. Nevertheless, some of the monsters are convincingly terrible. As, of course, are some humans.

The plot is a classic one. Rossamund, a boy with a girl's name, is an orphan. The time comes for him to leave the orphanage and start a career. Unfortunately he doesn't get the adventurous job of his dreams (such as a sailor on the vinegar seas), but instead is selected for one that sounds dull - lamplighter.

And of course nothing is as simple as it seems, there are ... complications ... and through Rossamund we see a great new world explored.

Buy and read this wonderful book. Trust me.