Rachel Caine is a master of building nonstop suspense, fun characters who love fast cars (and classy motorcycles), and fast-paced action. The Outcast Season series follows Cassiel, an immortal djinn, after she is stripped of her powers and sent to Earth to live as a human. This Urban Fantasy is part spin-off, part continuation of the Weather Warden universe. It can be read as a very entertaining standalone, but it’s better with a couple of the Weather Warden books already under the belt. But if you’ve read up on that series (at least a couple books in) and haven’t given this one a try, here’s what you’ve been missing:
Undone (Outcast Season #1) by Rachel Caine
Cassiel is powerful, immortal, and she has existed for millennia. But when she refuses a direct order from the oldest among her kind, he breaks her connection to her power and reshapes her into human form. Forced to exist as a mortal but still needing power to stay alive, Cassiel must live among (and drain the power of) Wardens–humans who wield magic.
She ends up with Earth Warden Manny Rocha–in return for helping him on his missions, she gets access to his power, even as she struggles to understand the (frustrating and inconvenient) emotions and weaknesses of her new human body. But when something threatens Rocha’s family, Cassiel’s forced to decide what she is and whose side she’s on.
This is, in a way, a fallen angel story, and that was one of the reasons it took me so long to get to the series (oh me of little faith!). It’s a rare thing to see an author pull off a believable immortal–especially one as old as Cassiel, and with a first person point of view, no less. But I shouldn’t have worried; Cassiel’s voice convinced me. Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: Book review, books, reading, fantasy, urban fantasy, rachel caine | posted in Five Canaries, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Book Review: Bride of the Rat God by Barbara Hambly
As a long time fan of Barbara Hambly’s world-building and character-building skills, I was very excited to put Bride of the Rat God on my to reading list. When, in 1923, movie star Chrysanda Flamande (real name Christine Blackstone) sweeps into her sister-in-law’s life, Norah finds herself moving from a small village in England into the glittering circles of Hollywood’s most famous directors and stars. And after her husband’s death in WWI, Norah needs someone to take care of and to learn to live again.
But as the latest movie goes forward, things keep going wrong. A mysterious old Chinese man, brutal murders, a rigged explosion (instead of the fake one), and restless dreams plague the two women. Someone has chosen Christine to be the rat god’s bride sacrifice, and it’s up to Norah, a broken wizard, and three Pekingeses dogs to keep Chris safe. Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: barbara hambly, Book review, books, fantasy, fiction, rat god, twenties | posted in Fantasy, Four Canaries
When Julie sent a pitch our way, I was immediately pulled in by the fun tone of its opening. But as I read on, I realized I wanted more–more details, more clarity, more focus. In this latest installment of our Pitch Slapped series, I’m going to talk about the two major challanges to writing a great blurb: clarity and structure.
But first, here is the blurb itself:
So what’s happening here? A lot.
It’s the future, and we get an alien species, a country wanting to clamber up onto a warpath, and a heroine with possible superpowers (does she get wings, I wonder?) with a Kill Bill sort of vendetta. Sounds perfect! But we did sight a couple potholes on this book’s blurb-road to bestseller-dom… Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: blurbs, books, critique, pitches, reading, writing | posted in pitches, writing
Dead Reckoning by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill
Publication Date: June 05, 2012
What do you get when you mix a western, a zombie infestation, and a dash of steampunk? A whole lot of YA fun.
Jett Gallatin is a sharpshooter and gambler traveling across the wild west–he is also a lie, a name made up and used by a young woman searching for a brother who disappeared at the end of the Civil War. White Fox is an army scout, investigating the reason why thriving towns are becoming ghost towns overnight, all their people disappeared without a trace. And Honoria Gibbons is an unconventional young woman riding a gears-and-steam machine across the prairie, out to prove that science can explain any phenomena.
But when a zombie horde marches across their paths and force them to band together to survive, even Jett’s tenacity, White Fox’s experience, and Gibbons’ mythbuster approach to life might not be enough to get them through the night. Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: Book review, books, reading, mercedes lackey, edghill | posted in Three Canaries, Fantasy, YA, Alternative History, Steampunk, Zombie
Indie Series:
Book review of No Good Deed by Bill Blais
(a Kelly and Umber novel, book 1)
An urban fantasy with soul.
In a genre dominated by author names like Patricia, Charlaine, Jeanine, and Laurell, and stories following smart-talking mortal (and immortal) demon-fighting twenty-somethings, Bill Blais and his character stand out like a white heron at a black swan convention.
