Publishers Weekly: Bear’s stellar conclusion to her Mongolian-flavored fantasy trilogy (after Range of Ghosts and Shattered Pillars) is a satisfying mix of traditional epic fantasy elements, flavored with original magic and grounded with mundane details that make the fantastic seem entirely possible. As the skies shift, reflecting the mortals in power and their associated gods, forces align to support or challenge wizard al-Sepehr as he wages war in the name of the Scholar-God. Warrior Re Temur and his allies travel to Dragon Lake to rally the opposition with Temur’s declaration of his assumption of the position of Khagan, heir to his grandfather’s empire. Continue reading »
Mar 102014
SFX Magazine: The novel is studded with memorable imagery – not least a subspace ham radio which carries the voice of a dead 20th century cosmonaut – and although it’s clear to the reader from an early stage that certain things are not what they seem, Christopher keeps you guessing for quite a while concerning how the major plot elements link up.
Romantic Times: Following last year’s phenomenal Written in Red, Bishop returns to Namid (a reimagined Earth) with its creatures both “terrible and wondrous.” Danger is stalking the Lakeside Courtyard and, once again, blood prophet Meg Corbin is at the epicenter. Book two in the Others series is just as mesmerizing as the first, rich with beautifully rendered detail and exceptional characters. Bishop and this series should be an auto-buy; you absolutely won’t regret it!
Tor.com: “There is kidnapping, and derring-do, and tense stand-offs, and last-minute rescues, and terrible revelations—in short, all the ingredients of an excellent adventure story.”
Publishers Weekly: A truly unusual mystery distinguishes bestseller Perry’s 29th Victorian puzzle featuring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt (after 2013’s Midnight at Marble Arch). Perry balances plot and character neatly before providing a resolution that few will anticipate. The local police call on Thomas, who’s still adjusting to his relatively new role as head of Special Branch, about the disappearance of a housemaid who lives in a London suburb near Greenwich. 
NPR: Like a tightrope walker himself, Christopher deftly balances Hang Wire on multiple, crisscrossing threads of character and plot. As dizzying as it is, he never slips. Even when secrets swell to bursting with world-shaking promise, the story maintains a steady, nervy rhythm . . . A tightly wound, dynamic piece of genre-bending machinery.
School Library Journal: Fans of The Testing will be thrilled with this new installment and will be anxiously waiting for the story’s conclusion. In this sequel, Cia is drawn deeper into the political machinations of Tosu City as she enters the University. She is accepted into the Government course of study, much to her disappointment. Now, joined by students from the City who did not have to endure the Testing, she must go through a hazing process that forces her to once again rely on her wits to survive.