Sea of Windby Fuyumi Ono320pp (Paperback)My Rating: 7/10Amazon Rating: 5/5LibraryThing Rating: 4.29/5Goodreads Rating: 4.28/5 Even though it takes place before events in Sea of Shadow (the first novel), Sea of Wind is the second book in The Twelve Kingdoms series by Japanese author Fuyumi Ono. Of the seven books in this young adult series based on Chinese folklore, three have been translated into English with the fourth translation due to be released in March 2010. Since I loved the anime […]

Wicked Gentlemenby Ginn Hale222pp (Trade Paperback)My Rating: 8.5/10Amazon Rating: 4.5/5LibraryThing Rating: 4.24/5Goodreads Rating: 4.11/5 Wicked Gentlemen, Ginn Hale’s first novel, contains two connected novellas following the same characters, although they are each told from the viewpoint of a different protagonist. It was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in the Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror category in 2007 and it won the Spectrum Award for Best Novel of 2008. According to the publisher’s website, Hale is working on a […]

Black Shipsby Jo Graham496pp (Paperback)My Rating: 8.5/10Amazon Rating: 4.5/5LibraryThing Rating: 4/5Goodreads Rating: 3.94/5 Black Ships, a retelling of Virgil’s Aeneid from the perspective of a priestess, is a debut novel written by Jo Graham. Graham has since then written a loosely connected novel set in Egypt called Hand of Isis, and she has another related novel about a soldier serving Alexander the Great called Stealing Fire coming out in May 2010. After reading Black Ships, I’m very much looking forward […]

By the Mountain Boundby Elizabeth Bear320pp (Hardcover)My Rating: 9/10Amazon Rating: 5/5LibraryThing Rating: 4/5Goodreads Rating: 2/5 By the Mountain Bound is the second book in The Edda of Burdens series by Elizabeth Bear even though it is actually a prequel to the first book, All the Wind-wracked Stars (review). The series is based on Norse mythology and the first novel began with the end of the world. By the Mountain Bound fills in the backstory leading up to this cataclysmic event. […]

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor 272pp (Hardcover) My Rating: 9/10 Amazon Rating: 5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4/5 Goodreads Rating: 4.23/5   Lips Touch: Three Times is the newest book by Laini Taylor, author of Blackbringer and Silksinger from her Dreamdark series. Like her other two novels, Lips Touch: Three Times is a YA book, although it is darker and seems to be aimed at an older audience than the Dreamdark books (not that the Dreamdark series is not perfectly […]

The Bone Keyby Sarah Monette253pp (Trade Paperback)My Rating: 7/10Amazon Rating: 5/5LibraryThing Rating: 4.15/5Goodreads Rating: 3.9/5 The Bone Key by Sarah Monette is a collection of ten necromantic mysteries featuring one central main character, a museum archivist who becomes involved with the supernatural. In the introduction, Monette states that these stories are a tribute to two authors she very much admires, H.P. Lovecraft and M.R. James. In spite of her love for their work, she did find them lacking in character […]