Kelly McGinnis is happily married to a man she adores and a devoted mother of two active eight-year-olds. But her family’s future is uncertain–not only has she just lost her job, but Kelly is also struggling to deal with the reality of her husband’s declining health, and, of course, the inevitable medical bills. Continue reading
2 comments | tags: Bill Blais, Book review, books, fantasy, no good deed, reading, urban fantasy | posted in Fantasy, Four Canaries, Indie, Urban Fantasy
Meg’s Review: The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan
Audiobook read by Katherine Kellgren and Kevin R. Free
I can plow through a novel much faster reading than listening to the audiobook. Often times, if it’s a book I have been dying to read, I’ll double-fist it: audiobook at work, Nook at home. This was totally my game plan for The Serpent’s Shadow. I even had it in hardback and Nookbook form. (I’m not Riordan obsessed; no, not me.) And I know I could have had the story done faster and the review up quicker if I had switched over to reading, but I couldn’t — just couldn’t – tear myself away from the audiobook.
Continue reading
1 comment | tags: book reviews, books, fantasy, Kane Chronicles, reading, Riordan, young adult | posted in Fantasy, Four Canaries, YA
An arch-criminal, fairy cop, and butler bodyguard walk into a plot.
With the eighth Artemis Fowl book coming out in July, I have a perfect excuse to revisit one of my favorite YA series. If you missed the first part of this Series Review (books 1-4), you can catch up here. In this article, I swan dive into the next two books in my countdown to Artemis Fowl #8.
Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony
Just as you were settling down into plot complacency, this Artemis Fowl book takes a hard right into inter-dimensional travel. A long time ago, when the fairies realized they were losing the war with the humans, they decided to retreat into the earth–all except for the fifth fairy family, the demons. The demons took their island of Hybras and sent it into another dimension with a spell.
But after a long series of calculations, Artemis is beginning to suspect that the magic holding Hybras in limbo is beginning to unravel. Soon, the island will come crashing back through time and space, bringing the demons along.
The demons who’ve spent the entire time since the war training for their final battle with humanity. Continue reading
6 comments | tags: artemis fowl, Book review, books, colfer, fantasy, ya | posted in Fantasy, YA
With the Percy Jackson series, Rick Riordan speaks directly to the part of my soul that is still unabashedly in love with Hercules and Xena. The expert handling of the myriad stories of Greek gods is done in such a phenomenal way that it is no wonder that they are a run-away hit of YA delightfulness.
But, Canaries, did you know that Riordan writes another series? And that this one speaks directly to the tatoo on my foot that has the funny angstrom-A from Stargate?
In the Kane Chronicles, Riordan tells the story of Carter and Sadie Kane, blood of the Pharaohs, magicians in the House of Life, and erst-while hosts to Horus and Isis. The books are darker than their Greek counterparts, both in content and consequences, but they still have Riordan’s trademark humor which is infinitely amplified by the excellent portrayal of a brother-sister relationship. They are fast-paced, utterly engaging and the audiobooks are pretty much my favorite pieces of recording this side of James Marsters’ Harry Dresden. Continue reading
2 comments | tags: books, fantasy, Kane Chronicles, mythology, reading, Riordan, ya | posted in Editorial, Fantasy, YA
Monday Mine Inspection is a new weekly series talking about some of the new and upcoming releases dropping into bookstores this week. Into the mine, canaries! Let’s start the week with a book audit.
I’m a sucker for a good YA series–especially if it has the words “ancient gods” or “dystopian future” anywhere in the blurb. This week, we’ve got a couple of sequels that show plenty of promise. Here are some new releases that just might be a perfect fit for your reading appetite…. Continue reading
1 comment | tags: Book review, books, dystopia, fantasy, new releases, reading, ya | posted in Fantasy, Monday!, reading, YA
The last time I read a children’s book was circa January 2008, my freshman year of college. Over that bitter winter break, I read (and fell in love with) Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. After that, I was up to my ears in Modernist literature and 19th century Russian philosophy, with nary a moment to spare for anything unrelated.
As I was about to graduate, I discovered that a professor in my favorite department – Slavic Studies – was about to release a children’s book of her own in January 2012. Intriguing! How would this professor, with myriad scholarly articles to her name, transition to children’s literature? Naturally, I had to find out for myself. Continue reading
2 comments | tags: Book review, books, fantasy, magic, ya, young adult | posted in Book Review, Fiction, Four Canaries, Rating, Science Fiction, YA
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Rhiannon J. Taylor
