Cover Blurb:
     In this delightful first novel, the opening salvo of a trilogy, Novik seamlessly blends fantasy into the history of the Napoleonic wars. Here be dragons, beasts that can speak and reason, bred for strength and speed and used for aerial support in battle. Each nation has its own breeds, but none are so jealously guarded as the mysterious dragons of China. Veteran Capt. Will Laurence of the British Navy is therefore taken aback after his crew captures an egg from a French ship and it hatches a Chinese dragon, which Laurence names Temeraire. When Temeraire bonds with the captain, the two leave the navy to sign on with His Majesty's sadly understaffed Aerial Corps, which takes on the French in sprawling, detailed battles that Novik renders with admirable attention to 19th-century military tactics.

Cover Blurb:
     In Owl's Well That Ends Well, Meg and Michael have bought a house from the estate of the uncrowned Queen of the Packrats and must clean out decades of junk. Their solution: a yard sale.
     As always, Meg's large family flocks in to help. Many even come with junk of their own to add to the sale. Meg is coping (barely) with all this until the body of a local antique dealer is discovered in an old trunk.
     The police temporarily close the sale down to investigate. When the professor who can swing the vote in favor of Michael's tenure becomes a suspect, Meg decides that the only way to prove his innocence, and avoid being stuck with several tons of unsold junk, is to find the killer herself, and quickly.

Cover Blurb:
     Meg Langslow knew the fan convention for her actor-boyfriend's hit television series was going to be the ultimate in weird. But she came along because she figured Michael could use an occasional dose of sanity-and because it was an inspired place to sell her hand-crafted weapons. And so far, she was dealing pretty well with the costumed fans camped outside, the batch of escaped parrots and monkeys frolicking throughout the hotel...and the minefield of egos lurking behind the show's success.
     But soon after Meg goes head-to-head with egomaniacal series star Tamerlaine Wynncliffe-Jones, the "Queen B" turns up brutally murdered. Now, with Michael in the running as prime suspect, Meg will go up against an all-star cast of not-even-innocent parties, hidden identities, and buried motives. And she'll cross swords with a deviously obsessed murderer determined to write her out of this picture for good.

Cover Blurb:
     A very sumptuous and lovingly crafted but tantalizingly brief book , Lyra's Oxford begins when Lyra and Pantalaimon spot a witch's daemon called Ragi being pursued over the rooftops of Oxford by a frenzied pack of birds. The daemon heads straight for Lyra (the creature was given Lyra’s name as somebody who might help) and is given shelter. Together Lyra and Pan try to guide the daemon to the home of Sebastian Makepeace—an alchemist living in a part of Oxford known as Jericho--but it is a journey fraught with more danger than they had at first anticipated.

I've given this a mediocre rating. It was a nice little story about Lyra and Pan, but didn't feel particularly necessary. Either there's very little substance here, or Pullman is being so clever (and the included postcard, maps etc etc certainly imply he's trying to be clever) that I don't get it. I'm left feeling a bit disappointed, stupid or possibly both.

I liked the story about Lyra, but the thing we learned from this short tale doesn't seem worth the effort. Yes, it might be important, but for us the readers to see that Pullman will need to write more books, something he hasn't yet given any indication he plans to do. And if he did, that tiny scrap of information could just as easily, and probably should be, included in that.

I guess I feel vaguely cheated. I was looking forward to more about favourite characters and while I did get that, it was a short tale without the strength and substance I know Pullman can write. It read like a prologue for a book but there's no book and while this story is complete, it doesn't feel finished.

I just finished Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell, which I'm delighted to have done. It's been an interesting ride. I really liked this book, but it was a long, slow journey to get through it. The writing isn't bad, in fact I found it beautifully in tone with the supposed period and I loved the not-quite-right world she had created. The story was compelling while I was reading it, but I still got to points where I needed to take a break and read something lighter and more modern. For me, the black, smudgy drawings in the book were a perfect match to the contents of the book. There was something a little dark and smudgy and slightly off-kilter about the whole tale. I mean this is a good way, not a bad one. It made for a good book, but one I needed to come up for air from every so often.

The world was beautifully developed and described, although I didn't particularly empathise with most of the characters - and indeed I wonder if this is why some people have had trouble with the novel. Norell was a small minded little man and Strange a self-centred one. I enjoyed their tale, but I don't know that I would care to be acquainted with either of them. My favourite characters were probably Arabella Strange and Stephen Black. I guess I always had a sneaking liking for Strange after all, as I realise as I write this that I did want him to be a little more changed and redeemed by all he did and that happened to him, and I was left feeling that he was much the same man at the end of the book as he had been at the beginning. So was Norell. In way, in terms of character, the book too almost 800 pages to go nowhere in particular.

