Mars has been colonized and humans have settled throughout the asteroid belt, even in the outer parts of our solar system. Earth has the numbers, Mars the technology, and those living in the asteroid belt, Belters, provide minerals and water to the rest of the galaxy. A mining ship investigates an abandoned ship on an asteroid with no sign of its crew or purpose. A detective investigates a kidnapping case full of political overtones while fighting his own demons. When these two mysteries cross paths in LEVIATHAN WAKES by James S. A. Corey (a pen name used by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck), the outcome could lead to an interplanetary war and extinction of the human race.

One of the reasons I was so interested in reading Leviathan Wakes was that there was buzz about it being a grand space opera story. For those of you not familiar with the term, space operas are supposed to be romantic tales in a science fiction setting where there is generally some kind of conflict occurring between parties. This book doesn’t really meet these criteria, but instead brings on an amazing combination of action and noir fiction that pulls you in like a tractor beam. This combination is only enhanced by the rich science fiction background the authors weave throughout the story, especially when it came to the variety of technologies present in the different ships/locations visited throughout the book.

Leviathan Wakes’ other highlights are the great characters Abraham and Franck put on paper. You start off with two very compelling characters in Holden, the executive officer of the mining ship, and Miller, the detective from Ceres, but the supporting cast also brings a lot to the storyline and pacing. Since this book is the first in The Expanse series, there are still a lot of options available to the writers for where they want to take these characters and how to develop them over a number of books. I can’t wait to see what the next book in the series will bring!

I would recommend this book anyone who likes science fiction stories, but also for those who like a good noir detective story. Age wise this is suitable for older teens to adults; I don’t think younger readers will really be able to get the flow of the story and some of the complex story elements. As an added bonus, Orbit Books has released wallpapers for your computer or mobile device based on the cover of Leviathan Wakes, which is a cool way to share your love of sci-fi novels with others.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars | Publisher:Orbit Books | Pages: 592 | Source: NetGalley | Buy on Amazon

SPOILER WARNING: This review is for the eleventh book in the Sookie Stackhouse series and may contain spoilers for the previous ten books. However, I’ve tried to avoid including any Dead Reckoning spoilers.

It’s always a happy day in my household when Charlaine Harris releases a new book, so I’ll admit to doing a little happy dance when Dead Reckoning arrived on my front porch. If you can believe it, this is the eleventh book to feature telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse. The story starts off with a bang when Merlotte’s bar is firebombed with Sookie, Sam, and their customers inside. That’s not good for business, which is already down thanks to a new bar that recently opened nearby. The firebombing also brings out the protective side in Eric, Sookie’s hot vampire “husband.” As it is, vampire politics have Eric and Pam on edge. Sookie doesn’t know exactly what is going on—just that Eric and Pam are acting weird and very secretive. Sookie is never one to just stand on the sidelines, so you know she’ll end up right in the middle of whatever the vampires are plotting.

Even after eleven Sookie Stackhouse books, I still enjoy spending time in Bon Temps. It’s fun to catch up with familiar characters like Bill, Alcide, Amelia, Bob the former cat, and some of Sookie’s extended family (Hunter, Dermot, and Claude). Bubba is back too! And there is an ominous new character (don’t worry, no spoilers here) that could really mess things up for Sookie.

If you thought Dead in the Family went off on a bit of a tangent with the story of Eric’s maker, Appius, you might be happy to know that Dead Reckoning returns to the central storylines of the series. Namely: the source of Sookie’s telepathy, the mysterious fae, and the vampire power struggle. Dead Reckoning holds some unexpected surprises that I think will give fans a lot to talk about. I thought Sookie’s telepathy had been pretty well explained, but now there’s a new twist to the story. In fact, the last chapter is so packed with information that I’m still processing what it all means.

I highly recommend Dead Reckoning to any fan of the Sookie Stackhouse series since it reveals some important new details about Sookie. It also sets up a few new storylines that I’m sure will be addressed in the next book, so you don’t want to miss this one.

