The Skin Map is the first book in Stephen Lawhead’s new Bright Empires series, which he describes as “the most challenging work I’ve ever undertaken.”  Lawhead is the author of such excellent fantasy series as the Pendragon Cycle and the King Raven Trilogy, so he certainly has the pedigree to take on a work of the scope that he describes on his website as the future of science fiction and fantasy.  Unfortunately, one is left not only wondering what is […]

Howl’s Moving Castle is a young adult fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones, perhaps one of the best known authors writing fantasy and science fiction with over 30 books published.  This particular work of hers is a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book, and an ALA Best of the Best in YA.  It has two loosely connected sequels, Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways.  These two books both have different main characters than the […]

Late Eclipses is the fourth book in the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire, winner of the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. The first three books in this urban fantasy series are Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation and An Artificial Night.  This latest installment will be available on March 1, and the fifth book, One Salt Sea, will be released in September of this year.  According to McGuire’s website, there will be at least two […]

Dust is the first book in the Jacob’s Ladder trilogy by Elizabeth Bear.  The second book in this science fiction series is called Chill, and both books are available in mass market paperback and as e-books.  Grail, the final volume, will be released on February 22.  The imminent conclusion combined with the fact that this book was the January selection for the Women of Science Fiction Book Club made this the perfect time to read Dust (which has unfortunately been […]

The Sea Thy Mistress, released in hardcover and as an e-book the beginning of this month, is the conclusion to Elizabeth Bear’s Edda of Burdens trilogy.  It is a direct sequel to All the Windwracked Stars, the first book in this series.  By the Mountain Bound, the second book, is actually a prequel that covers events leading up to the beginning of the first published installment.  In spite of the fact that The Sea Thy Mistress is the second part […]

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge tied with Doomsday Book by Connie Willis as the winner of the Hugo Award in 1993.  (Coincidentally, The Book Smugglers just reviewed Doomsday Book today if you want to read about the other Hugo winner for the year.) It was also nominated for several other awards such as the Nebula Award, the Campbell Award, and the Locus SF Award.  There is a prequel to this science fiction novel called A Deepness in […]