It was a very captivating journey along with way, and England got magic back out of it, but this is a much older narrative set up as well as style and it threw me every so often as I am now so used to snappy, fast paced, run of the mill modern books. So it's weird, as I write this I keep finding things to say that sound like complaints, yet I thought this was a very good book. Not an easy book, but a very good book. There are some very clever ideas and some silly ones that work beautifully - Strange moving around parts of Spain willy-nilly and forgetting to put them back for example, a fact that doesn't both the English powers that be at all, although they are kind of upset when he does the same thing with pieces of England. For all that I said the characters weren't all that likeable, I certainly want to know what happens to them next - will Norell and Strange escape the Darkness and if so, what will they do next; will Arabella get a happy ending; what will Childermass do and how will England cope with all the reawakened magic.

I'd love to know these things, but I don't know that I want another 800 pages to tell me. If Clarke could do it in less, I'd be delighted. All the same, this book doesn't feel padded, it's just long and descriptive. That descriptive aspect is also probably unusual for many modern readers as it maintains that period feel Clarke keeps up through out the book.

I think anyone who tries this book will know fairly quickly if it is going to be their cup of tea or not. If you're uncertain, it would probably be a good idea to try a library copy first to see how you go. If you're not captivated by the time the York magicians get disbanded, you're probably not going to be. Personally, I was. For all I put it down for over a year before getting the prod to go back to it, I was still captivated. I just chickened out when the dark and spiteful side of fairy magic started showing up as I was afraid where it was going to take me next.

There is a lyricism to this novel that isn't immediately clear but remains moving. The silver-haired gentleman's explanation of how he found Stephen's true name is a wonderful example of this. One one level it is quite beautiful and on another totally bloody and disturbing. Clarke captures beautifully the more traditional, dark and capricious nature of fairies and their magic and expresses them in an exceptional manner. It was that capriciousness that made me stop for such a long period of time. I wasn't ready to face it again - well, that and the more practical obstacle of the doorstopper-ness of my hardback edition.

The more I reflect on it, the more I realise how much I enjoyed this book, I just don't know how to describe it to anyone else. I guess you just have to read it for yourself and see how you find it. If you're in the least interested, take this rather rambling reaction to the novel as a recommendation and at least give it a try.

And for the record, I'm one of the people that found the footnotes great fun and read every single one of them.

Cover Blurb:
     Mercy Thompson's life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy isn't exactly normal herself.

I have finished Moon Called which I really loved. The world she created was great - werewolves, vampires, fae and while she basically stuck to the traditional for these, she put her own spin on them which made it all click and made it a lot fresher than others I've read lately. Much as I liked Kitty and the Midnight Hour that was a fun read, while this one was a really good read and there's a world of difference between the two.

I liked all the characters and the true reason for the "villain's" deed was very clever. Layer after layer of deceit and false motives that in the end boiled down to something as fundamental and basic as a son's love for his father. Wonderful. Mercy was a great character and we don't know much about her and her abilities yet, so I'm very glad there is to be a sequel. Of course, it soon became clear that there are very few coyotes left and no-one seems to know too much about what they can do, so I hope the background to them keeps on being explored.

I also really liked the werewolves, who despite being easily recognisable as "standard" werewolves, were beautifully drawn and much, much, much less annoying that I usually find werewolves. In fact, I didn't find these ones annoying at all as I usually do. The history between Mercy and Samuel was very cleverly drawn as were his reasons for what he did. They have a messy relationship there that they need to rebuild. Then there's Adam, who was just a wonderful character. A clear alpha character - literally in his case - who wasn't overbearing or annoying. They need for dominant werewolves to protect was beautifully done here as that became the stronger driving force that the need to dominate, which is what authors usually focus on.

I guess what I liked about this series is that all the various races seemed to be much more in balance with their natures than tends to be the case in the genre and that made the book really work. Of course, we need to find out more about Zee as well. It sure sounds like he has an interesting history. A great book and I'll be getting the sequel. I am now really looking forward to reading Briggs' Dragon books (Dragon Bones and Dragon Blood) but I'm waiting until I have access to the second before starting the first. I'm rather afraid I've discovered another must read author. Damn you, Bookseller Barbara!

Cover Blurb:
     Phelim knows he is nothing out of the ordinary. His sister is always telling him so. Why, then , is he suddenly beset by strangers calling him by the wrong name and telling him he must attempt the impossible - that everything depends on him? The countryside is overrun with monsters so old that the world has forgotten their names. The washerwoman at the river predicts that he will soon be dead. But the girl with no shadow, the leaping madman and the 'Obby 'Oss will not let him give up. Phelim Green must keep his rendezvous with the Stoor Worm whose warmth, in waking, is causing the very stones under her to hatch.

I liked it.

