When Cleopatra and Marc Antony are defeated by Octavian, their children are taken to Rome, where Octavian can make sure they don’t become rallying points for those who might oppose his rule. Their daughter Selene is never happy in Rome and constantly looks for ways to win her family’s way back home. This book jumps Continue Reading…
The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea Campbell: Book Review
Damien Locke is the son of the Mistress of Mayhem, a mad scientist supervillain living in Golden City. On his sixteenth birthday, he has a huge party to celebrate his thumbprint becoming a “V,” meaning that he’s a born supervillain. Except that it doesn’t. It becomes a mythical “X,” which can only mean one thing: Continue Reading…
Muse and Reverie by Charles de Lint: Book Review
In the author’s note at the beginning of this volume of short stories, Charles de Lint says that he’s taking a break from Newford for a while but that he still has enough short stories lying around to publish one more collection. I read that and my heart stopped for a second. I love Newford Continue Reading…
Bite Me by Christopher Moore: Book Review
I don’t think I can even begin to explain the appeal of these books. A synopsis is going to make it sound ridiculous. A giant shaved vampire cat named Chet is stalking the San Francisco night? Puh-leeze. Except that leaves out Abby Normal, Emergency Backup Mistress of the Greater Bay Area Night. I. ♥ This. Continue Reading…
Thumb Flagging by Jerome Peterson: Book Review
Willy is a seasoned hitchhiker who introduces Jay to the wonders of the open road in order to boost his self-confidence and rid him of his spoiled-Catholic-boy tendencies. I enjoyed this. As you can imagine in a book about hitchhiking, it’s a bit of a picaresque novel with stories about the other hitchers and rides Continue Reading…
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater: Book Review
Grace has been obsessed with the wolves living in the woods behind her house for years. There’s one in particular that she thinks of as her wolf. On the day that she starts to think that there may be more to these wolves than meets the eye, some local hunters decide to go wolf hunting Continue Reading…
Vampire Rising by Jason Henderson: Book Review
Alex Van Helsing has heard it thousands of times before. Yes, his last name is really Van Helsing. No, not like that Van Helsing. No, he doesn’t kill monsters. To paraphrase his father, that kind of thing doesn’t happen. Except when it does. What a fun, action-packed story! It begins with Alex running toward a Continue Reading…
Serena by Ron Rash: Book Review
In Depression-era North Carolina, a timber baron marries Serena and brings her to the lumber camps to live. Her ambition outmatches his and she drives him to succeed, prosper, and expand at any cost. Wow. What a character Ron Rash has created in Serena. I detested her, but she is going to stick with me Continue Reading…
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs: Book Review
Mercy Thompson is a walker. Not that kind of walker. A “skinwalker.” She can shift into coyote form easily and at will. Her sexy neighbor is the Alpha of the local werewolf pack. She’s good friends with a vampire. Her life isn’t exactly normal. When a new lone werewolf shows up at her garage one Continue Reading…
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld: Book Review
Aleksandr Ferdinand is the son of the Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian empire. He finds himself on the run one night with a few loyal men and a Stormwalker, a two-legged machine that sounds like something out of Star Wars. Deryn Sharp is a girl who loved to fly with her father. Now that he’s dead, Continue Reading…
Cybele’s Secret by Juliet Marillier: Book Review
Paula is accompanying her father to Constantinople on a trading trip. She might “only” be a seventeen-year-old girl, but she’s an intelligent, able assistant. They’re in search of an ancient religious artifact, Cybele’s Gift. Once in Constantinople, Paula starts seeing strange visions, visions that she feels sure are coming from the Other Kingdom, the fairy Continue Reading…