UPDATE 5/5/2011: If you’ve already read Dead Reckoning, please come chat with us over at the Dead Reckoning discussion page.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars | Publisher: Ace Hardcover | Pages: 336 | Source: Publisher | Buy on Amazon

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The first book in The Disillusionists trilogy, Mind Games is about a group of neurotic “superheroes” that use their flaws (hypochondria, gambling) to fight bad guys. Their town, Midcity (think Chicago), is in the midst of an eight year crime wave, and they have banded together to fight the criminals. Well, technically Justine and her fellow crime fighters aren’t superheroes—they’re just regular people. They’re the minions of Packard, and he’s the one with the power. Packard is what’s known a “highcap” or someone with paranormal abilities. He has taught Justine how to take her crippling hypochondria and channel her fears into a target (usually a murderer), leaving her feeling calm and refreshed. Unfortunately, this comes at a price and Justine is horrified when she learns the cost.

After I read a sample of Mind Games on my Kindle, I was instantly hooked. The unique premise sucked me in right away. I mean, who wouldn’t want to zing their anxieties into an enemy and walk away feeling refreshed? And how funny is the idea of a neurotic group of “superheroes?” I really liked to world building too—it’s urban fantasy without the usual vampires and werewolves. The highcaps (high capacity humans) have a genetic mutation that allows them to develop abilities as a child. But despite a ton of evidence to the contrary, many humans refuse to believe they exist.

Not only is the premise great, the characters and story are memorable too. Justine is unique as a hypochondriac heroine, but she’s also funny and her desire to just be a normal girl is very relatable. Packard is also a cool character that will keep you guessing. And that’s what I really liked about this book—everyone seems morally ambiguous so you’re never really sure who are the heroes and who are the villains (I guess the book is called Mind Games after all). And that makes the book unpredictable and exciting. Seriously, I can’t think of another book I’ve read recently that surprised the hell out me like Mind Games.

And I haven’t even mentioned the romance, which is plentiful. So, needless to say, I highly recommend Mind Games. I can’t wait to get my hands on book 2 of the trilogy, Double Cross, which is available now.

Check out the book trailer for Mind Games below:

Quotes from Mind Games by Carolyn Crane:

“Do you think you have time for dessert before you depart for the hereafter? The chocolate fondue looks excellent…”

“Mongolian Fondue,” I say. “Very authentic.”

“Normal is a precious kind of freedom, and if you don’t have it, it’s all you ever want.”

Choice is an illusion, same as happiness and freedom.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars | Publisher: Spectra | Pages: 384 | Source: Purchased | Buy on Amazon

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FOREST MOON RISING: A TESS NONCOIRE ADVENTURE by P. R. Frost is an Urban Fantasy set in the Pacific Northwest, or as the protagonist Tess notes at one point early on in what I think is supposed to be a witty moment, the North Wet. The book follows Tess, Celestial Blade Warrior as she fights evil aided by her trusty imp Scrap.

In Forest Moon Rising, Tess faces Norglein, a nasty demon who enjoys ravishing and impregnating unsuspecting human women. If that were all she had to face, Tess would handle it with ease, but of course Tess has a busy life as well, she’s a writer, has love issues and well, things are really never easy when you have to lead a real life and the life of a warrior against evil.

The writing in Forest Moon Rising is a little uneven. Once or twice there was a point of view jump that had me confused for half a page until I figured out whose head I was in. That’s a little disconcerting at the best of times and downright annoying at the worst. There was also an odd “not real” feeling to the magic and supernatural elements in the book. That sounds crazy, I know, but one of the things about writing fantasy, whether it is traditional epic fantasy or urban fantasy, is the fact that the magic and the magical inhabitants of the world have to feel real and have substance or the book itself has no point. If at any moment the reader questions the validity of the world the writer has created, then there can be trouble.

Forest Moon Rising never pulled me into a solid world, a place where I believed in Tess and her universe. It never had that sense of reality I look for in a fantasy novel. I found myself easily distracted and once or twice rolling my eyes at the ease of Tess to adapt to situations that should have at least given her a moment of thought, if not actually thrown her for a loop. About halfway through the book I was struggling to remember why I was there at all, Frost seems to get a little sidetracked at times and chases after a storyline that has no bearing on what’s actually happening. On the other side of the coin, some things I really would have liked to see expanded on, never grew at all. They just sat there on the page, sitting.

Overall Forest Moon Rising left me with an overwhelming feeling of really… nothing memorable at all.

Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars | Publisher: DAW Trade | Pages: 384 | Source:  Publisher | Buy on Amazon

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ARCHANGEL’S CONSORT is the third book from Nalini Singh featuring former-Guild-Hunter-now-turned-angel Elena and the Archangel Raphael. Singh’s writing is strong and her descriptions and characters are well drawn, but this book gives a new reader the feeling of walking into the middle of a conversation.