I was a little uncertain at first, but I soon realised that was a sign that I hadn't read any truly British YA fantasy lately and was in US mode, which I think has a different tone. It certainly has a different tone to this.

Once I realised that, I fell back into the more UK mindset of the books I read from the library as a YA myself. (In those days, I had no money and borrowed library books, which were mainly English; these days I buy books through my specialty bookstore and they tend to be mainly American.) And I loved it.

For some reason, I kept thinking of the Green Knowe books, which is totally bizarre as I have never read them so I have no knowledge whatsoever of what they are like.

The imagery of the hatchlings was really great. The corn wives were totally creepy, especially when the imagery was matched to the sense of post WWI. I liked the creature in the stream as well, that Phelim saw as treasure and the girl (whose name I've temporarily forgotten) saw truly and resuced him from.

I liked all her ideas, and the Stoor Worm was beautifully done, not only of itself but also bringing in the concept of something literally being too big for our imagination to encompass it. The resolution was also good - both in the way Phelim defeated the Worm and the fact that he wasn't jumping up and down and happy about having done it.

The characters and ideas all seemed very mythical, but I don't have enough background knowledge to know if she was using real mythology or had made up her own.

Cover Blurb:
     Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station—and a werewolf in the closet. Sick of lame song requests, she accidentally starts "The Midnight Hour," a late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. After desperate vampires, werewolves, and witches across the country begin calling in to share their woes, her new show is a raging success. But it’s Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew…

Cover Blurb:
     Inside the Department of Extraterrestrial Affairs, Gloria VanDeen is a low-level bureaucrat. But she is nofaceless cog. The stunning, cunning beauty happens to be the current Emperor’s ex-wife and sometime playmate–a distinct advantage when disorder erupts on one of the small planets she oversees. For Gloria’s personal life has catapulted her into the limelight, and an off-Earth assignment is just what she needs to get back to work. But the situation may be trickier than she imagines.…
     For decades, the docile creatures of Mynjhino have been dominated by the humans of the corporate giant GalaxCo. Now a rebellious few have gotten hold of antique semiautomatic rifles–and are mowing down their Imperial overlords. Gloria has given her body and soul to Dexta, to great effect. But when trying to broker peace with the Myn, even that may not be enough....

I didn't finish this. In fact, I gave up before I'd read 100 pages. I have a friend who loved it, so I started willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, despite having heard bad things about it. For the first couple of chapters I was okay, but really, it is badly written and somewhat puerile and I'm not interested in wasting my time. There is too much infodumping, and clumsy infodumping at that. There are too many long and boring job titles that may be meant to point out the cleverness of writing a book about bureaucracy but just made my eyes glaze over. The sexual politics have nothing clever or new about them and seem to me to be nothing more than the juvenile imaginings of a sad little man. So no, I wasn't the least surprised that C. J. is a man. I wonder if he got off on imagining his super-beautiful and perfect heroine in 40% transparent clothing with her one artistically showing pubic hair? Once the mores of Dexta were explained to me in nasty detail, including why Gloria had needed to sleep with 40-odd different people in her first six months, I was rapidly cooling. When a sneak peek at the end, to see if it got any better, showed some bigwig in the corporation arranged "the most extreme forms of abuse Dexta has to offer - physical, sexual, psychological and emotional" in order to get rid of her in the beginning, I realised I didn't need to read any more of this author's sick fantasies. In the hands of a good author, Gloria, Dexta and the mystery (which I didn't even get to reading about beyond the initial introduction) might have been fresh and clever. It wasn't and I most certainly don't consider C. J. Ryan (who the Internet tells me "is the pseudonym of an author who lives and works in Philadelphia. This is his first science fiction novel." - didn't want to be called up on his sick fantasies huh?) to be a good author. This is dreck. Give it a miss. Whoo, I really didn't like this, did I? I'm giving it 2 because Gloria had the potential to have been a good character. And in fact she may be, but I can't take another paragraph of the author.

Cover Blurb:
     The Amber Spyglass brings the intrigue of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife to a heartstopping close, marking the third and final volume as the most powerful of the trilogy. Along with the return of Lyra, Will, Mrs. Coulter, Lord Asriel, Dr. Mary Malone, and Iorek Byrnison the armored bear, The Amber Spyglass introduces a host of new characters: the Mulefa, mysterious wheeled creatures with the power to see Dust; Gallivespian Lord Roke, a hand-high spy-master to Lord Asriel; and Metatron, a fierce and mighty angel. And this final volume brings startling revelations, too: the painful price Lyra must pay to walk through the land of the dead, the haunting power of Dr. Malone's amber spyglass, and the names of who will live - and who will die - for love. And all the while, war rages with the Kingdom of Heaven, a brutal battle that - in its shocking outcome - will reveal the secret of Dust.