Locus: Family, rather than art or magic, is the central theme for this novel, the fifth and final in the Glamourist Histories series. Jane and Vincent are finally relaxing with Jane’s family, in Vienna, when word comes that Vincent’s hateful father has died on his estate in Antigua, and left a new will that can only be released to a family member. Vincent’s eldest brother died in a carriage accident that left the next son badly injured – and the new Earl of Verbury. He asks Vincent to go to Antigua and take care of things, so he and Jane head out to get the will – and find a hellish mess of the old Earl’s making. What horrifies Vincent and Jane most is the treatment of the slaves, some of them clearly family members themselves, but their efforts to help are repeatedly stymied. Fortunately, no one expects the two to have the spying skills they’ve acquired in their adventures, and gradually they win through. There are parts that are a bit predictable, and I missed the emphasis on Art, but it’s a good read anyway, with a very final epilogue that nicely concludes the series.
May 272015
May 27, 2015
Booklist: Griep’s debut is a fresh, original take on a group of fairy-tale familiars. Though Ceci (Cinderella), Bianca (Snow White), Rory (Sleeping Beauty), and Zell (Rapunzel) seem to have it all as princesses of Grimmland, their perfect team is broken up and their storybook happily-ever-afters are rocked to the core when Zell, in a troubling fit of independence, departs Grimmland to manage a unicorn preserve. Forced to question their own stories, the other three pen a series of letter to Zell, revealing a poignant restlessness and dissatisfaction with their own seemingly predetermined fates. As the princesses flit between Grimmland and contemporary Los Angeles, each grapples with timeless questions of love, desire, freedom, and ambition. This fractured fairy tale will appeal to Gregory Maguire devotees as well as fans of television shows like Once Upon A Time and Grimm.
Booklist: McCammon’s latest novel is a thrilling sf adventure. Two powerful, mysterious alien races are at war; Earth is caught in the middle, collateral damage. The planet is devastated, its people made nearly extinct. Those who have survived the catastrophic destruction caused by the alien war are succumbing to fallout from the battle, which is turning them into half-human creatures preying on those who are still human. Mankind seems doomed, but there is one small hope: a young boy who possesses powers that could save humanity. The problem is, the warring alien races might just prefer that humanity go extinct. Can this boy, who barely understands his own abilities, save the race? This is a very ambitious novel, an epic-scaled story of perseverance and survival in the face of monstrous odds. McCammon brings his usual storytelling gifts to the table: his ability to create characters who feel real, no matter how unreal the situations they find themselves in; dialogue that rings true; and a story that captures our imaginations from the very first page.
Foreword: Genre-bending, gender-bending, dialect-filled, and fascinating, this steampunk novel handles old West racism with humor and grit. Lou Merriwether is a “psychopomp”—she has the ability to help spirits stuck in the land of the living cross over to the land of the dead. A well-wrought character, she dresses androgynously and often passes as a man; and as an Asian American, she handles Old West racism with humor and grit. Molly Tanzer’s steampunk world layers the rough Old West of goldrush San Francisco with the influx of Chinese immigrants and the Victorian propriety and technology attendant with the genre.
Booklist: A general guideline in high fantasy is the need for a sympathetic and ignorant main character—someone readers can follow close behind and from whom they can learn about this new world, just as the protagonist does. Practically every character in this author’s new novel is insane, deplorable, or both, but in some dark corner of themselves, readers will admire all of them and thus be compelled to follow their grippingly fascinating story through to its terrifying climax. Living in a world where the lines between sane reality and the fantasies of madness are blurred, Konig, the high priest of a powerful cult, has tried for 10 years to create a new child-god, given power by the delusions of the faithful and controlled by Konig himself. But a trio of nearly as ambitious bandits has plans to capitalize on this growing cult at exactly the right time. The journey is dark and emotionally taxing, but there aren’t many fantasy novels as smart, ambitious, and excellently written as this one.
Toronto Star: The Machine Awakes is the second installment in Adam Christopher’s Spider Wars trilogy, telling a stand-alone story set in the same universe as last year’s The Burning Dark.
Boston Globe: This novel, the fourth in the Stevens and Windermere series, is a police procedural with the pulse of a thriller, 
Library Journal: When she doesn’t hear from her friend Blake for months, Liz Drake travels with her roommate Alex to Vancouver where Blake had been living with a circle of artists that included his boyfriend Alain. She finds that Blake is in a coma, Alain is dead, and the artists, especially gallery owner Ranier, are keeping secrets. And Liz has been dreaming of Blake, trapped under water, visions that also reveal a secret world and a yellow king. VERDICT This unusual blend of urban fantasy and trippy horror is particularly notable for its lovely descriptions by Downum, author of “The Necromancer Chronicles” (last seen in 2012’s Kingdoms of Dust). She keeps the horrors slipping in and out of shadowsmore menacing for being only half seen. Allusions to H.P. Lovecraft, Robert W. Chambers, and Ambrose Bierce are combined with modern city streets, addictive psychotropic drugs, and a stubborn heroine determined to save a friend.