This book immediately succeeds Archangel’s Kiss and follows Elena and Raphael in their growing romance and burgeoning problems. Things start looking a little bad for the world, in the “biblical destruction” kind of way – you know, earthquakes, tsunamis, the usual death and destruction that precedes really bad news. And this is bad news. Raphael’s mother Caliane is awakening and she is not particularly pleasant. The Archangel and his “Seven” set out to make things right, and the book happens along the way.

Central to the story is the relationship of Raphael and Elena. He expects complete and utter obedience. She is a warrior and is fiercely independent, and therein lies the rub. Their slow dance to discover a harmony weaves a continual melody throughout the story and gives insight into the characters that someone new to the series desperately needs.

Ah, there’s the problem. Archangel’s Consort is one of those books that just assumes that you are up on everything that has come before and spends very little time covering events of the past. I know this is becoming a trend within some genres and some authors, but it really is not a way to garner new readers. When, within five pages of the start of the book, I am most frustrated and lost and wanting to know why things happened rather than enthralled with the story, there is a problem. Taking even half a page at the beginning to pop through the things that have led up to that point is not a bad thing, nor is it boring. Fans will brush past, but new readers, potential fans, will have the chance to get in the know so they will want to go back and read the entirety of those events in the previous books.

So, where does that leave Archangel’s Consort? For all that I generally enjoyed the book, I was frustrated by how long it took to figure out what was going on. I think fans of the series will find a lot here to love as the story moves forward. I will say that Elena is one of the best female protagonists to come out of Urban Fantasy in a long time. She is not overly snarky, or too tough, or over done. She is a real person, and that gives her points in my book. I do wish that there had been more introduction to the characters, as I noted above, but all in all Archangel’s Consort is worth the read.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars | Publisher: Berkley | Pages: 352 | Source:  Publisher | Buy on Amazon

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This review is for the ninth book in The Hollows series, so it contains SPOILERS for books 1-8. If you haven’t yet discovered how much Rachel Morgan rocks, start with the first book, Dead Witch Walking.

Take one kickass witch, a living vampire, a heartbroken pixy, and a ruthless elf, put them in a powder blue Buick, and you have all the ingredients for one helluva road trip. Of course, you also have a recipe for disaster. That’s the basic premise of Pale Demon, Kim Harrison’s ninth entry in The Hollows series. Picking up on the storyline that began in Black Magic Sanction, Rachel has three days to get to the witches conference in San Francisco where she will plead her case for the removal of her shunning. Coincidentally, Trent Kalamack needs to get to the West Coast to attend to some elven business and Rachel is entrusted with the task of getting him there safely. So will they make it to San Francisco in time? Or will Rachel and Trent kill each other first?

Wow, there is so much awesomeness in Pale Demon, I don’t even know where to start. Rachel, Trent, Ivy, and Jenks on the “Great American Road Trip” is everything I hoped it would be and more. Rachel can’t seem to go anywhere without attracting trouble, and adding Trent to the mix just seems to make things worse. As the group travels the country, they find themselves in situations that are at times hilarious, worrisome, jaw dropping, and messy. Like previous books, the plot moves at a fast, breathless pace and is filled with action packed twists and turns. In the midst of all this chaos, Rachel has to decide if she truly can trust Trent. She’s struggled with this in the past, as the arrogant elf doesn’t make it easy, but their relationship is put to the ultimate test in Pale Demon.

Fans of the series will find a lot to love in Pale Demon. Trent may be front and center, but we also see Al, Newt, Pierce, Vivian, and Bis, as well as the introduction of the new titular character. He’s a frightening demon who is very different from any demon we’ve seen before. Something else I think fans will like is that, as the group leaves Cincinnati and travels to new places, we get to see how The Turn affected other parts of the country. This made me happy since the world building is one of my favorite parts of this series.

Kim Harrison is a master at weaving together storylines from previous books while at the same time introducing new ones that will have implications further on down the line. In Pale Demon, she ties up loose ends, but then drops the freaking mother of all twists. I’m still reeling from it all and wondering where the series will go from here. Nine books in and The Hollows series is stronger than ever. I really can’t recommend it highly enough!

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars | Publisher: Harper Voyager | Pages: 448 | Source: Publisher via NetGalley | Buy on Amazon

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The Green Rider series is one of those ongoing fantasy worlds what has enough depth and breadth to really engage readers, pull them into the existence of the characters and make them real. It’s one of those series that makes readers wait patiently for long pauses between books and scramble to the stores when the new book is out. BLACKVEIL: BOOK FOUR OF THE GREEN RIDER by Kristen Britain wasn’t really worth the wait.

Blackveil was by far the darkest book of the series, taking Karigan and Zachary into places that were uncomfortable at times. And while we all know that evil is bad, this level of “dark” was a little unexpected from Britain in this series. I was a surprised at some of the turns the story took. There is so much going on in this book, it’s hard to keep up if you haven’t been a fan and reader before, and I found myself going back once or twice to remember who did what to who and when. Things are less than perfect between Karigan and Zachery, Grandmother is up to no good, black magic is running rampant, people are out to kill our heroes, the court is in disarray. There is just so much going on that you need a score card. Blackveil is an epic fantasy a little too heavy on the epic, and I am a fan of the genre in general.

The most disappointing thing was the book ends on a huge cliffhanger. I am all for the “keep the reader reading” cliffhanger, but this was a little too big to end a book on, especially one in a series that has several years between books. I am not a fan of that, and it seems to be becoming more of a “thing”, especially in fantasy and urban fantasy.

The other problem, I think this series is becoming overlong. Fantasy worlds tend to lend themselves to long, ongoing series, but I think many authors continue many books longer than needed and end up with an unmanageable mess. Britain is heading towards this, she is not alone by any means, I would even say some major names in the genre have gone many books too long.

Fans of the series might be disappointed with Blackveil and be aware, this one is dark. Bad things happen to good characters. New readers would be better off heading back to the beginning of the series and skipping this one until they are on more familiar ground, and even then they might want to give it a miss.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars | Publisher: DAW Hardcover | Pages: 672 | Source: Publisher | Buy on Amazon

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Simon R. Green’s Nightside Private Investigator, John Taylor, returns for his 12th outing in A HARD DAY’S KNIGHT. Life is never easy in Nightside, that part of London where the things of nightmare always lurk, but when destiny is literally dropped off at your door? Life can get a little more… Interesting. And that’s just what’s happened to Taylor, he’s come home to discover destiny, in the form of Excalibur, sitting on his kitchen table.

Yes, the Excalibur. King Arthur’s sword, magical and mystical. And that’s just the beginning of Taylor’s headaches. The Authority in Nightside is gone, killed by Taylor. He is struggling to get things under control with the help of Suzie, his lover and efficient “bring them back dead or alive” bounty hunter, but order is hard to come by in Nightside. Then there’s the trip to London Proper, and the hassles of King Arthur and Merlin and from there his Day’s get worse.

A Hard Day’s Knight is a good book for a variety of reasons. First of all, I love Taylor. His “voice” rings true throughout the story and his initial reaction at having Destiny with a capital D dropped on him is just one of the best moments in fantasy in a long time. Second, I adore Shotgun Suzie, Taylor’s girlfriend, the Valkyrie bounty hunter who brings them back dead because there is less paperwork that way. And third, perhaps most importantly, Green is a good storyteller, and this book has a fresh voice to it, even though it is 12 books into a series. He has created a world that has a real solid feel to it, a world where you feel that if you turned the corner you could run into these people and these places.

That is one of the really remarkable things about A Hard Day’s Knight, even though it is deep into the series, a new reader could start here and not be lost. I can almost guarantee that if you read this book, you will go back and read the whole series, then weep when you get to the end because you’re at the point of having to wait for the next book. Fans of the series will find this one of the strongest entries in the series. I was enthralled and read the book in one sitting, foregoing everything save one brief break for a cup of coffee so I was alert enough to devour every morsel of this amazing treat.

If you love urban fantasy, or even more traditional fantasy, A Hard Day’s Knight is a perfect way to spend the day wrapped up in a fabulous book.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars | Publisher: Ace Hardcover | Pages: 304 | Source: Publisher | Buy on Amazon

Winter is coming. This is Westeros, and when winter comes, it lasts for years. Powers are rising, allegiances are shifting. Across the sea, the dethroned prince and princess plot to avenge their legacy. In the Seven Kingdoms a king’s reign is drawing to a close and civil war threatens. And a force beyond the Wall threatens the land with evil. This is A Game of Thrones, one of the best fantasy novels of all time.

Several years ago a friend advised me to read the first book in a series called A Song of Ice and Fire. It sounded very grand, and I love my fantasy novels to be of the epic ‘save the world’ brand. My friend described the series to me: a bunch of people on a mission to save the world. Sounded like my cup of tea.

“A bunch of people on a mission to save the world” is probably the only way my friend could describe the book to me. Aptly trying to articulate the mass of sprawling storylines, the vast array of characters, the very history and setting of the world of Westeros would be a more complex feat than studying calculus and watching Jersey Shore simultaneously. But this is not a bunch of people on a mission to save the world. This is a bunch of people on a mission to save themselves. There is no Fellowship in the book. People do not collaborate. They decapitate.

There are some books that are so good they haunt you. There are the books that you re-read again and again, until the binding is utterly destroyed and the pages have curled in on themselves in defence. There are books which have moments of such awesome majesty that you (or at least I) stop reading mid-sentence to literally punch the air and muffle a whoop of pure delight.
This is one of those books.

The world is phenomenally rich and complex. It is a fantasy book but it reads like a historical novel with all of the boring bits left out. Bloodshed, magic, greed, cruelty, death, danger, incest, lust, jealously, power struggles of epic proportions feature in this amazing book. Being of the fantasy genre, magic is obviously a key player, but whilst magic permeates the book, it does not overtake it. In fact, there is merely a smattering of magic used. Where The Lord of the Rings, Eragon and other fantasy novels used magic as a safety net to get out of a tight squeeze or to impossibly solve a pesky situation, A Game of Thrones relies on its characters to get themselves out of a jam-or die. Martin has no mercy for his characters.

I almost wish he would. Usually, I feel like a sadistic pig reading a book. I moan about the lack of motives the characters endure, I find myself whining about the characters’ faux angst and pseudo pain. With A Game of Thrones, Martin’s sheer lack of compassion for any of his characters, regardless of age, is just brutal. It’s not just his delightful lack of compassion, but the characters themselves. He has drawn such complex and wonderful characters and I consistently find myself wishing they would not meet the bloody and tragic end-which they often inevitably do.

If you are tired of fantasy novels with archetypal characters, dull protagonists, frustrating patriarchy, simple worlds, chastity and morally righteous characters, pick up A Game of Thrones, and enjoy!

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars | Source: Purchased | Buy on Amazon

 Over the holiday break I had the chance to read Stefan Petrucha’s latest book, BLOOD PROPHECY, and I really enjoyed it. The book has an interesting take on vampire mythology and the action packed sequences made it a fun read. As an added bonus, I had the opportunity to interview the author Stefan Petrucha , and his answers were very interesting.

What is Blood Prophecy about?
After his father unearths an ancient vampire, Jeremiah Fall’s days as a Puritan, colonial era farmer are over. Unable to stay near his fellow townspeople, he goes into exile all the while facing an inner struggle between his humanity and evil. When word reaches him of potential salvation from his new curse, Jeremiah goes out into the world to search for clues.

Jeremiah’s quest takes him to Egypt in the midst of war, but he soon learns there are others looking for the same information. Facing treachery at every turn, he races across continents to attempt to prevent a much worse evil from being unleashed and possibly ending the world. Will Jeremiah choose his own salvation and risk the world? Will the evil within him make him forget his own humanity?

What did I think about Blood Prophecy?
I wasn’t sure what to make of Blood Prophecy when I first started reading it. Petrucha calls his book a “historical paranormal” story and it truly delivers in blending the historical parts of the story with the vampire mythology. Vampire genre stories are not usually my thing, but the historical part of the story drew me in. It added another dimension to the story and provided an interesting character depth to Jeremiah Fall.

If there is one thing I didn’t like about the book was how complicated the plot got at the last third of the book. This was partly because the author introduced new characters and plot points during a big action sequence. There wasn’t a lot of time to digest this information before the plot moved on, so I finished the book with a feeling of “wait, what exactly happened?” Maybe on subsequent readings I’ll feel like I have a better grasp of whats going on by the end of the novel.

Who should read Blood Prophecy?
I think fans of vampire novels will enjoy Blood Prophecy, especially those looking for something unique. I would also recommend it for readers that enjoy stories with a good historical focus because, as I said before, Petrucha really does a nice job creating an authentic setting.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars | Publisher: Grand Central Publishing | Pages: 368 | Source: Publisher | Buy on Amazon

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